Posted by jay on September 17, 2001, at 16:46:57
In reply to Re: Prozac Poop out » Roo, posted by Cindylou on September 17, 2001, at 14:51:51
Yes, I have read actually lowering the dose, and then augmenting can work some wonders. Liquid Prozac seems quite valuable, since I understand you can get doses close to exactly 1 or 2 mgs? Dr. Michael Norden in his book 'Beyond Prozac' talks about this, and the standard "20 mg" capsule not being nearly as useful as they thought.
A number of docs have been talking about 'micro-doses', and I wonder if maybe they have a different effect at such small doses. Not just less side effects, but say instead of 're-regulation' of receptors, they just add a very tiny boost of whatever chemical they target.
For 'treatment resistance' (which seems more and more common), this may be a new route. It wouldn't hurt to try!
Jay
> Hi,
> I've experienced Prozac "poop-out" 3 times now. All three times it happened after about 2 months from when I started taking it.
>
> For me, the effect was drastic. All of a sudden, out of the blue, I felt extremely exhausted, foggy-headed, teary, etc. Almost as if the Prozac was backfiring and making me worse. This would be after a couple months of feeling pretty good. I kept trying again because I thought "maybe this time it won't happen...."
>
> Anyway, I recently reduced the Prozac to 5 mg. (I was on 10 mg) and it helped ease the bad side effects. Now I am going to add Risperdal, which I've heard can enhance the effect of Prozac and perhaps prevent poop-out. Zyprexa is an even better choice than Risperdal, but I'm trying the Risp. since I have bad side-effect problems and Risp. should be less sedating to me than Zyprexa.
>
> It does sound like your Prozac is ceasing to be effective -- maybe you could talk to your pdoc about adding Zyprexa?
>
> good luck,
> cindy
>
>
>
> > What's it feel like when your med "Poops out"? Does it
> > have to be a complete and total poop out where it just
> > isn't working at all, or can there be a kind of "partial"
> > poop out, where the drug is supporting you somewhat, but
> > it dosen't seem as good as when you first started it?
> > I've been taking prozac for 6 years or so, and can definitely
> > feel a BIG drop when I go off it, and an improvement
> > when I go back on, but I still find myself experiencing
> > a modicum of depression and wonder if it could be better.
> > Does anyone relate to this? Am I just being perfectionistic?
> > Also, I've had a tough year emotionally--me and my boyfriend
> > just broke up, etc., but sometimes I feel like my meds should
> > be working better than they are. (PS. I've tried taking
> > higher doses of prozac, but I don't seem to notice much of
> > a difference with a dose increase--I take 20 mgs).
poster:jay
thread:78938
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010917/msgs/78948.html