Friends,

Can anyone with experience with the various SSRI medications (Luvox, Zoloft, Paxil, and Prozac) tell me which one you have had the best results with, and which have had the fewest side effects?

I currently take Luvox for OCD, but it produces alot of drowsiness and general "blah" feelings, and I also feel like I could be getting better symptom relief than I am. But going to higher dosages makes the side effects I mentioned worse.

My psychiatrist has said that the other SSRI's would definitely have less of a sedating effect than Luvox, but I'm afraid of them being less effective at treating the symptoms of OCD and/or that I will go through a period during the transition where the symptoms get really bad.

Any opinions on the various SSRI's would be greatly appreciated. I realize these are non-medical opinions, but I'm just interested in what folks have to say.

Thanks, take care, and God bless!

=Tom=

P.S. I do have the Attacking Anxiety & Depression program, but haven't given it near the attention it deserves, sad to say. I hope to begin making a better effort.

I like my Klonopin aside from the drowsiness aspect. I heart my Prozac. I plan to marry it someday.
Prozac is a God-send in my opinion.

Tom,

Well, i've been on Prozac, paxil, klonopin, Effexor and Xanax..lol.

(not tryin to be a med pusher here, but these are what i expierenced while on each one)

Prozac, for me, unfortunately, didnt give me results like bijoux had. It helped my anxiety, but for some reason, just made me a wee bit more angry than usual. I mean, nothing extreme, i wasnt turning into the hulk...lol but wasnt my best med.

Paxil, i liked alot, i was on that for 4 years. However that med has a tendancy to stop working after a while. Since i was on it for 4 years at the highest doseage, i had to switch over to effexor.

Klonopin, didnt do anything to help me. Sorta just made me feel all blaaaah and it really didnt help with my depression.

I've been on effexor xr and Xanax now for about 9-10 months and have seen nothing but good results. I don't take the xanax every day, I only take it when im having MASSIVE panic. But since taking the effexor xr, i havent been that bad. I'm actually getting to the point now where i think i will do fine without them. I think in my next appointment with the doc i'm going to ask to start lowering the doseage.

Whatever med you decide to use, just remember that each one works differently for each person. Like Bijoux and i with the prozac. I think the worst part about SSRI's is that you sorta have to "shop" for one that actually works with your body. I guess for any of the ones i just mentioned your going to feel tired for atleast 2 -4 weeks, until your body gets used to the meds. Good luck on finding the right one. Take care!

Doyle

I took the regular Effexor 4 years ago and hated it. I had really weird dreams on it! It was also really bad on my sex drive and enjoyment with the hubby. I switched to Celexa and had very little side effects except for yawning but that goes away after about 2 weeks. I only take 20 mg at the moment so as to still experience some of my anxiety and depression so I can work it out with the program seeing as how I am going thru a major growth spurt right now. I had been off all meds for 3 months and had some stressful stuff happen in my life and I was falling into bad habits again. Anyway, Celexa is my route right now.
Yellow Rose

Hi
Every med works different like you can see. I can't take paxil because it makes me too manic. Effexor made me cough and irratable. Neither did anything for OCD. Serzone works good. Lowered sex drive.
Now I'm on Zoloft, best ever, stopped or at least helped with OCD, and lessened depression too. Haven't had any side effects after my body got used to it.
Just takes trial and error if you go the med route or have too.
Good luck and find people you can trust with this issue.
If the cure is worse than the problem then you know it's not for you.

covetom,

I believe a medicine (SSRI or regular med) is effective/not effective based on individual body chemistry. I am on Zoloft 100 mg/day. I had been on the max dosage, 200 mg/day, a month ago as part of an anxiety program I am involved with. I gained 20 lbs in three weeks I dropped back to 100 mg. SSRI's will do that. The Zoloft I would rate an A- for OCD and depression. I take Xanax .25 mg when needed for panic associated with the obsessive thoughts.

I was on Paxil 20 mg for depression (pre-OCD). It was good. Unfortunately when I developed OCD last year it didn't do anything for me. Neither did Effexor 250 mg.

I've actually been considering a natural approach to this disorder. I'm still doing research.

Hope that helps.

I did prozac and it didn't hurt, but didn't help either. It basically was like sugar pill for me.

I did Paxil and it made my symptoms way worse for some reason and I felt like I was vibrating. Same thing with Zoloft. I don't know what that was about, but I wrote off meds after that. Three strikes and you're out as far as I'm concerned.

I have had good results with Kava Kava, St. Johns Wort and Altenelol (which I take for my heart problem.) Those are about the only things that I have tried other than the stuff I mentioned above.

Good luck with your search, let us know what your results are!

Hi Folks, I just wanted to let you know that Im on 25mgs of Paxil cr and I am lovin it, my anxiety and depression have decreased tremendously, and along with the program , I am doing much better! Thanks to all those friends in chat who helped me!