Natural therapies for OCD

[Boxers1]

Does anyone have any good experience with alternative/natural medicine for OCD? I cannot tolerate SSRIs, but I use xanax to help control my anxiety. I had a rough spike last night...I was really mad that my body reacted with a shot of adrenaline and fear right in my stomach to a thought that kind of escalated to a point where I thought it felt like an agressive urge trying to release a thought I was probably subconciously trying to control...Trying to suppress the thought only makes it stronger and only makes the urge to think it stronger. Bad Combo.....I know I could have dismissed the thought so much easier if I didn't get that shot of anxiety. I am really annoyed at my brain for reacting.

Does anyone know if Inositol can really help OCD? I read about this and it said that it can help. I am trying to take St. John's wort now. I also heard that drinking whey protein shakes has L-Tyrosine in it which can help boost serotonin. I assume if I can balance out my seratonin, my anxiety response may decrease?

Thanks for listening.
Boxers1

 

[gracealone]

Hi Boxers1
Back in the early 80's I used St. Johns Wort for several years. I did get over a really long and bad flare without any other meds., but I also began to exercise - consistent running at least 5 days a week so it's hard to say whether it was the St. John's Wort or the exercise that eventually raised my serotonin. It took a very long time for me to feel better but I think improvement is always gradual.
I don't take an SSRI - I couldn't tolerate Paxil and had a mild allergic reaction to Zoloft. Of course this really freaked me out so trying another SSRI was out of the question. OCD said, "don't do it or you'll get another allergic reaction and die!!"
Because of all of this I had a very hard time starting meds. I was terrified of all of them.
I currently use Buspar to take the edge of the anxiety as well as a very small dose of Remeron 7.5 mgs. (At first I was on 30mgs.) Remeron makes you want to eat a lot and I had to taper it way down in order to be able to go back on a low carb diet to fight off the weight gain. It's a real easy drug to start and it works very quickly but WOW!! it really makes you crave carbs. I had lost a lot of weight as usual from the anxiety so I think the Dr. wanted to get me eating again. I have a bottle of Xanax but I'm really scared of it. My OCD tells me I'll get addicted to it. I might take a .25 dose every 6-8 weeks if I have a really bad day. I always have to "confess" this to my husband - like I need him to keep track of how much I use it. Crazy!!
When I first started Buspar I had the same reaction that I did on SSRI, a huge increase in my OCD symptoms/panic attacks. Not fun. So I decided to go at it really slowly. I took a quarter of the small dose the Dr. prescribed and just gradually increased it over a month up to 10mgs and then over the next month up to 20mgs. I think this is the secret, (baby steps), for many of us who experience paradoxical anxiety when starting these meds .
I like Buspar because it doesn't wipe out all the anxiety but makes it tolerable which forces me to practice exposure/response. Also you are supposed to be able to go off it without any discontinuation syndrome. I haven't experienced any negative side effects being on it.
I am a huge advocate of regular aerobic exercise to boost serotonin levels. It really works, at least for me. I currently do race walking as well as kick boxing. 4-5 days a week. But any thing that gets the heart rate up and makes you sweat for at least 30 minutes will, over the long haul, help tremendously. For example my daughter does water aerobics because she has bad knees.
I'll pray that you can find something that can assist you in your therapy.
Mitzi

 

[QUannie]

I erased my message!

Q

 

[rubycakes]

Check out this site ocd-free . org

THis doctor has been studying natural herbal treatments for OCD. I havent tried it yet but I've done some research on her and so far Ive found her to be legit.