Re: Ready to give up on Inositol

May 3, 2005

In a message dated 5/3/2005 12:22:07 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

wicky227@... writes:

> (does it really take

> at least 6 weeks to work?)

When they put our son on Celexa, it started working within the first week and

we saw improvement. It got better with more time, but when things are really

bad, any improvement is a blessing. I hope you find it's the same for you.

We also have had a hard time with Inositol. I was hoping if it would work

for him we could cut back on the amount of Celexa he is taking. Unfortunately,

we cannot get past the lowest dose because it keeps causing diarrhea for him.

(

BJ

May 3, 2005

Hi there, it's possible the inositol is helping some, but just not enough.

As you pointed out, you can't know what your dd's OCD would have done since

onset *without* the inositol.

Yes, the main drawback to SSRIs is the length of time they may take to reach

full effectiveness--about 6 weeks to two months. Many people do experience

some significant relief long before that time frame though. Although you

are understandably eager for your child to get some relief, it's best to

start with a low dose and raise the dose slowly toward the target dose.

This can minimize or sidestep any transient, unpleasant side effects. Some

common ones are sleep disturbance, drowsiness, hyper or mouthy, changes in

appetite, and so on. You can consider medication as long term but

temporary, starting them does not imply that she will take them or need to

the rest of her life. The right sort of therapy, called Cognitive Behavior

Therapy with Exposure and Response Prevention, also reduces OCD symptoms and

many think the two together are the quickest route to lasting OCD relief.

Yes my child seemed worse when taking inositol, she seemed activated, more

anxious, and ticcy. She was already taking an SSRI though when I tried

inositol which may have affected my impressions or her response to it.

I don't know whether it's necessary to taper off of inositol, so I will

leave it to others to address that.

Yes it can take 6 weeks or so for each SSRI to become effective, though

again your daughter may notice relief before that. Some docs simply switch

from on to the next SSRI, other prefer to titer down on the first drug

before starting and then gradually increasing the dose of the second one.

No doubt this affects the time frame somewhat.

I'm sorry I can help with the thyroid question, I don't know how an SSRI

could affect this.

Take care, good luck, I hope your daughter is feeling better soon.

Kathy R. in Indiana

----- Original Message -----

From: " wicky227 " <wicky227@...>

> My daughter has been on Inositol for 3 1/2 months, gradually

> increasing to her present dose of 19 grams. Not only has there not

> been an improvement, but she's gotten much worse. Since she's only

> had OCD since December, it's possible that it would have evolved

> this quickly into the moderate case she has now -- very, VERY bad at

> night and usually not much of an issue in the daytime. I don't know

> what to do now. We will see her doctor tomorrow and will probably

> end up starting her on Luvox or maybe Zoloft. (does it really take

> at least 6 weeks to work?) I hate to have to resort to drugs but she

> is in a lot of misery with fears of going to hell -- something she

> was never taught by us. I have a few questions:

>

> Has anyone heard of people getting worse while taking Inositol?

>

> Should we taper off the Inositol, as we would a regular drug?

>

> If after 6 weeks one drug doesn't work and we switch, does it take

> another 6 weeks to find out if the new one works, or do the effects

> of the previous drug make the second one start to take effect faster?

>

> Also, she had her thyroid checked -- very low TSH, but low to normal

> T3 and T4, which is confusing. The low TSH would indicate a

> hyperactive thyroid, but the T3 & T4 readings were a little low or

> normal, which would indicate hypothroidism. Her psy. & pediat. docs

> weren't sure what to make of it and we made an appointment with an

> endocrinologist -- 7 weeks from now. This delay is unfortunate

> because if it is a thyroid problem we won't know which pills work if

> we've already started her on an SSRI by the time her appointment

> finally comes up.

>

> Sorry about the long post, but would appreciate hearing opinions.

