Posted by adamie on July 22, 2001, at 16:29:53
In reply to Listening to Prozac vs your own experiences, posted by Joe Schmoe on July 22, 2001, at 16:08:29
> For those people who have read "Listening to Prozac," I am interested in hearing your reaction to taking SSRIs compared to the case studies in the book. In the book, a number of individuals suddenly go from depressed, inhibited, sensitive, shy etc. to being popular, dynamic, attractive, energetic people whose careers and social lives take off - basically a miracle transformation of personality from miserable to the life of the party. Has this really occured for anyone here or is it a bunch of crap? What good is being more attractive if you become numb below the waist? What good is your career taking off if you gain 40 pounds?
>
> I have read a lot of responses to SSRI questions here and have read a lot of negative opinions. Five days of Paxil was enough to convince me I had no interest in these medicines and would rather try something more benign like Wellbutrin, but of course Wellbutrin has no book written about it singing its praises so I don't know exactly what I should expect from it, except presumably a better overall mood.
>
> I am not saying SSRIs don't help some depressed people become better, although often at the very high cost of their sexuality and often at the equally high cost of very significant weight gain, but I am just wondering if the expectations set up by the "better than well" terminology in "Listening to Prozac" has been matched by your own experience with SSRIs. Is it really "better than well" to have no libido and to gain 40 pounds?
>
> Given that there are drugs around for depression and social anxiety that do not have these devastating sexual side effects nor weight gain side effects, like Serzone, Wellbutrin, and Klonopin, I have to wonder why the SSRIs remain the first drug of choice for the average doctor confronted by a depressed or anxious patient. Do the SSRIs truly have a personality-transforming power that Wellbutrin and Serzone do not? Or is it just baloney?hi. I have read from at least one person of how ssri's can make you into a person that is not you.
i would assume it's not a common event but to me it seems certain anti depressants can have certain person altering effects.I personally dont want to be any different than whom I was before I was stuck by a severe depression. I loved being me. I dont want to be different at all. And that is what I fear. Perhaps certain anti depressants will make me behave slightly differently or feel differently than I would have normally.
I have normally been a very shy and nervous person around people. But I liked this about me. My natural social anxiety. I liked that about me. I liked that I was always aware of everything around me and always considered everything. I dont want some numbing effect from ssri's. I want to be exactly how I was before. Because as it is now I am hardly nervous around people at all. Simply because I lack all my emotions. it simply doesn't matter to me. So all that nervousness is gone. I can just hope I will be exactly the same as I was before the depression.
sorry for not answering any of your questions. just felt like writting.
poster:adamie
thread:71393
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010720/msgs/71397.html