OCD treatment- Lexapro or Paxil?

Hi Dannii,

I suffer from mild OCD (I am blessed it has improved lately) and I'm certainly not an expert but I can empathise with what you are going through. I still have some rituals that I can't stop and I don't think you are crazy or nuts at all..this is just the nature of OCD. The most common medications prescribed for OCD in adults are the antidepressants Luvox, Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa and Anafranil. There are a few people on this site with severe OCD and I know one who has great success with Celexa. I haven't heard of Lexapro being a popular form of treatment before so you are right to be questioning this. I believe it is used more for generalised anxiety disorder and depression and not OCD.

It can take some time and experiments with different meds to find the one that works for us. This can mean going through some withdrawal and then side effects when you start new meds, but if you are under the care of a good physician and do it slowly then the effects should be minimal.

My rule of thumb, is that if it is not working, then move on and try the next plan. If the Lexapro isn't working then talking to your pdoc about trying another one would be the best IMHO.

Again, I'm not an expert but I know what OCD can be when it gets severe. I'm sure some other member will be along to chime in soon. Stay with us and let us know how you are going. You are certainly not alone in this.

Meg

Hi All,

This is just a short update. I will meet my doctor next week hopefully- I am already starting to get anxious about the switch of meds.
Seems my mind and body connection is far too complicated- my body is reacting in a weird way- Itchy legs and thighs and irritated red scalp. I also woke up yesterday with a Cold sore which despite the Acyclovir cream i have been using,has doubled up in size today!

Wish me luck everyone and thank you Meg and Kitt for your quick replies and your advice!
Hugs

Hi there.  I have OCD too, coupled with slight depression, as a result of the OCD.  I have three kids and after my first is when it started.  That was over 5 years ago.  I have only been on treatment for 6 months.  It took me a while to pinpoint the problem, plus it wasn't bad until recently. 

My symptoms were this constant worrying about my kids health, as well as their health effecting mine or my husbands.  Specifically, stomach viruses.  The catalyst was when my 5 year old, then 4 years old, got hit with it for the first time and was  very very ill.  It was coming out both ends and he was passing out in between...ugly. 

Anyway, I would constantly "check in" with my husband just to hear him say he was feeling fine or the kids were fine.  I would "check in" with my mother in law, who babysits our kids while we work, during the day a few times and would have done it more if I didn't think she would get angry.  I would always have this pit in my stomach that one of them were ill or going to get ill.  It was more of a anticipatory type anxiety, but because I perseverated on the specific illness, they called it OCD.  I did have handwashing issues but I excused them by saying that I only washed my hands when I used the bathroom.  Only, I realized after being on meds that I used the bathroom more to be able to wash without it seeming like a problem- subconsciously of course. 

I was prescribed 20mg of Lexapro off the bat and was officially diagnosed by a PhD with OCD and my PCP said it was OCD as well.  The 20mg knocked me on my ass, sorry.  It was too much for a first timer.  I would have these hot chills...I could feel this burning going through my entire body, I felt anxious, hopped up...it was bad.  I only took it for one day.  I stopped for 2 days to get it out of my system and then went back on 5mg.  Silly, I know, but I needed a slower start.  I noticed improvement in my symptoms right away, since it has an antidepressant factor, I think that having an elevated mood lifted the anxiety too.  I eventually went up to 10mg and have been on that for about 5 months.  I have a whole new life.  I do not worry anymore other than what a normal person would worry about, I can actually say the words vomit and stomach without going into a frenzy of thoughts and worries, I enjoy my kids again instead of seeing them as germy things and I'm just generally happier. 

With that said, I plan to talk to my PCP end of this month to talk about upping me to 20mg.  This is my very first winter, which is a huge trigger for me, on the meds and over the last 2 weeks, I've noticed some anxiety coming back about illness.  I don't perseverate on the thoughts and they are not racing thoughts or anything, but I definitely notice it sneaking in.  So, I think 20mg would be a good choice for me. 

I love Lexapro.  I have had no adverse reactions, since I've been on a good dosage regime, and I just feel normal. I love it!!!!

Good luck.

Melissa

Melissa,

How long did you stay at 5mgs of lexapro before going up to 10mgs?

thanks!
dawnie

Folks,
I'm moderately horrified by what I'm seeing on this thread regarding Lexapro vs Paxil for OCD. Lexapro is approved for depressive & anxiety disorders as of today. NOT OCD. You should know that when prescribing SSRI's, it must be done by a Psychiatrist. Not a Pharmacy Rep, Psychologist, family doctor, therapist, pharmacist, nurse, Oprah or hear-say recommendations on the internet. The possibility of an error could result in, amongst other things, suicide. Read the literature. I'm an RN with 30 years experience in a University Medical Center, A Psyche Nurse and have done SSRI research amongst other things. Paxil is the drug of choice. If you get a sore throat...take throat lozenges. Chances are the symptoms will pass. Paxil is started at a low dose and titrated up in accordance with your relief of symptoms. For sleep a drug such as Trazadone is recommended with Atarax for anxiety break through and/or an add on for sleep. One drug doesn't usually do it. The literature says SSRI's will take full effect with in 1-3 weeks, 2-3 is more like it. Any early effects are most likely a sedative effect not necessarily the SSRI's theraputic effect on the synaptic cleft of the neurons in your brain. Theraputic effect takes a while, don't give up. Recently I was able to witness a patient(not one of mine) mis-prescribed Lexapro in place of Paxil. The results were to say the least...a nightmare. She was tapered off Lexapro switched back to Paxil with plans to increase the dosage as soon as she reached baseline. The difference was like night & day. Mental illness requiring SSRIs is not well understood by those without direct clinical evaluating experience. In the case I described Lexapro was prescribed by an old ER Doctor trying family practice who insisted on the advice from a non-doctor therapist. Why? ER Docs never deal with mental health issues, they always call Psyche to deal with it. The therapist was practicing medicine without a license and experimenting with an FDA unapproved drug. If you need an SSRI you need to see a psyciatrist, attend therapy with an experienced therapist such as specializing in schizophrenia, bipolar and/or major depressive disorders. And routine follow-up with a family doctor. Many healthcare professionals mistake major depression for, "just a bad day". If you've had depression, tearfulness, recurrent anxiety and problems sleeping for 6months and longer then you probably need an SSRI. Good luck I hope this has been helpful.