Re: Inositol instead of Zoloft

[Guest guest]

I have a soon to be 14 yr. old daughther who has had OCD at least since 5. We

tried all the CBT and ERP through a well known program for several years, but

did not have much success (no SSRI- our choice - so we don't know how that may

have impacted her results). She has been working with a Natuopath that

specializes in behavioral health issues, using classical homeopathy as his main

approach. He is not local for us so we have done all via phone. It has been

over 2 years now, and I have been very pleased with the results. Even as we go

through the tough teen years, which many can attest to as being the hardest with

OCD, we continue to have a much improved, happier, pleasant teenager on our

hands. At her worst(age 9 -11)it was an exhausting daily struggle for her -

constant reassurance (100's of X's a day), rages, crying, you name it. My advice

to you, if you do decide to check this out....you have to find the right Dr. -

very few and far between that know how to treat OCD with homeopathy, likely less

than a dozen nationwide. Dr.Mark's website is now www.fountainheadclinic.com -

He recently moved his practice to Santa Cruz area in California. He will be

working on some studies that include Behavioral Health concerns and has a strong

knowledge base and passion for treating Bipolar as well as other anxiety

disorders.

>

> Hello Everyone,

>

> I'm new to this group and I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to join. 

I've been reading through previous posts and it has been most helpful.   My 10

year old daughter has recently been diagnosed with severe OCD and the

psychiatrist that saw her has been very clear that she needs to go on medication

along with CBT.  He said that her OCD is so much that it would be difficult for

her to have any success with CBT without medication.  He wants her to start

Zoloft but I'm petrified of her starting any kind of SSRI's.  She's only 10 and

of all the side effects I've been reading about, it makes me very

uncomfortable!  I have heard of Inositol and I'm thinking of starting her on it

with the guidance of a Naturopath and give that a try on its own before

resorting to Zoloft.  Has anyone had any experience with Inositol on it's own? 

Other than stomach upset, are there any other side effects?  Does anyone have a

child with OCD who is

> taking Inositol only?  How is it working? I would appreciate any feedback.

>

> Thank you,

> (A very concerned mom!)

>

>

[Guest guest]

HI ,

My son is 12 and has been taking inositol alone for about 2 1/2 years. When he

started it, his OCD was considered mild to moderate. I started at a very low

dosage and increased a little every few days, until we noticed an improvement,

and he said he felt calmer. I've increased and decreased his dosage based on

his symptoms. Right now, he has almost no OCD symptoms (just some very minor

general anxiety). He's only taking about 7 grams a day, which is considered

very low. At his worst, I had him up to about 13 grams a day. He has never had

any side effects. The most common side effect is stomach upset, but if you

start low and increase slowly, it should avoid any problems. He also has a

wonderful therapist that he saw weekly this summer. She did CBT & ERP with him,

which worked wonders. He hasn't needed to see her in two months.

Through the advice I received here, I purchased the inositol on iherb.com .

It's much cheaper than if you purchase it in a store. We use the powdered form.

I hope this helps.

[Guest guest]

Hi, welcome!

My son's OCD began in 6th grade (he's now 22) and it came on severe too. We

used inositol powder from 6th thru 8th grade. He did great on it.

As someone else stated, we started low to avoid stomach upset and increased

probably every 3rd or 4th day. He ended up on about 13 to 14 grams a day. Even

had more on worse days. At first his OCD seemed worse, and I didn't know if

that was the inositol or if it wasn't helping and the OCD was just worse on its

own. But since the SSRI meds can cause OCD to worsen at first, we hung in there

and luckily began to have success. I recall by 8th grade we were just giving

him 1 tsp a day (about 3.5 grams, though I did round the teaspoon and not level

it, so a little more grams I guess).

Various reasons (mainly $ at that time) we switched to the SSRI Celexa in 9th

grade (insurance paid for it) and he also had great success on it. He stopped

the Celexa at end of 10th grade and in 11th his OCD returned. Tried inositol a

couple times after that, even at higher dose range, and no effect on his OCD.

Sigh!

Parents have had success with different brands, so there is no particular one to

use. But after trying different ones, I like Source Naturals the best because

it mixed & dissolved really well. And it has 845mg per 1/4 tsp. Brands did

vary with that. It is much cheaper to buy it online. You can shop around for

prices, but I also use iherb.com for all my supplements, always great

service/delivery. Just throwing that out there because I did order from another

company once and it took much longer to receive the inositol.

Hope this helps,

>

> Hello Everyone,

>

> I'm new to this group and I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to join. 

I've been reading through previous posts and it has been most helpful.   My 10

year old daughter has recently been diagnosed with severe OCD and the

psychiatrist that saw her has been very clear that she needs to go on medication

along with CBT.  He

[Guest guest]

We used inositol and found it to have the exact same effects and side effects as

zoloft- ie helped with the OCD with the cost or disinhibiting our son- stealing,

lying, cheating, swearing and fighting- at a much higher $ cost for us, so we

went back to zoloft.

[Guest guest]

Thank you everyone for your comments and sharing your experiences. I really

appreciate it. It's really difficult to know what is best for your child

especially when different practitioners have different views. It's been such a

difficult time. Does it get any better?

>

> Hello Everyone,

>

> I'm new to this group and I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to join. 

