Tyoup: 12 days Prozac

[Tyoup]

Tyoup

 

I went to my Doctor and told him I had depression which was caused my recent life events. He didn't ask any questions or recommend therapy or anything like that. He just wrote me a RX for 20mg Prozac and told me to come back in a month. He's honestly not a good Doctor. He runs his place like a fast food business, in and out as fast as possible. Not interested in actually talking to his patients at all. But I've been with him for so long and he has all my health info and history so I don't feel like changing to a new Doctor. 

 

So I started taking Prozac 20mg and took it for 12 days straight. On day 12 I realized that I was having weird feelings and effects in my body and I concluded that they were being caused by the Prozac. So I stopped taking it immediately because I don't want to deal with that. My Doctor didn't warn me about any side effects. I think I might be having some withdrawal symptoms now but I'm not sure. Is it possible to have withdrawal after only 12 days? Is 12 days of Prozac actually long enough to induce long term effects or change?

 

The weird things I started experiencing while taking the Prozac are as follows: penile numbness, random bursts of anxiety, possible joint pain, possible pressure in front of head, loss of libido, memory problems at least short term memory, emotional numbness. Since I stopped taking the Prozac I think I've experienced the following: possible joint pain, body feeling abnormally cold even in warm environments, random penile pain a few times, brain zaps I think a few times.

 

The only medication I take sometimes is Benadryl when going to bed and I took Cough Syrup which was Dextromethorphan recently because I was sick. I was also taking a Vitamin C gummy when I was sick. I take a daily multivitamin gummy which also has a small amount of Omega 3 in it. I sometimes take a beard growth supplement called Prime Beard though not daily. I generally eat oatmeal and almonds every day. I drink a lot of black tea and coffee daily. I sometimes take a magnesium and Black Seed Oil supplement though not every day. 

 

I generally get at least 8 hours of sleep daily. I don't get a lot of sunlight because I work at night and sleep during the day. Once in a while I go to a local tanning bed but only like a couple times every couple months. Not enough to actually get tan. I take Tylenol or Aleve sometimes when I have pains. I usually take a small amount of Miralax daily to help with digestion. 

 

Edit: I forgot to say. I also eat Activia yogurt every day. Sometimes I eat Greek Yogurt and cottage cheese. I eat these things for the probiotics. 

Edited May 7, 2020 by Gridley

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, Tyoup.

You have had an adverse reaction to the Prozac, which basically means the drug is poison to your system.  It's not withdrawal, but the the symptoms of an adverse reaction are similar to those of withdrawal and are in line with the symptoms you describe.

 

Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) 

 

The good news is that you will heal.  Unfortunately, there is no way to predict how long it will take.

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium (glycinate is a good form) and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system. 

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

Add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems.

 

We don't recommend multivitamins, since if there's a problem you won't know which ingredient is causing it.   Your system is very sensitized now, and (I know this is a hard one) caffeine isn't recommended.  What is the beard growth supplement called?

 

This is your Introduction topic, where you can ask questions and connect with other members.  We're glad you found your way here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tyoup]

I believe my side effects started within a week, maybe a few days. But I didn't realize it and make the connection until day 12. Once I realized what was going on I stopped the Prozac immediately. I already have health issues and don't need more. I have depression a fair bit. Anxiety sometimes. Naturally very low Testosterone so I use a daily topical Testosterone product, currently Androgel. I've been hospitalized 5 or 6 times for small bowel obstructions which happens because my gut is full of scar tissue. The possibility of PSSD is what really scared me. I'd rather be dead than lose my sexuality. 

 

So far I have written letters to the following: My U.S. Senators, my U.S. Representative, my Governor, my Lt. Governor, my State Dept. of Health, the FDA, the New York Times, a Huffington Post reporter. I am going to write to more newspapers and websites etc. when I have the time. We need to spread awareness as far and wide as possible about the serious dangers of these drugs. 

 

Also, there is a Post Finasteride Syndrome group called the PFS Foundation. Post Finasteride Syndrome seems to have the same exact symptoms as PSSD. I emailed the PFS Foundation and asked them if they could make a similar website for PSSD and they said it would probably cost around $30,000 to do so. I think the community should raise money for a PSSD Foundation or Surviving Antidepressants Foundation. We need a resource like that for advocacy. 

