Has anyone taken prozac?

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Has anyone any experience of using prozac for Asperger's? My son is 15yrs old and has just been started on 10mg of prozac mainly for depression and social anxiety. I am very worried about giving him this medication as I have read that it could effect his growth of sexual development. However his life as it is at the moment is very bad and it is really a last resort for him.

If anyone has any experiences good or bad from prozac especially related to Asperger's I would be very interested.

Many thanks

Fluoxetine (Prozac) is the SSRI with lowwest sexual side effects in males. Plus those side
effects want be a problem for most teenage males (reduced drive, delayed climax). I've
used 2 other SSRI's(Paxil and Zoloft) and Prozac. Prozac clearly had the lowwest side effects. SSRI's do tend to make social phobic person more outgoing but beaware that will be a double edged sword for someone with major social skills problems. In other
words he may be come very talkitive and friendly but unknowningly with his odd social
skills problem come off as very strange to others. Being queit in the corner people just
think he is shy, but on Prozac he may come off as "nuts". And that may lead to rejection. It took me time to find any friends when I first used SSRI (at college) so
he might expect the Prozac to take a few months to reduce his depression and several
months before he starts making any friends(that will tolerate him). And with drugs there
is the likely hood he may need a higher dose. I worked up a high dose of Zoloft at
college.

I took Prozac (among other SSRIs) and it was bad news. There are some studies that show that SSRIs really don't get along with people with autistic disorders.

Yeah they do seem to be less effective in young people compared to adults:

http://www.childadvocate.net/autism_and_SSRI.htm

Took it for 6 years, didn't help with anxiety and eventually wore off for depression too.

I used to take it, but it didn't do much for me.

I've taken Prozac only for my extreme irritability to certain sounds. It didn't help me at all, it only increased my irritability.

Hmm notice other than mine all the post were from females. Come on men report your
pro's and con's on Prozac

Prozac seems to be more energizing so its more suitable for an inattentive ADHD type
*N*P personality type. Again it should be the first SSRI a male should try.

The age thing concerns me I first took a SSRI Zoloft at college at age 23. I was violent
as a teen and in theory maybe it would have made me more impulsive at that age. Later
as a young adult I became more like a women turning my depression inwards on myself.

I answered "no" because I read the title before reading the post. I haven't taken it but never took anything for depression/social anxiety.

I'm a woman and started taking fluoxetine (10mg a day) two months ago. It works good for me. I have Asperger's and ADD (inattentive type). It reduced my bad tempers (caused by stress I get when I have to do things, or caused by timepressure) to almost zero. Sometimes I feel almost hyperactive, but I don't mind. I feel 'inert' a lot and have trouble to start doing things, so the (hyper-)activity is fine with me (I don't become agressive). The quality of my sleep has decreased, I think. I was a good sleeper, but now it's more restless. More dreams. I sweat more. I don't like that. I eat less, which is fime with me (I ate too much).

I don't know if it helps me in social situations. It mainly helps me to overcome inertia and stress caused by doing things and time pressure.

Don't do anything for me.

I was on prozac for 12 months; i 'think' it helped my depression without any nasty side effects.
After 4 weeks my depression lifted which (at the time) i thought was miraculous.

However, since then i have had two similar depressive episodes.
Both of these times my depression was 'cured' without the use of drugs; so i sometimes doubt the effect of the prozac for my first spell.

It was certainly the 'easiest' cure that i have tried; and if i ever get that way again, then it is going to be my first option.

I took Prozac for a year about 12 years ago, for depression. After my dad passed away I went into a deep depression that wouldn't go away. Prozac worked. Unfortunately, it also had a very nasty side-effect, in that I gained a subsantial amount of weight while on Prozac. Which I managed to lose after getting off it. A few years ago, when I needed an antidepressant again, I was put on Celexa (also an SSRI)... and gained weight again. Now that I am off it, the weight is coming off again...

I do remember my doctor asking me if I noticed any change to my sex drive from the antidepressant. I truthfully told him that there was no change. What I didn't tell him was that since I don't really have a sex drive in the first place, there was nothing to change.

But anyway, I know other people who gained weight while taking an SSRI, so this would be something to watch out for.

Yes I tried it for a couple of weeks made me really wired and nervy.

Julia,

Talk with a psychiatrist about anti-depressants. Prozac (fluoxetine hydrochloride-thank goodness for generics) has been found to ramp up anxiety in a good number of people, and cause panic attacks. Me and two of my friends found that out personally before the studies started showing that to be the case.

I don't know of any anti-depressants okayed for use with kids, though there might be one or two. My other thought is that even if you found an anti-depressant through your healthcare provider, just because your son's anxiety may be alleviated does not mean he will function any better.

There is a therapy called Dialectical Behavior Therapy. It was developed for people with Borderline Personality Disorder, but it has been found to be useful with other conditions. It is a nuts and bolts program to learn to deal with anxiety and other feelings, how to function in relationships and to learn how to tolerate difficult situations. It was developed by a University of Washington researcher named Marsha Linehan, and she has several books on it. Maybe it can give you some ideas.

It's not meant to be a cure, but a coping mechanism.

Good luck in helping your son and his anxiety.

Much metta, Rjaye.

I'm a girl, but I was put on Prozac as a teenager for depression and anxiety, and frankly I didn't find it did much for me except give me diarrhea and make me feel queasy... but, different people, different reactions.