His and Her Health

I don't know much about prozac. Can you guys help me? I just went on it to help with depression and moodiness I've been having for a while. I just want to know about it, your experiences, and is it ok to come off of it later?<P>Thanks

Prozac? Don't get me started!<P>I was on it for 10 years, approximately. Age 9 or 10 to age 19. It killed my libido, and I hope it doesn't kill yours!<P>Prozac will change the structure of your brain over time, which isn't ness. something to be scared of. My sister told me, depression changes the structure of your brain. A lot of things do. (She is a clinical psych. grad. student.)<P>Prozac can, over time, make you depressed, so you had better watch out for that! I got depressed in H.S. so they upped my Prozac (doubled then trippled my dose). I was still depressed! Suicidally depressed. I would occasionally be happy for a little while, so I thought maybe I was cyclotymic. Sp? <P>Well, over time the depression got worse and worse. I had a suicide attempt that I backed out of at the last second (I was strangling myself with a belt). I then started doing this almost on a daily basis. The idea was to remind myself, "You don't really want to die, you're just unhappy." But soon, it became so normal for me to get upset and go almost strangle myself with this belt (I chose a soft leather belt because it wouldn't leave marks and would be less painful) that it became just exactly the same as my friend who was cutting herself all over her arms and legs to make herself feel better. Physical pain can drown the emotional pain. It was a very, very negative pattern.<P>When I was 19, I decided enough was enough! To relate my total experience, when I was 18 I was switched to Zoloft as the Prozac was obviously not working! I continued for several months on the Zoloft to attempt to strangle myself on a regular basis, until I stopped this unhealthy pattern. I finally just decided, "I am depressed on these meds, so why take them?" I threw them out, and once they were out of my system, my depression lifted! Not only that, I became more open-minded, and began to question things. It was like it was making me sort of a zombie all those years, and I never questioned things. I immediately started questioning my religion, and the government, and all sorts of things. It was like I was suddenly awake and alive, and I loved learning, and I loved all these things that I had forgotten all about. <P>Not that these drugs do not help people, but they are barely more effective than the placebo. I can e-mail you an article if you give me your e-mail address, and in fact I have SEVERAL articles on Prozac I could send your way. If you can tolerate the side-effects, maybe it is right for you (or if you're lucky and don't have any!). But as for me, I will never take another anti-depressant again, unless it's 5-htp or SAM-E. Sorry so negative! <P>By the way, I was on Prozac for obsessive-compulsive disorder initially, and was also taking Ritalin at the time. I was switched from Haldol to Prozac because Haldol was way too strong for obsessive-compulsive disorder (it's given to schizophrenics!), and it caused weight gain in skinny little stick-person me.

I really don't know a whole lot about it But there is a woman on this board who does and she Will no doubt fill you in on everything you need to know...listen to her, she knows what she is talking about. I am telling you this for a reason, I thought everyone on this board was just like me and didn't know much about anything...well honey I was wrong!!!!! Anon, the Siren, and several others really know what they are talking about. Good luck and godspeed!!!<P> Well, when my computer reloaded the page I see that Anon has replyed to this topic.....sorry for the delay! My computer is kinda slow!! Sorry again and goodluck and Godspeed!<p>[This message has been edited by missann (edited 16 August 2002).]

I have seen prozac at both ends of the spectrum. My father in law took it for depression (he was a truck driver for 40 yrs and retired, lost his wife of 25 years in 1995 he did nothing but work and come home to an empty house and then he retired so all he did was sit in the empty house with no wife of even a good friend to share his time with. and then they wondered why he was depressed) but instead of telling him to go out and get a girlfriend and a life the doctor put him on prozac...it did nothing but make his depression worse. <P> On the other hand, in 1995 i had a cousin that was shot in my aunts house (it was not her child but her neice) She was the last one to see her alive. She began to drink and take pills to dull the pain.(she had a very hard time dealing with it, we all did, but it was done in her house) The doctor took her off of the pain pills and put her on prozac....she is 100% herself again! I guess it is like everything else in this wacky world, different people react differentlly to it. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon!!!