Posted by Marley on April 13, 2004, at 21:19:27
In reply to let's talk about emotional blunting » lauram, posted by francesco on April 11, 2004, at 13:51:49
Hi francesco-
I had a similar thing happen when I first started on Prozac. It was like I became an emotional zombie. Before I started the Prozac, I had been very much looking forward to an upcoming event where I would see family members I rarely see. A couple of days on the Prozac, and I didn't feel any anticipation for the family event anymore at all. That let me know there was really something wrong with how the meds were affecting me. Sure, I didn't feel "bad" anymore, but the trouble was a didn't feel anything anymore! It scared me, but even that was only on an intellectual level (I "knew" that if I could feel, not looking forward to seeing my family would be upsetting to me).
I talked to my p.doc about it, and he cut back my dosage. That helped a lot; I was able to enjoy the family event after all. However, the truth is, all the time I was on Prozac, I found that I was "less feeling" than when off SSRIs. Eg, I am the kind of person who will cry at a sad movie at the drop of a hat, and I only cried one time in a whole year on Prozac. Also, I still cared for my friends and "knew" I loved them, but I didn't "feel" that strong emotional bond and closeness I did off Prozac. So the Prozac was a blessing in terms of protecting me from the clinical depression I had been in. But it also seemed to raise the threshold on my ability to feel any emotions, which I didn’t like.
Hope that helps...
poster:Marley
thread:334516
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040412/msgs/336153.html