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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by SDA on August 12, 2004, at 15:01:54
When I was only 11 years old, my parents and doctors decided that I had OCD and need medication. In my opinion it was barely even an issue at that point, but I ended up taking 200mg for almost 7 years nonetheless. Everyone seems to think that I only benifited from it, but I have serious doubts. When I look back at my high school years, it seems like my OCD just skyrocketed after starting Zoloft. After a few years it almost dissapeared, but started creeping in again before I stopped taking it before I went to college.
So did the Zoloft actually make me worse? I've read about fMRIs showing that serotonin antagonists will exacerbate OCD. Having OCD used to be a big part of my sense of identity, and its pretty painful to think that it was all needless torture. People tell me that I need to take medications again (for "depression"), but I don't think I'll ever trust another psychiatrist until I can resolve this.
Any insight/observations would be helpful.
Posted by linkadge on August 12, 2004, at 15:22:31
In reply to Zoloft makes OCD worse?, posted by SDA on August 12, 2004, at 15:01:54
Serotonin antagonists can make OCD worse, but zoloft is not a serotonin antagonist, it is a serotonin agonist. I found that SSRIs helped some aspects of OCD and made others worse. They seemed to stop the need to repeat things just for the sake of repeating them, but they also made my mind kind of always active, and harder to let my mind just stop for a while.
Linkadge
Posted by SDA on August 12, 2004, at 19:35:09
In reply to Re: Zoloft makes OCD worse?, posted by linkadge on August 12, 2004, at 15:22:31
> Serotonin antagonists can make OCD worse, but zoloft is not a serotonin antagonist, it is a serotonin agonist. I found that SSRIs helped some aspects of OCD and made others worse. They seemed to stop the need to repeat things just for the sake of repeating them, but they also made my mind kind of always active, and harder to let my mind just stop for a while.
>
> LinkadgeThanks for that clarification. I've always thought of SSRIs as antagonists since they block things rather than stimulate.
Here's what I understand now: SSRIs act as agonists by indirectly facilitating more stimulation of serotonin receptors on the other end of the synapse. An antagonist would either block those receptors or decrease the amount of active serotonin.
Is that correct? I do remember reading an article that specifically mentioned SSRIs making OCD worse before better, though.
Posted by linkadge on August 13, 2004, at 9:37:24
In reply to Re: Zoloft makes OCD worse? » linkadge, posted by SDA on August 12, 2004, at 19:35:09
This is correct, SSRI's act as serotonin agnoists at all serotonin receptors. As far as making OCD worse, this is much more complex.
Linkadge
This is the end of the thread.
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