I've been reading through previous posts and it has been most helpful.   My 10

year old daughter has recently been diagnosed with severe OCD and the

psychiatrist that saw her has been very clear that she needs to go on medication

along with CBT.  He said that her OCD is so much that it would be difficult for

her to have any success with CBT without medication.  He wants her to start

Zoloft but I'm petrified of her starting any kind of SSRI's.  She's only 10 and

of all the side effects I've been reading about, it makes me very

uncomfortable!  I have heard of Inositol and I'm thinking of starting her on it

with the guidance of a Naturopath and give that a try on its own before

resorting to Zoloft.  Has anyone had any experience with Inositol on it's own? 

Other than stomach upset, are there any other side effects?  Does anyone have a

child with OCD who is

> taking Inositol only?  How is it working? I would appreciate any feedback.

>

> Thank you,

> (A very concerned mom!)

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dear , my son spent 5 years on inositol with great success. After

about a week of taking it he said " i dont know why but my bad thoughts

are gone! " .. He stayed that way, with mild ocd symptoms for about 5. He

has since relapsed due to brain surgery. Inositol did not help anymore.

He is now on prozac and abilify and is doing pretty good however he has

gained 50 pounds and is depressed over his weight. Ocd is such a

terrible disease. It has robbed my son of so much of his childhood. Try

to get it under control right awaym whether its inositol or meds. I

totally understand how u feel. I was really scared to give him meds

also but had no choice. My son is now 12 so i think harmones are making

it worse also. Good luck and hang in there. If u decide to use

inositol, make sure u use the powdr form. I got it cheapest at

bio-alternatives.net. i can help u out with dosing if u want

Hugs, jodi

[Guest guest]

No matter what you try (meds, supplements, therapy alone...), you don't know

what is best until you find what works. Guess I'm saying there is no wrong

decision. Hard part is if the first thing doesn't work, it feels like wasted

time. But even with the prescription meds, the first may not work well for the

OCD or have unwanted side effects so you then try another. Same with a

supplement or trying therapy alone first to see if they can manage it without

aid.

Yes, it does get better!

>

> Thank you everyone for your comments and sharing your experiences. I really

appreciate it. It's really difficult to know what is best for your child

especially when different practitioners have different views. It's been such a

difficult time. Does it get any better?

>

[Guest guest]

I have a daughter who's 12 diagnosed Oct 2010. We did therapy for 6months even

though meds were pushed at us because she did fairly well with therapy. But her

anxieties remained high so we finally caved and started Prozac earlier this year

which was slowly increased and she was ok until 20mg. She started crying all the

time and expressed thoguhts of cutting herself which was never in her thoughts

before. We then started Zoloft and are on 50mg now. We really haven't seen much

improvement and are going to ask to take her off to see where she is baseline

again since she's been on meds so long now we don't remember if they have really

helped or not. I have not heard of this Inositol and will check into that. We're

so stressed out with our daughter we just don't know which way to go. I wish you

luck.

Jackie

> >

> > Hello Everyone,

> >

> > I'm new to this group and I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to

join.  I've been reading through previous posts and it has been most helpful. 

 My 10 year old daughter has recently been diagnosed with severe OCD and the

psychiatrist that saw her has been very clear that she needs to go on medication

along with CBT.  He said that her OCD is so much that it would be difficult for

her to have any success with CBT without medication.  He wants her to start

Zoloft but I'm petrified of her starting any kind of SSRI's.  She's only 10 and

of all the side effects I've been reading about, it makes me very

uncomfortable!  I have heard of Inositol and I'm thinking of starting her on it

with the guidance of a Naturopath and give that a try on its own before

resorting to Zoloft.  Has anyone had any experience with Inositol on it's own? 

Other than stomach upset, are there any other side effects?  Does anyone have a

child with OCD who is

> > taking Inositol only?  How is it working? I would appreciate any feedback.

> >

> > Thank you,

> > (A very concerned mom!)

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I have a daughter who's 12 diagnosed Oct 2010. We did therapy for 6months even

though meds were pushed at us because she did fairly well with therapy. But her

anxieties remained high so we finally caved and started Prozac earlier this year

which was slowly increased and she was ok until 20mg. She started crying all the

time and expressed thoguhts of cutting herself which was never in her thoughts

before. We then started Zoloft and are on 50mg now. We really haven't seen much

improvement and are going to ask to take her off to see where she is baseline

again since she's been on meds so long now we don't remember if they have really

helped or not. I have not heard of this Inositol and will check into that. We're

so stressed out with our daughter we just don't know which way to go. I wish you

luck.

Jackie

> >

> > Hello Everyone,

> >

> > I'm new to this group and I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to

join.  I've been reading through previous posts and it has been most helpful. 

 My 10 year old daughter has recently been diagnosed with severe OCD and the

psychiatrist that saw her has been very clear that she needs to go on medication

along with CBT.  He said that her OCD is so much that it would be difficult for

her to have any success with CBT without medication.  He wants her to start

Zoloft but I'm petrified of her starting any kind of SSRI's.  She's only 10 and

of all the side effects I've been reading about, it makes me very

uncomfortable!  I have heard of Inositol and I'm thinking of starting her on it

with the guidance of a Naturopath and give that a try on its own before

resorting to Zoloft.  Has anyone had any experience with Inositol on it's own? 

Other than stomach upset, are there any other side effects?  Does anyone have a

child with OCD who is

> > taking Inositol only?  How is it working? I would appreciate any feedback.

> >

> > Thank you,

> > (A very concerned mom!)

> >

> >