So tired of switching medications.
Picture it (Sophia Petrillo voice): 2004, I’m 14. I have my first official OCD-spiral and panic attack. Spent most of that subsequent school year missing a lot of days and unable to function. Got put on a dose of Zoloft, but stopped taking it (cold turkey/on my own) because I didn’t like the side effects. Yay for being a reclusive 14-year-old boy. Anyway, the side effects in question were extreme lethargy/sleepiness (I couldn’t hold my eyes open for most of the day), and forgetfulness. Basically, my short-term memory evaporated. There were times in school where I’d forget which class I was supposed to go to next, and this was halfway through the school year!
After that, came Lexapro. I was on it many years. It would stop working, and my doctor would increase the dose. Wash, rinse, repeat. Eventually, I asked him if maybe SSRIs just aren’t for me and I needed to try an SNRI or even something else. He vehemently disagreed and basically said I was dumb for even thinking that. So, I switched doctors and sought a second opinion.
From that point, we tried some SNRIs. Effexor. Worked-ish. But made me sweat buckets. All the time. Then Cymbalta. Worked for a while. Eventually, after several years, it stopped. Of course. All this time as well, I was and am on a 2 MG dose of Abilify. Tried to stop it one time under doctor supervision and that went horribly.
I have OCD and depression. I’m actually undergoing TMS therapy for depression right now, but it isn’t specialized for the OCD itself as the clinic local to me doesn’t offer that.
New psychiatrist, rather than my general practitioner, has decided to try Luvox. So far, it worked well at keeping the OCD manageable - along with my therapist and the techniques he teaches me. But…the Luvox caused such severe dry mouth that I ended up with painful oral thrush that’s so damn stubborn, not even strong antibiotics are seeming to be able to easily get rid of it. Needless to say, I’m now having to slowly taper off of the Luvox and get back to a baseline once the thrush heals. And then, I have another follow-up with the psychiatrist to see where to go from here.
It’s so hard not to become overly downtrodden and frustrated to the point where I just want to give up and accept that I’ll always be anxious and on edge for the rest of my life.
In summary:
Medications I have tried:
Zoloft (memory loss and extreme fatigue)
Lexapro (stopped working even at max dose)
Abilify (still on low dose)
Prozac (stopped working)
Effexor (hyperhydrosis)
Cymbalta (hyperhydrosis) and stopped working)
Wellbutrin (made me panicky and unable to eat)
Luvox (extreme dry mouth)
Any advice at all? I am at my wits’ end.