Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Anxiety Community
This patient support community is for discussions relating to generalized anxiety, anxiety and eating, anxiety and sleeping, mood swings, and phobias.
Post Comment
Anafranil is indicated for both depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is a potent drug alone, and is fairly safe if you don't have a history of cardiac problems or blood clotting.
Lithium has no known benefit in OCD. As stated, it's a mood stabilizer. Prolonged Lithium use can lead to accumulation and toxic side effects, therefore, periodic blood tests are required to establish the plasma level. Lithium has a narrow therapeutic window, and if exceeded in even small amounts, can lead to toxic levels. I would question the use of Lithium for treatment of OCD (certainly, better drugs are avaliable).
There are some other Tricyclic choices as well. If Anafranil is not working, Tofranil could be tried in its place. The SSRI's (Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac) are also indicated for OCD.
As for the safety of Anafranil and Lithium combined, they are safe. I would not use the Lithium unless there were some underlying reason to justify its use (bipolar disorder with mania).
-Ryan
Lithium has no known benefit in anxiety states, nor is it of value for OCD. I would question the doc as to why he prescribed Lithium, as it is a "serious" drug, and carries with it, potential serious risks.
Lithium is used to regulate the "up's and downs" of bipolar disorder (the up's being "mania"), a mood stabilizer. Anxiety is not "mania".
Since you are already taking a tricyclic, a trial period of Sinequan (Doxepin), may prove useful, as Sinequan is also indicated for anxiety. Unlike Tofranil and Anafranil (which are stimulating), Sinequan has a mild sedative effect. Sinequan, when useful, is a better choice than the Benzodiazepines.
If there is no response from the Sinequan, a Benzodiazepine such as Librium or Klonopin would be a good choice.
I'd ditch the Lithium (with your doctor's blessing). He's using it "off-label" (very off label).
-Ryan