I have recently been on oxycontin due to surgery, all my sever ocd symptoms have gone whilst tkaing oxycontin, but my doctor will not allow me to stay on it as it is a controlled drug, he would stay on it if he knew the suffering ocd causes. i was thinking about tramadol and hoping he will prescribe this and i hope it works

For some reason, Oxycontin definately does relieve the anxiety and associated symptoms of OCD, almost completely. However, it is certainly a double edged sword. Oxycontin is extremely addictive and habbit forming; and the depression and anxiety from weaning onelself off of oxycontin are more tangible and profound than the symptoms that I experience with my OCD.

Oxycontin and Tramadol are similar in the efficacy of relieving OCD. The main similarity is that they both block the anxiety signal that OCD tries to send in response to a given stimuli. The result is that one is able to “observe” the stimuli (or strange thought) without feeling the tug of anxiety on one’s mind to engage in a compulsive act. The difference is that oxycontin provides a sense of extreme euphoria and well being. This has advantages over tramadol, because the sense of well being makes it that much easier to disregard any given thought, situation or stimuli, and to therefore simply let go.
If you suffer from Pure O, as I do, you may notice that while on tramadol, that a certain thought will still repeat over and over in one’s mind without associated anxiety. This is a weird sensation, because the expectation is for anxiety to eventually be induced by this repetitive thought cycle. When it is not, the trick is to consciously focus the mind on some other thought by “changing the mind gears manually”. In this way, tramadol can act as “water wings” for cognitive behavioral therapy techniques. This is important because I believe the only way to truly manage OCD is by utilizing the neuro plastistic qualities of the brain to repair its own faulty wiring. This can only be done through concious awareness of one’s behavioral response to unwanted thoughts, stimuli, or environmental situations. But it can be done, and if your anxiety is so crippling as to prevent cognitive behavioral practice, than drugs like tramadol or oxycontin could help.

Oxy contin can help if used very carefully. I’m not condoning self medication, but I truly belive that a major problem that OCD sufferes face when trying to “heal” themselves is that they forget what it feels like to “be normal”, or even what lasting joy and elation feel like. Without any reference point to draw from, and without these feelings as “end results” to look forward to, I believe OCD sufferers could easily be depressed by thinking that normalcy is such an abstract idea that they can’t even recognize anymore. Oxycontin provides an immediate sense of normalcy, albeit withh elevated euphoria (which isn’t necesarily a bad thing for someone who hasn’t experienced euphoric feelings for a while). The trick is to appreciate that one’s mind is still capable of this sense of normalcy, realize that the normalcy experienced by using oxycontin is not sustainable and will eventually fade over time as one becomes addicted to the chemical properties of the drug, and to use the positive experience from the use of oxycontin as a reference point for reality when dilligently practicing cognitive behavioral techniques.

Tramadol can help prevent the anxiety signal, and is much less addictive than oxycontin, but won’t provide the euphoria. Still, it may be a good starting place for someone looking to finally establish homeostasis in thought.

The bottom line is that both of these drugs, as well as other types of opiates and opioids need more research and clinal trials to figure out how they actually benefit the OCD sufferer, which definatley do.
In the mean time, go running, a lot, the endorphins produced naturally by the brain from physical exertion have a very similar quality (and in fact occupy the same receptor sites in the brain as opiates). Plus, you’ll lose weight, and feel better about yourself in general, which is a huge part of recovery from any mental malfunction.

my gp or psychiatrist will not prescribe either drug for my ocd!!!!!!!!! I am now on mirtazapine 30mg, the anxiety has nearly gone but i am finding myself being on my own and talking to the thoughts for hours at a time without even noticing it, i feel to becoming more and more withdrawn. I feel so annoyed by the whole system as the oxycontin worked, i felt happy, normal and sparkly, i felt like me. My psychiatrist said thats like giving somebody heroin just because it makes them feel better. I understand what they are saying but they dont understand what its like to live with depression and ocd, i am taking tramadol anyway for pain but i just feel down and have no energy whatsoever. Surley if oxycontin was used correctly and dosed properly, like one tablet a week just to take the edge off, whats wrong with it, if it works, why not.

Thanks for a very insightful description of both of these very useful drugs in combating OCD. I have come to the same conclusion about pure-OCD which i suffer from as well. Thoughts release anxiety that then starts the cycle. The thoughts actually are very normal, but the anxiety makes it impossible to assign a probability which would determine how much to worry about them. Tramodol and other drugs that can block the anxiety make OCD dramatically less severe.

i found it so annoying and frustrating that my doctor or psychiatrist will prescribe it when they have seen the huge difference it has upon me. I am talking from struggling to sit in the same room as somebody else when a sharp object was near to being hold a knife in my hand with the therapist trying to induce my anxiety, he was shocked when he has no response!!!!!!!! Fustrating!!!!!!!!!! Good luck to all suffering with ocd and i hope your doctor more understanding than mine. More research needs doing to stop the misery for ocd sufferers