 

I believe my side effects are subsiding slowly. I stopped the drug 12 days ago. Here are the links where I've been reading things. The daily posts on the subreddits about adverse reactions is very telling. 

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/PSSD/
https://pssdforum.org/
https://www.reddit.com/r/antidepressants/
https://www.reddit.com/r/prozac/
https://rxisk.org/post-ssri-sexual-dysfunction-pssd/
https://davidhealy.org/
https://www.madinamerica.com/drug-info-antidepressants/
https://www.madinamerica.com/drug-info-how-psychotropics-act-on-the-brain/
https://pssdlab.wordpress.com/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SSRIs/
https://www.reddit.com/r/depressionregimens/
https://www.pfsfoundation.org/
https://www.propeciahelp.com/

[Gridley]

4 hours ago, Tyoup said:

I believe my side effects are subsiding slowly.

That is a very encouraging sign.  As I said, you will heal from this adverse reaction, and it's good you stopped when you did.  

[Tyoup]

I'd like to update. I believe after two weeks I began to notice my mental health and sexual function slowly start to come back. By three weeks it had returned at least 50% maybe 75%. It is now August and I feel mentally normal again. However I don't think my sexual function has returned 100%.

 

I recently noticed that my penis is now significantly curved to the left when having an erection. I always had some slight curvature (congenital curvature I think) but not like this. It's going to cause some problems with sex. I don't know when this happened exactly but I believe the SSRI caused it. I've read two reports about this on the RXRisk website. The first was a study in which 2 people using the SSRI experienced penile curvature. They were 1.2% of the study population I think. 

 

The 2nd study was a large study or collection of studies from 2020 which showed that most of the people with PSSD experience ED erectile dysfunction 93%. And 79% of those people had erectile tissue irregularities when a doppler ultrasound was done. This irregularity is some kind of damage I assume. And from my reading about Peyronie's disease the curvature is caused by fibrous scar tissue inside the penis. So my conclusion is that the Prozac damaged my erectile tissue and created scar tissue and that's why my penis curvature has gotten so bad. So it appears to me that SSRI's are physically damaging the penis. And that SSRI's can cause Peyronie's disease.

 

I also don't think I have gotten back 100% of the physical feeling in my genitals. I think it may have only returned 75%. And I don't think I get aroused as easily either. 

 

I've been reading about Peyronie's disease and what treatments there are. And it's not very encouraging. There is conflicting evidence that Vitamin E supplementation can help it. Some studies say yes and some say no. One study showed that PDE5 inhibitors like Cialis can help with it a lot. There is surgery but I think it is guaranteed to shorten your penis and there are serious risks because of how delicate and complex the penis physically is. There are also injections called Xiaflex but it has severe risks of damaging the penis. I believe that's the only FDA approved treatment. 

 

So I think right now I am going to get a Vitamin E supplement, low dose Cialis, and maybe some kind of supplement that can destroy scar tissue like Serrapeptase which is a proteolytic enzyme I think. That's what the advertising says. But I don't know if proteolytic enzymes are actually proven to attack scar tissue or not. I think pineapples might have a lot of proteolytic enzymes but I'm not sure. 

 

Comments and input are welcomed.

 

https://rxisk.org/post-ssri-sexual-dysfunction-pssd/

 

https://rxisk.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/JRS744-2.pdf

 

https://www.auajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1097/JU.0000000000000964.015

 

https://peyronies-disease.xiaflex.com/patient/

[Hanna72]

20 minutes ago, Tyoup said:

. I believe after two weeks I began to notice my mental health and sexual function slowly start to come back. By three weeks it had returned at least 50% maybe 75%. It is now August and I feel mentally normal again.

Hi @Tyoup I want to congratulate you, this is great to read.

Our bodies are incredible resourceful when it comes to healing itself. Bare in mind that it takes time and you are on your way for sure.

I am truly happy for you, with patience and time you will reach you destination.

Take care🙏

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Hanna72