May 3, 2005

Hi, I am new to the group and just read read read to get as much

information as I can. However, we just switched my DD (age 9) from

Celexa to Prozac because she suddenly got worse, so I thought I'd share

our experience to see if it will help you at all. We switched directly

and didn't taper, but it was a tough 5 weeks until we saw some

improvement. It's now been 6 weeks and I can finally breathe a sigh of

relief because she is doing SO much better. Of course, we still have

OCD issues and are still doing therapy, but she's got her life back

again. Coincidentally, my MIL is on Prozac for OCD and said that it was

the hardest drug for her to get onto. She was extremely anxious for

weeks. We found this to be the case with our DD also, so she's been on

Zyprexa as well, which we are now tapering. She was so anxious she

looked like she wanted to jump right out of her skin. It's possible

that they may supplement something else for 6 weeks while your

daughter's body is getting used to the medication. Slowly working up is

what we did as well.

Dina

>

> ----- Original Message -----

> From: " wicky227 " <wicky227@...>

>

> > My daughter has been on Inositol for 3 1/2 months, gradually

> > increasing to her present dose of 19 grams. Not only has there not

> > been an improvement, but she's gotten much worse. Since she's only

> > had OCD since December, it's possible that it would have evolved

> > this quickly into the moderate case she has now -- very, VERY bad at

> > night and usually not much of an issue in the daytime. I don't know

> > what to do now. We will see her doctor tomorrow and will probably

> > end up starting her on Luvox or maybe Zoloft. (does it really take

> > at least 6 weeks to work?)

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> *

May 3, 2005

I didn't have to wait anxiously for 6 weeks to see if the ssri was

working - he was so sleepy that it was like a vacation.

When I first started my (then) 13yo son on lexapro - at 5mg (20mg

being treatment dose) he immediately became so sleepy and fluffy

and 'cuddly' - going through your day sleepy isn't usually a good

thing, but I liked 'sleepy Cody' a lot better than I liked 'anxious

Cody'.

Then after a week or so the sleepiness would start to wear off and I

upped the dose to 10mg, then 15mg, to 20mg.

so, he was sleepy/fluffy/cuddly for over four solid weeks!!!!!!!

When the sleepiness wore off we were at about the 6 week point - and

we surely could see a difference - no doubt it was working - our home

was a lot more peaceful!

Now that he's passed the 12 week point I'd say that from 6 weeks to

12 weeks he was finishing climbing out of the hole back up to us - at

his leisure and without anxiety. The lexapro is at full-effect and

I'm very very pleased - it won me over - I wasn't a big fan of giving

children ssri's until I saw what they could do for my son.

May 3, 2005

I can't comment on Inositol, because we haven't used that, but no-it didn't take

anywhere near 6 weeks for my son to get better with medicine. He's on Luvox

now-started first on Zoloft, and he had almost immediate relief, getting better

daily until he plateaued. He still had breakthrough symptoms, so his doctor

thought he'd do great on Luvox, and he, again, showed relief almost immediately.

I don't think that is the case with most. Our doctors say 2 weeks before

improvement.

in Southern IL

Ready to give up on Inositol

My daughter has been on Inositol for 3 1/2 months, gradually

increasing to her present dose of 19 grams. Not only has there not

been an improvement, but she's gotten much worse. Since she's only

had OCD since December, it's possible that it would have evolved

this quickly into the moderate case she has now -- very, VERY bad at

night and usually not much of an issue in the daytime. I don't know

what to do now. We will see her doctor tomorrow and will probably

end up starting her on Luvox or maybe Zoloft. (does it really take

at least 6 weeks to work?) I hate to have to resort to drugs but she

is in a lot of misery with fears of going to hell -- something she

was never taught by us. I have a few questions:

Has anyone heard of people getting worse while taking Inositol?

Should we taper off the Inositol, as we would a regular drug?

If after 6 weeks one drug doesn't work and we switch, does it take

another 6 weeks to find out if the new one works, or do the effects

of the previous drug make the second one start to take effect faster?

Also, she had her thyroid checked -- very low TSH, but low to normal

T3 and T4, which is confusing. The low TSH would indicate a

hyperactive thyroid, but the T3 & T4 readings were a little low or

normal, which would indicate hypothroidism. Her psy. & pediat. docs

weren't sure what to make of it and we made an appointment with an

endocrinologist -- 7 weeks from now. This delay is unfortunate

because if it is a thyroid problem we won't know which pills work if

we've already started her on an SSRI by the time her appointment

finally comes up.

Sorry about the long post, but would appreciate hearing opinions.

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May 3, 2005