Date:  Thu May 17, 2001  2:37 am
 
Hello listmembers,
I've just joined this group and right now I don't know where to start. 
I've been on Prozac for most of the past ten years.. prescribed for Chronic 
Fatigue Syndrome. I am in the process of getting off of the stuff and may 
have permanent neuro damage from being on it for so long. I've tried to get 
off of it before, the longest time period being off it has been three 
months. Each time anxiety attacks and migraines made my life so miserable I 
couldn't manage it, and each time my doctor re-prescribed Prozac. Never was 
I told that the symptoms might be drug rebound or withdrawl, nor was I 
given any options. It has been Prozac or torture.

About a year ago severe neuro problems arose, and my doctor felt that I 
may have developed MS. Thankfully a resent MRI came back normal.. whatever 
that means. Never was there any mention that the cause might be the Prozac. 
In fact I has been reassured repetedly over the years that the Prozac did 
not cause the problems I've been having. The doctors advise has always been 
to double the dose rather than to lower or end it. I took 20mg/day. I'm 
taking 20mg every other day now, under doctors advise, to wean off it since 
I adamant that I get off this stuff.
   
I'm mad at myself because I accepted my doctors view of Prozac and 
didn't look objectivly at it until now.  I do research as a matter of 
habit, and the only excuse I have is that I may have been too afraid that I 
would find out the truth about the horrors of Prozac.
   
I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in '85, and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis 
(CFS) in '90 and have been on the Prozac rollercoaster ever since.
   
I know in my soul that if I don't kick this drug now that it will kill 
me. The symptoms right now are hell. Insomnia, nightmares, sweats, wanting 
to crawl out of my skin, anxiety, muscle spasms and cramps. Jolts that will 
toss me out of my chair or out of bed. Vision problems. I am angry that I 
have been kept on a drug that is so dangerous and that has made me so sick.
   
I'm not new to support groups. I've been active in CFS/ME groups since 
'94, and have been a group leader since '96. But right now I feel like a 
newbie because this topic is new for me. I have come to terms with my 
disability due to the fibro and the CFS/ME. I can feel at peace with MS as 
an over time complication of the ME. But my emotions are a wreck right now 
because of knowing what a demon Prozac is and knowing that it is the reason 
for my current torment.
   
I need help to get through this.. I hope I've come to the right place 
with this list..

Phyllis
 
Date:  Thu May 17, 2001  2:54 am

The sinus problems are constant, so is the shortness of breath 
and the headaches. Racing heart too. I wish I could flush this junk out of 
my body and out of my life. I am to scared to try cold turkey, but I want 
to do just that.  What helps?? Huggs,

Phyllis

Date:  Thu May 17, 2001  3:19 am

I may be crazy.. but I'm not stoopid ;-]  I won't go cold turkey. I may 
want to stop right now, but I know it is not wise to do so.  I want to know 
the best way to get off of it so I can get off it. Apparently my doctor 
doesn't even know the right way. Phooey!  I've been on one 20mg.pill every 
other day for the past six weeks.  I'm going to try the liquid method.
Huggs,

Phyllis
   
Date:  Thu May 17, 2001  3:43 am

Response1:
Phyllis,  most of us do not even go to the doctors anymore.
Doctors have no idea what these drugs do, so they can
not tell us how to get off. Good luck Phyllis,

Cynthia

Date:  Thu May 17, 2001  12:45 pm

Response2: 
Phyllis, you are definitely in the right place.  Your story sounds so much
like mine, except that my doctors have tried about every drug under the sun!
After being on Prozac for about a year I was also diagnosed with
fibromyalgia!   Now I wonder if it came from Prozac, I don't know...

I'm down to 5mg of Paxil.  The past two days have been awful for me.  I have
been having bursts of anger, then they turn to complete sadness and I cry
like a baby.   That part has been strange for me cause I hardly ever cried
when I was on the drugs (full strength).  Now I cry while reading magazines,
watching TV...everything seems to move me in one way or another...another
thing I was going to mention here is going back to the fibromyalgia
thing....

Since tapering back it seems that the fm symptoms have gotten to much worse!
I am having days where it hurts to walk because the bottoms of my feet hurt
so much!   Last week my right knee hurt horribly.  I wore a knee brace all
day to relieve some of the pain.   But then it seemed to move down to my
ankle and heel!   Then yesterday my right arm hurt horribly...It seemed to
be centered in by elbow region, but radiated to my wrist and up to my
shoulder.  I couldn't get on the computer last night because it hurt so
much!

Pam

Date:  Sat May 26, 2001  6:12 pm

I had another rough night with pain and dizziness, and woke up to a sick 
headache. The muscles of my face had pulled tight again, pulling at my left 
eye and corner of my mouth. I've been reading the book Prozac Backlash by 
Dr.Joseph Glenmullen (2000), and in the first few pages I saw myself. I 
also read that most of the problems are reversable with the exception for 
the tic's, which are untreatable and permanent. My spirit is crying while 
my body can't. My heart is filled with grief. I took my morning 'dose' and 
lay there in bed for an hour for it to kick in so that I could truly get up 
and busy myself so that I could pull my mind away from thoughts of 
hopelessness. It's been three days since the doseage of prozac was lowered 
to 7.5mg from 10mg. My mind knows that this is withdrawl and if I have 
patience and can wait it out the symptoms will go away. But in the time 
between nightmare and fully awake and functional there is a terrible time 
of physical pain and mental disorientation where it is all too unbearable 
to endure.  I don't know if I can endure this. Even if I go back to a 
higher dose.. the neurological damage symptoms do not lessen. My body 
cannot take these adverse reactions any longer. I have to get off of it or 
I will die, and some times letting go and leaving my body behind is so very 
tempting.  It feels like all I have to do is to stop fighting and let go. 
Does anyone know what I mean? All I have to do is to give up, roll over and 
die. But I am too stubborn to just die,.. except in that moment between 
sleep and alertness where the pain and sickness overwhelms me. Does anyone 
here understand? Huggs,

Phyllis