It's been a rough year. I spent a lot of time debating suicide, beating myself up over not being able to get over AA, among half a dozen other things. Until recently I couldn't really look at any of the positives. But in the past year I learned how to look people in the eyes, learned how to make small talk with strangers, lost a bit of weight and put on a bit of muscle, learned to dress better, and I even finally approached a girl which was a huge relief. I blew it, but just being able to approach meant a lot to me. Anyways 6 months ago when I was really in bad shape I started seeing a therapist and he just sent me to a psychiatrist who prescribed me Prozac. Honestly I'm a skeptic that it will help, but I've got no friends, no job, and I'm still a bit obsessed with meeting females so my hope is that it will help with my anxiety so I can become even more social. I don't have nearly as much anxiety as a year ago, but it's still there. Anyways I've rambled on enough. I just wanted to see if anyone has taken Prozac or anything similar and see what their results were? Thanks in advance.

For matters regarding anxiety, Paroxetine (e.g. Paxil) is a more commonly prescribed SSRI. It would be unethical for me to recommend any particular course of SPAM as you are not a client, and I have no knowledge of your history. That said, if you are apprehensive about taking a drug then you share your concerns with your psychiatrist. I have strong feelings towards the prescription of psychotropic medication, as in many instances there is no adjunct therapy prescribed, and that psychotropics in themselves are often not enough to illicit long-term change. Often people have this notion that the goal of therapy and/or medication is to reduce anxiety to nil. The fact is some anxiety is not only good, but very functional as it gives us the impetus to take action. If you feel anxious around people, this may be perfectly normal so long as it doesn't impede your day-to-day living (e.g. avoiding places you need to be, not being able to talk to people, etc.). If you are experiencing difficulty in overcoming your anxiety and you believe it is impeding you there are multiple techniques/approaches which can be of major benefit to you. In such cases you'd be well served in finding a therapist who you feel safe in working with. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) work exceptionally well with anxious individuals, to name only a few therapeutic modalities. Mindfulness works VERY well in minimizing anxious feelings through exercises (e.g, Grounding Exercise found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S4TfkBHP5Q, here http://www.anisoptera.com/grimoire/ground.htm, and here http://www.peirsac.org/peirsacui/er/edu ... rces10.pdf) designed to keep the individual more presently focused and accept any ill-feelings as simply being transient - a book with a plethora of techniques that is easy to understand is The Happiness Trap.

If, at any point you are feeling suicidal please do contact your local crisis/suicide hotline. The people are trained volunteers who can offer you support while being non-judgmental and respecting your anonymity. Here's the site for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/, and their phone number 1-800-273-TALK. I believe you can also chat with them online their site.

Fluoxetine: Patient drug information
Copyright 1978-2012 Lexicomp, Inc. All rights reserved.

(For additional information see "Fluoxetine: Drug information" and see "Fluoxetine: Pediatric drug information")
Brand Names: U.S.

PROzac®;
PROzac® Weekly™;
Sarafem®;
Selfemra® [DSC]

Brand Names: Canada

Apo-Fluoxetine®;
CO Fluoxetine;
Dom-Fluoxetine;
Fluoxetine;
FXT 40;
Gen-Fluoxetine;
Mylan-Fluoxetine;
Novo-Fluoxetine;
Nu-Fluoxetine;
PHL-Fluoxetine;
PMS-Fluoxetine;
PRO-Fluoxetine;
Prozac®;
ratio-Fluoxetine;
Riva-Fluoxetine;
Sandoz-Fluoxetine;
Teva-Fluoxetine;
ZYM-Fluoxetine

Mexican Brand Names

Symbyax

Pharmacologic Category

Antidepressant, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor

What key warnings do I need to know about before using this drug?

