solstar Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 I can't explain what the problem is, copying and pasting: here this is from my journal-I am so very very...something. Uncomfortable? Bored? Antsy? It is something familiar but just out of my grasp. I have felt this way off an on for weeks. I thought I was hungry, it is a feeling like that but it is not going away after snacking. It is an awful squirmy jumping out of my skin feeling. I wish I could just rip off my skin and go on. Blech! Today was my first day staying home w/o the kids and it was too quiet. I drove around for a while, went to the library, and then home. I don't like to be alone. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I miss the feeling I used to have, unpent up manic joy. Flinging myself into whatever I was doing even if it was something bad and wrong. Unregulated moods. untampered with natural highs. Which way is better? I don't know. Was it fun during those times though hmmm? I can honestly say yes when I was younger, it was fun. I can control it now with all my responsibilities. I think. Can I tell if it was happening right this moment? can anyone tell? Or is this one of those hindsight is 20/20 moments? I guess that would be bipolar aka manic depression (go Jimi). I am still trying to understand it wondering if maybe the psych made a mistake. Maybe I am just dumbing myself down and controlling symptoms that are not there. I felt so bad today I thought about calling my therapist. My new meds take weeks to kick in, Prozac, and I feel like I am drowning. But where will I be if I give in and ask for help. No I always have to do everything on my own dammit. Suicidal? nope. homicidal? nope. Just damned uncomfortable. I am also on Abilify and have been off alcohol a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyinCali Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 How long have you been on the Prozac? It's been years since I've tried Prozac and the only side effect I can clearly remember is feeling paranoid. It got so bad I had to stop taking it. Recenly tried Paxil and had similar feelings to what you described above. Took it in the morning and by early afternoon I was jumping out of my skin. Couldn't focus on a thing for any amount of time, felt agitated and really strung out. I was yelling at my kids and hubby for no reason. I clearly don't do well with those class of SSRI's that tend to stimulate you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solstar Posted October 25, 2005 Author Share Posted October 25, 2005 18 days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyinCali Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 18 days <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Have you considered talking to your doctor about taking a benzo. (like Ativan or Xananx) until the Prozac kicks in? Ativan helped me tremendously with side effects the first few weeks until the Lexapro kicked in. You shouldn't have to suffer and I hope you find some relief from what you're feeling soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldo Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 If the Prozac is going to work, you are probably going to start feeling better sometime in the next 6 weeks. I'd guess sometime in the next two weeks. It can make you feel a bit strange for a while. BTW. I hope you stay away from alcohol. It's not always the case, but in my experience Prozac and even just one drink don't play well together. But maybe I have a wimpy liver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solstar Posted October 27, 2005 Author Share Posted October 27, 2005 My dr. helps people get off of Xanax unfortunately for me. My regular dr. suggested Vistaril (sp?) a few weeks ago for anxiety. What happens if you drink? I was taking Lexapro and developed an alcohol craving and nothing gave me even a buzz not one and not 12 drinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyinCali Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Yeah, Xanax can be pretty habit-forming, and my own doctor was terribly stingy with the Ativan. I believe I only received 10 to help me though the first month I was starting the Lex. I'm not familiar with the med you mentioned. I've tried drinking 4 times since starting Lex. and twice I got terribly sick (throwing up in the middle of the night) after drinking just one drink! Before the Lex. I had a rather high tolerance for alcohol, so it really surprised me when I got sick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretl Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 OK - it's been a few more days. Has this improved? I guess I'd recommend going a total of four weeks, which would give you another week without the alcohol working against it. And without kids in the house ... being alone always makes me feel antsy and restless ... almost like it triggers a hypomania sometimes. "I *must* have something to do, but I have nothing to do, that isn't boring and mundane." At least with other people in the house there's something with near-constant novelty to focus on! Even if it's not always fun. That said, you say you have a new diagnosis of bipolar, yet pdoc put on on Prozac? Apparently relying on Abilify as a mood stabilizer?? Not exactly current guidelines for treatment. How long have you been on Abilify? How did you feel when you were just on that? I'm just concerned you might be having a manic reaction to the Prozac. Definitely stay away from the alcohol for now so you can get a "clean" trial. But watch yourself closely. If this continues or gets worse, call the pdoc, k? Oh, and Vistaril is an antihistamine (same as Atarax). You can do a CrazyBoards search on those meds; there was a thread somewhere about people weighing in on how it helped. How does your body react to Benadryl? If it mellows you out instead of speeding you up, then it's worth trying the Vistaril. