downlower

I have been feeling very low for a while and have been thinking about some strange things. I have been prescribed I think it was 20mg a day for the next month with a possiblity of increasing it. My doctor has said I will have to take the pills for a minimum of 7 months. I have heard a few things about prozac. Had a bit of a chat with them before they would give me this as a prescription, but want to know some experiances of others who have been given this drug before I start the treatment. Please PM me if you dont want to post it up.

sti-04!!

Dont touch the stuff mate !!

Anti - depressants only **** you up

Never had them myself but i do know a few people who have been on them & it takes over your life

sti-04!!

Also i dont know your problems

But try counselling first

Anti - depressants are the easy way out

All the best

jasey

From what I've seen of people that have been on prozac it seems to treat some of the symtoms but not the causes of the problem. So long as the root causes are being treated then this form of treatment way well be OK. Everyone I've seen that has been on this have had major problems coming off it because, in my opinion, the causes have remained un-resolved !


Good Luck.

Abdabz

7 months on Citalopram - it certainly didnt "**** me up" LOL... They're an SSRI and act in a different way to Prozac... For me they worked superbly. I was having severe panic attacks and mood swings following the ending of a 7 year relationship - so bad were the panic attacks I was admitted to hospital for MRI's on my brain etc...
Depression can have many side effects and can be a sneaky little fella.
I know people who have found Prozac to be addictive and as such hard to ween off - Citalopram 20mg did not have this problem.
There have been recent press reports about SSRI and the negative element of taking them - speak to your GP for details - but for me they worked wonders. Havent taken them now for 18months and feel splendid - I can even listen to Radiohead without swallowing copius amounts of paracetomol!
P

andrewdelvard

Took them a few years ago when I was very down and felt nothing would ever be right in my life again. My experience of Prozac was a positive one. You need to remember what Prozac is for though. It's to relieve the symptoms of depression. It's not a cure for the root cause of what you are going through. That is something you have to investigate for yourself and with the support of your GP, discover.
You do need to give it several weeks to start working though. It's a gradual change, nothing sudden, so give it time. Good Luck.

Ted Maul

why wouldn't anyone want to post something up? Do we still live in an age where mental illness is seen as something to be ashamed off?

Bubba po

Yes, we do, unfortunately.

Cold Turkey

agree 100% with this.

Ask about CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) or if you can afford it pay for private therapy as NHS tends to take ages and appointment times are not flexible. Check out http://www.bacp.co.uk/seeking_therapist/index.html

And Prozac is also an SSRI and works the same as Citalopram which didn't **** me up either

Good luck

bigsinky

have to agree with above. use them in conjunction with therapy and you will feel a whole lot better after a while. takes about 4 weeks for them to kick in. if you are in work ask if your staff care unit can refer you to a therapist. best thing i ever did was speak to someone about my probs. as bubba says there is still a bit of a stigma around "stress" or "depression" but slowly people are coming round to see it as more prevalent than they thought and are adjusting their thinking accordingly. it is no more than a chemical imbalance which unfortunatley can be very dibilitating.

richiewong

Yes, despite the fact at least a quarter of the population will suffer from a mental health problem in the UK once in their lives

Fluoxetine is a relatively safe anti-depressant but everyone is subjective.
Seen some terrible side effects including worsening agitation and suicidal ideation.
Same family as Paroxetine which got a load of bad press recently but its horses for courses.
Used in conjunction with a 'talking' therapy can work wonders

boxst

Hello

Be careful about Doctor's and their prescriptions of those kind of drugs, they seem to do it much too easily these days. I hope that he arranged for you to see a psychotherapist or at least a councillor at the same time? If it's a psychiatrist they tend to be a little too quick with the medication as well.

Prozac and it's derivatives are addictive, so if you decide to take them make sure your doctor has a plan for coming off of them slowly.

I have been with people on Prozac and it evens your mood, to the extent that you have no happiness out of life in the same way that you have no sadness.

I hope your problems get better, but talking to a professional and taking their advice may be a better solution if you can bare it rather than Prozac.

Steve

class_A

Perhaps worth getting in-touch with Mind to see if they can put you in touch with a support group in your area. You'll be able to speak to people with real experience of the treatment and be better informed to decide whether it is the best choice for you. It also helps as you don't feel quite so isolated.

Anti-depressents are not for the "weak" or "cowards" who can't "just pull themselves together" although you will come across this attitude from time-to-time. As others have said, they are a way of dealing with the symptoms during the daily grind whilst you continue to work on the underlying problem.

