It’s supposed to take a week or two for Prozac to take effect, but here it is, day four, and I’m feeling pretty much my old self again. Does this mean the Prozac is working again? Or does it mean that the withdrawal symptoms are gone because I’m back on the sauce? Is this a physical addiction problem? I don’t think anyone knows, which is odd. There’s millions of people who have taken or are taking Prozac. It was first developed in the 1970’s, and released in the US in 1987, so it’s definitely been around for a very long time. But do a search on the Web and you’ll find all kinds of conflicting information about Prozac, including the recent study announcing that it doesn’t work. I guess 40 million people can be wrong. Because, if a scientific study says it’s so, it must be so. Thus is reality defined.
The lack of clear information about one of the most widely-prescribed drugs in history is very odd. Chances are, if you’re reading this blog entry, it’s because you were desperately trying to find out what the withdrawal symptoms of Prozac are. And I’ll bet what you found was something like this: “Since Prozac has such a long half-life, withdrawal symptoms are usually minor. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.” What are those symptoms, though? Good luck finding a mention of them. For Prozac, it’s just not a problem.
Um, okay, but what just happened to me over the last seven weeks? Lack of energy, inability to read and comprehend, irritability, nausea, dizziness, sudden anger, sleep disruptions, and even a day when suicide was looking pretty inviting. After seven weeks, things were getting worse, not better, and so I decided to put myself back on Prozac. (Luckily, I still had some refills on my prescription.)
I suppose it seems obvious that I cannot stop taking Prozac, now or ever. I don’t think the withdrawal symptoms were “the real me”. And it is possible that had I waited long enough, I may have ridden out the symptoms and gotten free of it.
Luckily, I am self-employed. God knows what would’ve happened had I been trying to hold down an office job while going through that. Quite likely I would have lost my job, or at the very least performed very badly. According to the experts, Prozac doesn’t work, and getting off of it is no big deal. Well, in my case, they were wrong on both counts. Does this mean I’m not normal?
I was really happy to read your comment. So I am not going crazy after all, what a relief. It has been 4 weeks since my last dose of prozac, and I feel like hell!! I am determined this time around to keep off this stuff (having said that, yesterday I couldn’t believe I tossed the last of my pills. Some days are good and some days are so bad I don’t think I’ll make it. Anyway, I feel a little better after having read your post!
Kathy – thanks for commenting. I wish you luck in getting off Prozac. I hope it goes better for you than for me. Perhaps it matters how long you’ve been on it, but I’m thinking that since I started over 13 years ago, I’m pretty much stuck with it now. It has altered me somehow so that I can’t function without it.
Amazing how the medical establishment seems to be so clueless about this. Or perhaps, more likely, the clues are buried under the rug due to their inconvenience. Probably the truth goes like this:
1. The patent on Prozac is expired.
2. Big Pharma is not making money on Prozac anymore.
3. Tell everyone Prozac is a fraud.
4. Convince them to switch to one of the new improved SSRI’s.
5. …which are, by the way, still protected by patents, and worth a fortune.
Just a guess…