Is anyone doing well on prozac: I have tried... - Above & Beyond

Above & Beyond

5,416 members1,489 posts

Is anyone doing well on prozac

Theresa06 profile image
14 Replies

I have tried nearly every ssri antidepressant plus Effexor and every benzo none which help my severe anxiety depression major fears phobias paranoia all which seemed to result when I had major medical scares with my heart two years ago I have been to counseling psychiatrists inpatient and outpatient with no relief my current doc has me trying prozac now so far its not helping did anyone find relief with prozac when other meds didnt help?

Written by
Theresa06 profile image
Theresa06
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
14 Replies
gardengnome profile image
gardengnome

not sure what age you are, but i think changing the contraceptive i was using for rotten periods has helped as much as the prozac...Hope the doc is monitoring you for any issues with the heart problems while on the meds...

Theresa06 profile image
Theresa06 in reply to gardengnome

I'm not on contraceptives I'm 39 but do you think the prozac can still kick in and help me even though other meds haven't worked for me

Gambit62 profile image
Gambit62 in reply to Theresa06

We all respond differently to different medications, even if they are the same class. Unfortunately there isn't any way of being able to predict how we are going to respond to particular medications, except to try them. I know it probably feels like you are going round in circles but please do give them time.

If you are concerned about side effects then you can always go back to your GP - or even try to have a word with the pharmacist.

Theresa06 profile image
Theresa06 in reply to Gambit62

How much time do you give do you think there is still a chance the prozac can work even though it hasn't helped yet or any other med I have tried my psychiatrist says its trial and error You just can't know till you try have you ever had the problem of meds not working? Did you find one to work what do you suffer from

Gambit62 profile image
Gambit62 in reply to Theresa06

Unfortunately your psychiatrist is right - it is trial and error in terms of drugs - and I'm impressed that they have been that honest and open with you - sounds like they know their stuff.

I suffer from depression. I was on fluoxitine for a while - probably about 7 months before I was taken off - not sure whether it helped or not because it did stop me caring about the things that were making me feel down but I think it also stopped me caring about other things. However, possibly combined with mindfulness meditation, it did have one permanent side-effect which is that I stopped worrying about other people's driving and learnt to understand that their bad driving was their problem - all I had to do was get out of their way - so now I enjoy driving a lot more.

I'm not a great fan of medication - my doctor tried me on citalopram when the depression started to get worse again but I couldn't tolerate the side effects - really vivid dreams that had me scared I would lose my grip on reality - they weren't unpleasant but it did completely throw me - I lasted 3 days and that was it. I struggled on for a number of years and the thing that has really helped me in the last year has been mindfulness meditation - but doing it as a MBCT course through a book I came across.

Did you really mean that you have been on fluoxitine for 7 years or is it that you have been trying to find a suitable med for 7 years? or is years a misstatement.

I would have thought that if any specific drug was going to work then you should have felt the effects long before the end of 7 years. It is usually recommended that you try an SSRI for 1-2 months as it can take that long for the effects to kick in. They work by blocking the reabsorption of serotonin (one of the happy hormones) in the brain so there is more around so when you have a good experience your brain should respond slightly better.

There are lots of different classes of anti-depressants. SSRIs tend to be used because they have fewer side-effects and are better tolerated by patients than some of the other classes of drugs. I suspect that your psychiatrist has probably already explained this to you.

Although the scientists understand a lot more about how depression works and what effect it has on the brain ... and anxiety and depression work very similarly ... they still have narrowed down a single cause. There are probably lots of different causes and may be one day there will be a way of narrowing down what exactly is going on in a particular individual so that it isn't trial and error but I don't know when that day will be.

My brother has diabetes. It started in his 40s so the doctor assumed that it was type 2 so prescribed the medication for type 2 - but despite trying to follow a strict diet my brother still had problems controlling his blood sugar levels. Diabetes runs in my family and about the time that my brother was diagnosed my mother - who also developed diabetes in her late 30s/early 40s was involved in a study of what was initially being called type 3 diabetes but is now called late on-set type 1. This is the type of diabetes she has, my grandfather (and his brother) had and my brother now has. Knowing this my brother did a bit of research and came up with the fact that type 1 and type 2 respond to different types of medication. He talked to his doctor who changed his medication and he is now able to control his diabetes. I share this story because people think of diabetes as a disease that is well understood and can be easily treated - which it is - but there are different types of diabetes and they need different treatments. There are bound to be a lot of different types of depression but as yet medicine hasn't managed to identify them so they don't have a road map that can help them get to the right treatment quickly - all they can do is try things and see what works - that probably isn't entirely true as they do now seem to have a good grasp on bipolar disorders.

If you are concerned then I would suggest that you go back to your GP and your psychiatrist and ask specific questions. They have the medical background and much more access to what is currently going on in terms of research and development.

