Prozac

[verbena]

I'm on 20 mg. Prozac for depression, but I'm also on Geodon, Lamictal, Zonegran and Xanax, so it's hard to say what is doing what anymore. I do sometimes feel more helpless, and that has been since the Prozac, but again, it could be the BPD flaring - wanting to be taken care of. It's always been hard for me to take responsibility for myself.

[DanDown123]

Hi

I am allergic to it, so had to come off after a few months.

It definitely helped lift my mood greatly, tho i did try to kill myself when on it.....not sure what, if any role, prozac had in that. A friend described being on prozac as like being behind a glass screen; at moments i felt i was watching a video recording of myself and actions.....

I was also excellent at pool on it, i went from just about managing to hitting a ball to being able to pot three or four balls in a row, when pissed! Yes, you just read that sentence right!

Dxx

[strat]

I was also excellent at pool on it, i went from just about managing to hitting a ball to being able to pot three or four balls in a row, when pissed! Yes, you just read that sentence right!

I've never heard of that particular side-effect before!! I wonder if it would work for me and darts (I'm lucky if I hit the board)...

strat

[kissprudence]

Ooooh! Interesting replies!

Gardenia,

Thanks for being so honest. Glad to hear you are med free for a while! Try to say to yourself that no-one is without their difficulties. All people feel unmotivated sometimes, regardless of any diagnosis.

Verbena,

What a coctail! Once you've been diagnosed with a mental illness, it's understandable that you'll try any drug offered, in the hope that it will alleviate your distressing symptoms. However, if you read up on BPD, you'll find that exquisite sensitivity is seen as a trademark of the illness. If you are sensitive, it is no wonder you want to be taken care of. You perceive the world to be an overwhelming place, full of potential dangers. Your experiences have no doubt reinforced this view.

Hey Danny,

Yeah, I know EXACTLY what you're talking about! Prozac has been known to accentuate suicidal tendencies. It is an agitating drug, which means that it should not be given to anyone who suffers from anxiety, manic episodes or impulsions of any kind (aggressive or suicidal). It's interesting that you've mentioned the "glass screen" effect! Many people report the same. They feel removed from themselves.

Strat,

You guys! Okay, so Prozac also affects one's prowess at pub sports! Marvellous!

Thanks everyone!

I'm so grateful for all this feedback. It's been great!

KP

xx

[Stephanana]

Greetings KP..as promised, although it may bit a little, erm, confused!!

My experience of SSRi's was mostly with Seroxat 20mg for waaay too many years from 19 til approx 25..I am now 29...it was kinda like a substitute therapy when I was young, dumb, naive and believed whatever the GP told me! I dislike the stuff immensely, but I have a long past with it and horrific initial withdrawal symptoms.

The Prozac was used as part of a withdrawal programme, after my own research and seeking professionally competent advice after months of dangerous attempts of ceasing the Seroxat, yet I extended the plan, as I quite liked the 'feeling I had on th Prozac.

I was on Prozac for about 2 years although I did have a few blips (stopping too quickly in frustration, then starting up again). Bizarrely, I was almost free of ADs by the time I got my diagnosis of BPD in Aug 2006, although I had gone through periods in life when I was off any meds..and usually manically high! Apparently, SSRi are not recommended for those with mania and related conditions!!!

OK, tangent alert which is possible a bit too rambly, so I'll attempt to get to the point: I can say that the Prozac 20mg helped immensely with the low mood, but I lost my appetite, felt a little numb inside (I couldn't cry or come on it!!!), had flashes of agitation and suicidal urges, but my PMT was in check...it is a mass of pros and cons. I also suffered with brain freeze, and found it difficult to draw my beloved art or settle to read a book. I didn't feel 'real'. I can honestly say that since I have weaned off completely, I feel almost complete and very liberated, but I am not daft-I know alot of this is pyschological too...but this could have alot to do with including lots of outside exercise, interacting with friends and new people once again, not drinking booze and continually working on my selfesteem. it's bloody hard, but I needed to take this route, and will never wish to return to meds. I respect that this is just my personal experience, and some may tell of a completely different tale which contradicts many of my experiences...we are all so unique and complex, that it can vary so wildly from one to another...but at least you will be able to build a picture of what you may feel. At the end of the day, it is your decision...it may be worth sampling the meds for a limited period and keeping a mood log/symptom monitor, so you can see in print how it has impacted on your state of mind.

