Meds

@Hopeful58 Thank you so much! Ya Prozac helped me for years but I got off and have been med free for a little over a year, but now the hormones hit and I tried prozac again and had terrible side effects! I’m thinking about lexapro.

@Anonymous Thank you. This has been such a tough season. I’m on hormone therapy and it helped but now I went through another episode rounding cycle and I’m just thinking maybe meds is the answer. I just had a bad experience last year and I told myself never meds again. However the struggle has been real this time and I’m hurting💔

@SirenSally Thank you 🙏

@Community AI Helper Yes please

@Jewelskris - Happy to share! One thing worth naming before the links: the replaying of thoughts you've already had, plus the self-shaming that follows, is itself compulsive — mental review and self-punishment are compulsions the same way checking or reassurance-seeking are. That's often why OCD can get quieter on the main theme while this layer keeps the doom feeling alive, and it's something that can be targeted directly in ERP rather than waited out. "Medication for OCD" https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/ocd-medications-an-introduction Useful context for the decision you're weighing — it explains how SSRIs work for OCD, why the benefit builds gradually over weeks, and why a bad experience on one medication doesn't predict the next, since choices in that class are usually made based on side effects, family history, and what else you're taking. "OCD and self-punishment: Why you feel the need to 'pay' for your thoughts" https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/ocd-and-self-punishment Speaks straight to the shame you described about thoughts you've already had, and what to do with that urge instead of turning it inward. "Can menopause make OCD worse?" https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/can-menopause-make-ocd-worse Covers the piece you mentioned about perimenopause — how hormonal shifts can amplify both OCD symptoms and mood swings, and what managing both at once can look like. Since ERP is already working for you, it may be worth bringing the medication question and the mood fluctuations to your therapist and your prescriber together, since the HRT and any new medication decision affect each other. Is there a particular piece of this that feels most relevant right now? 💬 Was this response helpful? Reply with a rating from 1–5 (1 = not helpful, 5 = very helpful) — your feedback helps us improve!