• The want to harm yourself is an unsafe sign of low mood (depression). It may last until your low mood is fully treated. If you are planning on harming yourself, call the ER (emergency department) right away.
• There is a chance of serotonin syndrome when using a migraine drug with this drug. The syndrome is caused by too much serotonin in the body. Signs include agitation, changes in blood pressure, loose stools, a fast heartbeat, hallucinations, upset stomach and throwing up, change in balance, and change in thinking clearly and with logic. Talk with the doctor.
• Sometimes drugs are not safe when you take them with other drugs. They can cause bad side effects. This is one of those drugs. Be sure to talk to your doctor about all the drugs you take.
• Please read the medication guide.

When is it not safe to use this drug?

• If you have an allergy to fluoxetine or any other part of this drug.
• Tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs. Make sure to tell about the allergy and what signs you had. This includes telling about rash; hives; itching; shortness of breath; wheezing; cough; swelling of face, lips, tongue, or throat; or any other signs.
• If you have taken isocarboxazid, phenelzine, or tranylcypromine in the last 14 days. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (eg, isocarboxazid, phenelzine, and tranylcypromine) must be stopped 14 days before this drug is started. Taking both at the same time could cause risky high blood pressure.
• If you are breast-feeding.

What is this drug used for?

• It is used to treat low mood (depression).
• It is used to treat obsessive-compulsive problems.
• It is used to treat mood problems caused by monthly periods.
• It is used to treat eating problems.
• It is used to treat panic attacks.
• It is used to ease long-term pain problems.
• It is used to treat anxiety.
• It is used to treat post-traumatic stress.

How does this drug work?

• Fluoxetine raises chemicals in the brain.
• With low mood (depression), sleep and eating habits may get better fast. Other signs may take up to 4 to 6 weeks to get better.

How is this drug best taken?

• To gain the most benefit, do not miss doses.
• Take in the morning.
• Take with or without food. Take with food if it causes an upset stomach.
• Take long-acting products once a week.
• Long-acting products: Swallow whole. Do not chew, break, or crush.
• There is a liquid (solution) if you cannot swallow pills.
• Those who have feeding tubes may also use the liquid. Flush the feeding tube before and after this drug is given.

What do I do if I miss a dose? (does not apply to patients in the hospital)

• Take a missed dose as soon as you think about it.
• If it is close to the time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your normal time.
• Do not take 2 doses at the same time or extra doses.
• Do not change the dose or stop this drug. Talk with the doctor.

Are there any precautions when using this drug?

• If you have been taking this drug for many weeks, talk with your doctor before stopping. You may want to slowly stop this drug.
• If you have kidney disease, talk with your doctor.
• If you have liver disease, talk with your doctor.
• If you have seizures or are on seizure drugs, talk with your doctor.
• If you have bleeding problems, talk with your doctor.
• Check all drugs you are taking with your doctor. This drug may not mix well with some other drugs.
• You may not be alert. Avoid driving and doing other tasks or actions until you see how this drug affects you.
• Avoid beer, wine, mixed drinks, or other drugs and natural products that slow your actions.
• Talk with your doctor before using other aspirin, products that have aspirin, blood thinners, garlic, ginseng, ginkgo, ibuprofen or like products, pain drugs, or vitamin E.
• If you are taking any natural products, talk with your doctor.
• You may get sunburned more easily. Avoid sun, sunlamps, and tanning beds. Use sunscreen and wear clothing and eyewear that protects you from the sun.
• Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan on getting pregnant.

What are some side effects of this drug?

• Feeling lightheaded, sleepy, having blurred eyesight, or a change in thinking clearly. Avoid driving and doing other tasks or actions that call for you to be alert or have clear eyesight until you see how this drug affects you.
• Nervous and excitable.
• Headache.
• Upset stomach or throwing up. Many small meals, good mouth care, sucking hard, sugar-free candy, or chewing sugar-free gum may help.
• Not hungry.
• Dry mouth. Good mouth care, sucking hard, sugar-free candy, or chewing sugar-free gum may help. See a dentist often.
• Loose stools.
• Change in sex ability. This most often goes back to normal.
• Not able to sleep.

What do I need to watch for when using this drug?

