Posted by SLS on December 7, 2017, at 9:06:04
In reply to Re: what is being treated?, posted by pedr on December 6, 2017, at 10:18:53
> > I never read Szasz, but when I went to a psychiatrist for the first time at 49, I was pretty much a mess. It wasn't that "society" had deemed me "crazy." I needed and wanted help.
>
> This is me too. I'm not denying that there are other societal aspects going on but I messed myself up psychologically after a break-up and could no longer function. I went to get help. 95%+ of that help (talk therapy, meds, TMS, hypnotherapy etc.) has in fact not helped but that's besides the point I suppose.
>
> FTR I am 20+ years TRD and pure OCD with other fun stuff like chronic pain and IBS-C.
Keep moving forward. Don't give up.My break-up with my first love destroyed me. I got dumped very hard. It made my depression worse, especially the impairments in cognition and memory. The first thing I did was to go for psychotherapy. It didn't help at all. It wasn't until someone handed me a book called "Mood Swing" by Ronald Fieve that I realized that my depression was biological in origin. I hated that idea. I wanted complete control over my mood, and to be able to conquer it psychotherapeutically. That it was biological and beyond my control angered me. I elected to go to the psychiatric services of Columbia-Presbyterian hospital in NYC. The very first drug they tried on me, imipramine, worked. I experienced remission - a 100% improvement. It was AWESOME! Unfortunately, the remission didn't last for more than a few weeks, but it proved to me that my illness was indeed biological and that I needed a biological intervention to feel better.
You do realize that OCD often requires higher dosages of SRI drugs taken for longer periods of time in order to work when compared to depression? For instance, some people whose OCD responds to Prozac (fluoxetine) need 60 mg/day or more taken for several months to see results.
What are some of the treatments you received to treat depression and OCD? Have you tried Anafranil (clomipramine)? You can possibly treat all of your maladies with this one drug. It is known to be particularly effective as an anti-OCD, antidpressant, anti-IBS, and antinociceptive. The only caveat is that its anticholinergic properties might make constipation worse. I don't know. Tricyclics never affected me that way. If there is no way you can tolerate clomipramine, you might instead consider using nortriptyline in combination with a SRI. Nortriptyline can help with depression, IBS-C, and chronic pain (especially neuropathic). The SRI would help with depression and OCD.
- Scott
Some see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1096185
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20161215/msgs/1096244.html