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scream_phoenix Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 i didn't read through every post on this thread, but your description of antsiness, boredom, and just an unspecific uncomfortability definitely reminds me of the bad experience i had about week eight on prozac that forced me to come off it. i kind of had a mixed experience on prozac. the first week or so (i had tapered off lexapro a month and a half before, and hadn't really been on anything in between then) made me feel really good - like i had the proper amount of serotonin for once. but then that wore off and the first couple of weeks weren't that great, i was thinking of quitting. then it got alright. and i had a temp job for a couple weeks, and was distracted enough to the point where i felt well. but when that ended i went through the week from hell on prozac. just complete undistractability. ( i think i had to make that word up) i bought a magazine full of crossword puzzles and the like, just to try to keep me distracted but it didn't work. i got increasingly more agitated, until i kind of had a final breakdown and broke about three family picture frames. twas not good. i stopped taking it (i was only at 20 mg) and things cooled down real quickly. i'm not necessarily feeling any better off meds - i'm still depressed, dysthymic etc. - but its nowhere near as bad as what prozac did to me. my only guess is that since its a 'dirty drug' according to my psychiatrist - in that it effects norepinephrine as well as serotonin - that's what made me agitated and unable to distract myself with anything. i don't know if you're still experiencing the same symptoms, but i think prozac can definitely cause that in some people. hopefully i'll be sane enough to never try it again. also, i'm not bipolar in any form, i'm ocd - so i don't know if that rules out this as a bipolar reaction for you or not. i think the norepinephrine component - or just whatever made me more agitated - definitely made my ocd and intrusive thoughts worse to the point of being unbearable. and as one last thing - i don't know how long you've been on abilify - but the one day i was on that was another horrible experience. it made me restless the whole night, adn the next day i felt nauseous. so the combination of abilify and prozac agitation would definitely not have been good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solstar Posted October 29, 2005 Author Share Posted October 29, 2005 I have that feeling still maybe not as much and now this wierd feeling like my arms and hands are not attched or are sinking or something. It is making me a bit freaked out. I am also sick right now so I don't know if I am having a fever reaction. It is making me somewhat nervous that I have vagus (?) nerve damage again like I did before (from GERD I was very sick) so I am starting on GERD meds again today, I haven't been taking them as well as I should have since I didn't have any symptoms. I am also not interested in anything as much as I usually am and don't seem to have enough of an attention span to read, watch tv, do anything for very long. I was on Paxil then Lexapro but I was gaining weight. (from sz 3/4 to a 10 and under 120 lbs to 160 eek) They put me on Prozac in hopes that weight would stabilize. I have been on Abilify a little over 2m. As for bipolar I had what could be manic episodes in hs and college, I was a wild one LOL, but have been fairly stable with a few freakouts a year. I am not sure if teh bipolar diagnosis is quite accurate but it fits somewhat. I also used to have major insomnia before Abilify. I don't feel anything w/ abilify no side effcts that I can tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solstar Posted October 30, 2005 Author Share Posted October 30, 2005 I am not doing too well with the not drinking thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldo Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 Seems like, since I've been taking Prozac, if I have a drink the night before I often wake up depressed, if only for an hour or two. Weird and unpleasant. And I do mean depressed. On one occasion I lost it emotionally while drinking, but I had plenty of reason to, even if it was only one glass of wine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solstar Posted November 2, 2005 Author Share Posted November 2, 2005 I feel fine/GREAT! now but I can't remember if I took my prozac today or yesterday hmmm... It sucks to have an attention problem. I also haven't drank since Oct. 30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyinCali Posted November 3, 2005 Share Posted November 3, 2005 I feel fine/GREAT! now but I can't remember if I took my prozac today or yesterday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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