Complex PTSD & OCD Fluoxetine warning! and EMDR

Hi

I have suffered from complex PTSD and complex OCD for more than 10 years. I came on here to offer help to others in similar situations.

Fluoxetine did help for several years but for past 6 months I believe it made me worse. The last 3 months or so my mood greatly reduced and my OCD went haywire!!! Yes there were other factors contributing. But be warned if you have been on FLUOXETINE (PROZAC) for a while and then your mood deteriorates my advice get off it. I stopped taking it about 3 weeks ago it nearly killed me! I was on 40mg and in the mornings especially couldn't get out bed and go eat suicidal depression! Beware there are various articles relating SSRIs to suicide. Take these seriously obviously the drug companies don't list this a possible side effect as this is the worst side effect they can have and it would mean taking it off the shelves and big loss in business!

I'm not saying that it is not an effective useful drug, it helped me for first few years, makes you feel wired, more confident, helps with the OCD sticky mind as it makes you more active rather than dwelling on intrusive thoughts so much. However in time maybe months or years down the line perhaps after receiving medical support counselling etc...you need to address your rituals whatever they may be. This is where the drug falls. When you decide you want to recover and challenge your behaviour it sort of keeps you locked in the behaviour not questioning it. It makes you feel WIRED like so you don't think but rather act and what that means is your doing rituals without so much power to reflect and question on what and why your doing these rituals! But you will need to do this to fight back at the disorder.

Having stopped taking it my mood improved a lot. Not so much suicidal depression in the morning and more clarity in my thoughts. So glad I stopped it! Stupid psychotherapist should have picked up on this months ago when i was telling him i was suicidal! Don't trust professionals to know everything you know whats going on with you.

Also did EMDR with him for about a year for various traumatic events childhood and adulthood. If you are thinking of doing this BE VERY INFORMED AND MAKE SURE YOUR THERAPIST HAS A PROVEN TRACK RECORD OF SUCCESS IN THIS AREA. EMDR is probably quite simple for a single event but for complex multiple trauma I think it should be used with a lot of caution. It will make you feel a lot worse while doing it, and takes a toll physically and mentally like you won't believe. I did feel better though after about 9 months of it took a break for couple of months. Went back to psych then he said lets do more then it all went to shit! Wish I had said to him actually Im feeling quite better so I think I will give it a miss now. However we proceeded and it has made my PTSD worse and OCD considerably worse. Now they want to put me on antipsychotics and at the moment Im thinking forget that crap! Just successfully got off that fluoxetine been meditating hard and that is helping. That EMDR has giveb me a hightened sense of paranoid thoughts when outside the house of seeing ppl relating to my past although I am in a different city now keep thinking Im seeing ppl I knew (maybe they have similar feature) and triggers my PTSD. So my outside life has greatly diminished due to avoidance. Before my OCD was primarily in the house now its everywhere I go. Of course there are many cases where EMDR has been successful but my warning to you is this; Your mind and body can only take so much so don't over do it. If you've had enough tell your therapist to stop! Also your therapist should always be monitoring you closely and I dont think you should leave the office feeling like a paranoid crazy person, they should use safe place protocol on most occassion I beleive. My therapist hardly used it only when I requested it actually. This is shit practice, theyve just exposed you to some of the most horriffic shit a person could experience and they just going to say ok thats it now see you next week leaving all that shit fresh in your head likes it just happened again. YOU need to familiarise yourself with all the safety protocols used with EMDR before you consider doing it and make sure your therapist is GOING TO USE THEM.

If it were me I wouldn't advise EMDR I have since learnt EFT from a book and practiced this on myself to much success and WAY LESS SIDE EFFECTS TO THAT OF EMDR!!! It is more effective than EMDR and achieves (what EMDR is supposed to) I would say 10 times faster!!! Doesnt mess your head up no hypnotic kind of process involved safer and more better results. Bloody hell why don't they use this in national health instead! they are mad for not adopting it instead of EMDR!

Sorry to rant on but mmm yes I hope this helps some individuals and if any further comments on these subjects please post. This is my experience I am sure others will have different views.

I would agree that people with OCD need to confront their fears using behavioural techniques. I didn't - I relied on meds and its only now that I'm starting to try to challenge my intrusive thoughts using self-CBT. If I had done this earlier it would have saved a lot of trouble.

How did you stop fluoxetine by the way? Did you cold turkey? It has a long half-life, so the withdrawal symptoms will only start showing up now. I guess my story may be similar to yours. I started feeling much more agitated on fluoxetine a couple of years ago and so stopped taking it. I felt amazing for around 6 weeks before the depression came crashing around me, and meant that I went on the drug merry-go-round again. Looking back on it, it was probably excess alcohol and caffeine, and a stressful situation, that trigged the anxiety and restlessness.

If I were you I would do a much slower taper - generally with these drugs is that unless you taper off them really, really slowly, you will be hit with rebound depression and anxiety and have to go back on them (or on another drug).

Cold turkey been 4 weeks now no withdrawal symptoms. Actually the symptoms of withdrawal are only positive as I'm feeling like my old self. Yes I still have depression/anxiety but it was worse whilst on fluoxetine. I might be taking another drug soon but would not go back on fluoxetine.