Prozac Options

Well, my girlfriend's psychiatrist prescribed her Prozac. She definitely doesn't seem depressed at all. She doesn't think so either. She's one of the happiest people I know. Anyway, I read up on Prozac, and it sounds dangerous. Does anyone know what the effects of Prozac are on a person who is not depressed? Thanks!

I don't beleive there are any seperate side effects other than those normally experienced. She will not overdose on happiness. I have to ask what the reason the psychiatrist prescribed the prozac was?

It is used to treat other issues besides depression. Many of the same drugs used for depression are also used for bi-polar, ocd, or schizophrenia.
In any case if she doesn't feel comfortable taking it she should speak about this with her psychiatrist to understand why she is being prescribed it. I don't think she should make any rash decisions either to take it or lie and not take it.

It appears there is some reason that she is seeing a psychiatrist which deals with treating issues with medication. If she only wants therapy she may do better with a psychologist or some form of group therapy.

If you are worried you may want to ask your girl if she is depressed, appearances can be deceptive. Many who suffer from depression do not show it to those around them, often bottling it up for when they are alone.

This post has been edited by chaoscrowley37: Oct 6 2005, 02:13 PM

Well, we're still kinda young. Her parents are making her go to therapy. She doesn't think she's depressed, and her psychiatrist's only reason he gave her for prescribing it was "Most people who have ADD also are depressed, so most likely you are too". He also told her there were no side-effects, and there are many... He's a complete a$%*#!*, but her parents would certainly not hold her word above his. Pretty messed up...

See if you can't get a second opinion by a well-respected doctor.

No joke, I took an abnormal psychology course and the teacher was responsible for the learning curriculum of every prison psychologist in America. He said that all too many psycho (logists) rely on drugs for treatment. That if you go in for almost any reason you end up with drugs. He pointed out that many of these things can be treated without drugs.

My two cents.

Thanks, BB3, but I know her parents aren't going to have a second opinion, unfortunately. She's going to try it, and if it starts to have negative effects, she told me to tell her and she'll stop taking it.

Actually, the side-effect profile of Prozac is quite mild, which is why it's often prescribed before other, similar drugs.

It belongs to the family of medicine known as SSRIs (or Selective Serotonin Re-Uptake Inhibitors), which affect the chemistry of the brain by increasing its receptivity to the natural neurotransmitter serotonin. People who aren't depressed are already sensitive to serotonin, so such drugs will simply have no effect. This is a lot more complex than simply flooding the brain with "happy chemicals" (which is what certain recreational drugs do), and the associated mood changes - if there are any - are accordingly more subtle. They certainly don't act like 'uppers' or get you high, otherwise people would have found a way of dealing them illegally by now.

There's an article about them on Wikipedia, but it's quite technical.

Hope this helps.

Greetings!

I was put on Prozac for around eighteen months about twelve years ago, but it was due to depression. I cannot really comment on Prozac for symptoms other than depression.

However, according to friends and family around me during my time on Prozac, I was extremely bad tempered and flew off the handle at the slightest thing! It was a huge side effect which is worth noting here.

Also, it took me a number of years to actually 'come off' Prozac.

Twleve months later I was prescribed a Tri-cyclic anti-depressant 'Dothepin' to aid in the coming off Prozac.

I remember being on Prozac to this day. I was 'up there' all the time and totally oblivious to the emotional crap which was going on around me. I was in bliss zone and uncaring of anything.

She's going to try it, and if it starts to have negative effects, she told me to tell her and she'll stop taking it.

To be quite blunt this is NOT a working solution. The rapid withdrawl experienced by stopping use of a psychological drug is far more dangerous than any side effects. I think you may have scared yourself by reading all the possible side effects. It is important to note that these are things that are experienced by very few people. Take a look at the list of side effects for more common drugs that are used by people everyday.

Ibuprofen lists as possible side effects, liver failure, stomach bleeding.

Everything has side effects but the majority of them are not experienced by most people.

You have stated you are quite young and it should be noted that you are a biased observer since you have already noted your opposition to it. You are not medically trained and neither you or her are really in a position to make medical decisions on how or in what manner she should use Prozac. If she feels side effects due to the medicine she should express them to her psychiatrist and medical doctor, and her parents. Taking your advice, stopping the medicine, and lying about it are not viable alternatives.

I can't stress this enough, she should not simply stop taking it after starting it without her doctor knowing, the dramatic withdrawl could be devestating.

Medications effect everyone differently, yet doctors seem to prefer a one size fits all approach. I do not like the SSRI class of drugs at all due to increased irritation and varying degrees of emotion numbing effects. They also tend to have dampening sexual effects. If she's not depressed there's no reason to take it, it's dirty stuff in my opinion.

Greetings!

This concerns me. A youngster being prescribed Prozac:

Below is a Prozac Survivors site:

Survivor

I've quickly scanned throught the site and I think it might help give an idea as to what Prozac cn do.

Here's another link about them

"WASHINGTON - Warnings that drugs such as Prozac, Paxil and Effexor can increase suicidal behavior in some children have resulted in a nearly 20 percent drop in U.S. prescriptions of the widely used antidepressants and have triggered deep concerns about the quality of current data on psychiatric drugs, doctors and regulators said. "

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/100...ion-drug08.html

I believe the suicidal issues can strike adolescents as well, please be careful.