Posted by Ritch on May 5, 2002, at 11:03:38
In reply to Recommended Med. for OCD - As good as Anafranil, posted by Skee on May 5, 2002, at 8:30:40
> Hello everybody. I've recently had a relapse of my OCD. Not pleasant. I have in the past used Anafranil with very good results. I tried to restart Anafranil and found that it wasn't helping, and in fact seemed to make it worse. This time the side effects were intolerable. I have previously been on a very small dose of Prozac (10 mg.) and a small dose of Paxil (10 mg.). The Prozac works well but makes me a bit wired. My thought is that on a higher dose I will feel more wired and spaced out. Sleeping (or lack of sleep) is directly tied into my OCD, so it is important that I have a medication that helps me sleep. I also have very high levels of anxiety - wake up in the night - my OCD is worse at that time - feeling extreme anxiety. I was thinking about starting Paxil again at a higher dose but am unsure about how it will affect my sleeping.
>
> My Doctor has me on a small dose of Remeron at the moment. It seems to help my OCD and at first helped with sleep. Not so much any more. It also makes me mean and hungry! The hungry I can tolerate, but I think if I continue with my shrewish attitude/mood, I'll be in the divorce courts before long! Has anyone else had this side effect?? On the plus side - sex is not at all affected! It's great "physically". (However, my crabby self still inhabits the bed! Not sure if my HUSBAND will be interested much longer.)
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> Looking for suggestions on medication choices. You guys have all the info. What can you suggest.
>
> In a nutshell, I need a med to help with:
>
> OCD
> Anxiety
> Sleeplessness
>
> Thanks guys!
Hi,Remeron made me very irritable and grouchy and it never seemed to go away (I have bipolar with anxiety probs. and panic history). Sleep disruption *greatly* aggravates all of my symptoms, too. BTW, I noticed on Remeron that if I pushed the dose up to around 30mg I would have lucid dreaming episodes at night where I could't really tell if I was awake or dreaming-and then I would just feel groggy and irritable all day the next day. You might try *reducing* your Remeron dosage to see if you can sleep more soundly before you ditch the Remeron completely. It works wonderfully for GAD/panic. As far as alternatives to help your symptoms.. I took Prozac for about seven years running and it helped a lot, but it was very very sleep disruptive (so was Zoloft). I think the Paxil would be a better idea. You might try 5mg at bedtime and then 5mg midday the next day and spread it out. If you take *too* much at bedtime it could be sleep disruptive like all SSRI's tend to be. There are some other non-SSRI/Anafranil add-ons that could help your OCD. You could try some Neurontin (say 300-400mg) at bedtime. Klonopin at bedtime might also help.
good luck,
hope this helps,Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:105136
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020503/msgs/105151.html