Your opinions please. [i’m not gonna nag about me, I promise]
I’ve been on Prozac for three years now. Can’t say I’m a happy camper, but I’ll never will be, I guess. 
I’ve noticed a large feeling of indifference of late, and it’s getting worse. No happy thoughts - No sad thoughts- No angry thoughts… Just nothing.
Should I stop [with help from my doc, ofcourse] with the Prozac?
Any other suggestions? I can’t even cry at tearjerkers anymore.
I’d say work with your doc (assuming he/she is competent in pharmacology). Sounds like your dosage may need to be changed or you may need to switch to another anti-depressant. From talking to people I know who take them, they seem to poop out after while.
I’d talk to your doctor, (hopefully a psychiatrist who knows a bit more about these things than a general practitioner) but I would definately try to get off of them. I’m fairly opinonated on this subject, so I really hope I don’t offend anyone, but I really get a little creeped out by the attitude that “Well, if they don’t work you might need to take more or less or change them or take 40mg of this and 15mg of that while squacking like a chicken and danceing the hula but for the love of all that is sacred DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT NOT TAKING THEM”
People feel better sometimes, people feel worse sometimes. While I have plenty of first hand evidence of the wonders that SSRIs work, I still think it is mighty suspicious that people still end up following just about the same cycles that they did before, except this time they are sure it is some change in the drugs they take that caused it…and the combination of nearly rabid advocacy by patients and casual, barely informed prescribing by doctors really makes me wonder…
I’m with even sven on this one. A few years ago I was put on paxil. It was great, and for a while I felt wonderful. Then it stopped working and I got into a nightmarish cycle of different dosages and combinations of drugs in the hopes of finding something that worked. I was such a mess and I didn’t know if what I was feeling was me anymore or just the funky drug combos.
They never did find the right mix because I just reached a point where I wanted to feel like myself again so I told my doctor to help me taper off everything. He didn’t like it, but he did it and I’ve felt much better since then. Sure I still get upset at times but I’m happy most of the time and I know it’s because of me, not some little pill I have to take every day.
I also discovered that therapy wasn’t working properly while I was on the meds because I wasn’t feeling anything. It’s difficult to try and work through your problems when you have this little pill that masks what you need to deal with. Once I’d finished with the drugs, I was able to work things out with the help of my therapist.
I’m not saying that the meds aren’t necessary at all for anyone, but I think they’re way overprescribed and that, unfortunately, is what happened to me.
I was on Prozac for two years and stopped taking them around four years ago, pretty much the same feelings you are having. Then within the last year I’ve been feeling pretty crappy and started doing the same behaviors that I was doing before I went on them the first time, so about 6 weeks ago, I went back on them. I’m feeling better now. I don’t think they work forever.
I did the Prozac thing for about six months, 20mg, quit cold turkey about three months ago (warning, I am a highly trained professional something or other, do not try this at home). Been doing fine without it, although I was a mess before I started taking it. It got me back on an even keel so that I could deal wth my problems, but most antidepressants stop working after a while.
I was first put on Prozac back in '94 or '95 – had a horrible reaction to it, so I was put on Zoloft (100 mg) instead. The same thing happened to me…felt fine the first year or two, and then gradually declined into what I call “zombie mode”. It was as though all emotion drained from me shudder.
I asked my then-doc about perhaps going off it altogether, switching to a lower dosage, or switching to another med. Negative on all 3 counts, as she said that the Zoloft was doing what “it’s supposed to do”. Like a dummy, I believed her.
Well, cut to around January of this year when it finally dawns on me that I hate being zombie-like, I want to feel utter joy, sadness, whatnot…I tapered myself off. I cut all my pills in half, still taking one per day…then one every other day…then one every 3rd day…until I tapered off completely.
And I can’t begin to tell you the difference! 
