Knickatknite

Date posted: 9w

OCD Relapse

So, I’ve had my OCD mostly “under control” for the past 10 years (I’m 44, battled this all my life). I’ve been on a high dosage of Luvox, but unfortunately it’s lost its effectiveness about 6 months ago. For the past five months I’ve also been doing therapy sessions on this site and have had a fairly good outcome. My main obsessions have mainly regarded around balance and symmetry. Anyhow, I’m in the process of switching to Prozac. It’s only been 6 days, so I obviously feel nothing yet. I made the foolish mistake of googling “What can antidepressants cause?” Unfortunately I found a very recent article of a study showing antidepressant users have a higher chance of getting ALS. There’s also older articles that say the opposite. But this one article FREAKED ME OUT. And I can only focus on the worst outcome. So, now I’m stuck in a repetitive thought pattern of getting ALS from the one medication that is supposed to help me. It’s absolutely terrifying and I haven’t experienced a health anxiety fear like this in years. I want to research more and more online, but I know this won’t help. It will only make things worse. Anyone with health anxiety have any advice on how to conquer this? I’m standing strong and not getting off my medication or doing any research.

Steve

Date posted: 9w

Did you taper the luvox? Sorry I know this doesn't answer your question. An abrupt change in meds may be throwing your system off.

Knickatknite

Date posted: 9w

@Steve Yes in the process now, tapering from 300 mg Luvox to 30 mg Prozac. Currently only at 250 mg Luvox, 10 mg Prozac. It’s a 6-8 week process.

Steve

Date posted: 9w

I think that its important to realize your body is going to be off and its not surprising your ocd flared up. Be kind to yourself and work on accepting the uncertainty around it. I know this is a hard one. If its too much, let your doctor know. You may need s slower taper.

slippery_salad

Date posted: 9w

@Steve Steve, how do you deal with real events ocd

Knickatknite

Date posted: 9w

@slippery_salad Great question. I find real event OCD the most difficult battle.

slippery_salad

Date posted: 9w

@Knickatknite I wouldnt worry about the change in meds my friend. We all die eventually. As long as the meds make you happier and more peaceful here for longer, thats all that matters. The prozac should kick in around the 7th-10th day. Thats how it worked for me

Knickatknite

Date posted: 9w

@slippery_salad I wish I had your attitude. I’m terrified I’m taking a medication that’s gonna give me an awful disease. Even though deep down, I know it’s just one study. One article. I still feel like “there’s still a chance” and it frightens me.

slippery_salad

Date posted: 9w

@Knickatknite Death is inevitable. You can’t escape it. So why worry about it haha. It happens:) And God is waiting on the other side to embrace you:)

Amilton

Date posted: 9w

@slippery_salad The key is practicing acceptance — realizing that perfection isn’t attainable, even though OCD demands it. We’re constantly growing and maturing. We’ve made mistakes in the past, and we’ll likely make more in the future — that’s just being human. What matters is maintaining self-awareness and taking accountability where it’s healthy, not where OCD exaggerates or distorts it. That’s all we can do — and it’s enough.

slippery_salad

Date posted: 9w

@Amilton Thank you man. Idk what that isn’t enough for the ocd but I guess itll just have to be enough yenno

Amilton

Date posted: 9w

@slippery_salad Nothing will ever be enough for OCD.

Staying in t...

Date posted: 9w

Stop googling. Negatives outweigh the positives

Knickatknite

Date posted: 9w

@Staying in the moment That’s my biggest problem. Every time I google something, I find something worse. It’s never ending. I haven’t googled anything health related for 24 hours. Hoping to keep the streak going.

liz_m_m

Date posted: 9w

I think it’s perfectly reasonable to expect some OCD flares while transitioning meds. So try to be patient with yourself while you navigate these obsessions popping up. Give yourself some grace—you’re doing hard work! If the urge to resist researching or ruminating is especially strong, try at least delaying it. And then setting aside maybe a 10 minute research/rumination window and then you’re going to move back to focusing on a valued activity. Even if OCD kicks and screams in the background. Remember, you are in the care of your doctor. They’ll know what warning signs for other problems, if any, they should keep an eye out for. Trust your care knowing that if you get additional information down the line that you need to pivot, you can do so then. But unfortunately, there’s a plethora of information online for or against SSRIs so that compulsive research won’t do us much more good other than digging ourselves into a deep pit of confusion and anxiety. You’ve got this! Sometimes if I’m having a hard time sitting with the anxiety, I’ll write it out over and over again. “Maybe I’ll get ALS from my medication, maybe I won’t .” Eventually it does start to feel boring. I know you can do this! 🤍

