Share your stories: Prozac

Post Reply New Topic

Please share your stories if you’ve ever been placed on this particular drug ...

I’ve heard such conflicting stories, but have been on such a rollercoaster with this drug. Now, I wouldn’t want to be without it.

I have only been physically attacked twice as an adult. Both assailants were on anti-depressants, so I won't take them.

Sorry to hear that Dear One. I’ve read some horrifying stories of otherwise placid people, becoming very aggressive and hostile on some anti-depressants, but for others, they can make a massive difference. I used to be very anti drugs in general, but they clearly work differently for different people.

I know professionals who use them, but I also hear that in the clinical trials, they only work if tested against sugar pills. If the control group takes any random drug that has any psychoactive effect, they don't know that they are in the control group, and will explore new ways of thinking about their situation with equal success to the test group, but less danger of addiction.

Really appreciate your input on this.

I lost my ability to orgasm and was switched to Wellbutrin.

I've never taken Prozac but I certainly agree that some pmeds work wonders for some people. The best for me was a microdose of Zoloft or a microdose of Trintellix. Now I quit them and I take ADHD stimulants instead, along with Prazosin which controls PTSD nightmares / anxiety.

I had very bad experiences on Citalopram, Remeron, and Paxil.

Hope the Wellbutrin has been a positive switch for you, starkid. I seem to have experienced and put up with alot of negative side effects for the first year of being on it, but loved the numbness it gave me. By numbness, I mean that it took all the negative things I was experiencing when on no drug at all, so it was a wonderful trade-off. I’ve not suffered any negative effect in the dept you’ve mentioned, though I was aware it was a known side effect. I seem to feel enhanced in all areas of my life. It’s enhanced creativity, thoughts are even clearer than before, and on a happiness scale it’s massively better, than prior to being on it. I feel content to be on it for the rest of my life, and my Doc agrees, as the benefits have been massive, once I worked through the initial negative effects.

Thanks for your input, Is. PTSD nightmares and anxiety have long haunted me. The prozac has removed all fear of them now, and I seem to be able to control my dreams, and can always escape being harmed in them now, where before, it was always pretty grim. I’ve never shared my experiences of these recurrent dreams with any Doc, and have always attempted to take control of them. Never been successful of doing so, until the prozac.

A male family member was put on Citalopram at one point, many years ago now, and it had a devastating effect. That was the one drug that scared them, as their personality changed dramatically from placid to aggressive. Yes, small doses of anti-anxiety meds have been said to be beneficial for those on the spectrum. The prozac has taken away a huge amount of anxiety, that was once debilitating. Very interesting to read what is working for you, as I’m pretty sure that my attempts to take control of what was almost certainly ADD/ADHD type symptoms, involved copious amounts of coffee. Caffeine became my go to for focussing on lengthy procedures in the past, that involved intense and sustained focus, until heart palpitations became an issue.

Keep an eye on the dose you take. Any time I've taken any type of pmed the doctors want to up it continuously until I'm a zombie. It happened with all of them including the antipsychotics (Respiridol, Quetiapine etc.). With Zoloft I was best on 25 mg but because my trauma was so severe, they upped me incrementally to 200 mg. It's like the frog in the boiling water analogy. I didn't notice how zoned out I was until I self-reduced back to 25 mg, which worked wonders. With Quetiapine I was started on 25 mg but I could only nibble a corner of the tablet (approx 6 mg), and even that knocked me out. Again with Buspar; it worked well at the starter dose but anything higher and I got brain zaps.

It's common that autistic people have a lower threshold for these types of meds, and need lower doses -- but of course everyone is different. Just pay attention when they start adjusting the dosage because (in my opinion) the loss of efficacy can be very subtle. All of a sudden you'll think it isn't working anymore, or that you don't like it -- but it's actually because the dose is too high.

I don't know about side effects and so on, I've just witnessed the character change that it can bring about in people.

I have fond memories of my dad, before he went onto prozac 22 years ago (he's on 60mg a day).

He started saying daft things like, "I think it's everyone's duty to be cheerful all the time". I find him draining to be around, he's so full of hot air, and his jolly facade is impenetrable. Everything to do with feelings are instantly dismissed, tucked away, swept aside. He's incredibly quick to draw his conclusions on any subject now, whereas before he had a lot more depth.

It feels like he's been replaced by a replicant. Maybe a smaller dose would be OK.

Genuinely sorry to hear that your Dad’s not as you best remember him from times past, domineekee. That sounds like quite a high dose to me. I’ve been happy to remain on a fairly low dose for a few years now, and have no plans on increasing the dosage, as it’s been consistently working well. What you describe in your father does sound worrying. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, I'm sort of beyond caring much as he seems irretrievable. 60mg, seems like a lot, maybe on 20mg he would be able deal with feelings rather than dismiss them. I don't know.

I call those people "unsustainably happy".







(Not directed at you Juliette -- I just thought it was relevant to Dom's post)

From what you’ve described, domineekee, I can’t help but wonder, what the chances are of talking to your Dad and his Doc about what you’re witnessing,and whether or not it’s best to attempt a gradual lowering of his current dosage. This must be happening in alot of families, I’d imagine. Must be so hard trying to get through to someone who’s so dosed up, that they may not be able to see what’s actually happening to them.

I took it before as a pre-teen. It didn’t help me feel less depressed but made me feel crummy as well as hopeless and once gave me tremors.