[BlueGreenTabbyCat]

I have several m/h diagnosis, if the anxiety and depression were not enough, I went and got myself several more eating disorders (anorexia and bulimia) and have self diagnosed type of insomnia (delayed sleep circadian rhythm disorder I get enough sleep if I can sleep when I want, sadly I don't always get the choice and so am often sleep deprived).

I'm trying to get out of a pretty bad bout of bulimia (I actually have anorexia and bulimia but tbh the anorexia doesn't bother me, I can and do live with it, it's the bulimia I take issue with) but my anxiety/depression is making it very difficult to keep my head above water and after a few years and a rapidly declining body I've been asked to look more seriously at the suggestion of taking an anti depressant.

I've been on Seroxat twice before, each for a number of years and I struggled with the side effects. I get side effects with everything- even paracetamol. I'm terrified of taking what has been suggested to me so am trying to research things first.

So far the only suggestion I've been given is Prozac.

I've been told it helps with impulse control. But impulse control isn't my problem, depression and not caring any more (even about recovery) is my problem. Will it help with this?

I've been told by people I know who have taken Prozac that it makes them feel dead or dulls their feelings. I've only known one person who said different and she said it didn't really affect her at all (but this could be because she was either very underweight or very bulimic and could have unwittingly gotten rid of the pill via a bulimic episode) Does Prozac leave you feeling dead? I'm worried because some times I get little sparks and though they are very few and far between; it's those little sparks that give me the reason to carry on for another day or even another week. I don't want to feel dead and without the possibility to feel any better.

Does it work with others who have bulimia? If so how?

Side effects- nausea I see is very common, heart burn is also common. Is there anything else? And how long does it all last for? Is weight gain a side effect?

And one last thing; how easy it to come off Prozac? I have been on Seroxat before; it took me 18 months to come off 30mg because when I tried over 9 months I was nearly suicidal 2 months after the final pill (and that's without considering all the head-shocks, dizzy spells and feeling not-quite-with-it). Is it as difficult to come off Prozac?

[Sesiley]

Prozac helped with my depression and anxiety

I was anorexic. It's something in your brain you will always have...the percentage to get better is very low, but I did it.

But...I have low confidence and self esteem. Something that helped me get through it was I finally realized I was skin and bones and people who weighed more were more attractive....you just can't see it bc you are so brain washed that it disables your thought process.

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[shaneomac12]

Prozak for me was a living hell only made things worst for me but everybody is different , and getting off it as i was on it for 3 years .. was complete hell .... but then again its different for everybody .. im now on ritilin 10 mg a day for 2 years and it works great for depression and ADHD ..

[LonesomeTonight]

SSRIs like Prozac affect everyone differently, so you won't know until you try it. For me, it helped with depression but made me more anxious (I have both depression and generalized anxiety.) I was only on it for a few weeks before switching to something else so can't say anything about weight gain. One of the good things about Prozac is that it's an easier one to come off of (compared to, say, Paxil or Effexor) because it takes a long time to get out of your body (long half-life). I think it's worth giving it a shot. You can always stop it if you don't like the effects it has on you. And for some side effects, they just last a week or two while you get used to the med, then go away.

[BlueGreenTabbyCat]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply. My appointment to discuss any med options is a few weeks off yet so I'm still trying to gather info so I'm well armed! I totally trust the psychiatrist I will be seeing but worry that I'm going to knock myself off balance (if I can call where I am a balancing act...) and make myself worse.

It strikes me as odd that people report Prozac increases their anxiety yet anxiety is my biggest problem right now- it leads straight on to depression for me because I take a look at my life and mindset and can't see a way out of it and land myself thinking/feeling life is pointless and too much for me if this (state of constant anxiety) is all there is. I can't ever seem to see my way out of it. I've got a therapist saying "feelings don't last forever" and all I can think is, no they don't, at least not in their current state, they just grow and morph into bigger and more terrifying things...the idea of them staying the same seems like a walk in the park at times.

I am unsure what will be suggested but I'm not so sure Prozac seems like a wise choice if it creates more anxiety, Paxil (Seroxat/Paroxotine) is a definite no-go after the last few times so I guess I'm looking at a new suggestion from the psychiatrist but I'm yet to guess what else could be suggested. Just wish they wouldn't all pen it as this magic bullet when we all know it really isn't.

[Lauliza]

Prozac works well for me and I have bulemia as well. Impulse control is a component of bulemia and probably why Prozac was suggested. I've taken all the other SSRIs and Prozac has the least side effects of all. I actually found some others, particularly Lexapro, made me much more depressed. At a higer dosage Prozac may dull you - for me it was 60mg. My pdoc reduced my dosage to 40mg I found it still worked without the side effects. It also helps a lot with PMS. It does stay in your system for about a week and I think there is even a once a week version of Prozac available. I think it is at least worth a try.

[Lauliza]

I have an anxiety disorder and Prozac does not increase my anxiety at all. My psychiatrist did tell me Prozac targets anxiety at higher doses which may be why I felt some of that "dulling" when I took 60. It's actually use to treat OCD at higher doses. Still, I've found 40mg to work for my anxiety, so I wouldn't discount it because of what others have said. All meds effect people very differently..

[BlueGreenTabbyCat]

Thanks- that's really helpful.

I never really understood the impulse control thing for me though, my bulimic episodes never really happen because I have issues with impulse control, they happen because I stop caring about myself and give up on trying to eat properly and that ends up with being starving myself or binging and purging, as if the idea of doing the "right" thing just falls on deaf ears because I feel like nothing matters any more. It also feeds in to a bigger sense of wanting to hurt myself or divert my attention away from real life and creating a whole other problem to cause havoc (eg bulimia) I think (without having planned it working like this btw) just seems to have worked for so long...
I have friends who I know struggle with impulse control and can't stop themselves at the cost of all else, I think if I had and (most importantly) if I felt able to find something or somewhere else to go or something to do I'd be doing that rather than binging and purging, it's as if bulimia feels like the only thing I can do when everything else feels beyond me and impossible (and quite often in that frame of mind, is impossible).

I guess that's more for me to speak about with the psychiatrist I should be seeing in a few weeks.

The idea of dulling things worries me a bit- what if I stop caring about wanting to recover? What if I unwittingly land myself in a different type of depression where I can't really feel like anything matters because everything feels dulled down and doesn't matter any more- I guess more to talk through. I mention the dulling stuff because here is not the first space I'd seen it mentioned; people I have known who have taken Prozac had also mentioned this, one going back onto drugs because she stopped caring and stopped caring about her efforts to stop the drugs. She ended up in a real mess because she didn't know how to stop or even what to stop. Her issues were depression and anorexia and both became worse before she cut out the Prozac.

Hmmmm....

[Lauliza]

Every person reacts very differently to medications so I wouldn't consult too much with others at this point. The good thing is you know what to look for which can only help. It can help you not care so much about your weight that you eat more or stop purging. It may not feel like an impulse to you buy in some ways it is, similar to how self harm is an impulse. If it wasn't people wouls use their better judgement and possibly not do it. So I would not worry so much and see how it affects you