Abilify vs. Zyprexa for OCD: which is more effective? how do the side effects compare?

Question

A relative, who has obsessive-compulsive disorder (recurring thoughts
that he can't suppress), is choosing between Abilify and Zyprexa for
treatment. I need accurate information that would help him choose.
Specifically, how do the side effects of these drugs compare? and how
does their effectiveness against OCD compare? I understand that you
don't give medical advice; nevertheless I would appreciate pointers to
reliable information.

Answer 1

I don't know about Abilify, but I was once on Zyprexa, and the side effects it had on me were bizarre. I experienced a lock-jaw kind of reaction. I couldn't control my speech, kept biting my tongue, and couldn't get words out correctly.It was so bad I had to go to the emergency room. The doctors had never seen this reaction. It was the scariest thing I ever experienced. Apparently, this is a problem that can occur. We found the side effect listed in some medical data about the drug. It was called Articulation side effects. Anyway, be careful with any new drug, and always watch out for any unusual effects. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

RULE OF THUMB

All psychotropic medications come with side effects, where almost all of them come with nausea, dizziness and vomiting (as they are effecting your brain). These side effects are not extrem (unless you are just a very sensative person) and usually go away within 1 - 2 weeks. While you're adjusting to meds, you should be under Dr's supervision until you reach your theraputic range and mental comfort zone. If you do it this way, you will experience the least amount of side effects possible through proper titration.

Neither of these two medications are approved or have off label uses to treat OCD as monotherapy. They CAN however, become useful in the adjunct treatment to an SSRI, such as Paxil, Zoloft or an anticonvulsant such as Neurontin or Lamictal.

Zyprexa is ancient and Abilify is brand new. You are better off with Risperdal, but you're adding this to one of the classes above (ssri or anticonvulsant is the main medication).

You can just plug the names of ea into Wikipedia.org and they will give you all the symptoms, how the drug works and any relevant reasearch that you'll need in making your decision.

The effective treatment of OCD should involve both med management therapy and some form of psychotherapy, such as CBT (cognitive behavior therapy) ERP (emotional and resopnse prevention therapy).

Good luck

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Abilify vs. Zyprexa for OCD: which is more effective? how do the side effects compare?
A relative, who has obsessive-compulsive disorder (recurring thoughts
that he can't suppress), is choosing between Abilify and Zyprexa for
treatment. I need accurate information that would help him choose.
Specifically, how do the side effects of these drugs compare? and how
does their...

Answer 4

I have never had the Abilify, but I have had the Zyprexa. It made me have muscle twitches all the time, and it also made me gain 140 pounds in 6 months. Apparently one of the side effects not listed on the bottle is weight gain of large amounts. It did help my OCD, but by the time I finally got taken off of it, I weighed twice as much as I did when I started taking it, and it took almost four months for my muscles to stop the twitching. The best thing to tell your relative is to try them both (not at the same time of course) and see which one works best for them. That's how the doctors usually do it anyway, they try you out on different things to see which one turns out the best. Good luck.

Answer 5

If I had a choice, I would take a regular antidepressant. Abilify and Zyprexa are two powerful medicines. Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, etc. should help OCD. It would only take a month to see if one of them worked. The side effects are nothing compared to the other two.

Answer 6

I really don't know but they put my grandson on 2mg and the pharmacy made a mistake and gave him 20mg and it put him in the hospital (3 different ones matter of fact the first 2 couldn't help him so he was transported by ambulance a hour and a half away to a childrens hospital) for 3 days he drooled and every muscle in his body looked like it was crawling and he would scream with pain ..It was very bad ..But in your case I don't know , but I don't like it at all but of course it wasn't the doctors fault and the 2mg may have helped but now his mom won't let him take it at all..Sorry I couldn't help you though I just wanted to share that with you..

Answer 7

Check out www.remedyfind.com if you want to find out what people's experiences with those meds have been. It's not sponsored by the drug companies, so they aren't pushing any one medication over another. It's just a place where consumers rate meds they have taken and describe their experiences with them.