• Change in the health problem being treated. Is it better, worse, or about the same?
• Dry mouth may cause more cavities. Take good care of your teeth. See a dentist often.
• Follow up with the doctor.

When do I need to call my doctor?

• If you think there was an overdose, call your local poison control center or ER right away.
• Signs of a very bad reaction to the drug. These include wheezing; chest tightness; fever; itching; bad cough; blue skin color; seizures; or swelling of face, lips, tongue, or throat.
• If you are planning to harm yourself or the want to harm yourself gets worse.
• Change in thinking clearly and with logic.
• Big change in balance.
• Agitation, twitching, sweating, or muscle stiffness.
• Very nervous and excitable.
• A fast heartbeat.
• Very upset stomach or throwing up.
• Very loose stools.
• Any bruising or bleeding.
• Any rash.
• Health problem is not better or you are feeling worse.

How do I store and/or throw out this drug?

• Store at room temperature.
• Protect liquid (solution) from light.
• Protect capsules and tablets from water. Do not store in a bathroom or kitchen.

General drug facts

• If you have a very bad allergy, wear an allergy ID at all times.
• Do not share your drugs with others and do not take anyone else's drugs.
• Keep all drugs out of the reach of children and pets.
• Most drugs may be thrown away in household trash after mixing with coffee grounds or kitty litter and sealing in a plastic bag.
• In Canada, take any unused drugs to the pharmacy. Also, visit http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/me ... eng.php#th to learn about the right way to get rid of unused drugs.
• Keep a list of all your drugs (prescription, natural products, vitamins, OTC) with you. Give this list to your doctor.
• Call your doctor for help with any side effects. If in the U.S., you may also call the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or if in Canada, you may also call Health Canada's Vigilance Program at 1-866-234-2345.
• Talk with the doctor before starting any new drug, including OTC, natural products, or vitamins.

Thanks for the reply. I did inform her of my belief that maybe I didn't need medication anymore. However she told me that just because I feel fine today doesn't mean I will in a week. Which seemed like sound advice to me because I kind of have my ups and downs this past year. I would spend a few weeks trying to learn how to improve my inner game to approach girls, then I would go out, freeze, and then go back to my place and either break something, punch something (sometimes myself), or cry like a baby. It was difficult because a lot of times when I was in a social environment I would have trouble breathing or shake a little bit. But I gained some self-respect back when I quit working and hanging out with my friend who constantly called me a loser and out alpha'd me (even though he has a girlfriend). It was just a tough situation for me. As far as the suicide stuff goes... it has crossed my mind from time to time for 12 years. I've never attempted anything. I'm not saying I'm fine... I'm not an idiot. I've got no job, car, apartment, or irl friends (I have a few online), but not being around my negative friend has improved my outlook on life. Being around someone who constantly tells you to fetch him things and then tells you you're a boring loser was an extremely bad environment for me and by walking away from him I took back some of my confidence and self-respect.

Tramadol

_________________
User Banned for Repeatedly Breaking Forum Rules. Inflamatory posts will result in a forum ban.

I could complain about my friend forever, but he's not evil. He did try in his own twisted way to help me. But he's an egomaniac and feeds off of the attention of females and his ego meant more to him than our friendship. Sure, occasionally a girl came along who was into a guy like me (shy, reserved, rugged looking) but even when that scenario played out I always was overcome with terror and never even attempted to have a conversation with them. I feel as though maybe now that I've approached a girl that I'm more equipped now. I understand I will fail before I succeed too, but right now getting my financial situation fixed is much more important than worrying about finding a girl.

