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Help with anxiety itching?
I have been on 50mg of generic Zofolt a day for awhile now for OCD, and anxiety issues. It was working pretty good for me then all the sudden just seemed to stop. My Dr. upped the dosage to 100mg a day and it has helped some but I am still suffering from the itching. I get bad cases of itching on the back of my neck and on my forearms. I don't breakout or have any kind of rash. I will just start to itch and will scratch until it bleeds sometimes. I have tried lotions, ointments, and ice packs which do not help. I have tried other medications and the Zoloft seemed to be working the best until recently. Anyone else have any experience with this kind of itching? Any recommendations?
Thanks
Thanks
If this is one of the ways your anxiety presents itself, then obviously that needs to be one of the focuses for your anxiety treatment in therapy. Are you in therapy? If not, I would recommend it.
There are different approaches you can take in a therapy setting to help you cope with this symptom. Obviously, since the Zoloft isn't the cause, I wouldn't think making a medication change would make any sense, UNLESS you feel like the Zoloft isn't properly controlling the symptoms.
Keep in mind too that it takes a while (up to 6 weeks) before the effects of a dosage increase may be noticeable. If it hasn't been that long, then you definitely need to give it some time. It's not unusual to need a dosage increase from time to time of an antidepressant...if the Zoloft had been working fairly well for you until recently, then trying a higher dose makes absolute sense.
You just may need to give this a little more time, and if you're not already, get in therapy to start working on different coping mechanisms, and ways to take your focus away from the itching sensation. Obviously, any anxiety related symptom only gets worse when we remain overly focused on it. Not easy to change that, but it can be done with some work, time and patience.
Let us know how you're doing, hang in there!
There are different approaches you can take in a therapy setting to help you cope with this symptom. Obviously, since the Zoloft isn't the cause, I wouldn't think making a medication change would make any sense, UNLESS you feel like the Zoloft isn't properly controlling the symptoms.
Keep in mind too that it takes a while (up to 6 weeks) before the effects of a dosage increase may be noticeable. If it hasn't been that long, then you definitely need to give it some time. It's not unusual to need a dosage increase from time to time of an antidepressant...if the Zoloft had been working fairly well for you until recently, then trying a higher dose makes absolute sense.
You just may need to give this a little more time, and if you're not already, get in therapy to start working on different coping mechanisms, and ways to take your focus away from the itching sensation. Obviously, any anxiety related symptom only gets worse when we remain overly focused on it. Not easy to change that, but it can be done with some work, time and patience.
Let us know how you're doing, hang in there!
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