Want to thank everyone for their thoughts and support on this thread. As much as I read the other threads and the back and forth and arguing among the group, this thread has shown the support of total strangers to me and my family and I very much appreciate it.

It is still going very slowly as the medicine issue is very difficult to get right. Switching meds so often seems like there is no stability for him and we may start looking for second opinions. I have a call to another doctor and supposed to talk with them over the phone this afternoon.

Talking to my son yesterday he was frustrated how every day seems the same and he wakes up miserable about the future prospects of life. He can't seem to find any peace. I know he will be OK again but the struggle and being in the bottom of this pit is something I would not wish on my worst enemy. A broken leg, arm, or physical issue is straightforward but when your brain turns on itself, its hard to get a hold of it.

Thanks for all the responses.

A few more thoughts about biological therapies.
- med trials need to be at adequate doses for at least several weeks. Response for OCD takes longer than for depression.
-did they check a clomipramine level before stopping it?
- sometimes there can be a psychotic component to the obsessions where a person believes them as reality, as opposed to understanding they are irrational (classic OCD). As such did your psychiatrist consider adding an an antipsychotic medication?
- sounds like your son is severely depressed as well. If he is not responding to multiple antidepressant trials would strongly consider ECT or ketamine trial.

Must be such a hard time for you and your family to see your son suffer.

Is your son seeing a psychopharmacologist (psychiatrist who specializes in prescribing medications)? Finding the correct medications and dosage is very difficult but makes all the difference. You mentioned that your son described his mind as racing, not being able to turn off thoughts, etc. This sounds like it could be bipolar, rather than straight depression.Sometimes the mania piece of bipolar manifests as extreme anxiety. He can have anxiety and thoughts of suicide with bipolar disorder or with depression. I have been through this with one of my children and it is really important to have a strong medical support team. Also, it may be difficult for him to engage in DBT therapy while he is feeling so unstable. It takes quite a bit of discipline and self awareness for DBT to be effective.

ACE

I just saw this, and all I can add is that I pray you can get your son back.

db

Thanks, yes he is seeing a psychiatrist for the medicine and a psychologist for the CBT and ERP. The meds are not agreeing with him no matter which one he tries and it has gotten very frustrating. One seems to make him feel worse than the other. We discussed the possible bi polar aspect of it but he doesn't have any of the other symptoms of mania so the doctor does not think that is present. The docs advise the depression is mainly due to the intensity of the OCD and if you treat the OCD the depression should get better as well.

He is currently taking a low dose of a new medicine and trying to see if it will help.

If he has tried a few medications then see if your insurance will pay for the spit test which will tell you which drugs are best for your son's body chemistry. The test costs about $500 but is very worth the $$.

thanks, I have seen that online during some of my research but haven't done it yet. Insurance is not covering any of the CBT or therapy because the best OCD expert in our area is out of network. The psychiatrist is covered but if we get a second opinion, the new one would not be.

We will probably move forward with the spit test very soon if this new med does not help.

Thanks for the thought.

My fingers are crossed for your family that the new med works.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

https://www.theguardian.com/...-health-conversation

This is worth reading. Maybe he feels a little like this