Expert: John Date: 12/2/2006 Subject: ocd plz help
Question doctor i have ocd... my psychiologist put me on paxil first but then that didnt work and now im on prozac.. i have depression aswell.. im just so tired of this disorder... i dont want behavioral therapy and im tired of medication.. plz tell me what i can do. surgery,electrotherapy , anything i dont care about the dangers of such procedures i just wanna get this over with the fastest way possible. thnx
Answer Sam, if the prozac is not helping or if you are not comfortable with the doctor you are seeing then you need to change doctors. As far as treating OCD goes, there are a number of other antidepressant meds that can be prescribed other than the two you have mentioned. Your doctor needs to find one that you can tolerate well and about behavioral modification therapy , I think you should probably be in a controlled environment for that to work. This depends upon what the symptoms are that you are having. For example people who have to shower for hours at a time are allowed to only shower for ten minutes once every three days and they must wear the same clothes for three days. This si necessary in order to break them of the compulsion to perform the washing ritual. You did not say if you are taking anything for anxiety or not. If you are having anxiety then your doctor should have you on something for anxiety like Xanax. If you are also having panic attacks which you did not say then some patients are put on the beta blocker Inderal(propranolol). Surgery and electroshock therapy is not going to do anything for you. You have to understand that you need to be on your meds from now on. You don't just get cured of OCD. The drugs you take naturally have side effects but they usually settle down with time as your body becomes accustomed to the new drug. Whatever your symptoms are the behavioral therapy has shown sucess with many patients. It may be difficult to accomplish this unless you are in a hospital.
