Who should not take antiobsessional medications?
In general, we try not to give antiobsessional medications to women who are pregnant or are breast feeding, given that we do not clearly understand the long-term effects of these drugs on a fetus or infant. If severe OCD cannot be controlled any other way, however, these medications seem to be safe and many pregnant women have taken them without difficulty. If there were risk to the fetus, it is likely that most of the risk would be during the first 3 months of pregnancy. Some OCD patients are able to use the behavioral techniques of exposure and response prevention to avoid medications at least during the initial 3 months of pregnancy. If the OCD is very severe, one may need to take medication throughout the course of pregnancy. In very elderly patients, it is best to avoid Anafranil as an initial drug since it has side effects that can interfere with thinking or cause confusion. Some of the other antiobsessional drugs like Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox, Celexa and Paxil can be used in the el
