Medication
The most effective medications prescribed for obsessive-compulsive disorder are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which are antidepressants. These medications include:
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Sertraline (Zoloft)
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Paroxetine (Paxil)
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Fluvoxamine (Luvox)
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Fluoxetine (Prozac)
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Citalopram (Celexa)
If a patient fails to respond to an SSRI, doctors will try tricyclic antidepressant like clomipramine. Although its efficacy is greater than that of other medications, it has unpleasant side effects that may make the patient uncomfortable. Sometimes an SSRI and clomipramine are combined in treatment.
Atypical antipsychotics in combination with antidepressant have also proven to be helpful in low doses. Among these antipsychotics are:
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Risperidone
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Quetiapine
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Olanzapine
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Ziprasidone
Anti-psychotics are used to augment the effect of anti-depressant i.e. anti-psychotic alone has no effects on OCD but when combined, it enhances the anti-depressant effect
In some cases, benzodiazepines can offer anxiety relief, but they are typically only used in conjunction with more reliable treatments. Cognitive therapy is the preferred form of treatment, but many patients benefit from combining medication with therapy. It is important to remember that benzodiazepines are to relieve anxiety and not OCD and their use is meant to be only short-term, because long-term use can lead to dependance.
- Before efficacy of any medication is determined, and it is essential that it is tried for minimum amount of time. It is important not to give up on a medication until you have been taking it as prescribed duration , typically 10 to 12 weeks.
- Many patients feel no positive effects for the first few weeks of treatment but then improve greatly.
- As you can see from above that there are several combinations of treatment possible. Your psychiatrist/GP will help you in trialling the best line of treatment for you based on duration of OCD, recent studies, other on-going treatments etc.
- Try and keep a detailed record to monitor improvement, as at times small improvement can go unnoticed.
- If a particular medicine isn’t helping you or the side effects are too strong to bear and you want to stop taking the medicine. Please speak to your psychiatrist/GP and make sure you do not leave it abruptly. It is essential that medications like such are tapered off.