Can we talk about Prozac?

Saved me. Honest to god, when you have deep depression, it’s so overwhelming that it’s hard enough just to go through the motions of life let alone fix it.

But it got me to a place where I could cope enough to do that. It was life-changing and, no, I didn’t have to be on it forever. Maybe a year or 18 months.

Only downside was it’s not great for erections (that was pre Viagra) but, honestly, when you are depressed, that’s the least of your problems.

I was prescribed an anti-anxiety medication when I voiced a concern to my doctor about being easily irritated by...just about everything. Didn’t realize it was a generic form of Prozac until later. But whatever, it has lowered my irritability level, almost imperceptibly. It took a week or two before I realized that things weren’t “setting me off” like they used to. Other than that, I feel no different than before.

Prozac?

Is this 1992 again?

R3 you know a better alternative?

The medical world has progressed monumentally since Prozac R4.

Yeah, Prozac is late 80’s/early 90’s. When I took it, it did absolutely nothing for me.

R6 It can take 2-3 months to work

Made me shiver.

I’m on celexa. Good so far

Anti Depressants work. They don't work forever. All of them don't work for everyone. You just need to pick a drug, try it out for a while and see if your mood improves. Stay in communication with your doctor. If you don't feel better, you'll know it. You can try another one or adjust the dose. There's no silver bullet with depression. You just try to correct a brain imbalance as best you can.

I;m on masive amouts of booze and pills don't recommned

R5 just because there are newer SSRI’s it doesn’t mean fluoxetine isn’t effective for use in treatment naive patients with depression. It’s often used as first line treatment for depression/ anxiety.

OP you have to trust your provider to prescribe the correct medication for you. When they prescribed it to you, they must have done education with you regarding side effects and length of time to see improvement. We usually want patients to take the meds for 2 months to adequately assess for efficacy. Efficacy doesn’t mean complete cessation of symptoms but improvement in symptoms. You should also be encouraged to go to psychotherapy in conjunction with meds. All of these things your provider should have discussed with you so that you guys are on the same page.

Oh OP, are you are a mess, an entitled mess? It sounds so. Antidepressants are terrible, do no't work. The whimps who take them are weak. Man up.

OP - I had a 100% open and honest conversation with my psychiatrist about Prozac after I’d been taking it for about 3 months. Apparently it is supposed to take 3 to 6 weeks to “kick in”, but for me it was only one week.

She said, “Some people are Prozac Responders and some aren’t.” I was lucky enough to be a Prozac Responder.

Please proceed with the prescription, but if it’s not working, BE HONEST. There are other options, but Prozac is your safest bet because it has NO adverse indications with the liver or its functions.

Good luck and peace be with you. Many of us realize where you’re at (BEEN THERE), but don’t let fear stop you from healing.

Was on Zoloft. Worked for sure. Takes a good two to three weeks to kick in. Only thing I would say is it makes things “grey”. Neither black nor white. Also, delayed ejaculation. Which was not fun.

I've taken it for about ten years. I used to have obsessive, perseverating anxiety. Prozac shut it up and has worked well for me.

R15 Oh lord Zoloft made me so tired and yes, very difficult to achieve orgasm. Also agree with everything being gray.

Zoloft has numerous BAD side effects for most people. Proceed with CAUTION.

Depression and Anxiety are very common medical conditions. We have medicines to help now with these conditions. Prozac, and other medications, help many people. People are prescribed medications for depression and anxiety based on the symptoms you find the most problematic in your life. If Prozac does not work for you, there are others. More are being developed all the time.

Modern Medicine. We are NOT in the dark ages anymore.

OP I’m going to guess that the constellation of your depression symptoms include low energy? Fluoxetine/ prozac can be activating, in fact it’s one of the SSRI’s most likely to be activating side effects. Hence we like to trial it for patients with fatigue/ lack of energy as one of the main symptoms. But if you have trouble sleeping you might want to take it in the morning and talk to your provider about any other side effects. Sometimes we can decrease dosage or augment it with another medication or trial another medication. It isn’t an exact science because individuals respond differently to psych meds. That’s why therapy and good communication with provider is important.

Just go on Prozac. If you like it, GREAT. If it does not work for you, there are others. Do not listen to the people who are backward about modern medicine. You deserve Modern Medicine. You do not have to suffer with depression and anxiety. You can try medication.

Made me go manic then I was diagnosed bipolar..I guess it’s a common reaction to bipolars

I just started to take Prozac. I was suffering from depression, severe anxiety, and certainly irritability as well as obsessive thinking. I could feel myself going down more and more. Prozac is starting to help me already and I say Thank God - it's like a miracle!

I cant tell if R13 is doing a parody of what ignorant and non-college educated assholes said back in in the 1960's-1980s.

R24 - He’s an ASSHOLE. Move along.

How about you grow a fucking spine and deal with the underlying cause of the depression R10?

Too much work right?

I couldn’t tolerate it, had side effects. But try it, sooner rather than later b/c it takes time to kick in.

Prozac helped me tremendously. OCD and depression drove me nuts

I’ve been on it for five years and I never plan on stopping. Completely changed and improved my life. I love it.

Following a debilitating industrial injury and subsequent failed spinal surgery, I spent years going through the pharmacy, spending my prime earning years in untold agony. Prozac was added fairly lately to my meds, and at first it was somewhat helpful. The thing I really didn't like about it is that it "evened" me out too much--I'm a fairly passionate person, creative, sensitive . . . and ended up not depressed, but not happy either--like a twilight zone.

After a career-restart attempt, that was fairly successful, I was overwhelmed with untenable situations that were completely out of my control & threated to undo the meager success I was relishing.

I spent a long weekend at the Waikiki Beach Marriott in a suite on the top floor as a reward to myself and also for a complete break from everything.

The second afternoon I found myself at the edge of the balcony, looking down, with an overpowering urge to jump. I fought it and fought it, and finally retreated inside, where I waited for the flight home.

The first thing I did was to dump all the Prozac I had, going cold-turkey--but that's another story. I also discontinued all other meds, and have been clean since 2009.

Occasionally the pain seems like it's too much, but then I remember that day, & would much rather be in control rather than wiped out with drugs. It doesn't matter if they're prescribed--they're still drugs . . .

PS I've never, ever, told anyone about this because it was so horrifying & humiliating to lose control . . .

[quote] It doesn't matter if they're prescribed--they're still drugs . . .

R30, sometimes, if you're suicidal, at a loss for what to do, rx drugs can help. At the very least, they give you hope that you can feel better (even if they don't end up working).

I don't take any drugs for depression, but that's because I've tried them all and got bad side effects from all of them. (There are only a handful of different base drugs out there for depression: "Prozac," etc. are just registered or copyrighted brand names (as compared to generic).

I took it for about 5 years. Only side effect I ever had was anorgasmia, although it wasn’t as bad on Prozac as other SSRIs I had taken. It worked great for my depression.

I took it for about 2 years and it really helped. One day I realized I wasn't depressed anymore and I stopped taking it. No problems.

I found it extremely helpful, took six weeks to work though.