The five serotonin reuptake inhibitors, all approved by the FDA for OCD, were citalopram (Celexa), fluoxetine (Prozac) fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Paxil), and sertraline (Zoloft).
Paroxetine. Paroxetine (Paxil) is an SSRI used to treat OCD and various conditions, including depression, panic disorder, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is approved for people 18 years and older and is taken once a day.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
SSRIs are a type of medication people may use as a treatment for depression. People may also use SSRIs to treat mental health conditions that can cause intrusive thoughts, such as: OCD. PTSD.
According to these guidelines, the initial pharmacological treatment in adults with OCD should be one of the following SSRIs: fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline, or citalopram.
It doesn't necessarily mean that you are depressed, it's just that antidepressant also treats OCD. Your doctor may have you try clomipramine (Anafranil), fluoxetine (Prozac), fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Paxil), sertraline (Zoloft), or another antidepressant, depending on your age, health, and symptoms.
Certain psychiatric medications can help control the obsessions and compulsions of OCD . Most commonly, antidepressants are tried first. Antidepressants approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat OCD include: Clomipramine (Anafranil) for adults and children 10 years and older.
Prozac (Fluoxetine)
Prozac can be used to treat depression, eating disorders, panic disorder, bipolar disorder, and OCD. Prozac may improve symptoms like washing compulsions and obsessive thoughts. It has been approved for use in OCD patients aged 7 and older.
Is Lexapro or Zoloft better for OCD? Some healthcare professionals will prescribe Lexapro “off-label” to treat OCD in adult patients, but only Zoloft is FDA-approved to treat adult and pediatric patients with the condition.
Doctors typically prescribe Lexapro to treat anxiety and depression, especially anxiety and depression associated with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Physicians can, in some situations, prescribe Lexapro to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Zoloft is one of the most popular drugs for obsessive-compulsive disorder. By limiting the reuptake of serotonin into neurons, it improves mood, fears, anxiety, obsessions, and compulsions. This alleviates symptoms of OCD and mood and anxiety disorders.
It has been shown to reduce fear, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and panic attacks. It may also lessen the desire to perform repetitive tasks (compulsions like hand-washing, counting, and checking) that obstruct everyday life. Sertraline is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor that is selective.
If you have anxiety, medication can help because the medicines used for anxiety alter the chemicals in your body and brain, reducing symptoms, and often helping you calm down and focus on other things.
In addition, medications originally designed for depression, the SSRIs (Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Lexapro, Effexor, Cymbalta, and others), are also capable of lowering the underlying level of anxiety which takes a lot of steam out of this phenomenon.
Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, a type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), is the gold-standard treatment for OCD.
Citalopram is also sometimes used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (bothersome thoughts that won't go away and the need to perform certain actions over and over), eating disorders, alcoholism, panic disorder (condition that causes sudden attacks of extreme fear with no apparent cause), premenstrual dysphoric ...
While they're called antidepressants, most offer benefits in the treatment of anxiety, as well. Furthermore, therapeutic techniques like psychotherapy may also benefit you in the fight against these thoughts.
Lexapro can be effective at reducing the symptoms of anxiety, and it may be especially helpful for multiple types of anxiety disorder, including: Specific phobias (off-label) Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) (FDA-approved)
Both Lexapro and Prozac have been found to be effective in treating social anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
It usually takes 4 to 6 weeks for Escitalopram to work. Check with your doctor before starting to take Escitalopram if you are trying to become pregnant, or plan to discontinue it if you're already pregnant or you are breastfeeding. Take Escitalopram once a day. You can take it with or without food.
The recommended dose of Lexapro is 10 mg once daily. A fixed-dose trial of Lexapro demonstrated the effectiveness of both 10 mg and 20 mg of Lexapro, but failed to demonstrate a greater benefit of 20 mg over 10 mg [see Clinical Studies (14.1)].
Escitalopram is an SSRI under the brand name Lexapro. Individuals taking it may notice therapeutic effects within the first week. It has the fastest known response of an SSRI and the mechanisms behind it are still being studied.
There are currently several available options beyond medication that have been proven to effectively treat OCD. These include Deep TMS, cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT), psychodynamic therapy, and surgical procedures.
When low serotonin levels are experienced by someone with OCD, it can make them edgier and more hyperaware of their environments than usual, resulting in increased OCD-related behaviors such as obsessive hand-washing, counting or organizing.