Thread: depression and prozac

ok i dont even kno where to begin with this well thils last year has been quit a year for me i have been through so many up and downs being in denial but now being able to admitt to myself that somethng is wrong my attitude has changed ive become a very angry and irritated person and i kno thats not who i am i looked up some symptons and signs of depression and realized that i do have depression from the overwhelming stress shutting ppl out feeling sad and lonely crying not eating isolation i just really had a breakdown how i got through it i dont kno i just ask god to help me give me strength i was really at a low and not wanting ppl to judge me or think im crazy or sucidial i have kept this in for almost a year now and im still feelin down i have stress headaches everyday i dont sleep much its just ........... so last week i went to the doc and i got the courage to sit and talk to her after realizing i gained about 12lbs that somethin is not right so after tellin her the things that were going on she agreed that it may be depression and she prescribed prozac to see if that would be any help and as she was tellin me the side affects and that it takes atleast 4 weeks before the drug is in your system and the things that some ppl go through iam kinda skeptical about taking them even thou im drepressed i have never had any sucidial thoughts dont believe in that and i have a child to live foe which is also being affected by this so has anyone had any bad experiences with this drug i dont want to start taking them and think that i have to have them to fuction is my thing and i also thought about how i would react if i did decide to take them and after a while stop will my depression be worser than before a little friendly advice would be a big help thanks

I am by no means an expert on depression and Prozac, but I will say since I started it there has been a world of difference in how I'm now feeling. So I'll give you my experience with it.

Some of what you say sounds a bit familiar to how I was becoming. And I also recognized it wasn't me. I was also one who didn't think I was the type that needed to turn to AD's to make me feel better.
I started on Prozac over a year ago. After just a week I was beginning to feel better, the 'black cloud' was lifting and I could feel what felt like a load begin to lift off my shoulders. I did think a few times before talking to my doctor that maybe things would be better off if I wasn't around. I didn't think that was suicidal thoughts either, but indirectly it was...not that I would ever do anything to myself. But we need to be careful because when we're at the end of our rope we don't know what we might do!

If your doctor is a good one she will start you out on a dosage she thinks will help to begin to lift you out of this. I'm a pretty drug sensitive person, so it didn't take long for me to notice feeling better.
The only effects I've had were recently, we felt maybe I needed to boost my dosage up. The doctor chose to boost up to 40mg from 20. He left it up to me to see if I felt I wanted to stay there or if I didn't like the way I felt I could go back to the 20mg. I have a problem if I take 40mg more than 3 days in a row, I get a rash...a reaction to that dosage. I believe its my bodies way of telling me I don't need that much. So I'll be dropping back to the 20mg.
The rash reaction is the only negative...I did feel a little better with the dosage, but again I don't think its something I need ALL the time...maybe a booster once in a while.
I'm not sure about stopping the AD. I have had thoughts of 'gee maybe I don't need this now' and tried skipping some days to see how I would feel. (We're not to go off the AD cold turkey.) Each time I would get this notion, it seems there was something that would remind me they really were still helping me.

Talk to your doctor about how you feel if you would go off the Prozac. It most likely would be up to you to realize if you still needed to be taking it after a while of knowing how you feel.
Keeping the communication open with your doctor is the key. You've recognized that you are having trouble and made that first step to talk to her about it. I don't know your age, I will be 50 this year and I do believe a lot of mine has to do with age. But, as I learn more about myself I can see that depression symptoms have been there most of my life. I'm just glad I finally recognized that I needed some help.
Don't be afraid to try to help yourself...and if you don't like how you're feeling with the Prozac talk to your doctor, she will help you.

I hope this may have helped some.