Good luck

MJW

Prozac made me feel really sick for the first month, but the Citalopram is ok. Both of them will knock your libido down though. A six month course is usually enough to bring your seratonin levels back into line. Whichever one you go on, expect your thoughts to be a bit weird at first, but it soon settles down.

You can buy self help cognitive behaviour therapy books which are probably just as good as paying to see an expert. Counselling is ok to a point, but it depends on how far you want to let them into your head.

Comments like this :

are not helpful in the slightest.

Depression is chemical inbalance in the brain caused by adverse reaction to certain situations. Remember it is not the situations themselves which cause depression, it is how you react to them. The drugs redress the balance.

SiPie

Richiewong speaks the biggest amount of sense above IMHO

I do not agree with the prescription of anti-depressants for mild to moderate bouts of depression, but this is simply due to the fact that they did not help me one little bit (Prozac and Seroxat)

I found St John's Wort (tincture as opposed to tablets) to be equally as effective.

GP's are really pushed for time these days and some hand the SSRI's out too quickly to obtain what they deem to be a 'quick fix' as the counselling services are severely overworked....

Make sure you do however, get some counselling in conjunction with your meds so you can get to the bottom of the illness and see why your neurotransmitters have been firing blanks

Get as much exercise as you are able to, to help get those endorphyns flowing naturally....

Good reading matter (if you can generate enough interest...as i know it ain't easy) would be Self Help for Your Nerves or Peace from Nervous Suffering.. both books by Dr Claire Weekes available on Amazon (do a search under Claire Weekes)

The book was the biggest help I ever got through 12 years of brain wonkiness

Good luck mate and hopefully you'll get through this soon

Apparition

SiPie Has it in one ! Those books are THE best help.
It was those which helped me see that I wasn't going barking after having my son 26 years ago. And twice since, due to extremely stressfull events in my life, I've re-read them and reminded myself of just what was going on within those Leetle grey cells.

I took tablets. The last lot was Prozac and conincidently it was only during the last episode that I had vague suicidal thoughts. They say this can be a side effect of Prozac. I'd hope that IF ever I got into that situation again, I'd find an alternative treatment.
However, as repeated many times above, its the root cause which needs to be addressed. I have a saying pinned to my desk " It is fighting our feelings that causes our suffering, not our feelings" ~ in my case, this is the root cause. Instead of accepting that I'm going to be a little down because of this or that, I have in the past fought like hell against it. usually ending up drained and weary then depressed. I tried the other tack last time, and lo and behold, the feelings just drifted over me and I came through it so much calmer and level headed.
Talk to someone, be open, don't keep it all inside. Its nothing to be ashamed of. You can see from this thread alone that you are in good company.
Good luck, you'll get through this and come out a better stronger person in the end.
Yve

Drunken Bungle Whore

I took Citalopram for about 9 months and had no problems getting on or off it. Think of it in the same way as a crutch if you had a broken leg - it won't fix the problem, but it will help you get along whilst you get back to 'normal'.

Good luck!

Spoon

Who said that?

Angry

Spoon, I think its inferred, unfortunately, by the society we live in today. Physical strength has very little to do with everyday life in most situations, so what are you left with to deal with the rest of it? Your mind.

Spoon

There it goes again. Who's there?

Angry

???

richie rich

It makes you a bit, well, we will say, as though you have butterflys in your stomach,

lubo

i have survived on prozac for years. Have stopped taking them and the effect was devastating. Its all about finding what works for you. Good luck mental illness is a bitch

Stueyb

Speaking from experience of depression, you really really do need to speak to a councillor. I did and after a few sessions i really was high on life because you talk through your problems rather than take chemicals to fix it. You will find certain bits stick in your memory for ever though, ie they ask a question and the answer is so obvious when you think about it. Its haunted me for life one question i was asked.

As people said try mind and there is a helpline by calm (campaign against living miserably) that is specifically for men between 20 - 35.

I do find though it was easier to talk to a female about it. Dont know why, but it just was.

Also quite a few companies have health schemes (free of charge) that include support for mental issues. If not your doctor CAN and SHOULD refer you to a councillor.

richiewong

Cheers SiPie

Its my job, Richard Wong RN(MH)

lubo

Was my job 2 rmn it doesnt discriminate

Apparition

Lubo............{{{{BIG HUG }}}}}}} You never said, we still love you . Say hi to everyone up there XX