Hi everyone:
Been a member of various OCD/anxiety groups since the 90s, so I may know some of you. 39 y/o male, suffer from OCD, depression, anxiety since childhood. After a major panic attack/depressive episode in 1999, I started seeking treatment and experimenting with different SSRIs and benzos. This lead to bad dependency over the next few years, which was augmented by alcohol abuse, which, at the time, was the only thing that worked for me. Got sober/clean in 2004 and was put on Zoloft 150 mg and Seroquel 25 mg 3 times a day. I have been on that combination ever since, except for a brief period in 2009 when I tried to (unsucessfully) go off the Zoloft. It literally saved my life. I did not ever contemplate a return to alcohol or other drugs because I had no anxiety, which was the trigger for me in the first place. I recently had a health scare in my family that triggered a panic attack. I hadn't had one in almost 9 years, except for the time I tried to go off the SSRI. Obviously it threw me for a loop, because I thought I had been "cured" with the meds. I always wondered if there would come a point where I would need to increase dosage or change meds, but because it hadn't happened yet, I was thinking I might not ever need to. Because of the lingering anxiety from the recent panic attack, I find myself popping Seroquel more frequently, to the tune of about double my regular dose. My GP decided to increase the Zoloft to 200mg, which I am hopeful will work. If not, I know there are other meds out there to try; it's just such a daunting procedure and one that I thought I wouldn't have to go through again. Anyway, just want to share my experience and see if anyone can relate. Cheers.