WH is starting Prozac today and I am wondering what other's experiences were. When did the drug start helping, even a little bit? When did the drug reach 100% efficency? Any positive or negative side-effects?

I am so exhausted from living with a depressed person that I might have my hopes too high for the impact of meds. Next weekend we are going away on a 4 day trip to a secluded cabin. I'd like him to be able to really enjoy it. I guess if he's still miserable we'll use the get-a-way to relax and just be together.

WH said yesterday that he'd really just like to be able to look forward to something again. So my big hope is that the drugs will go into effect before the baby arrives (due date June 25- a cuter & happier dday).

My wife was on prozac for about 6 months after she had a miscarriage. Actually the doctor said it was a false pregnancy. She was depressed and the doctor put her on prozac. I almost left her over it. She was so much in la-la land that it was impossible to talk to her. She would never talk, just sit there and stare into space. She didn't care about anything. When friends came over she would go into a different room and just sit and stare at the walls. She wouldn't tell me what was bothering her or what I could do to help. It was hell for me and I just couldn't take the silence. I kind of saw it as living with someone who'd gotten a frontal labotomy.

Maybe it was just her reaction to the drug but I sure wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

My H took it, worked great. After 3 days he could feel a noticable difference said "Wow I guess I was depressed". I had been telling him for 3 years that he was. Changed his outlook to the point where he could start to feel positive about the marriage again... from glass half empty to glass half full. He did not like the sexual side effects and did not take it for long but long enough for him to realize he had in fact been depressed and motivated a solid cognitive change so he didn't need the meds long.

As a nurse I'd venture to say that Go with the Flow's wife either took too high of a dose or Prozac was not the "right" anti-d for her. Sometimes it takes some trial and error to get the one that works best for a given individual. Of the SSRIs, Prozac has had the most long term research done on it, so lots of MD's start with it first. Good luck!

Hi. I know that everyone is different and there is the possibility of different reactions for different people, but here is my experience with Prozac.

I had a complete nervous breakdown right before d-day, and my therapist put me on Prozac. It took 3 weeks for it to kick in. I felt great, but was definitely in la-la land. It gave me what I call a “false sense of well-being.” I painted the kitchen bright green and over decorated (it looked like a bad LSD trip when I got done), then I got some brown paint and began painting everything in sight. After a couple weeks of that, my son (in his early 20’s) finally said (with a scared look on his face), “Mom, I think you should stop painting now.”

I also started giving money to lots of charities (which I still get solicitation from in the mail 22 months later!). I felt so happy and generous.

I could have lived with those side-effects, though. The reason I went off Prozac was because of the way it affected me sexually. I’ll try to be discreet, but what happened was that I could get aroused, but I couldn’t get satisfied (have an O). Two women in my therapy group complained about the same problem with Prozac. Since SF is high on my H’s and my list of needs, that was a really bad side-effect for me. I didn’t want to live that way. It was VERY frustrating. Once I quit taking Prozac, that side-effect disappeared.

I switched to Paxil, but was so sick at my stomach for 3 weeks that I finally went off of anti-d’s. I was taking several other meds (for anxiety and such) that helped me through that horrible time, so I wasn’t med free. I believe in pills, especially if people have chemical imbalances, but sometimes it takes a lot of patience and trial-and-error to find the right ones.

Anyway, I wish the best to you and your H. God bless.

I was on a low dose of Prozac for 4 days - I am now completely covered in itchy hives - it's been 3 wks since I have been off & I look pretty scary, all scabby - looks like chicken pox gone bad! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />