Posted by JKL on April 20, 2005, at 4:52:11
In reply to How to combat Prozac poop out?, posted by 3 Beer Effect on April 17, 2005, at 22:39:16
How to combat prozac poop out. That's a good question. Prozac has been one of my primary meds for years, and I've felt its benefits fade over time, requiring me to make adjustments in an effort to get the goodness back.
The addition of low dose zyprexa helped a lot, and extended the period of goodness several months. But eventually things got dull again.
My doc said it would be ok to add in st johns wort with the prozac and zyprexa. By the second day I was so impressed with how good I was feeling that I started tapering off prozac. Stopped it completely. About 10 days went by with no ill effects. Then I started getting the common withdrawals...spaciness, dizziness, weakness, lack of concentration, general unconnectedness. So I added back in 10mg prozac. Within 4 hours I felt so much better. Then it became clear to me that whenever I lose the good effects of prozac, all I need to do is stop it for a few days and then restart it.
There is new evidence coming out that when serotonin neurons are disabled by an ssri, the serotonin is taken up by dopamine neurons. I wonder what other cross-actions are taking place that we don't know about, such as with the norepinephrine, gaba, or opioid neurons. I wonder how all this ties into poopout. Does blocking a whole bunch of different neurons help? That's what sjw does, and I think it does help.
Though prozac is said to work primarily on serotonin, there are plenty of clinical studies showing that it significantly boosts dopamine and norepinephrine as well. Maybe poopout has something to do with dopamine tolerance setting in.
I tried low dose naltrexone, as it supposedly prevents prozac poopout. It was useless for me. As were lithium, buspar, and pindolol.
When generic prozac first hit the market, my insurance company would only cover the generic, so I had to stop taking the branded Ely Lilly original. I swear I felt a difference. It could just be my imagination, but I swear Ely Lilly prozac is much better.
Poopout is a tough one. About all you can do is experiment with different things.
poster:JKL
thread:485685
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050418/msgs/486849.html