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Patchy

By Patchy,
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Patchy Member

Patchy

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Hi all, I've just stumbled across this site after a web search relating to prozac usage. I feel a bit weird posting as I've never done anything other than msn.

I'm a 42 yr old bloke who has suffered on and off with depression for most of my adult life and have been daft enough over the years to "just try and get on with it". I had a period about 10years ago when I had a stress overload and went on anti depressants for a short while but my regular black moods and general pessimistic outlook on life are just something I took to be "part of me". I divorced, lived alone for a couple of years and then met my new lady. We recently married after 4 years together and I live with her two daughters (10 and 12) andmy daughter (13). It works well but my moods had been progressively getting worse over the last 6 months and I was finding it difficult to keep myelf from getting irritated at the slightest thing. On the face of it my life is perfect, a lovely home a very supportive wife and family life is pretty good given the mixing of two families. So, why do I never seem to be satisfied or content? There always seems to be something or someone who pisses me off and when I get into these dark moods they are "all consuming" and sometimes take me a couple of days to get over. I'm never violent toward anyone but I reguarly have this burning angry rage which I usually fantasise about taking out on someone (usually the boyfriends of my daughter or step daughter). My wife reckons I've got very low self esteem and I seem to have a fixation on people "disrespecting" me or at least me perceiving that they are trying or planning to. I've been to counselling over the years to try and "sort myself out" but I keep coming back round in circles to this point. To cut this story short I went to my GP (after a ridiculous scene when I went "nuts" about 2 lads coming into our house and waiting for our daughters to come home). My wife's embarrassment at my behaviour made me realise I had to do something about it... and now. MyGP put me on Prozac without really asking me much and I've been on it 3 weeks now. I feel calmer but have been away for 2 weeks holiday without the kids so don't really know how I'm going to react in "normal circumstances". I've sort of got this constant "feeling of fuzziness" in my head. nothing horrible but I know it's there. Is this normal? I've also got a much decreased labido and orgasm is much harder to achieve. (A bit of a downer as the recent holiday was our honeymoon!!!) Has anyone got any tips on how to counter this one please. I've finally come to terms with the fact that I've got a depressive illness but don't want to go "shouting it from the rooftops"to all my friends and work colleagues. I just feel that I need to talk to people who know what it's like and learn better how to cope. Thanks for taking the time to read my rantings. Patchy.

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Barebones Loyal Members

Barebones

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welcome patchy wish i knew what to say to make things little bit easier. i do understand what your going through. im somtimes not good at communicating properly so ill leave it to the experts who will post in good time :)

hope to see more of you around..

take care.

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spaghetti Member

spaghetti

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Welcome to the site

and congratulations on your recent marriage

glad to hear you are seeking some help - as you know

the decreased libido can be due to the depression .

It sounds to me like you could do with someone to talk to too

not just anti-depressants. Did your doctor mention it ?

i think being here will help you, I think you have unresolved feelings of anger

perhaps, you had a violent or abusive upbringing like me, cause that is how I feel , and that

is where my anger stems, I know. As you say you are managing to get things sorted, but these things

do have a habit of coming back to bite us on the "backside", so to speak. Your life sounds good,

perhaps a part of it is about reaching for the self-destruct button ? (my own experiences , here, again)

hope you fnd this place as useful as I have.

i tend to use the poetry section to help vent my anger, have you ever tried poetry ? I never used

to be able to concentrate on poetry but i find it seems to flow quite naturally when I type and I am

in a certain kind of mood.

The more you post the more you will get to know us.

xx

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dylis Member

dylis

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Hi Patchy,

Welcome (I only joined today too so we're both newbies :) )

Hope this forum helps, particularly knowing you aren't alone and sometimes it's easier to get things off your chest here than to loved ones/friends. Next time you feel the rages coming on why not try posting here and having a rant?

