Posted by Frankie on February 15, 2002, at 0:59:01
In reply to OCD, posted by petalpusher54 on February 10, 2002, at 15:12:37
> Dear Dr Bob,
> I came across your site when I was trying to find out what is the difference between gaba and gabatril. Maybe it is fate and you can help me. My 20 year old son suffers from severe OCD morning, noon and night. He has been this way since the age of 15. He can not stop these raging thoughts from tormenting him. He has been on 22 different meds, from anticonvultants, antidepressants, SSRI's, to all types of anxiety, benzos etc, etc. The ONLY thing that has made him feel normal is ambien. We accidentally discovered this when I gave him a ambien 10mg once during the day and he, within 10 to 15 minutes he came back with a smile (something I hadn't seen in months), and said he felt great! He said he felt like he had drank a few glasses of wine and that his thoughts weren't bothering him any more. Well of course as you know, ambien is usually used as a sleeping pill but on him, it allows him to just feel normal, not a bit sleepy-- other problems first, ambien is addictive given this frequently, second ambien affects wear off within 3 hours. His primary doctor aware of the fact that most medicines act in the reverse with his system said he would prescribe ambien 5mg every 3 hours (30mg daily) just to give him some relief. Well we had a hard time getting the scrip filled by our pharmacy who said it was against his better judgement to fill a drug like ambien when it was not meant to be used in this way. As a matter of fact we had to go to 2 other pharmacys in order to get someone to fill it. My sons took the pill every 3 hours while awake for 4 weeks (just enough time to get him through our daughters wedding) when it began to loose its affect and eventually didn"t help at all. That was last August, and since then he has had no relief. He just sits in his room and trys to deal with the thoughts for hours and hours. He has no life. We have been to 5 different psychiatrists and they all are stumped. We have tried everything from vitamins, True Hope, to Bach flower Remedies on the alternative medicine side. We, my husband, my daughter and especially my son are mentally and physically worn out and we are looking for anything and anyone who might be able to give him some relief and some life. He as been on gabitril and some other anticonvulsants and they had made him violent (throwing things across the room). We wondered if the natural gaba offered by health stores has the same ingredience as gabitril? Would you or your colleagues be able to give us any direction?Hello,
I agree with Mitch. Your son has been misdiagnosed. For certain. Racing mind is not an OCD, unless he has compulsions too. If he just has a racing mind, and uncontrollable worries, it is most likely a Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Or, like me, he could have a multiple anxiety problem, which needs multiple medications. Or, like mitch said, maybe a seizure problem. But doubtful if the anticonvulsants made him aggressive. Try an antipsychotic. Zyprexa, Risperdal, or any of the newer one's are much safer, so I read. It is not an OCD if he has given something like Prozac a good trial run, and not received any relief. Possibly Borderline Personality too. But, that responds to Prozac also. Maybe his dopamine levels are too high, which would need an antipsychotic.
Frankie.
poster:Frankie
thread:93617
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020208/msgs/94210.html