I've started seeing a psychologist at my university's student center. She thinks I should start being on prozac. Starting tomorrow I'm going to be taking very low doses and if nothing goes wrong the doses will be slowly increased. I don't really know what to think about taking them. has anyone here taken them before? did it work for you or anyone you know? even if you haven't taken them before i want to know your honest opinion.
I used to take Prozac, I never really noticed a difference in anything. Maybe I was acting differently and just didn't realize it, I don't know. I'd recommend getting off them asap, however.
Seems to me such drugs are given to provide relief and give a window of opportunity for you to address your issues. If you think you can/are motivated to try to do it without medication, you should say so to your therapist and give it a try.
Anyways good luck and do your best
As antidepressants go, Prozac's the best. These drugs tend to work best for cases of severe depression though, so I dunno. It might give you some kind of mild relief but like >>3 says you've got to be looking at other ways to improve your life and not depend on the drug.
As far as I know psychologist oppose the use of drugs. Psychiatrists recommend them.
>>5
No. Psychologists aren't the ones who prescribe or deal with drugs, but they don't necessarily oppose them.
>>6 is right. Psychologists are not medical doctors, and thus cannot prescribe drugs.
Thanks for your input people. What I meant was she is my psychiatrist. I never really thought that distinction was worth any note. (to me really the same)
I haven't been using prozac, but I have been using lexapro, which is considered the "newer generation" of antidepressants. I've heard that they work basically the same way, so I can try to give some of my experiences.
Lexepro, like most antidepressants, increases levels of serotonin in the brain. While this won't leave you feeling giddy or elated, it does make you feel a bit more "even", and helps lift that negative veil through which bummed out people often see the world.
This definitely won't solve whatever problems you might have, and you should definitely talk with someone to help work out your issues, but antidepressants kind of act like training wheels, and can help you along the way.
Hope this helps.
There are some problems that are out of your control which is why many people self medicate (booz,drugs,food,sex,whatever).
My advice, go for it and if it does shit , go buy some crack (rofl no).
A psychologist worth anything will never prescribe drugs to her patients.
I say RESIST MIND CONTROL!
I don't think prozac, or any antidepressant for that matter, is going to change your life in a positive way. What your essentially doing with these pills is making yourself feel better, your not making better, more positive, more efficient neural tunnels; your closing your eyes to the real problem.
I would strongly encourage you to do something that stimulated your brain in such a way as to give you more control over your emotions, a better flow of neurotransmitters, etc, and that would generally make you feel better and be more intelligent. So, you could, for example, learn a skill, i.e. cooking, and get some regular aerobic exercise, listen to music (not dark, aggressive music, as this often causes some parts of the brain to atrophy over time, but light music, be it classical, or electronic, or something along these lines), and write (you could journal as well- I've recently found this to be very helpful, especially when I'm feeling anxious, depressed, angry etc).
If you let the parts of your brain that control these aspects of your personality idle for too long (thus destroying the healthy neural potential), then I wouldn't be surprised if you fell into severe mental/physical illness in later life(i.e. Alzheimers, dimentia).
Be careful how you treat your brain, you've only got one after all.
Small amounts of Prozac won't do much at all. What exactly do you need it for? Prozac is prescribed (especially in low doses) to treat a lot of mental ailments. I get the feeling you are not depressed, as they would have given you a moderate dose to start out with, or maybe your doctor just sucks in that department.
Ultimately though, mental health drugs are a tool that you have to actively use to to be proactive in changing your life.
Hi, its OP.
So I've started taking 10mg a day for the past two days now (dosage is supposed to be increased next week) but I don't really see any positive difference...
There are somethings I feel I should have said before but forgot to. I'm supposed to be taking medication mostly for major depressive disorder. Also, I'm getting therapy as well. In fact I went like two times before she even mentioned any sort of medication.
I've been on Prozac for a while for depression. It really does make a difference in some ways. I see things more positively now and for me that was a big help.
Basically, it's the first step to improving your life yourself. Once you think more positively, you're more open, you do more things.
I still suffer from random depressions from time to time, but the intensity is much lesser and they occur much less often, because of Prozac. So I'm pretty satisfied with it.
>>14 For me, depression meant a lack of motivation to do anything constructive like that. I guess it's ok if someone forces you to do things for yourself, but you're still not going to feel fulfilled after doing these things because of your negative attitude.
***I think it's important for people realize depression can really be like any other disease. In many cases it's not something you can get rid of easily, like a cold, by sleeping more and waiting it out. In many cases, the only way to improve is to get medicine (Prozac etc) so you can fix the chemical issues and THEN start the road to full mental recovery, because Prozac alone is not a cure.***
>>17 is very right. Depression is a real disease, and as for any disease it will not go away just because you decide so. Nobody questions that for cancer, but people have a hard time understanding that it's the same for depression.
I'm not saying that OP should NOT EVER take pills; I'm saying that they are only going to make you feel a bit better. They will not nip the problem in the bud.
In any event, you should read through my original post ( >>14 ) once more, and instead of trying to "fill in the blanks", just take what I've written there as the sum of what I'm trying to communicate.
My advice is laid out in totality in my original post. There is no "do this to feel fulfilled and not be depressed" or "don't take pills because they're evil" or "depression is not an illness". I meant what I said and I said what I meant. Don't put words into my mouth.
...
Now, if you, OP, lack motivation to do any of the things I listed, you can do very small, simple things, that will work as the foundation for more positive habits.
You can, for instance, do 5-10 (or however many you feel comfortable with) push-ups everyday (before or after you masturbate even), or crunches, etc.
Shower at a certain time, get dressed for the day, brush your teeth at a certain time, and/or for a certain period of time, eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at a set time. Or, whatever works for you.
Just know that these small accomplishments (followed-through-with on a regular basis) are the foundation for better habits, thoughts, feelings, and interactions (which you will work up to over-time).
It might help to know that you are not your thoughts, or feelings. You are a mind, and solely that, the thoughts and feelings that arise within that mind are simply the creation of that mind.
Your mind is ripe with potential. These negative, dull states of mind are merely ONE possible expenditure of that vast potential. The state you are in now is not permanent.
It is a result of 1) Your conditioning (i.e. how you've come to relate to the world through the circumstances that you have, do, and will live in (meaning, your body, and its hereditary traits, your home, your family, the treatment you experience on a regular basis, and so on)).
And 2) The strengths, weaknesses and concentrations of the various neural connections in the myriad parts of your brain, which have formed in certain ways because of your conditioning (so, if you live in a constantly stressful place, then you will most likely be very prone to experiencing stress because the part of your brain that activates stress has very strong and efficient neural connections, but the part of your brain that allows you to relax might not be so active, because it not used to be activated).
These are not cemented into place and therefore can be changed by developing new behaviors and thought patterns.
Because of this, it is good to pay attention to your thoughts. This is one of the reasons that I would suggest journaling. You're not writing to someone else, so you can write whatever you want.
It can be totally incoherent if you like. Just write your thoughts and feelings about your day, life, year, etc.
It might be a good idea to try to record inner-talking as well.
Don't believe that this will work to help you? Do it yourself, and prove me wrong if you like.
Anyway, I hope you find what works for you.
And sorry for the tl;dr.
I've been hopping between pills for the better part of the last five years. They usually help a little and then stop. I've been to numerous therapy sessions with no avail. I think that it really takes the desire to change for the better to actually do so. Antidepressants are not miracle drugs.
Whatever happened to the strong silent type?
Prozac made me gain like 15 pounds. It sucked... I'm on Effexor now, and I've lost almost all of the weight, and I feel happy most of the time. I'm the kind of person who tend to forget to take my meds on some mornings, though, so that's no good for my mood...
Prozac... it's... amazing. >_<
BUT, it's a drug, so it's kind of addictive because it don't let you get depressed so easly as usuall. I think it's a great drug BUT it's addictive and could ruin your life.
So better eat chocolate... it's kind of similar the effect. well, at least for me. (º-º)...