As for the fuzzy headedness and lack of libido - both can be a side effect of the prozac (I've just started taking it again after a break of about 4 years - I took it for 7 years before). Unfortunate I know, but there are side effects with everything. What dosage are you on by the way?

Dyl xx

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smokey_1_uk Member

smokey_1_uk

Posted
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Hi Patchy and welcome to the site

:welcomeani:

Im also a man in my 40s, also in a second marriage and also suffered from depression all my life. So there you go mate you are not alone.

:bigarmhug[1]:

I tried the prozac, got the fuzzyness too, couldnt concentrate just felt like I was wrapped in cotton wool. Not very good if you are a firefighter especially one thats in charge of people.

:(

It does improve as your body gets used to it. I came off them a few months ago and now get no treatment / support other than this site at all. I bimble along without fixating too much on the future. But hey that seems to work for me at the moment.

Glad you joined, us blokes are seriously outnumbered :sofa:

John

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Patchy Member

Patchy

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Thanks everyone for your kind welcomes, I wasn't sure anyone would reply but am really glad you have. I feel like I'm crashing in on some private club but I'm sure you all had to start from the beginning at some point so I'll ease myself in and try not to make a total arse of myself!!!

Yes, all the literature on Prozac does mention loss of labido etc and I suppose it's always going to be a trade off of benefits and costs but I was wondering if any of you know of any other meds that maybe don't have such an 'undesirable' effect. I have thought about going back to my GP but he really didn't seem that interested when he put me on Prozac so I'm a bit reluctant to go and say "Well it's sort of levelled my moods out but...whinge, whinge, whinge" I think he'll probably turn round and say "Bugger off, what do actually want... everything to be perfect?"

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pip Loyal Members

pip

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It Depends on dosage re Prozac

All SSRIs can have the same effect.

It MIGHT wear off.

I am on 120mg Prozac and never think of sex.

The maintainence dose is 20mg

- I would think it may wear off

- but it might take you longer to orgasm.

All ADs have some side effects.

All drugs do.

It is a case of trial and error

Good Luck with it.

If your heart is ok,

ask your doc for Viagra

and have the time of your life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

pip

x

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Patchy Member

Patchy

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I'm on a dose of 20mg daily, that doesn't sound much to me (especially after reading Pip's post) but it has definitely taken the edge off my irritation. I'm certainly no rampant bull at the best of times but whatever sex drive I had before I really don't want to totally lose.... I don't think the missus would be too happy!!!.

No, that's not fair, she wants me to get myself sorted and is so supportive it's unreal.

Why are we so bloody consumed with sex anyway, it causes us all so many problems.

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pandaprincess Member

pandaprincess

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Hey and welcome!

Many of the drugs the psychiatric people dish out seem to kill the sex drive. I've been on and off meds since I was fourteen, and ironically, the only time I was really sexually active was when they put me on Prozac and it turned me totally rampant!

I think it's supposed to settle down after around six months, but the orgasm thing varies from person to person. Sometimes it's difficult, painful, and sometimes a barely perceptible feeling.

I hope you manage to find some help :)

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DanDown123 Member

DanDown123

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Hi Patchy, wlecome to the site.

Re prozac, I'd let things settle dwon a bit and let your body get used to it. If there's still a problem in a month or so, go back to the doctor and tell them. I'm on sertraline, it's brand name was Lustral...........and it does what it says on the box.

I actually hated that aspect of it, but i'm guessing you won't!

See ya around, mate

Danny

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babic1 Member

babic1

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Hi there patchy. . .

you seem to have gotten lots of replies so that is a good sign. I just wanted to also add my name to the list if those welcoming you, and say thanks for trusting us enough to share so much about your life with us. I hope you stick around for a while and we all get to know you better.

Take care - Babs

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strat Member

strat

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Hi Patchy,

I'm new here, 48 year old male, have been ill most of my life. I'm on escitalopram which has removed my sex drive, but that's not much of a problem as I'm single, mostly due to my moods.

I probably should say more but my head isn't working too well at the moment.

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