so i suffer from OCD…i find it difficult not obsess on things which are somewhat important to me, like lets say when i have a bad day at training it haunts for ages…i also have difficulty sleeping…for those who know the stuff i take 150mg of Fluvoxamine daily but i want to stop them…do you think i will suffer problems if i stop taking them?? also any advice that you might have please help me!! thanks
[quote]AntonioFlores wrote:
so i suffer from OCD…i find it difficult not obsess on things which are somewhat important to me, like lets say when i have a bad day at training it haunts for ages…i also have difficulty sleeping…for those who know the stuff i take 150mg of Fluvoxamine daily but i want to stop them…do you think i will suffer problems if i stop taking them?? also any advice that you might have please help me!! thanks
I take zoloft for OCD and anxiety issues. I missed my daily does just once and started getting withdrawal symptoms, I believe of serotonin shock syndrome (look it up).
Unless you suffer from side effects worse than the condition, don’t stop taking it. I have had no bad side effects from zoloft.
Talk to your doctor about trying another anti-depressant or perhaps an adjunct medicine (but NOT risperidone. If your doctor ever prescribes risperidone tell him no, or simply take the prescription and never use it. It is only supposed to be used for schizophrenics but he said it might help with OCD. NO IT DOES NOT!)
Also being diagnosed with OCD, do not simply go off your meds, tell your doctor of your concerns and decide on a different course of action. Most ADs or psychotropic meds may effect T levels. But thinking just going off meds will make a difficult situation better is assonine.
Also take other peoples experiences with a grain of salt, as with many OCD sufferers the internet and the faceless experience it spews can be very damaging to your psyche. Again consult a trusted pshyciatrist, not a simple pill pusher.
[quote]AntonioFlores wrote:
so i suffer from OCD…i find it difficult not obsess on things which are somewhat important to me, like lets say when i have a bad day at training it haunts for ages…i also have difficulty sleeping…for those who know the stuff i take 150mg of Fluvoxamine daily but i want to stop them…do you think i will suffer problems if i stop taking them?? also any advice that you might have please help me!! thanks
A.Haunted soul,[/quote]
At the very least, you need speak to your PCP (or whoever prescribed you the SSRI in the first place) and discuss your itentions with them.
Better yet, source a quality physician who has both the adequate clinical experience and the requisite up to date knowledge to design you an effective treatment plan. OCD and the other anxiety disorders can have or often have multiple patho-physiologies, not just at the neuronal level.
Going cold turkey off the Fluvoxamine or any of the other SSRI’s is not reccomened, and an adequate tapering protocol should be followed.
Why do you wish to diconitinue your current medication? - Is it because it’s been ineffective or have you been experiencing unpleasant side-effects?
i am afriad for testosterone production. i have been taking the pills for over 4 yrs now. the only thing i take apart Fluvoxamine is atarax as a sleeping aid
[quote]AntonioFlores wrote:
\ like lets say when i have a bad day at training it haunts for ages…i also have difficulty sleeping…[/quote]
Is that what OCD is? Apparently Ive been suffering from a condition that I wasn’t even aware of until now.
First, always consult your physician before changing the quantity or type of any medicine like this, especially an SSRI. I have OCD as well, and I can tell you that it can be a debilitating disease.
What I would recommend is a full blood test that includes all the things people talk about on here-- free testosterone, luteinizing hormone, etc. There is a link between OCD and free testosterone, but it is complicated. Basically, it starts with gonadotropin-releasing hormone which gets kicked off in the pituitary gland and is transported to the testes and adrenal gland where it stimulates the synthesis and release of certain androgens of which testosterone is one. These androgens are then transported to certain organs in the body the most important of which is the brain where the androgens stimulate certain receptors.
It is here, at the receptors, where I suspect people like us who have OCD begin to see a problem. If your receptors are hypersensitive to the androgens, then this creates a sort of negative feedback loop, and your brain says “send less gonadotropin-releasing hormone”… this leads to less testosterone being released but your brain acts as if a normal or higher than normal level of testosterone is present. This is why many people with OCD have a strange mix of high androgenic qualities with low free testosterone levels.
SSRIs primarily affect a whole different set of variables in the brain that deal partly with how we respond to perceived threats (fear circuit). So, as you might expect, there is a delicate balance here that can probably easily be screwed up.
The guy who probably understands OCD better than anyone else is Jeffrey Schwartz at UCLA (see You Are Not Your Brain). If you want to address your OCD, I would suggest reading his books and implementing his 4 Steps Program in addition to medicines your physician may put you on. And be careful! OCD can be crippling. It is among the most intransigent diseases there is. Don’t mess around.
What effects have you experienced from the fluvoxamine regarding your OCD? What kind of changes do you attribute to fluvoxamine. What are the pro’s and the cons for you of taking it? What might be the pro’s and cons when not taking it? Did you receive any other treatment?
Could your original post also be considered as a possible symptom of OCD (Obsessing about whether fluvoxamine has a side effect on your testosterone production? Why are you concerned about your testosterone-production? Because of the effects it could have on your training which seems to be an area of your life which is of great value to you?).
Talk to a psychiatrist with some credentials and who is not known as a pill pusher. The motivation to use/prescibe specific medication is often an overlooked topic in a lot of practices.