I'm sorry nobody can really give you a quick answer ... but I think one key is that medication on it's own probably isn't going to do the job. There are usually life-style factors that need to be taken into account - one theory is that depression is still around because it is something that gets us to a point where we start to make changes to our direction in life - so that may be why talking therapies help. Lots of people have had depression - changed their direction and gone on to have very productive careers and lead really happy lives somewhere where they would not have looked otherwise.

Does your psychiatrist ever talk to you about your life style and what you might change?

Another thing to bear in mind is that one of the cruelest things about depression is that it switches the relationship between motivation and action so that you actually have to do something before you feel like doing it. Having routines that make you do things like get exercise can be a real help.

The book that helped me was 'Mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world' by Mark Williams and Danny Penman ....

And the stuff about depression being a state in transition from one life-path to another is based on 'How Sadness Survived' by Paul Keedwell.

Gambit62 profile image
Gambit62 in reply to Gambit62

Theresa - sorry - just realised I had confused you with another recent post - you do need to try the meds for a few months to see if they are working as gardengnome says below.

gardengnome profile image
gardengnome in reply to Theresa06

can be two or even three months, for the med to kick in, as it takes a while for it to accumulate in the body For me i had to up the dose as it was too low at first...

Theresa06 profile image
Theresa06 in reply to gardengnome

What did you have to raise your dose to before it started to work did it really make you feel better was it sudden or very gradual the change in your mood

gardengnome profile image
gardengnome in reply to Theresa06

from 20mg every two days --- to daily, which is still a small dose, i think that changing back from progesterone only to the combined contraceptive pill at the same time made a major difference too. I noticed the difference within 3 weeks...guess it was gradual.. wish i had sought help long ago, as if i am honest things started to turn downwards when i hit puberty many many moons ago...

Theresa06 profile image
Theresa06 in reply to gardengnome

Do u think this med can still work for me when nothing else has? I'm so desperate to get some strength to get my sanity back

gardengnome profile image
gardengnome in reply to Theresa06

It is always a good thing to believe in the meds and therapy that you use, it makes it more powerful----- You mentioned doing counselling / therapy, it sounds like a good time to revisit some of the ideas they gave you, and to take a look at some more techniques like meditation, c.b.t. mindfulness.....Sure you have tried looking into these before, there are lots of approaches out there, so hope you find one which you can relate to...

GoodMentalHealth profile image
GoodMentalHealth

HI Theresa, I am a new member here, but my condition can be related to yours since I also sought a better solution for it.The answer is YES, THERE IS SOLUTION AND ALTERNATIVES TO THE GOOD OLD PROZAC. Try to be referred to a Professor or specialist in depression. This is what I did. I was left lone by my partner and had to face everything from career interruption, house removal, change in countries all on my own under the effects of wrong medication. I knew I was being given a wrong medication, somehow we know 'it' does not work. So follow your guts because they are right and get seen by a specialist in depression. My family found a Professor in Depression in SP Brazil who prescribed exactly the right medication. It is very modern, near none side effects. My depression lasted for almost a decade and nothing seemed to help me. Changing my routine was hard but I mustered all my own energy and will and changed my story for good. All by myself. Alone, no money, no job, no one. Me. Now I can live my life with no fear, no tears, only full awareness of my condition but entirely able and totally on control of it not the way round as it used to be for years. Believe me, there is a way for everyone. And your words show that there is also will in you. Be brave.

Theresa06 profile image
Theresa06 in reply to GoodMentalHealth

I have seen so many psychiatrists I don't know what else to do they all say meds are trial and error

GoodMentalHealth profile image
GoodMentalHealth in reply to Theresa06

Have you ever seen a Specialist in your condition? A Consultant who have specialized on what you think you suffer from? I would suggest you doing so. I was seen by gps, consultants, was sent to psychiatric ward in London, name it - I did!.Nothing worked. Medication, therapies..etc. Until I paid to be seen by an internationally recognized Professor specialized in depression. It cost me money, interrupted my career, ended my 4-year-relationship but I got my life back. Try to go to a medical school and speak to a Professor. They have updated information regarding new and modern medication with minor side effects compared to old prozac and 'good-for all' fluoxitine. It is a hard and coslty investment but it is worth it.

You may also like...

Can anyone recommend a good type of exercise for depression?

better though. I do yoga at home when I remember to and that really helps. I'd like to do more...

Do you really want to be \"cured\" or do you merely want to thrive?

you really want to change? Maybe the problem is trying to be \\"normal\\" instead of accepting...

How do I keep my body from falling apart?

Why do I self sabotage?

Am I a monster? What am I?

trouble communicating with others. I think that I am scared of other people because there aren’t...