My Prozac Diary for Help and Support

[BusuB]

Day 33... anxiety was pretty good overall. The wife and I delayed the V-day celebration on the 14th due to my working and wanting to put the extra time into her meal. Instead cooked it today. Slept in pretty late (9:30'ish). Once I got up, got ready and in my rush didn't have my coffee. No problem, I was on my way to the specialty market anyway for v-day treats and decided to stop in a little drive through coffee stand near the market. Imagine my embarassment when I drove up and found it to be a bikini stand. The poor gal must've been freezing in there in her bikini when it was 40 (farenheit) out. I drove up, red faced , too embarassed to stay, but more embarassed to leave. A grown man stammering like an idiot just to get out a meek "tall americano, no room". I think she noted my embarassment cause I couldn't look her in the eye and fixed my coffee promptly, no small talk, and let me be on my way. Red faced, I made my way through the market with little anxiety and everything I needed for the dinner. I spent my day prepping and preparing and snacking and noshing and tasting. It was a good day overall. Even found myself a decent non-alcoholic beer (bitburger, if anyone's interested) to have w/ dinner. The lamb chops w/ mint-parsley chimichurri came out exquisite as did my wife's chocolate cake (also made steamed clams in white wine and a beet/arugula salad). The evening went off much better than anticipated and my whole day overall was pretty good.

Day 34... anxiety about the same as day 33. Woke up again late. It was stormy out and the dog didn't want to go out to potty. Couldn't really blame him though, it was so gross out. Had a quiet morning in and worked out due to the feast we had the previous night. I was quite proud of myself. It had been about 3 months since my last work out and it was a good indicator of the progress I've made so far on the fluox. Got the grocery shopping done for the week (the standard stuff, not the haute cuisine). Spent a couple hours in the house before I got a little cabin fever and told the wife let's hit the road. Did a bit of antiquing and looking for a new rug for the living room. Off and on shocks of anxiety still roll in throughout the day. Doesn't appear to be any trigger setting them off. They're just random. At home, out and about, eating, reading, working... there's no rhyme or reason to it all. Guess I can chalk that up to remaining SE's I suppose as my normal anxiety is definitely trigger related.

Day 35... President's Day holiday today. My wife had to go into work, but I was off. Decided what better way to celebrate President Washington's birthday than doing taxes. Got the taxes squared away and found out we owe more than I'd like, but anxiety at a minimum. Had a bit of a wait returning a cable box at the local cable company and didn't panic at all waiting in line (45 minutes), then took the dog out for his walk. Allowed myself a little bit of an indulgence and went to get a burger for lunch. Polished the granite countertops and roasted a wonderful chicken for the evening meal. For some reason felt a bit snippy in my mood overall. Not angry at all, but my patience was thin, and I badgered my wife a bit about something silly that normally doesn't bother me. I'll just chalk that up to a bad moment, I suppose.

Day 36... early mornings are still a little rough. I notice that as I wake up I have increased anxiety and low mood for the first hour or so upon waking. It tends to even out as I get my day started. I'm hopeful this goes away as more time goes along. Pretty happy with the fact that I've avoided the use of sedatives while starting this journey (not that I've resisted using them, but I didn't have to use them) on fluox. Work provides a bit of a break from my mind although it can get a little tedious at times. I really miss my weekends my first day back at work for the week. I have a follow up with my pdoc this evening after work and unsure what to discuss with him. Likely that I'm doing okay, but not where I'd like to be yet. I suppose that it'll be a few more weeks to see the full benefits of the med. *Sigh* just wish it didn't take so long. Can't really complain too much though. My mood has been on the positive side of neutral for the most part and I haven't had any serious dips in a while.

[ashley95]

I just started taking the liquid prozac last night. My doctor says I have moderate depression and anxiety. I went to the doctor from severe/constant nausea and it worsening when I have to leave the house. Im very scared from reading all about it that my nausea will worsen and last for a while. Ive been skipping school and don't want to fail from feeling nautious all the time. Suggestions?

[BusuB]

I just started taking the liquid prozac last night. My doctor says I have moderate depression and anxiety. I went to the doctor from severe/constant nausea and it worsening when I have to leave the house. Im very scared from reading all about it that my nausea will worsen and last for a while. Ive been skipping school and don't want to fail from feeling nautious all the time. Suggestions?

Here's the thing, you're already skipping school from the nausea you're having without the vitamin P, how much worse can it get?

I won't lie, the first couple weeks I had increased nausea but that's pretty much abated. I have little episodes here and there but nothing serious.

Your body is capable of only a finite amount of anxiety in any given time. You will not go crazy, you will not lose control, you will not die and it is not permanent. Give it a go. Give your body a couple weeks to feel it out and follow up with your doc. Cheers!

