Posted by gibber on November 19, 2005, at 0:29:49
In reply to Re: my pdoc says prozac has.......all, posted by Iansf on November 4, 2005, at 12:21:39
> I took Prozac for three years and had no problem at all with anxiety from it. And it definitely reduced my social anxiety. It's very possible to react differently from the majority of users. A lot of people on Prozac are troubled by insomnia. But I was troubled by just the opposite - I couldn't keep my eyes open after about 10 pm, then slept for 10 hours and still had trouble waking up. Anomalous responses are par for the course with antidepressants. What you need to judge by are your experiences on Prozac. If you feel you are more anxious now that you've stopped taking it, then it quite possibly had anti-anxiety effects. Since it apparently worked for your depression, I'd be inclined to give it another try, paying close attention to your anxiety level - is it less than now, the same, or more? Good luck.
I stopped prozac about three weeks ago. It has been the best med to get off of, really no withdrawal symptoms. I was taking it with strattera for a time and it did not do much at all for my depression. I feel like my anxiety has kind of resolved on its own and the depression/dysthymia is really what I'm dealing with. Since stopping it I have felt better in a lot of ways. I have been experiencing anhedonia for years but somehow I feel like the SSRIs increase this. I can essentially 'feel more' when I'm not on SSRIs. I can feel the 'bad' too now that I'm off but I'm not hurrying to get back on prozac. I have essentially found that the SSRIs make me feel numb. Its been theorized that some psychotropic drugs reduce REM sleep and this is a possibility why we can get tired on them. I have certainly felt tired on SSRIs and now feel a bit more energy now that I'm off them. I think I'm sleeping better too. People really do react differently to meds, but I've never felt that prozac increased my anxiety. I'd diagnose myself as having atypical depression with some severe cognitive and memory impairment. I'm looking in to MAOIs. Hope that helps someone.
poster:gibber
thread:574060
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051112/msgs/580305.html