Zoloft or Prozac for anxiety/OCD

[mom0810]

I'm not looking for medical advice, but I would love to share experiences of those who have been on one or the other for anxiety/panic and OCD. I have severe anxiety and OCD and I've been on zoloft before, which really worked for me. But I had the side effect of gaining weight which I didn't like. I have come to the conclusion that I need meds again, and my pdoc wanted to put me on prozac this time, with xanax for the bad anxiety.

What do you moms think? Have you been on one or the other or both? What was your experience? Thanks so much in advance.

[lisasaurus]

hey there, i have been on zoloft and celexa. for me, they are working the exact same. i only switched to celexa after tapering off zoloft completely and having a major relapse into anxiety/depression. i don't think any of the ssri's are weight neutral, but i have heard wellbutrin is. although, from what i understand, thats not a great choice for anxiety usually. everyone reacts so different.

good luck to you!

[CrazyCatLady]

I would try the prozac. It is great for anxiety, has been around forever, and has few side effects (if any). I've seen it work wonders for a lot of people. It seems worth a try.

Careful with the xanax, that stuff can be really addicting for some people.

[purplevega]

I am taking xanax and zoloft for an anxiety disorder related to stress. I really only use the xanax as a last resort and take only half of a .25 if needed. I have started taking yoga again and will be joining a group meditation class next week. Yoga seems to work as well as xanax for the rough days. The zoloft has worked well but I am hoping to get off of it in 6 months. Good luck.

[kittywitty]

Prozac did not help my OCD and barely touched my anxiety. Zoloft helped more.

[sbgrace]

I'd try another similar SSRI like Celexa over Prozac I think. I suspect (from reading, not experience) that Prozac is going to have more side effect potential due to things like long half life. PP is correct that Wellbutrin isn't for OCD.

It's a pain in the rear because it's 3 x's a day but Inositol seems to have similar results in OCD without the side effects of SSRI's. There is new information out about N-acetylcysteine being used with SSRI meds due to findings about OCD and glutamate processing. I've even seen phase 2 clinical trials. I would assume it could be used with Inositol as well.

Just some other options if you find the SSRI you select is still a problem side effects wise.

[ReadingMama]

I started out on Prozac for OCD when I was first diagnosed. It worked great for me. After about a year on it, I started getting depressed. I attributed the depression to the Prozac because of all the media hoopla about Prozac back then, and I stopped taking it. (I was actually bipolar, but didn't know it at the time--so it wasn't the Prozac at all.) I'm on Zoloft now, but if for some reason I couldn't take it, I'd go back to Prozac.

[bjorker]

Honestly, what works for some people does not work for others, without much rhyme or reason (as far as SSRIs go). So you'll get all kinds of experiences and opinions when you ask for them. In a lot of ways, you just have to give one a good trial period and see how it goes. The only exception I can think of has already been mentioned: Wellbutrin hasn't been shown to help with anxiety as much as the others. Anecdotally, Celexa has worked wonders for me, and I have similar issues (high anxiety, OCD tendencies). Except of course for the weight gain.