Yes, I know I should’ve checked with my doc first. But considering that she unwittingly overmedicated me with painkillers a few months ago (long story) – do you think I’m going to trust her with SSRIs ever again? snort
My advice: Check with your doc first. Then try tapering off. Going “cold turkey” when it comes to SSRIs is utterly horrible…
I recognize both sides of the take drugs/don’t argument. Best to be drug-free, I’m sure. My depression gets very serious, and I do get some relief from anti-depressants. Like many people, I find the same drug becomes less effective over time (6 months+). Sometimes switching to another quite similar drug can help.
I also find that neither GPs or psychiatrists are very resourceful in recommending treatment. They rarely acknowledge natural treatments. They’re slow to include therapy as an option.
If you decide to stop your meds, please watch yourself. As I’m sure you’ve experienced, depression can have a “breathrough” effect when you least expect it. Without drugs, you may be fine until this happens. The best way I can describe the positive effects of my meds (currently Effexor & Gapapentin) is that they raise the baseline somewhat, so that the lows aren’t quite so crushing. This also implies that the everday effect isn’t greatly noticable.
I wish you every success with your progress.
Thank you very much for all your candid answers.
I know there’s still a bit of a taboo about taking anti-depressants.
Yes, I think I’ll quit. [with help] I think I can manage the world this time.
** Thank you ** again.
Good luck, I hope this works for you. Just be aware of your feelings. I went off my Prozac once and felt fine for a couple of months, then the old stuff came back, so I went back on. Not that the same will happen to you, but just be aware it can take some time before you really know how you’re doing.
Good luck, and I hope it works out. I’ve been on Paxil for about a year now, and it has completely changed my life . . . for the good. If I mistakenly skip even a day, I feel the old junk creeping back into my brain . . . and it frightens me to think that I used to feel that way most of the time.
I know that SSRIs affect everyone differently, though (a friend went on Paxil, and experienced the same “discomforting indifference” you report), and I hope that in the end whatever you decide goes well.
**Thank you ** again
And the best of luck to you too.
Can I ask this as a continuation of the thread instead of as a hijack? I went on Paxil yesterday. We’re going through a horrible situation that’s causing a great deal of stress and I was having a lot of chest pain so my Doc put me on this to help me settle down. So SSDI’s work for awhile and then the benefits begin to fade? What’s it like to come off of them? (Thanks kase for starting this.)
I just found the other thread that deals specifically with my question. Good luck, kase! I hope you’re feeling better soon.
Hey, Thanks.
Good luck to you too lieu
and to all other depris on this board.
Well, there is in Holland, but I’m always amazed at how openly Americans tend to speak about their medication. It’s a lot more commonplace over there, compared to Europe.
Mind you, I don’t exactly agree with the -at times- apparent random attitude a doctor will prescribe anti-depressants (a logical result of the US health care system, I guess), but it DOES make it a much more open topic over there. Here in Holland, speaking about ones medication is something done with family and close friends, but most people would avoid mentioning it around people they don’t trust or know very well.
Veel succes ermee, kaas.
Dank je wel Coldfire
Yes I’d noticed the frankness of people here.
It might be similar as the Dutch not talking about what they earn each month, right?
Coldfire, people in the U.S. also have a lot of taboos about taking psychiatric medication. But the anonymity of this board allows us to be frank and open about it here on the SDMB. In real life, I would mention it only to very close friends.
I also disagree that people are so open here in the U.S. I just tend to be blunt about things such as that . . . I like to think that I can help dispel the stigma that comes with the territory, if you will.
As a matter of fact, I was at a cookout at a friend’s place earlier tonight; a person I’d never met before was curious as to why I wasn’t drinking. I was very frank about the fact that I take Paxil, and the consequences of mixing the medication with ethanol. She was very surprised by my honesty, but also genuinely admired my up-frontness on the subject. She even went as far as to tell me that her sister also takes Paxil, but won’t talk to her about it at all; she didn’t even know why her sister was taking it.
And personally, I’ve only had one very close friend and immediate family members speak of such things with me.