Hello friend,
I can safely say this as this is an anonymous forum...
i too suffered from extreme depression, it was incredibly tough, i felt like shit, and when i would pick my self up by 1mm, someone would be nasty to me to make me feel like shit again, it was a long hard, incredibly tough road... i also took prozac, only for a short while...
i got lucky, i managed to get talking therapy, i found that Helped me a lot...someone actually talking to me, and worked with me and explained to me, why i was feeling so depressed, and once we knew why, we worked to eliminate it...and we pretty much did..
in Dec 2008, i was incredibly suicidal,
by Dec 2009, i was TAKING 911/999 calls, talking to suicidal people, and helping them...
it was a long story before that point, and a long story up to that point... do not take my example as an expectation, but i say it as inspiration, this darkness within...
it is not eternal, it can be banished... and it will be...

first you need faith in yourself, like a rope, an unshakeable belief in yourself that things will get better..
and with that belief, things truly will... now because this is a 'PUA' forum, this would be termed 'inner game'...
yes, i kinda buy that, self confidence is MASSIVE..
if i may give some very small humble advice though... if you can, remember you are a man, and you have a mission in life... and your mission is not to be with women, though you love women, and want them around you, your mission are what you want from life, how you wish to be productive.. find that, and work towards it, even if at first, it doesn't seem anywhere near your goal, its a step towards the goal...
keep working towards it...
show you have aim, purpose and direction in life... show yourself that this week, you are better than last week, better in some way.. and if one day, you get knocked back, just take some more steps forward.. keep going, keep pushing..
and as your aim and purpose solidifies..
women will come to you, they will flock to you..
there is nothing more attractive to a woman, than a man with drive, ambition and purpose..
it will all happen...
just, believe in yourself,
and if you think you do not,
then believe in yourself, fuck the naysayers,
and if youre dark side says to yourself you are nothing, then youre darkside is wrong,
believe in yourself, fuck your dark side....

i still have a dark side, but i use it to power me now, i have been to depths that 90% of people around me could not even imagine, and it makes me stronger, its given me a rock solid understanding of my psyche..
and that's why, when i got better, i was able to help others stop committing suicide..
you will get better.. =)

_________________
Beauty needs a witness. Beauty must be invoked. This is where you come in. A woman enthralled or delighted or in love is always beautiful. And by magic, or perhaps design, a beautiful woman is the only thing that can make a man feel alive again

Thanks Jeff. You're right. At one point in my life I didn't care what anyone thought about me. Unfortunately during a moment of weakness I let my friends tell me this was not normal. They told me I should care about people's opinions just like they did. So in a moment of self doubt my whole world changed. Suddenly everything my irl friend said to me meant the world to me. He'd tell me girls aren't into me because I was boring, because I didn't dress well, because I didn't get $35 haircuts like him, because I didn't have a smartphone, etc, etc. Basically his whole viewpoint was that the best and only way to attract women was to become a womanizing egomaniac like him. I couldn't do this because I am not that shallow. I couldn't change all my beliefs at the drop of a hat. I actually care about people, I enjoy learning about people, I feel bad if I manipulate people, etc. Now unfortunately I grew up very shy and withdrawn. The few friends I made growing up always chose me and most of them left me over time as well. So I became obsessed with conquering my fear of people. More specifically my obsession became meeting girls. The problem was for the first time in my life I tried to rely on someone other than myself. I grew up assuming people would always let me down so I always did things solo. So I became my friends puppet. I figured who better to teach me how to attract girls than the attractive guy who has slept with over 100 women, right? WRONG. I spent a year doing tech jobs he didn't feel like doing, I let him pay me whenever he wanted which sometimes meant a month or longer without seeing any cash, I fetched him food/drinks every day, when he was sick I fetched him medicine, when he was tired I chauffuered him to his destination, all of which I did for free or for next to nothing. I even agreed to a month where I literally did everything he asked without question (which was a month of him forcing me to play video games I didn't enjoy). I did all this because he told me my problem was that I needed to lose my virginity and for a long time I was dumb enough to believe that would fix all my problems. But in the end I realized he was never going to help me get laid and my resentment towards him was just growing more and more so finally I walked away. My obsession with improving my social skills is still here, but it isn't nearly as bad as before and I understand now that making new friends or meeting a girl is just a small part of the big picture of life.

