Posted by Elizabeth on October 16, 2001, at 18:38:55
In reply to Medication that helps with hoarding?, posted by Georgie on October 16, 2001, at 13:19:41
> I'm a female, mid thirties, battling both depression (intermittently) and a tendency for hoarding that runs in my family. I'm aware that hoarding is generally considered to be a form of OCD, but my own experience-- and recent research I've run across-- is that SSRIs, usually used successfully for OCD, don't work well for hoarding. I'm looking for something that does.
Huh. Have you tried MAOIs or clomipramine? Those are good alternatives. You might also look into anxiolytic medication, such as benzodiazepines.
> I've also been told I may be borderline ADD (without hyperactivity)... I have problems focusing or prioritizing (often hyperfocusing on things that are not important) that probably contribute to the hoarding.
That's interesting. I have subclinical ADD too, and I understand about the hyperfocusing! I can see how that could result in hoarding. Stimulants (Wellbutrin doesn't count) are the obvious thing to try, then, even though they tend to make OCD *worse* (it looks like you're not dealing with OCD, I'd say). There's also clonidine; I don't know too much about that one or what it does for ADD, though.
> The Celexa/Wellbutrin combination helped depression without exacerbating hoarding and focus, but did nothing to help those problems either.
Okay, my idea would be Celexa + a stimulant (methylphenidate, amphetamine, pemoline, maybe modafinil (Provigil)). The stimulant should help relieve some of the side effects (if any) of the SSRI as well as the hoarding.
I hope this helps! Good luck.
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:81403
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011015/msgs/81426.html