Anxiety and Prozac

[Petrone]

Hi all,

I'll start with the stated truth that we're all different, with varied AN, and non-AN, experiences.  I've been doing fairly well since receiving GK about 18 months ago.  I went through a rough few months of piercing headaches and dizziness last summer, but all of my post-GK side effects subsided by last fall. 

Lately, though, I've been experiencing a great deal of work-related stress, with some occasional anxiety.  Stress and exhaustion seem to heighten my tinnitus, which seems in turn to exacerbate my stress and anxiety.  A viscous cycle.  I'm hoping this all smooths out in the coming weeks as I resolve some career issues, but I've considered asking my general physician about trying something like Prozac, maybe just for a few weeks while I sort things out. 

I imagine there are varied views on Prozac out there generally.  It's something I've always shied away from for various reasons, and I cringe when I read that 20% of the US adult population uses some form of anti-depressant or sleep medication.  What say you?  I don't want to stir up a controversy because there may be strong feelings pro and con about this topic.  Has anyone found Prozac type medication helpful to get through periods of stress and anxiety, etc?  Has anyone felt more prone to anxiety since receiving an AN diagnosis and/or treatment?  Any concerns about Prozac I should be aware of ? 

Feel free to send responses as PM if you'd prefer.

Thanks,
Petrone     

   

[Echo]

Hello Petrone,

You've raised a very interesting subject.  Anxiety is in some ways very similar to our AN's - unless you experience how anxiety can feel,  it can be hard to understand because it isn't something that is always visible to those around us. 

I have dealt with anxiety occasionally during my adult life but I have been fortunate that it has never been so severe that I've required Prozac.  I would suggest you approach your anxiety issues like you did your AN.  Do some research into different ways of treating Anxiety without jumping quickly to Prozac.  You do have options.  Cognitive Therapy can be helpful, check out author Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. who has written several excellent books on the subject - one of his best books is Full Catastrophe Living.   Health food stores sell a product called "Rescue Remedy" which comes in several different forms (I use the droplets for my dog during thunder storms and it works great).  Also don't overlook the value of some good meditation CD's.  Even stopping to listen and focus for as little as 10 minutes on a good meditation can work wonders in taking your focus off whatever the anxiety trigger is you are facing. 

I wish you well.
Cathie.

[Kathleen_Mc]

You should know that medications such as Prozac do not become fully effective for several weeks, that is to say they don't often reach full effectiveness until taken consistently for maybe as many as 6 weeks (or at least that's the rule of thumb the psychiatrists I work with go with) so just going on something like that for a couple of weeks likely won't have much benefit. (same applies to basically all SSRI's etc). If you are needing to decrease anxiety immediately there are other options, speak to you family doctor. Problems for "us" with a lot of the medications available for anxiety and depression is many of them have the side effect of dizziness!
Kathleen