Knickatknite

Date posted: 9w

@liz_m_m Thank you so much for the suggestions, I’ll certainly try both!

WilliamL

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 8w

I’m also on Luvox, did you ever have bowel changes with this medication when you would go up a dose. Currently I’m a week in and it’s nothing but loose stool or random mucus stool. Honestly considering trying a different medication

Knickatknite

Date posted: 8w

@WilliamL Yes, I had lots of gastrointestinal issues each time I’ve gone up a dose with this medication and upon initially starting it. I started at 50 MG in 2015 and have gradually gone up 50-100 MG over the past 10 years, all the way to 300. Each time it causes some stomach issues, but that’s about it for side effects. Personally, I really think it’s got less side effects than most SSRIs I’ve tried.

Anonymous

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 9w

I have done a fair amount of research on SSRIs and have never heard of this ALS connection. I do think though you can find negatives on anything if you look long enough.

Knickatknite

Date posted: 9w

@Anonymous The study was just published 6/4/2025. I didn’t want to post it on here and trigger anyone. But you’re right, If you search hard enough you can probably find bad news for anything.

Bobbbbby

Date posted: 23w

Acid Reflux

Hello, I just wanna put my thoughts onto something to hopefully release them. I have health ocd/anxiety which comes with googling and overthinking. Lately, I’ve been have stomach issues and acid reflux on new SSRI medication and convince myself I have SIBO or a weird disease. I then I looked into gastric diseases then freak myself out more for days on end. I’m am trying to use the ERP and saying “Mabye I do mabye I don’t”; but I always end up doing stuff to make it worse. If I have any advice don’t google, I should take my own advice😂. I have a few appointments to make sure nothings wrong which I know logically nothings wrong but for some reason I still think something is really wrong. (If you have similar stuff DONT look it up, it’ll just say the worst thing, ignorance is bliss 😭😂) Not expecting a response, just wanted to “release” my thoughts. Hopefully I help someone who is going the same thing. Anyways hope everyone is doing good and making progress in their life. :)

05Enfj_R

Date posted: 16w

Medication (Prozac)

I am having a really hard time with ocd and anxious thoughts and feeling extremely uneasy. I'm home alone today so it's really easy for me to get stuck in my thoughts. I'm on day 4 of prozac. I felt like yesterday I had a period of time of about 30 minutes where I felt really focused and like the anxiety lifted completely. But then an obsession started and it brought me right back down. Hopefully I feel relief again today. I'm going to go get some house work done to take my mind off of things. Does anyone have any first hand experiences with prozac? How long until you felt any relief? Any really bad side effects? Any unforseen pluses? Much appreciated.

baukje

Date posted: 13w

Obsessing about… medication

I am having an appointment with my psychiatrist this afternoon and I am obsessing about what to do with my medication. I think it’s also very ocd like obsessing. I am currently on 30mg mirtazapine. Ive been on this for years (because of insomnia, anxiety and depression) (15mg) and after we tried to switch to another (amitryptiline) because of nerve pain, I went down the road of insomnia and later on ocd again. So I am back on mirtazapine, and weaning off of the amitryptiline. This is/was a very traumatic experience. Because the switch caused a mental breakdown. Now my psychiatrist has mentioned to up the mirtazapine to 45mg. And my obsessive self has done a lot of research and a lot is saying that the higher the dose, the more you can experience anxiety. And for ocd it’s obviously not the first choice. I am obsessing all morning about it. I am too scared to go up. But I am also too scared to try another and to wean myself of off mirtazapine. I feel stuck at this point. Taking two meds is also not something I want. I could really use some words of encouragement right now I think. 🥹

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