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This reads like advertising copy. Prozac has a number of potential side effects as well as needing commitment and a staged withdrawal. This is a dangerous com

This reads like advertising copy. Prozac has a number of potential side effects as well as needing commitment and a staged withdrawal. This is a dangerous comment and should be burried. edit: this isn't to say I don't think antidepressants are a fantastic tool; just that I don't think you should be going to your doctor and asking for a specific flavour of drugs because you heard about them on the internet. It's a really serious discussion - people should be going to their doctor and asking asking the possible (and best) solution to their personal circumstance.

sillysaurusx 7y ago
I can tell you from firsthand experience for more than a year that the only effects I’ve noticed are slightly decreased libido. That’s generally considered TMI, which is why I didn’t mention it. But if I’m going to be honest and open, well... Other than that, the side effects have included a renewed appreciation for life and and an ability not to have a sense of impending doom engulf my soul. I was careful to say “my one datapoint.” Obviously, it’s not a miracle cure, and everyone is different. But it’s somewhat remarkable to diff my life vs what it was. I’m a scientist at heart. I try to rule out placebo effect, and not attribute everything to one simple change. But a hearing aid is a simple change too. The reason I’m speaking up is that it’s incredibly tempting to do nothing and to try to deal with your problems on your own. But it feels like that’s the real danger. Even if you succeed, why live life that way? It’s like succeeding in punching through a concrete wall for no reason. Much easier to use a sledgehammer. You can always stop taking it. In fact, it wasn’t till I stopped for a month that I realized it had actually been working.
- drunken-serval 7y ago
  My experience tells me you’re are dangerously wrong to portray your experience with a single medication to be representative of anything. I’m bipolar and spend a significant amount of time helping out in a support group for people with mental health issues. All of them have vastly different experiences. One medication I was on had terrible side effects while someone else was saved by it. My current mix of medications would put some of the people I’ve helped immediately in the hospital. I myself have been sent to the ER by my psychiatrist due to a medication I was on. Many psychiatric medications can’t be stopped without serious risks yet I’ve know people who have stopped all their medications and been fine. Others have permanent damage. The only thing consistent with medication is that everyone is different.
paulcole 7y ago
It’s very likely that Pfizer and other big pharma companies have shill accounts here. They’ve downvoted me before for trying to reveal the truth. Edit: It has happened again.
- dang 7y ago
  Your comment has clearly been downvoted because it broke several of the site guidelines. In particular, it's off topic here to make insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, and so on, without specific evidence. Somebody posting an comment you disagree with is evidence of nothing, except that people have various views. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
algaeontoast 7y ago
Citalopram also works wonders, that said it’s only half of the equation to healing your psyche. It’s important to remember that drugs affect everyone differently. But an antidepressant can be a good first step to getting out of a rut (even if exercise for SOME is as effective).
Ixiaus 7y ago
I've known many people who've been helped in a non-trivial way by antidepressants. Furthermore I had a colleague commit suicide recently due to depression. His comment is not dangerous, it's encouraging. Pharmaceuticals all have side effects and must be taken with care, I've known literally no one that went into antidepressants ignorant of those things.
- snagglegaggle 7y ago
  I don't think so. Buproprion is supposed to be the most side-effect free antidepressant yet it seems to have permanently messed up my sex drive. If I had the choice of the two I'd probably have kept my sex drive and tried something else.
pjc50 7y ago
Hmm - if it had recommended antidepressants in general it would be reasonable advice. But there are lots of them, and no a priori reason to pick a specific one. Most medication has side effects.
- ThrowawayP 7y ago
  Prozac has among the lowest side effect profiles for anti-depressants and is dirt cheap since it's long out of patent. That's why it's often the first thing tried despite not having the highest rate of effectiveness, as far as I understand it.

sillysaurusx 7y ago

I can tell you from firsthand experience for more than a year that the only effects I’ve noticed are slightly decreased libido. That’s generally considered TMI, which is why I didn’t mention it. But if I’m going to be honest and open, well... Other than that, the side effects have included a renewed appreciation for life and and an ability not to have a sense of impending doom engulf my soul. I was careful to say “my one datapoint.” Obviously, it’s not a miracle cure, and everyone is different. But it’s somewhat remarkable to diff my life vs what it was. I’m a scientist at heart. I try to rule out placebo effect, and not attribute everything to one simple change. But a hearing aid is a simple change too. The reason I’m speaking up is that it’s incredibly tempting to do nothing and to try to deal with your problems on your own. But it feels like that’s the real danger. Even if you succeed, why live life that way? It’s like succeeding in punching through a concrete wall for no reason. Much easier to use a sledgehammer. You can always stop taking it. In fact, it wasn’t till I stopped for a month that I realized it had actually been working.

drunken-serval 7y ago
My experience tells me you’re are dangerously wrong to portray your experience with a single medication to be representative of anything. I’m bipolar and spend a significant amount of time helping out in a support group for people with mental health issues. All of them have vastly different experiences. One medication I was on had terrible side effects while someone else was saved by it. My current mix of medications would put some of the people I’ve helped immediately in the hospital. I myself have been sent to the ER by my psychiatrist due to a medication I was on. Many psychiatric medications can’t be stopped without serious risks yet I’ve know people who have stopped all their medications and been fine. Others have permanent damage. The only thing consistent with medication is that everyone is different.

paulcole 7y ago

It’s very likely that Pfizer and other big pharma companies have shill accounts here. They’ve downvoted me before for trying to reveal the truth. Edit: It has happened again.

dang 7y ago
Your comment has clearly been downvoted because it broke several of the site guidelines. In particular, it's off topic here to make insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, and so on, without specific evidence. Somebody posting an comment you disagree with is evidence of nothing, except that people have various views. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

algaeontoast 7y ago

Citalopram also works wonders, that said it’s only half of the equation to healing your psyche. It’s important to remember that drugs affect everyone differently. But an antidepressant can be a good first step to getting out of a rut (even if exercise for SOME is as effective).

Ixiaus 7y ago

I've known many people who've been helped in a non-trivial way by antidepressants. Furthermore I had a colleague commit suicide recently due to depression. His comment is not dangerous, it's encouraging. Pharmaceuticals all have side effects and must be taken with care, I've known literally no one that went into antidepressants ignorant of those things.

snagglegaggle 7y ago
I don't think so. Buproprion is supposed to be the most side-effect free antidepressant yet it seems to have permanently messed up my sex drive. If I had the choice of the two I'd probably have kept my sex drive and tried something else.

pjc50 7y ago

Hmm - if it had recommended antidepressants in general it would be reasonable advice. But there are lots of them, and no a priori reason to pick a specific one. Most medication has side effects.

ThrowawayP 7y ago
Prozac has among the lowest side effect profiles for anti-depressants and is dirt cheap since it's long out of patent. That's why it's often the first thing tried despite not having the highest rate of effectiveness, as far as I understand it.