OCD and Anxiey Attacks?

So I was all along thinking I was misdiagnosed with OCD when I was a kid and I was thinking I really have depression & anxiety instead... but I don't know. I get a lot of anxiety or panic attacks and since OCD is an anxiety disorder maybe connected?

I am not sure what I have anymore. I was first very depressed when I was on here, then I wasn't posting because I went through a period of heightened happiness and no longer felt depressed I escaped into computer games and didn't face reality.... now I crashed again into deep depression and extreme anger outbursts, anxiety attacks. My depression seems to go through mood swings between periods of happiness and extreme sadness sometimes leading to self-harming behaviors.

I got anti-anxiety meds, but I think I am OCD or having anxiety attacks over taking it. I get obsessed with all the side effects of Lexapro and have decided not to take it. I think the worst will happen to me: I will get dementia and lose my memory, I will fall asleep at the wheel from sleepiness and get in a car crash, a cop will give me a DUI for taking it, I will get violently ill from it and be admitted to ER, I will throw up, I will get a high fever, It will interact with other medication, it will cause me to spiral into a state of mania, I will suffer from confusion, I won't be able to work while on meds and get fired from job, I will loose all desire for sex, I will get serotonin syndrome, I will have awful withdrawl symptoms if I do come off them, the meds will decrease my cognitive function and make me dumber.

---these thoughts over and over worrying about taking lexipro. Can't sleep at night sometimes worrying my life away. So I am not taking Lexipro, I am too afraid of the drug.. and *sigh* not getting better.

As you mentioned OCD is an anxiety disorder. As I understand it, OCD is just a disorder fueled by anxiety, so you can't have OCD without having anxiety issues. Depending on the symptoms one can be without OCD but still suffer issues with anxiety.

I have worried about the things you mention in the third paragraph and plenty more.

Depression and anxiety often go together. The medication also frightened me at first and I worried about that too. But I eventually found the right combo (I am also Bipolar). There are many ways to control anxiety.

I tend to care less about labels and more about controlling symptoms. But I also know that for some identifying a cause through diagnosis can be helpful.

*snorts*

I took benadryl so long as a sleep aid, I figure if I'm going to get dementia from meds, I'm done for anyway.

Other than delayed/difficulty in achieving orgasm (but not ED) and the list of things you oughtn't take while on Lexapro is as long as your arm, I really don't know what side effects might concern you, DL? Now, this is coming from someone who quit Lexapro, and did it cold-turkey. I did have dizzy issues for a brief moment while quitting but didn't last long. For me, I was running out of insurance at the time and just decided to go ahead and quit it. At first it'd helped me but after a while I didn't think it was doing much, and to be honest I don't feel much different without it. Maybe a small return of anxiety over being on it, but the really rough patch I was going through that precipitated getting a prescription for it has sort of passed, for now. Also I was taking it with Trazodone (for sleep) and that's an antidepressant so since depression and anxiety tend to be fellow-travelers, I figure I'm still getting some chemical help anyway.

As far as side effects, I began both meds after presenting to the doctor with intense anxiety and chest palpitations (felt like extra/skipped heartbeats). Helped for a while, then it didn't, then I got better again and at the time I'd been skipping Lexapro doses here and there so I thought well let's see what happens if I quit. Also an outside chance Lexapro and Trazodone together cause exactly what I'd gone to the doctor for, that is, a long QT (arrhythmia)- even though before being prescribed, a EKG came back normal. Still, meh. I decided to quit. I might change my mind, you never know. Overall, I think Lexapro's fairly innocuous- I just mostly didn't appreciate having COVID and not being able to juice myself up with cold meds for fear of adverse interactions.

Everything Otter said about the OCD. And while he's the expert among us in this conversation, it's my understanding that Lexapro is more an 'anxiety' med than a go-to for OCD. Although it did seem to me I did get a mite less OCD-ish while on it. Lexapro made me care a little less about stuff. Helped me to get to where I am generally caring less, without the Lexapro. But then I still take the Trazodone for now, so I'm not completely without chemical assistance. Ha, as depressed as I've been lately with Trazodone, not sure I want to go without it, even if I am being given it off-label for insomnia and not depression.