Ability - regarding your first point, i had a similar issue also. I said to myself, my OPINION of myself is not valid, therefore a compliment from other people is the truth about me.. i thought i was being humble.. in reality it made me dependent on compliments from other people.. and of course, other people, being only human, have a tendency to be very nasty also... it was damaging, it takes time to internalise our regard for ourselves.. but it happens...that is the literal manifestion of 'self'-confidence.. a confidence untouched by silly people's opinions...

regarding the other stuff... as hurtful as you may find all of these things which happened to you.. its excellent that you are talking about it.. because you can SEE where the problems lie, you can SEE how X lead to Y and lead to Z.. this hopefully will mean that you can now go from Z to something else, which you already are.. =)..
based on what you have said, you tell me, for i know nothing.. did you build your personality on seeking validation from others.. and is a girl in your life, the ultimate sign of validation???
do you still seek that, or have you found validation in yourself??

_________________
Beauty needs a witness. Beauty must be invoked. This is where you come in. A woman enthralled or delighted or in love is always beautiful. And by magic, or perhaps design, a beautiful woman is the only thing that can make a man feel alive again

Having not had many friends and parents I don't particularly care for I would say I built my personality on being what I thought a good person was. Kind, helpful, good listener, honest, loyal etc. Unfortunately at the same time I also became distrustful and fearful of others due to past experiences. But until the past year my confidence was based off of those listed features. As long as I felt like I didn't betray my morals I felt pretty confident. Though there always was a hole. I felt incomplete because I didn't have many friends and never met a girl. So I always had some insecurities that I was unlikable in some way. I'd meet people who enjoyed reading and feel we were different because I didn't. I'd meet people who enjoyed politics and feel we were different because I didn't. And so on and so on. So in a way I do see meeting a female as the ultimate sign of validation. Logically I understand that is stupid, but to me it would be a culmination of all my learning this past year on how to be a more outgoing person. I'd like to one day be more like I was 2-3 years ago where although I still had some insecurities for the most part I was content being myself and didn't really care if others liked that or not. However I find it very difficult to be laid back and outgoing at the same time. Because I have to try REALLY HARD to force myself to be outgoing. It doesn't come natural. My hope is that someday with enough practice it will.

Oh and as far as compliments go... I had never given a compliment until this past year. I have been given a few over my lifetime, but honestly they never effected me. Hearing "You look good today" or "Wow, you lost a lot of weight." never really effected me. I felt almost nothing when the words were spoken. I guess they have a little more meaning to me now that I've become a less closed off person, but for the most part I just try to fake like it means a lot to me for the benefit of the person giving me the compliment.


Edit: I don't want to flood my post count so I'll add this down here.
Having never been hugged at all until this past year and never having done anything with a girl that was another big problem for my AA. I was getting ahead of myself and so worried about escalating that it was just adding tremendous pressure to my situation. Strangely enough one day out of the blue something clicked. Honestly I think it had something to do with the building resentment I had towards my friend, but I woke up and told myself "I don't give a fuck. Girls aren't the center of the universe and I'm not going to be scared anymore." Now, I'm not going to say it relieved 100% of my fear because that would be an outright lie, but it did drastically reduce it and talking to girls became easier. Unfortunately though like I previously stated I am currently unemployeed so I'm not really interested in going out and trying to find a girl right now. Fixing my financial situation is far more important than that. Plus, it indirectly will help with that in the future.

Hey, I went into a severe depression after my divorce. Strange, I didn't really miss my wife, nothing seemed to really matter. I would suggest therapy with meds. Right now I take 300 mg of Welbutrin and 20mg of Prozac. I had Celexa for a little while, but there was a sexual side effect (hard to cum, maybe you like that) and it was just making me content being lazy.

Welbutrin works on your dopamine which makes you alert, Prozac is an ssri and out of all of them I tried, it worked the best for me....but everyone's brain chemistry and how they'll react to something is different.

Full disclosure, I am not a dr. And I'm just sharing my personal experiences with this matter. However, don't think there's such thing as a manic pill or pills. They can assist you with depression and other mental dillemmas, but you really should go to therapy as well....the pills can react a certain way, in certain circumstances, depending on...you.