OCD and ssri'

[Groundhogg]

First off i'd like to say hello to you all because I'm new just joined up so….. Hello :). I'm looking forward to gaining more info about coping with anxiety and hopefully giving some support back.

I've been taking citalopham now for three months and it been beneficial in the fact its got me back to work and living independently again. However i have had some traumatic intrusive thoughts as a result. I have no other typical OCD signs like cleaning for hours on end or rituals of that sort.

I tried to talk to my GP about them but judging by her reaction and the questions see asked as a follow up seemed to be trying to work out if i was a danger to anyone.. IE have you had a girl friend? Did she move away because of you? Made me feel like i cannot tell anyone about them for fear of being labeled something I'm not.

These thoughts are so abhorrent to me its making me want off the med's ASAP but like i said they are helping and i know the withdrawal isn't going to be pretty judging but how sensitive i was over the start of the treatment.

Has anyone else experienced as similar reaction to ssri's or could it possible be related to high anxiety?

[NorthernGeek]

I had issues with depression, obsessive worrying & horrible intrusive thoughts for many years, before things reached a crisis point last November when I finally sought medical help.

I was on 20mg Citalopram for over five weeks with no positive effects at all & then the week before Xmas, my doctor suggested increasing the dose to 40mg before resorting to other forms of medication.

The increase to 40mg started to show positive effects almost immediately & whilst all my symptoms are still there, it's almost as if there is a 'Dampening Field' in my head that prevents them from overwhelming me. Whilst I still get intrusive thoughts, I find I can now usually dismiss them relatively quickly by distracting myself with something positive, which rarely worked in the past.

At least for me, Citalopram didn't cause my pre-existing intrusive thoughts to increase & has eventually allowed me to handle them much more easily when they occur.

Hope this helps

[Groundhogg]

Thanks for your reply it's interesting to hear things for another persons preceptive. I seem to be in a more positive place the past week or so, be interesting to see how thing pan out when I begin to tapper down my dose. I can relate to what you mentioned about going up to 40mg seemed to make a world of difference.