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Anyone have any experience coming off of Prozac?I've been off it about 7 months now and have noticed an intensity of emotions that weren't there before.

sloryd 7 Mar 18
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Not Prozac but cymbalta,gabbapentin and painkillers. I was prescribed all for chronic pain from rare genetic condition. I just felt sicker and sicker. Started doing some research on PHARMA and decided to wean off all slowly. I’m appalled at what these drugs can do to our minds and emotions! I’m almost done but the ups and downs and the CRYING.....so so hard! I completely relate!

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Of course you will have a kind of withdrawal. Prozac is not as bad as some others such as Effexor; never go cold turkey on Effexor or you will be curled up on the couch crying in about three days. Antidepressants enhance certain neurotransmitters so for a while you body must adjust to not having it. Follow your doctor's advice, but ease-off any antidepressant, little bit at a time.

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And your doctor says.....

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Yes my ex thought it was a good idea-not a good idea-tried it for two weeks-went right back on it. Some people have chemical imbalances and need it.

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Have you spoken with your doctor? Also, what kind of doctor are you seeing? When I first went on antidepressants my family practice doctor spoke with me for maybe 5-10 minutes and wrote me a prescription. After several years I just completely shut down one day and ended up being voluntarily committed to the psych ward for 3 days. Upon release (2009) they had me see a psychiatrist who asked my questions for a good 30 minutes and then we decided together what prescriptions would be best for me. I still see her every 6 months. My point, I guess, is if your insurance covers it and if you can find someone accepting patients, see a psychiatrist rather than someone in family practice.

Best of luck to you

don't assume that the OP went to 'family practice' and didn't go see a psychiatrist to begin with.

@SeeCanU I didn’t, I asked and then relayed my story.

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I've been on it and come off it twice (both times, 'depression by proxy': I ended up needing it to deal with my ex's mental state and to help ignore the massive amounts of debt she insisted on us continuously running up.) I weaned myself off it both times, gradually reducing the dose. The only changes that I noticed were that I started being stressed again over things I really ought to have been getting stressed about (the bank phoning me every month for going over my overdraft limit, for example.) Oh, and sexual function returned to normal (Prozac made it impossible for me to orgasm through intercourse. Only very vigourous masturbation would get me there.)

It really just does mask reality. Takes the edge off you caring. If you're certain that you feel more intensely about things than you did before, then perhaps that's just an evolution of who you are, and Prozac has been masking it.

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I'm not a Dr, but a magnesium supplement might help. To take the edge of.

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Think thats normal - as prozac dulls everything - so welcome back - enjoy the show - it will seem normal again in a while!

Dommy Level 3 Mar 19, 2018
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Icouldnt get on with them at all

I couldn't either but I find valium works for me it works better in small quantities

valium keep my world together they really do.

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I have had intense, horrible experiences with Ambien and Prozac. Horrible horrible horrible.

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I was on Zoloft for two years in the 90's. I really liked that feeling of being somewhat disconnected from the world. After a certain age the extreme lows out number the extreme highs anyway. The sex part wasn't that bad on the dosage l was on. It took a little longer to get off, but it didn't stop me from getting off. Then I started getting anxiety attacks and stopped taking them. Sometimes l really miss that feeling of being sort of an uninvolved observer, especially at my age.

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Itell you what!!!.... NEVER take an SSRI. they will make you NOT GIVE A SHIT about EVERYTHING. you have a job or you are going to school and trying to think or remember that paragraph you just read?/??? forget it!! a sexual side effect it gave me is Icouldn't climax - at all sometimes. sorta put me on the other side if you can relate. but as far as actually thinking, nope! caring? nope!!

That may have been your experience but don’t assume everyone will react the same way. We all have different body chemistry.

what was your experience with SSRI's?

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Prozac is different for everyone, and just from anectdotal memory of men's stories about having taken it think it might affect men differently too. I've yet to hear of a guy that felt relief from prozac but it works very well on my girl and I.
I don't take it everyday, it has a long process time.
One thing i hated about it when taking it younger is it had sexual side effects and seemed to thin my very bushy-at-the-time hair out.
I don't recall anything profound the 1st time I stopped taking it, other than the side effects wore off. Oh and I could never get a buzz off beer back t hen but you're not supposed to drink around it anyway iirc.

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Not diagnosing you from this one post. But if you originally needed some chemical assistance, and are now experiencing chemical/mental changes again. Youo might want to see a professional once again.

Too many variables to identify anything from this one post.

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I was on it for only a few weeks, Prozac made me more suicidal on all 3 doses they tried. Never again. The other SSRIs were just as bad.

Hopefully you tried another category of antidepressant? SSRIs aren't the only ones out there.

@RavenCT, I did, but the side effects were always awful. So I just do CBT. Meds for me are complex, I have some unusual genetic mutations and Epilepsy.

@TaraMarshall I keep telling my Doctor that I'm in the PDR under "Rare Side Effects". When he started with a statin - I had "Fish burps"?

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