Well, after finally breaking down, hitting rock-bottom, and admitting to myself that I have some serious problems, I’ve started counseling and have been prescribed Prozac 90 (90mg in a week-long time-release that you take once a week). I just took my first one.
So, Prozac users, what might I look forward to? I know that not everyone gets the same side effects or benefits, but web searches come up with either clinical sites or rabidly anti-Prozac screeds. I know the Teeming Millions are a bit more in the middle and more calm.
But what are my chances of:
Getting so jittery and nervous that the benefit of the drug is lost?
Losing so much sleep that the benefit of the drug is lost?
Increasing or decreasing desire for alcohol (apparently it can do either)?
Making like the kid in “Toy Story” and losing my Woody?
Thanks for any input, positive or negative you might have.
I’m female and I don’t take the weekly version, but fortunately I had virtually no side effects, and the medication worked for me. I think perhaps for the first few days my stomach was not totally normal, but it wasn’t anything serious. They started me at a low dose and gradually increased it. You know it will take at least a few weeks to know whether it’s working.
Good luck, it’s a big decision, and you’re right, some people will give you grief over it, but it’s one of those things you have to do. They way I see it, it saved my life, so I have no question about whether it was the right thing to do.
If it doesn’t work, there are other SSRIs and other types of meds for depression, so if this go-around doesn’t work, don’t despair, keep trying!
Getting so jittery and nervous that the benefit of the drug is lost? Not likely at that low a dosage.
Losing so much sleep that the benefit of the drug is lost? ?!? I got heavy-headed in the late afternoon, but never had a problem sleeping.
Increasing or decreasing desire for alcohol (apparently it can do either)? Desire wasn’t changed, but BE CAREFUL when you first start drinking with the drug - some people it can make you drunk after two glasses of wine (in conjunction with the drug).
Making like the kid in “Toy Story” and losing my Woody? Don’t know - I’m female.
I’m no longer on Prozac, but it was my wonder drug. I used to say to my psychiatrist that I should be the Prozac Poster Girl™. About two weeks after I started taking it, I woke up with a clear head one morning. It was the most cathartic experience I’ve ever had. I’m still on SSRI’s, but now I’m on Effexor. Just like anything, Prozac can lose effectiveness over time.
Prozac’s side effects can change from person to person, but in my case, while I had NO S/E’s on the lower doses (and no perceptible change in mood either for that matter) once I got up to the higher doses (60-80mg/day) I cheered up remarkably.
I cheered up soooooo much I became a bit manic. Actually, not a bit manic, a lot manic. While it was a welcome change to my previous sombre demeanour, it was also a bit scary, so over the next few weeks I came off the meds altogether. That was three years ago now, and I have never needed them since.
(Oh, and it was ONLY Prozac that was able to hurtle me out of depression, and this was after years of tricyclics, all the newer SSRI’s and even a course of ECT. Thus it was worth the couple of weeks of bouncing off walls and doing crazy* things to at last be free of depression)
No details will be given on a public message board.
I’ve been on several SSRI’s over the years. What I have learnt from many internet disscussions with others who use SSRI’s to treat depression is that people do tend to be affected differently by different SSRI’s. So you just can’t find out what an SSRI is going to do to you until you take it.
Now for the general advice, all SSRI’s take between 2 weeks and 2 months at a particular does to get to the full effects of that dose. If you get side effects they often decrease with time at the same dose.
And as for your primary concern, no SSRI ever caused me to lose the ability to get a woody except in the first few days on a new dose, in fact the side effect was more that it took a little more stimulation to get up, but that I stayed up much longer.
Cheers, Bippy
I’ve been on Paxil for a year, after 2 years on Zoloft – no side effects. Slight decrease in libido when I first started the Zoloft (I’m female, so let’s just talk libido), but I wasn’t in a relationship at that point so that wasn’t a big problem. Sexual response now is totally normal. No problems with insomnia or anything.
I’ve taken (low-dose) Prozac on and off for a few years. Here are my tips:
As you’ve never taken it before…don’t expect any lifting of mood for the first week or so - day 8 or 9 is when the effect kicks in (for some it takes longer).
For the first few days I always yawn a lot - this goes away.
The anti-depressant effect is not dramatic - there’s no sudden sense of elation. I see it more as a safety net; you start to feel yourself sliding down into depression, the familiar conditions are all there, and then suddenly… you don’t. It’s as if an invisible hand reaches out and catches you before you fall.
Sex - yes there is a slight loss of drive, but again, it is not dramatic and with time it reasserts itself.
My sleep patterns became more ‘normal’ (ie was able to sleep before 3 am and get up before 11).