[MrsCav]

BusuB, you sound like you're doing so much better and wow, what an amazing cook you are!! I did laugh at the bikini stand in the market, lets just say my husband would have ordered one of everything haha. So many people have the morning anxiety, I would measure how well I was doing by how bad the shakes where. Well done for not going down the sedative road ( I did ), you've done so well! The little irritant mood with your wife, I wouldn't worry too much about that, we all have good and bad days, even people who don't take Vitamin P/F ( love that you wrote that ) have good and bad days. I totally understand your frustration at how long it takes for this med to work. I wanted a tablet that I could take that would make me sleep for 2 weeks so I knew all the horrid stuff would be over before I woke up ....... whilst you're in 'it' 'it' feels like it's never going to get better ...... but it does and when it does, it's bl**dy amazing! Hope it goes well at the docs later or it has gone well.

---------- Post added at 20:49 ---------- Previous post was at 20:46 ----------

I just started taking the liquid prozac last night. My doctor says I have moderate depression and anxiety. I went to the doctor from severe/constant nausea and it worsening when I have to leave the house. Im very scared from reading all about it that my nausea will worsen and last for a while. Ive been skipping school and don't want to fail from feeling nautious all the time. Suggestions?

Everyone is different. I had bad nausea, but to be honest it was worse when I wasn't eating. Once I had eaten, usually a banana, I felt ok afterwards. But lots of people don't have nausea. Some people suffer with side effects and some people just sail threw it. It's just those people aren't posting on here because they are busy enjoying life .... which you will be, very soon

[BusuB]

BusuB, you sound like you're doing so much better and wow, what an amazing cook you are!! I did laugh at the bikini stand in the market, lets just say my husband would have ordered one of everything haha. So many people have the morning anxiety, I would measure how well I was doing by how bad the shakes where. Well done for not going down the sedative road ( I did ), you've done so well! The little irritant mood with your wife, I wouldn't worry too much about that, we all have good and bad days, even people who don't take Vitamin P/F ( love that you wrote that ) have good and bad days. I totally understand your frustration at how long it takes for this med to work. I wanted a tablet that I could take that would make me sleep for 2 weeks so I knew all the horrid stuff would be over before I woke up ....... whilst you're in 'it' 'it' feels like it's never going to get better ...... but it does and when it does, it's bl**dy amazing! Hope it goes well at the docs later or it has gone well.

You're absolutely right that I have been feeling better. Particularly compared to last week. Not looking forward to future blips, but at least I know I can get through them.

Regarding the bikini baristas... perhaps in my youth I would've been a lot more forward, but all I could think about was what would my wife be thinking if she knew I came here for coffee?

[MrsCav]

The future blips will be few and far between and the beauty is, you can feel yourself getting better so you know you're on the right road now. Since my light switch moment when I realised I was better, I haven't had any blips. This past 4 weeks have been really really good. I think if you told your wife about Bikini Baristas stand she would think 'he's getting better'

[BusuB]

Day 37... saw the pdoc last night who seemed satisfied with my progress. I honestly didn't have much to complain about. Told him about some remaining anxiety, morning anxiety and the like, but also told him this week's anxiety was better than last weeks and it was true again the week before. He reminded me it's a slow drug and that I had been dealing with W/D from my previous drug as well and is hopeful that things should smoothen out more as more time goes on. Last night was nice and calm. I'm finding that I've been having a bit of a sweet tooth lately, so gonna have to keep an eye on that. Felt a bit anxious this morning. I think the muscle twinges I've been experiencing since I started working out again are wreaking havoc on my anxious tendencies. No worries though. Hopped on public transit this morning as I'd been driving into work lately due to the med change and parking was getting expensive. Did alright as I had my ipad to keep me busy during the ride. Been playing Naughty Kitties which sounds filthier than it is (think of cartoony Rambo cats fighting aliens, not what you originally thought). The ride was swift and I found that I calmed down much more once I got my hot coffee and settled in at my desk . Shaping up to be a pretty decent day so far.

[MrsCav]

It is a slow drug, one of the slowest drugs I believe. I was first prescribed Citalopram and the S/E started straight away. Cit is one of the quickest drugs, Fluoxetine one of the slowest but I'd rather have Fluoxetine.

Playing games is what kept me sane for a while. Candy crush saga is my weakness.

[BusuB]

Day 38... (from my notebook) was a pretty positive a day overall. Anxiety was at a minimum throughout the day and everything was going well. Have a potluck scheduled for tomorrow morning and what I intended on bringing didn't come out so well (overcooked my quinoa and it was too late to head to the shop). Having trouble sleeping tonight thinking about what I'm going to bring. What a weird thing to get so uptight about. I suppose it's better than being anxious over health, finances, etc, but potlucks? Seriously?

Day 39... my rough night extended into this morning. I slept okay last night once I was able to fall asleep but I awoke to a low mood. Had the sweats off and on so far this morning and a mild increase in anxiety. I suppose it's a blip at this point. Hopefully it doesn't last long. The timing isn't necessarily bad as the weekend starts tonight and I'll have a couple days to recuperate. Here's hoping it's short-lived.

[MrsCav]

What's a potluck? I know of potluck to be a blind surprise, as in, a variety pack of crisps (potato chips) and not looking when you pick a packet so not really knowing what flavour you will get.

I had forgot about the sweats, mine where bad in the morning. I would get out of the shower, dry my hair and feel like I had to get in the shower all over again. Yeah, it happened around my blip time. If this is your blip time (and hopefully it won't be because you are going to sail right through this) at least it means you are getting better.