Best of luck, kind wishes and keep us posted on your decisions!

Stephxx ^_^

[kissprudence]

Stephy Banana! Yay!

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bow to you! I'm so impressed that you are ditching the meds! Hoorah! And everything you're doing sounds great!

You're quite right about SSRI's. I've been trying to be careful about what I say here. I just wanted to listen and get an idea of how people have reacted to prozac in particular, but it's interesting to hear about their reactions to other drugs too.

Thanks so much for the info lady, and please don't apologise for rambling! Your post was really interesting and I'll probably have much more to say about it later!

Like you say, there are pro's and cons to prozac, like all drugs I suppose.

Really glad to hear you're on the road to healing yourself!

Speak soon,

KP

xx

[muse]

take 60mg a day and it does nothing i think but others say it does

, but its better than 60mg of paroxetine i used to take

dunno if that makes anysense

[kissprudence]

Hi Muse!

Thanks for the input! Can you elaborate? Why are you on 60mg? That dose is usually reserved for bulimics. Are you diagnosed with borderline personality disorder or bipolar disorder? How long have you been taking this dose for? You say it doesn't do anything. Do you mean that there are no side effects, or do you mean that it isn't making any difference to how you are feeling? If it's the latter, why are you still taking it?

What happened on the paroxetine?

Sorry for all the questions! Just curious!

You're more than welcome to tell me to sod off!

KP

xx

P.S. Might be worth noting, before you write off the effects of prozac altogether, that you actaully posted at 2:38am! Hmm...

[oceanrain85]

i can't remember the dosage i was on, but it was two tablets per day. i was on and off of it for about four years, and i'm sorry to say that to me, it wasn't an awful lot of help.

but i do know people who have been put on it (for depression mind, not bpd) and swear it has saved their lives.

hope your experiences with it are a bit better than mine :)

[kissprudence]

Love your username! Ocean rain! Wow!

Thanks for responding! 2 tablets per day is 40mg. Usually given for OCD, but the doctors can up the dose depending on the symptoms.

Thanks for the input! It's very much appreciated!

KP

xx

[orangesoup]

I havn't read all this thread, so I will appologise in advance for that. It is too long for my frazzled brain right now.

I have been on prozac an absoloute age ago, for my ed and depression. I was on 60mg, I don't remember it helping anything, the ed or depression.

It has just been started again though, again with hopes of it helping the ed. So being taken off my other ad, and starting the prozac, to build up to 60mg. It's only been a few days though so I can't really comment on it as yet.

[muse]

Hi kissprudence,

My diagnosis is "extreme emotionally unstable disorder" ?? ( bad bpd? )

+ depression etc.

I was "transferred" onto 60mg of prozac from 60mg of seroxat a few months ago because my dose of seroxat was no longer helping me.

I was begining feel and act unwell again and they could no longer up the dosage of seroxat.

So my consultant said it would be better to switch to prozac, and

since it is similar to seroxat ,i would not have any withdrawl symptoms from suddenly stopping the seroxat.

Which was a total lie, it was much worse than stopping drinking!

The prozac just doesn't seem to work as well as the seroxat( when it still worked) but i guess it must do something coz im still here !

I don't have a serious eating disorder but i do binge eat sometimes when low, think thats more of a bpd thingy ?

And yes im up late again 4.30am ish as i type this

I can't sleep my minds racing again , to many thoughts all at once again

I often don't sleep for days and then crash out.

