Is it worth switching medication?

[Franz]

I'm on 20mg citalopram and it really doesn't help with my OCD/social anxiety. I've been up to 60mg but with no improvement, just a duller feeling in my head.

I'm so exhausted with my problems that I'm wondering whether I should switch back to my old drug, clomipramine, which goes up to doses of (gulp!) 250mg. For a long time 100mg clomipramine worked but not last time I tried it. I guess I could try an even higher dose, but I'm not keen because clomipramine makes me a complete ball of lard.

The alternative is to try another modern drug. I was wondering if anyone else had tried several SSRIs and noticed any difference between them. Or has anyone with OCD tried antipsychotics like Seroquel? Maybe it's not my serotonin levels that need tweaking?

Thanks for any advice,

Francis

[Tinkerbell200]

I'm on 20mg citalopram and it really doesn't help with my OCD/social anxiety. I've been up to 60mg but with no improvement, just a duller feeling in my head.

I'm so exhausted with my problems that I'm wondering whether I should switch back to my old drug, clomipramine, which goes up to doses of (gulp!) 250mg. For a long time 100mg clomipramine worked but not last time I tried it. I guess I could try an even higher dose, but I'm not keen because clomipramine makes me a complete ball of lard.

The alternative is to try another modern drug. I was wondering if anyone else had tried several SSRIs and noticed any difference between them. Or has anyone with OCD tried antipsychotics like Seroquel? Maybe it's not my serotonin levels that need tweaking?

Thanks for any advice,

Francis

Hi have you tried Sertraline (Lustral) I found these were great the 1st time round! really helped my depression/ocd and anxiety I honestly never felt so good! came off them though and my symptoms have slowly come bak so now on citalopram so far so good with these ones!

[Wilburis]

HI

Ive changed meds quite a few times.

Mainly Ive tried Sertraline, Escitalopram, Prozac. None of these did anything.

So my Psych has put nme on Clomipramine. I started on 50mg and now she has incrased it to 125mg as I had some awful family bad news and I started going down hill really quickly again.

THis is the only med that has made me feel almost human again!

Lizzie xx

PS Ive put on quite a bit of weight, would you say it was the meds?

[Franz]

HI

Ive changed meds quite a few times.

Mainly Ive tried Sertraline, Escitalopram, Prozac. None of these did anything.

So my Psych has put nme on Clomipramine. I started on 50mg and now she has incrased it to 125mg as I had some awful family bad news and I started going down hill really quickly again.

THis is the only med that has made me feel almost human again!

Lizzie xx

PS Ive put on quite a bit of weight, would you say it was the meds?

Hi Lizzie,

Thanks, that's useful info. I've heard it said that SSRIs like Prozac and Citalopram are less powerful than the old TCIs like clomipramine. TCIs affect other stuff in your brain apart from serotonin - supposely that's a bad thing, but I suspect it accounts for its more potent effect.

I'd say it's very likely that the clomipramine is behind your weight gain. I put on a stone in 2 months after I started it, and that was the first time I'd ever gained weight in my life.

Another down side of clomipramine I found was lethargy and a general lack of "joie de vivre", but at the time that seemed a small price to pay.

Francis

[Heaven_Scent]

I was on citalopram for about 3 years and recently changed to sertraline. Im off to the Drs tomorrow as if anything my symptoms are getting much much worse. Its trial and error.Xx

[Franz]

Hi have you tried Sertraline (Lustral) I found these were great the 1st time round! really helped my depression/ocd and anxiety I honestly never felt so good! came off them though and my symptoms have slowly come bak so now on citalopram so far so good with these ones!

Thanks, I'll look into Sertraline. Is there any particular reason that you changed medication this time round?

Thanks,

Francis

[Franz]

I was on citalopram for about 3 years and recently changed to sertraline. Im off to the Drs tomorrow as if anything my symptoms are getting much much worse. Its trial and error.Xx

Hmm. Maybe you just need to increase your dose?

The thing is, I understand that all SSRIs work in basically the same way, by increasing your serotonin levels. So I wonder if there's really much difference between them?

Thanks,

Francis