I know exactly what you're going through. I have been through soooooo many medications, but they were mostly for panic attacks, which I don't have anymore. I just now have anxiety and OCD. For me at least, the OCD and anxiety is better than being on medications. In MY case, it is true that the medications stopped working after a while and I had to slowly (and usually painfully) withdrawal from a medication and start on a new one, and when that stopped working or if I had bad side effects, I'd have to stop that one and start all over with a new one and it was a vicious, hellish cycle that lasted for about 4-5 years. When I first went for psychiatric help, I was prescribed Klonopin, which you may know is very similar to Xanax, and was told to take it everyday, too. It IS very addictive. Somewhere on this board, I have posted my lengthy withdrawal story from Klonopin. You don't even want to read it, it's terrible. I took it every day AS PRESCRIBED and as directed, still had a severe addiction, tapered down slowly to get off of it, and STILL had withdrawal that you can compare to being as bad as heroin withdrawal. Paxil was the best drug for me too, but it stopped working for me after a while, unfortunately. Also, after being on it for a few months, I had some pretty nasty side effects. SSRI's always seemed to numb me, although that's just my personal experience as some people have had WONDERFUL results with them. My advice is NOT to take the Xanax. Do EVERYTHING else before you take that. Take ANYTHING else before the Xanax. Trust me on that one. New studies have been showing that cognitive behavioral therapy is looking to be a great method for reducing/"curing" OCD. I myself and going to start seeking cognitive behavioral therapy. I suffer without medication, yes, but I would rather be clear-headed and free of the horrific side effects and withdrawals of all these drugs. I am not in any way trying to scare you at all, because as I said, some people respond wonderfully to medications and have very few side effects. You can try it out taking medication, but I suggest therapy first unless you absolutely cannot stand yourself to the point of wanting to committ suicide. Others may not agree with me, but that just my opinion based on my experience. Below are a list of the medications that I have taken and the side effects:
Previous Medications:
Klonopin: Sedation, increased libido, thoughtlessness, memory loss (short and long term), loss of inhibitions, MAJOR weight gain, cravings after a few months of being on the same dosage (tolerance witdrawal), heavy periods, anxiety when the dosage wore off, excessive sleeping, apathy, lethargy, abdominal bloating, carelessness, loss of some emotion, and lastly, of course, the HELLISH withdrawal I went through even with ultra-slow tapering.
Celexa: Don't recall, so it must not have been too bad.
Prozac: SEVERE trembling, possible allergic reaction, heart palpitations, sweating, nausea, diarrhea.
Paxil: Emotional numbing/blunting, MAJOR weight gain of 40+ pounds, hand trembling, hormonal imbalance that caused a temporary (and scary) darkening of my genitals and armpits, acne, HEAVY menstrual periods at first and then absence of menstrual periods, twitching, light sensitvity, loss of MIND basically (did things I would NEVER normally do such as stealing, lying, thinking about suicide)and
HORRIFIC withdrawal consisting of brain zaps, shaking, nausea, insomnia, diarrhea, spaciness, anxiety, panic attacks, depression.
Wellbutrin: Weight gain believe it or not, shaking, trembling, heart palpitations, hyperactivity, increased anxiety, nausea during smoking cigarettes (which I expected since it's also marketed as Zyban).
Neurontin: The only fairly side-effect free drug I was on, that I remember.
Effexor: Brain zaps, nausea, ANOREXIA, loss of appetite, slight mania.
Seroquel: I LIKE seroquel as long as it isn't mixed with any other depressanst. I don't like the STUPIDITY it causes and DUH feeling you have all day on large doses.
Risperdal: Hallucinations, shaking, fatigue. Took for ONE day. It scared me to death.
Current Medications:
Trazodone: Makes me slightly manic feeling, sometimes have heart palpitations when I get up, if I don't go to bed right away and it starts to kick in I get extremely dizzy, it doesn't make me sleep as well as it used to (but i've been taking the same dose for about 8 months), sometimes it makes me irritated and angry if I take too much ( i can take anywhere from 50-200mg at bedtime, suppresses my appetite a little bit.
I'm sure I missed a couple of them, but maybe if more people post, it will help you make a more informed decision. Good luck and take care
questions about medications 
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