Posted by Drigon on March 12, 2009, at 8:58:38
Hi,
just wanted to let others know about my success with this combination.
Since 1999 I'm suffering from ocd (unwanted thoughts), 3 years it was really extreme as I couldn't think of anything else or concentrate on anything else except thinking about "my special topic".. it was the most important thing in my life, although I knew it was absolutely b*llsh*t...I was (3 years) in psycho therapy and my psychiatrist put me on several antidepressants, i.e.: sertraline, venlafaxine, mirtazapine, deanxit (combi of low dose flupentixol + melitracen), buspirone + ssri, nris + ssris, atypical neuroleptics and paroxetine. Nothing helped dramatically good although the ssris and venlafaxine seemed to have a noticeable positive effect. The medication which helped me the most was paroxetine (and later citalopram) and it helped me quite well, though the ocd-thoughts were still VERY noticeable, but by far not so inhibiting as before.
This was 6 years ago.. since then I took citalopram, venlafaxine and once for 2 month or so escitalopram and 4 months tianeptine and I never fully remitted.. there were times I didn't think that often anymore about "my special topics" and there were other times it got quite bad again.. but at least a few times daily I had to do my ocd pensum (everyday!)..
Then suddenly St. John's Wort drew my attention.. something I had ignored all over the past years exploring and reading about psychopharmacology.. (thought it was just like some natural lightweight-ssri.. once in a while I stumbled about something new I hadn't tried before, read reviews et.c. and more than once I've thought that I maybe could have found something promising that would maybe help me out that time, only to find myself disappointed again after trying out the new medication...this happened quite a few times, maybe some of you experienced/experience similar :D ).
So I read a whole lot of abstracts at pubmed and the newly updated cochrane review of 2008, that looked very promising regarding St. Johns Wort as an antidepressant (controversely to the cochrance reviews between 1998-2005)..
Hoiwever, hardly any data were available regarding efficacy in treating ocd and the only pilot study I could find was negative..But I thought since my main problem wasn't solely ocd anymore, but also sad and st. johns wort inhibited serotonine by a completely different mechanism than any other synthetic antidepressant, it could augment my (already started) escitalopram medication.
So I tried that using 1800mg/day (2 times a day) Li 160 + 10mg/day escitalopram.. and my symptoms began to diminish and suddenly after 2 months my ocd symptoms were completely gone. I couldn't believe it.. but it's still true since >2 months and very strange since my life hasn't changed to the better, no situational changes, achievements or anything in my life except this medication could have caused this effect (I stay at home in front of my computer most of the day most days, also suffering from SAD).
I must admit, that I began psychotherapy again 1 month prior trying out this combo, but mainly because my sad.. and we hadn't spoken much about my ocd at all except about a few minutes once or twice at the beginning.. So this symptomatology hasn't been a target at all yet (because the ocd symptoms were by far more manageable/tolerable than the sad symptoms at that time)
I don't say the psychotherapy didn't play ANY role, it surely contributed and maybe it played a bigger role unknowingly, but I don't think any psychotherapy (except maybe something like cognitive behavioral therapy) could achieve such an effect in only 3 months, especially not when this wasn't topic nor target!This effect (in my case) is so noteworthy for me because I've never ever experienced an ocd-less episode of even 1 week since 10 years (needless to say 2 months)!
Thanks for reading, I will let you know how things evolve..
greets,
Drigon
poster:Drigon
thread:885000
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090304/msgs/885000.html