PLEASE RESPOND- Going back on prozac again for the fourth time and I'm scared

Sounds like a good plan. Try not to dwell on the anxiety as an anxious brain can run rampant if given the chance. Diversion helps.

Day 2 was terrible. I took the vistaril on day one to help me sleep which it did, but the next day I felt depressed and groggy. Still felt a good amount of anxiety. Just wanted to lay around. Realized the vistaril made me really depressed. I wonder if it's too sedating. I'm still regretting taking the prozac. We have medical marijuana in my state but I'm not sure which strain will make me more anxious and make things worse. I'm starting to eat a little more. Still having weird racing thoughts in the morning. Hearing ringing and high pitches at times. I'm really tired. I feel defeated. If the prozac doesn't work I'm scared to take anything else. Again I think the meds have messed me up to where I'll never be normal or my old self.


I took it this morning today. It's day 3. Pray that I don't quit or have a mental breakdown

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Originally Posted by Chrysmar09

Still felt a good amount of anxiety. Just wanted to lay around. Realized the vistaril made me really depressed. I wonder if it's too sedating.

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Sedation can feel like being depressed. I suggest you talk to your doctor about this and perhaps try a half dose.

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I'm still regretting taking the prozac. We have medical marijuana in my state but I'm not sure which strain will make me more anxious and make things worse

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All of them. See below. However, cannabidiol may help.

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Again I think the meds have messed me up to where I'll never be normal or my old self.

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ADs work by reversing the brain damage caused by high stress hormone levels which kill brain cells in the hippocampal regions of the brain and prevent the growth of new ones. ADs reverse this by stimulating the growth of new cells (neurogenesis). It is these new cells that create the therapeutic outcome, not the ADs directly. Therapy works the same way.

One of the main cannabinoids found in marijuana, delta-9, tetrahydrocannabinol (d9-THC), causes DNA fragmentation and then neuron cell deaths within, and subsequent atrophy of, the hippocampus (Ameri A, 1999; Chan GC, 1998 abstract | full text (pdf); Yucel M, 2008; Lorenzetti V, 2016 ). This is similar to the hippocampal damage caused by stress hormones referred to above.

Alcohol also causes hippocampi to atrophy. Even moderate drinking can reduce hippocampus neurogenesis by nearly half (see also: Morris SA, 2010; Crews FT, 2003)

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I took it this morning today. It's day 3. Pray that I don't quit or have a mental breakdown

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You need to stop ruminating about 'mental breakdowns' lest it become a self-fulfilling prophesy. An anxious mind can wreak havoc if given the chance. You didn't have a mental breakdown before so there is no reason why you would now. Try and keep busy when awake so you don't have time to dwell on such thoughts.

You need to stop ruminating about 'mental breakdowns' lest it become a self-fulfilling prophesy. An anxious mind can wreak havoc if given the chance. You didn't have a mental breakdown before so there is no reason why you would now. Try and keep busy when awake so you don't have time to dwell on such thoughts.[/QUOTE]

I'm not trying to have that happen but my anxiety gets the best of me especially in the morning with the random words, sayings, and mind chatter when I wake up. I get scared. I do want to be ok. I don't want to think myself into going crazy.

Day 3 started out bad due to lack of sleep but got a little better. I even watched tv with my kiddo and cracked some jokes in the evening time. In the afternoon I went for a walk with my niece and vented and cried. I felt better afterwards. The night time is when things get bad. I used to take benedryl to sleep but since I'm also dealing with GERD issues I stopped. Now I don't sleep and in the morning I'm having racing random thoughts and anxiety. Im trembling and shaking in the am.

Today is day 4 and so far just heightened anxiety and again tiredness from not sleeping. This morning the racing thoughts weren't as bad. The night before I put on some headphones and listened to some anxiety videos. Maybe that helped. I went to the mental health clinic today and they gave me trazadone 100mg which is making me nervous. One thing they talk to me about was coming up with coping skills which right now I don't have.

I'm still plugging along .. wish me well

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Originally Posted by Chrysmar09

I don't want to think myself into going crazy.

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Try countering those thoughts with the fact that you never did at other tough times, so there is no reason why you would this time. Challenge such negative thoughts every time they pop up.

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Now I don't sleep and in the morning I'm having racing random thoughts and anxiety. Im trembling and shaking in the am.

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If you can't sleep get out of bed and do something for a while, read a book, watch the anxiety videos if they help, or TV, etc, and then try again. Laying there waiting for sleep gives the mind time to ruminate which not only allows anxious thoughts to take hold, but inhibits sleep.

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I went to the mental health clinic today and they gave me trazadone 100mg which is making me nervous.

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At high doses, 200mg plus, trazodone is a pretty good antidepressant, but it is mostly prescribed these days for SSRI induced insomnia. Try taking only half, or even a quarter the first night if that makes it easier for you.

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One thing they talk to me about was coming up with coping skills which right now I don't have.

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Is therapy an option? If it is then CBT, REBT, mindfulness would be worth pursuing.

Day 16: the depression is bad. The anxiety is bad too. I started having better sleep around day 11 and 12 but these past couple of days I've been feeling so down. Last night I had a bad panic attack over a personal family issue and now Im laying in bed still feeling the effects of it. I want to quit. I won't but I want to. I'm sad as hell and tired too. If I don't sleep the random thoughts get worse. My anxiety is worse too. I'm only on 10mg and I feel bad. I'm scared to go up to 20mg. If feels like it works but then it stops when it's morning time. I take it in the afternoon. Add on my health anxiety is really bad and yeah I'm not doing good. I'm trying to give it time but I thought I'd be better by now 😔

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Originally Posted by Chrysmar09

Day 16: the depression is bad. The anxiety is bad too. I started having better sleep around day 11 and 12 but these past couple of days I've been feeling so down. Last night I had a bad panic attack over a personal family issue and now Im laying in bed still feeling the effects of it. I want to quit. I won't but I want to. I'm sad as hell and tired too. If I don't sleep the random thoughts get worse. My anxiety is worse too. I'm only on 10mg and I feel bad. I'm scared to go up to 20mg. If feels like it works but then it stops when it's morning time. I take it in the afternoon. Add on my health anxiety is really bad and yeah I'm not doing good.

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Unfortunately, ADs often make anxiety and depression worse at the beginning. There is no way of preventing this, but treating the symptoms helps so please talk to your doctor about what you're experiencing as most side-effects can be eased. Remaining on 10mg for extended periods won't help, either in treating the disorder, or in preventing any increase in side-effects after raising the dose to 20mg.

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I'm trying to give it time but I thought I'd be better by now 😔

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Unfortunately, it usually takes 4-12 weeks for an AD to kick-in. It typically takes about 7 weeks for new brain cells to grow and reach maturity, though some improvement may begin a few weeks earlier. Because of the long fluoxetine half-life it tends to do so at the upper end of the range, plus 10mg probably won't be high enough to initiate and sustain the neurogenesis process.

How's it going, Chrys?

I'm on day 23 today. The depression isn't as bad and I'm noticing I'm moving around more and getting up and cleaning but I still have anxious times. It isn't as constant. More like it will pop up and then fades after a few minutes. I do feel like I have more calm moments than anxious but I still feel numb or disconnected or brain fog. It's a slow slow process. I have to remember that it takes time to feel normalcy again. My psychiatrist tells me that it I'm having glimspes of calm and acting like myself then it's starting to work. Let's hope that's true