Question by Star: Does anyone with medical expertise know if “DOXEPIN”?
is used for Obsessive Compulsive Behaviors, such as skin picking? If not, does anyone know of a medication used to control skin picking?

Best answer:

Answer by Sir K
I have absolutely no expertise… or even knowledge of this… I’ve never even heard of it before until now… but… give me a moment and I’ll google it to death and see if I can find anything helpful! : ) I’ll be back!

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The following are most important quotes from the sites I will list below them and then in the source box.

“Doxepin is in a group of drugs called tricyclic antidepressants. Doxepin affects chemicals in the brain that may become unbalanced.

Doxepin is used to treat symptoms of depression and/or anxiety associated with alcoholism, psychiatric conditions, or manic-depressive conditions.

Doxepin may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.”

“Do not use this medication if you are allergic to doxepin, or if you have glaucoma or problems with urination.”

“Serious, life-threatening side effects can occur if you take doxepin before the MAO inhibitor has cleared from your body.
You may have thoughts about suicide when you first start taking an antidepressant, especially if you are younger than 24 years old. Your doctor will need to check you at regular visits for at least the first 12 weeks of treatment.”

“Call your doctor at once if you have any new or worsening symptoms such as: mood or behavior changes, anxiety, panic attacks, trouble sleeping, or if you feel impulsive, irritable, agitated, hostile, aggressive, restless, hyperactive (mentally or physically), more depressed, or have thoughts about suicide or hurting yourself. ”

“Before taking doxepin, tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs, or if you have:

bipolar disorder (manic-depression); or

diabetes (doxepin may raise or lower blood sugar).

If you have any of these conditions, you may need a dose adjustment or special tests to safely take this medication”

“This medication may be harmful to an unborn baby. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment.”

http://www.drugs.com/mtm/doxepin.html

“PRESCRIBED FOR: Doxepin is used for treating depression and anxiety. It also is used for treating depression due to alcoholism or brain damage and depression associated with bipolar disorder. ”

“PREGNANCY: There are no adequate studies of doxepin use in pregnant women. ”

“SIDE EFFECTS: The most common side effect of doxepin is drowsiness. Drowsiness improves as therapy continues. Other side effects associated with doxepin include blurred vision, urinary retention (difficulty urinating), dry mouth, constipation, weight gain or loss, and low blood pressure when rising from a sitting position (orthostatic hypotension). Rash, hives, rapid heart rate, seizures, and hepatitis are rare side effects. Doxepin also can cause elevated pressure in the eyes of some patients with glaucoma. If antidepressants, including doxepin, are discontinued abruptly, symptoms such as dizziness, headache, nausea, and changes in mood may occur. Such symptoms of withdrawal may occur even when a few doses of antidepressant are missed. Therefore, it is recommended that the dose of antidepressant be reduced gradually when therapy is discontinued.

Antidepressants increased the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in short-term studies in children and adolescents with depression and other psychiatric disorders.”

“BRAND NAME: Sinequan, Adapin ”

http://www.medicinenet.com/doxepin/article.htm

Doesn’t sound to me like it’s what you’re looking for… just to be sure though you may want to check out those sites. Sorry for all the copy and pasted quotes. : (

I’ll check out medications used for Obsessive Compolsive Behaviors “Skin picking”. I’ll post my findings below.

http://www.ocfoundation.org/compulsive-skin-picking.html (This just talks about skin picking… and if you don’t know much about it, it may be useful… but it says nothing about medication to help really.)

“Medication: The medications mainly used to treat picking are the same group as those used for OCD, including antidepressants (SSRIs). Drugs that help skin picking may take several weeks before they start working. They also may not work perfectly. Usually, 65 percent improvement from a medication is considered a good result. Medication should never be considered an end in itself, but a tool to help with therapy. ”

HUH! Well… then maybe Doxepin MAY help? But they say a 65% percent improvement from a medication is a good result. That’s not so good. After this quote on this site, there is mention of “Psychotherapy:”… but it’s too long to paste here… you may want to check it out on the site and see what it’s about. Here’s the link:

http://www.brainphysics.com/skin-picking.php

Sorry I can’t be of anymore help… I don’t know if Doxepin is what you’re looking for or not. I also don’t know how affective it will be. I hope this is at least slightly helpful to you. Sorry I can’t help more.

Best of luck!

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