Oh and why are you so nosey kissprudence ? what's your diagnosis? what meds do you take?

and you can tell me to sod off aswell if you like.

muse xx

ps hope what i typed makes sense ? as i don't often make any sense

[samsung]

hey

i am on 60 mg of prozac. some days it works other days it dont.

prozac is not recommended to be drank in higher dozes of 60 mg

[kissprudence]

Hi Jopo, Hi Muse, Hi Rachel!

Thanks for all the input!

Prozac is given in 60mg doses for bulimia, supposedly because it reduces the appetitie. Bulimia is uncannily common among people with BPD. It's another way of filling the enormous hole of emotional hunger, the same as booze and drugs. Bulimia is a very "all or nothing" illness, demonstrating the BPD's black and white thinking patterns - you either eat nothing at all or you eat everything! Anorexia is also an expression of "black and white" thinking. If you eat nothing you are "good" and in control, if you eat anything at all you are "bad" and completely out of control. In 1989, at least 50% of anorexics and bulimics were diagnosed a having borderline personality disorder. Interesting.

Sadly, the doctors tend to shove drugs at us because the government does not really want to spend money on the mentally ill, the old or the disabled.

It sucks doesn't it?

Pills do not make bulimia go away. Eating disorders are not an illness, they are a sign of acute emotional distress. The bulimic and the anorexic are trying to express physically what they cannot express verbally. Bulimia and anorexia are symptoms of BPD. BPD is a condition which affects highly sensitive people who are traumatised every day by a world which to them, is full of pain, injustice, cruelty, greed and impossibly unrealistic expectation.

I was severely bulimic and anorexic for 19 years, and have been recovered since February this year. I use the term "recovered" to mean that I no longer binge and purge, I longer willfully punish myself with starvation, and I longer use my body to express to others how distressed I am inside.

It's hard fucking work every day, I can tell you, just like kicking the booze and all my other props, but it's worth it. I am less depressed and it's been shocking to realise how much time and energy I had invested in these ultimately self-defeating behaviours.

I could rant about this all day, but I'm saving it all up for a proper post later!

Sorry it was a bit disjointed! Hope this answers your queries, Muse!

KP

xx

P.S. Oh sorry Muse! My diagnosis is borderline and bipolar. As I said, I was anorexic and bulimic for 19 years. I'll explain my particular interest in prozac later. Okay chicken?

[Micheal]

Hey KP what's with all the pills knowledge u a doctor or something?

:)

[muse]

Thanks for the post kissprudence, it kinda shocked me reading it because i realized i have never made the connection between my bingeing times and the days when i don't eat.

Take care xx muse

[orangesoup]

Hmmm, well if they have given it me as an appetite supressant then I do hope it works(thats the AN side speaking), but even if my appetite is supressed then it won't fill the gaping chasm inside me, or take away the pain, or the self loathing that feeds the bulimia.

I can't see it helping to be honest. Although I do need to stop the pruging, it is doing me absoloutely no good... We will see.

[Claire]

hello people!

I took prozac years ago for grief/bereavement....20mg I think...

all I can remember is that it made me really lazy, and tired, and I slept ALL the time!!!

I was quite happy on it, and found that if I drank a glass of wine, I got pissed reallly easy, so it was fab (and very cheap on a night out!)

It didn't supress my appetite one bit though, I ended up putting on over a stone

:)

[Susan27]

hi. i was put on prozac right at the beginning of all this when it was just diagnoses as extreme anxiety and severe depression. worked wonders then. but years later, when i guess my chemistry had changed a bit, i tried it again and it made me too revved...too "up" so i needed to switch to Paxil since it's more calming for me. i wish the prozac had worked again, i remember it being a life saver the first time. unfortunately my heart couldn't take the raciness it gave me the 2nd time around. nice long half life too so you don't go thru the day to day withdrawls like you do with Paxil. Nice effective drug.