In general, the drug seems to restore a sort of basic optimism - making a phone call no longer seems an insuperable task, and the stains on your carpet become just stains, not symbols of futility and decay. It works.
I take it for those lovely monthly mood swings. It really takes the edge off. (and for holiday/family gatherings.)
The weirder side effect for me ( besides loss of sex drive. It was slammed into park.) was the one listed way, way,way way, down on the **Probably will never ever occur to you but we got to list it anyway **: Change of gait.
If I got to walking faster than the shopping market shuffle, a muscle in my right hip/but would just tighten up on me.
The first three weeks I took Prozac, I had the most vivid dreams,like technicolor,then as I adjusted, they went away.
I am glad that you decided to get help. Admitting you are low and cannot get yourself out of it without some help is very difficult to do.
Prozac was my best friend for 10 years until I had developed a tolerance to it and had to switch to another SSRI. I didn’t have any effects from it other then to keep my depression under control. No negative side effects or any other positive ones either.
I loved that drug. The only one I’ve ever been on that addressed what it needed to without messing with anything else.
I started on Prozac five years ago at the standard 20mg/day dosage. My physical experiences:
First week I got a numbing headache every day that lasted until about midday.
Sleep troubles – occasional insomnia, and the exhaustingly vivid dreams. Not nightmares, just very detailed dreams that took a lot out of me. I literally came to dread going to sleep because I didn’t want to go on another “adventure.”
Sexual dysfunction exactly as described in the accompanying literature: decrease in libido, difficulty in achieving/maintaining erections, and delayed and diminished ejaculation.
BUT IT WAS ALL WORTH IT! After about 3-4 weeks, I realized that life was worth living again. People would come up to me in the store where I work, and I couldn’t figure out why they were smiling. It was because I was already smiling at them! There was no problem that I couldn’t solve and no challenge that couldn’t be surmounted.
For the past two years I have been on a reduced dosage of 20mg every three days, and my sex drive and ability has returned to normal.
One warning, that I’m sure your doctor has already given you, is: DO NOT TRY TO QUIT THIS MEDICINE COLD TURKEY! I thought I could, and within two weeks I became the biggest SOB you’ve ever seen. If you decide to go off it, do so gradually.
Oh, don’t say that! I’ve been on it for some six months, and I’d hate to have to find something else.
Seriously, haven’t had any serious side effects - still sleep OK and all that. It does take a while for the effects to take hold. Still have headaches, but that hasn’t changed much. The mood swings stopped, and things don’t seem so horrible. Haven’t attempted suicide since I started taking the drugs .
Let’s see. I’ve been on Prozac for about two and a half years now. My mother forced me into talking to my doctor about my depression after I slipped into an episode thanks to work and school difficulties. Truth be told, I should have sought help earlier (like, way earlier), but I was convinced that I didn’t need any medication to help me. I take a very low dosage; I only take 10mg a day.
The very first time I started using it, I was jittery and experience a few slight tremors. Never had to deal with either of those again (and I’ve even gone off and then back on Prozac twice now).
As far as sleep problems, I’ve had problems with insomnia since my third year of college. That didn’t change when I started on Prozac. I had assumed it was the near-constant stress of work and school that did it to me. I was wrong; it was the caffeinated Diet Dr Peppers that I always drank. I switched to caffeine-free, and I have a regular sleep pattern again.
I’ve never been a big fan of alcohol. I can count on both my hands and one foot the number of times I’ve had a drink. I’ve hadn’t an increased or decreased desire for alcohol.
As for sexual side effects, yes, I’ve experienced some. I’m not in a relationship, so there’s only one real outlet in such a situation. If you’re squeamish about TMI type stuff, skip this paragraph. I’ll meet you on the conclusion coming up next. Anyway, yes, Prozac affected my libido in a negative way. I found it was a little bit harder to get aroused, and I found it was a bit harder to stay aroused (this was mainly because my mind wandered. How bad of a masturbater are you when you begin to think about doing homework in the middle of it? ). It would take a much longer time for me to finish up if I reached that point at all. On the plus side, that side effect only lasted about the first couple weeks of starting Prozac.
In conclusion, I’ve had a few side effects from Prozac. However, none of them have been severe, and none of them make me regret starting it. As other have said, it takes a while before you start to experience the positive effects of it, and you may have your dosage played around with (it took a few tries before my mother got her right dosage). In addition, I’ll add that Prozac isn’t this miracle feel-good drug. What it does for me is make things easier to handle and lets me have more control of my mood.
While it was a welcome change to my previous sombre demeanour, it was also a bit scary, so over the next few weeks I came off the meds altogether. That was three years ago now, and I have never needed them since.