Symptoms: Severe anxiety/panic, Severe spike in OCD, Anxiety, Panic
When I was pregnant, I experienced intrusive thoughts. When I told my OB about that, she immediately, with no discussion of the risks, put me on the SSRI Fluoxetine. When I got pregnant again, she increased my dose. There was no explanation of how to handle intrusive thoughts. She just put me on meds and left it at that.
I was able to wean down to the original dose but stayed on it for 10 years. It then came to my attention that SSRIs can lead to cognitive decline when taken for so long.
I went off too fast, and because I had absolutely no guidance regarding intrusive thoughts, I experienced a massive OCD spike. I was terrified and had no idea what was going on. I've suffered from several OCD themes throughout my life but no one ever explained to me what was happening. The doctor had a chance to save me so much anguish by telling me about OCD (many pregnant women and new moms experience it) and intrusive thoughts, but she chose to put me on an SSRI and forget about it.
Thank goodness I'm a researcher (not medical by any means) and knew how to find the right information. It still took me about two terrifying months to figure out what was going on. My faith and family support got me through. I've now been recovering for about a year and a half and am thankful for ERP.
Covering up OCD symptoms with SSRIs without education is very dangerous. People need accurate information and support. It's also important people know the long-term health risks and the proper ways to get off SSRIs.