Medication
Medication can be an effective way of improving OCD symptoms in many people, especially when used in combination with psychological therapies like CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy). Making the decision to take medication, especially for the first time, can be daunting for many reasons (worries about side-effects, possible dependence, concerns if pregnant, etc.). The most common family of medications for OCD are the SSRIs (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors). Giving children medication to treat OCD has been a controversial issue and so parents should discuss all treatment options with a health professional beforehand. Another issue that people are often concerned about is the use of medication during pregnancy. A website that will help to inform people concerned about this issue is "Bumps": www.medicinesinpregnancy.org.
All of the drugs mentioned below are available on prescription only.
A useful website can be found at http://www.choiceandmedication.org/berkshirehealthcare
What are the different kinds of medications available to a sufferer of OCD?
Below is a list of medications that may be considered by a doctor to help treatment for OCD. Each drug name has a generic name and a trade name. Sometimes these vary with country. Click on each drug's generic name to be taken to its Wikipedia page for more information. Some drugs are not specifically licensed for the treatment of OCD, but are sometimes prescribed off-label.
Important note: The author of this page not a health professional. The information has been collected from a number of books, respectable websites, and academic papers. Please get qualified medical advice before taking any medication and use your doctor's advice for your own dosage. The author cannot guarantee that this page does not contain unintentional errors and the recommended doses of each drug may have changed since this list was compiled.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)
These drugs are usually the first choice for an illness like OCD. They are often called anti-depressants (not to be confused with other types of anti-depressant drugs available - e.g. see below). They may take several weeks or months to start working fully and some people suffer uncomfortable side-effects when starting these drugs, but these side-effects are usually transient. There is no generic answer to the question, "Which is the best one for OCD?". Different people respond to some SSRIs better than others, and on average (over all studies), all roughly have the same efficacy.
Some people find that their OCD symptoms are markedly eased after a few months of taking an SSRI, other people find that their symptoms almost completely disappear, and others need to try a few types of SSRI before they find one that is effective for them. Some people though (a minority) find no ease of their symptoms. Other drug options are available in such cases (see below).
Tricyclic antidepressants
If a few SSRI drugs have been tried unsuccessfully (over a reasonable period) then clomipramine is often prescribed (in lower dose) as an augmenting agent to an SSRI.