Posted by KrissyP on March 9, 2003, at 22:52:07
In reply to prozac truths - anyone??, posted by baracuda on March 9, 2003, at 15:02:25
Hi and welcome:-)
I am so glad that you sought help:-)
Good job-sounds like some experience you have had -I understand. Sometimes others see the change in us before we do , that has happened to me with Lamictal. Have you been diagnosed with BP II?? (the milder form, more depression than mania)in my opinion it sounds like that's what you are suffering from-(just my opinion)
Concerning "drug holidays"-my pdoc had me try that with the Effexor-XR but it helped ease my mania. With your Prozac-a "drug holiday" may do the opposite. I also had weight gain with Prozac-80 Lbs:-( You are not alone, there are some great people here and we all share our experience, strength, and hope (kinda like a 12-stepper-but not quite) lol
Keep us posted and hang in-did this help?
I hope so:-)
Kristen===========================================================================================hi - im new here -- so ill tell you a bit of my history real quick... im on 60 mg of prozac and 60 mg of ritalin for bp - although ive been suffering what my therapist has called 'severe depression' for about 2 years now - with mania being extremely mild and infrequent...
ive done the desiprimine, celexa and imiprimine deal in the past - i was diagnosed with manic depressive disorder when i was about 14 and have been not very committed to taking medical help - opting instead for self medicating combinations of diet pills and alcohol which seemed to do me just fine for about 10 years.
when i hit 30 years old, i couldnt drink anymore because it hurt my stomach and made me sick and the diet pills - i guess i had built a tolerance for - so i finally seeked out professional help - a pdoc, a gp and a psychologist - the latter of which i see twice a week.
it seems that the prozac is working to take the edge off my severe rage episodes, and even though i am still sleeping on average 12 hours a day, i do get out of the house sometimes, and i dont stress out about work as much as i used to. everyone i know swears that it is working, but i still feel really depressed - maybe not totally depressed, but depressed nonetheless.
my pdoc suggested that i take a "drug holiday" of 3 days with no meds and then start back up at 40 mgs a day which i guess seemed to work but im still more depressed than not, but i guess his theory is that at least im not ALWAYS depressed.
he is also wary of changing my meds because i had seizures on the other meds that i took and with prozac i dont have any bad side effects besides severe weight gain and heavy underarm sweating - which ruins my clothes.
is this as good as it gets? any input will be totally appreciated as i feel really alone and unheard...
poster:KrissyP
thread:207472
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030306/msgs/207624.html