GAD has taken over! Starting Prozac...

[Kelley]

Hey Guys.

My GAD has literally brought me to my knees. I have resisted treatment for the past 3 years and just got by. I am all for Natural treatments and live very health conscious! I have started suffering Migraine auras for the past year and have spent this time a pack of nerves literally avoiding life incase it triggers one. My family have had enough and ive had enough of being snappy and mean to my kids! I have gone through some stuff recently and it has also brought out OCD in me.
I have taken many different anti depressants on and off from the age of 22 to 32. I stopped using this as treatment when i tried Zoloft and Aropax again and they did absolute horrors to my body! It's just like i can't go back on anything i've already been on.
Yesterday my dr gave me a script for Prozac (on my request). She wanted me to take Pristiq but i have done way too much googling and at this stage am only willing to try Prozac as it is the only SSRI i haven't taken before.
I am one of those people who hates drugs and will only use the poison if the only other option is to leave this earth.....Please please anyone with experience on this drug, could you help me? I will fill the script tonight but plan on starring at it for sometime making myself ill before i have some encouragement to take it! If i get past this point and then don't react badly to it, i really need some ongoing support to keep it up through all those burning 'call an ambulance' panic attacks i expect to get. And the zapping throughout my body. Obviously these are just a few. I pray to God that they don't make the Migraine Auras worse!!!!! I intend on quartering a 20mg tablet and starting at 5mg......Has anyone else done this?

I really appreciate any support someone can give me.

Thanks
Kel x

[Em84]

Hi

I have never taken Prozac, but...my Mum has been on them for as long as I can remember..I dont think she's ever had a problems on them...she sufferes with OCD and depression ( she does not suffer with anxiety ). My nan and my auntie have also been on Prozac
( yes...we are a mad family lol )
I am like you...I hate taking meds as I always wait for the side effects to kick in. I have been on Citalopram and Sertraline but couldnt take them...the effects were too much for me especially when looking after the kids.
I was going to ask to doctor for Prozac but I've just decided to try without for the min as I'm kind of doing ok....
Give them ago...as far as I'm aware my family members are fine...

Xxx

[Kelley]

[/COLOR]Thankyou so much Em for taking the time! Youre an angel. I'm glad you're doing ok.
I understand the family thing....my mum is like me but never had herself assessed or medicated or anything! She just thinks being like that is ok! She is also now a functioning alcoholic! Her mother is a nervous wreck and they are both pains in the backside! I don't want my kids to remember me like that!
Thanks so much
Kel x

[Em84]

Omg...funny old world...didn't want to mention it but my Mum has an issue with alcohol...she started drinking when I was 13 and is lovely when she doesn't drink but a nightmare when she does...I moved away from it all when I was 16,...alcohol I have to admit relaxes me and I do enjoy a drink in the evening but I have never considered this as medication...

I think my Mum uses it as she has a lot of problems, we have tried to get her to see the doctor about it but she doesn't think she has a problem...she has put on weight over the years which I would think adds to her depression. One day she will realise I hope...we don't let her have the kids overnight as I just can't take the idea very well...

Let us know how you get on with on the Prozac?

Xxx

[Kelley]

No kidding?! Don't you just love mothers! Mine was miss prim and proper but very strict and scary until she decided to have affairs and go out drinking where she met a drunk and has been with him for 18 yrs now! We have never had a great relationship which maybe fuelled my anxieties as a child and through to adulthood?
Anyways.....I went and filled my script about an hour ago and hesitantly swallowed my first 10 mg about half he ago!! I was terrified! I thought I was going to die.....I still think I might! I was going to wait till the morning but
My husband forced me to take it! Had a couple of weak brain zaps and feel a little warm but that's it for the minute.......
I will continue to post as I go on...

Kel xx

[Kelley]

So......I do't feel any side effects yet, but i only have 10mg in my system......Although i kept waking up last night and it felt like i wasn't sleeping at all! Considering i am a really good sleeper i'm guessing this was the Prozac?
I'm taking my dose a few hours earlier today than last night because i want to take it in the morning but am scared of doing it so close to my last, so i'll wean myself there....

[Katie*]

Hello,
Prozac is - in my opion - one of the mildest anti depressant on the marked. And I've tried everything. I'm on it right now, and it worked within 4 days! I feel so much better, and I've only had one major panic episode since I started taking them. But I very much doubt taking less than the smallest dose will do any good - it's quite possible you'll only feel the side effects. I'm going from 20 to 40.

PS: My mum was an alchoholic / pill addict. Unfortunately, she killed herself nearly two years ago. Wonder if there's some sort of connection?

[Kelley]

Hey Katie.
Thanks for the reply...I was actually just reading your Double Vision Post! I always check ones to do with vision because of the auras i suffer from. Yours sounds more like its either related to the Prozac or the fact that you already have vison problems and wear glasses...and sometimes anxiety can do this too.
I'm sorry about your mum, that's so sad. She must have had so many demons she just couldn't deal with....did she ever receive treatment for her issues or did she cover up with alcohol?
I am on day three now and slept really well last night....Only things i have felt really are a bit of solemness, mild agitation inside and a bit of flushing but it's still early days. I have gone from not wanting to take it to not being able to wait to get the next dose in!!! What a nutter i am! I just found out that my 20 yr old niece has hit rock bottom and also been put on Prozac! I was shocked! She has started at 20mg though! Apparently her only side effect is wanting to sleep all the time...but that too could also be her depression..
I'm glad you said Prozac is a mild drug, that's makes me feel more comfortable for when i go up to the 20mg. Why are you going up to 40mg? I'm hoping i don't have to take anymore than 20mg....

Kel x

[anthrokid]

Hey Kelley,

I've been on Prozac twice (my first time when I was 16-18, and now which started when I was 20). I find it to be fantastic for my anxiety. It is an SSRI, which means that in some people it does take 4-6 weeks to start having a noticeable positive effect, but it is far more effective in treating anxiety in the long term than many of the quick fix medications available.

Like Katie said, it is a pretty mild drug, I don't recall ever having had bad symptoms from it, and collectively I have taken it once for 2 years, and this time for 1.5 years, so that's a pretty decent run with no bad side effects! And with SSRI's, if you do get side effects, it is generally only at the start when your body is adjusting to the medication, or if you ever have to up the dosage.

I have been up to 40mg before, and still no bad side effects. The only side effect that I can possibly think of was that it did make me restless at night, but I swapped to taking it every morning when I wake up and haven't had a problem since.

Good luck!

[Kelley]

Hey amiee...

Thanks for that. I really needed something at the moment. Today is day 4 and it's been a bad day for me emotionally. I never get this emotional! I feel quite dark and emotionless....it's actually scaring me....when I think of the things that make me anxious I feel like I'm going to freak out! Have you ever heard of anyone feeling this way in the beginning?

Thanks
Kel x