Best med to augment Prozac

I have had major depression since 1991 with about 1-2 times a year of severe depresssion. I have tried many AD's but always went back to Prozac. I am now on 80mg of Prozac a day but continue with this hopeless, not interested in anything feeling. My dr. just prescribed neurontin and I would like to know if this has been used to augment prozac and what are possible side effects.  I also have a major sleep problem and rely on ambien frequently.  Will the neurontin work on the sleep issues?  Or what other meds would augment prozac?  I tried zyprexa but gained weight  I need something to help me get my energy and enthusiasm for life back.   I am in cognitive therapy also.  One other question--any experience with ambien taking every night for years?  Thank you

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

Neurontin is a good choice in your condition and may replace the ambiem.  Together they may make you too sleepy. Although ambiem is safe and quick acting and short lived in the system, there is still an over hang of lethargy during the day, and that may be causing some of the problem you are experiencing.

[Peagee]

I guess you paid $19 dollars to post this question?    I hope the answer is worth it :)  In case you would like some free advice by eminent experts on Prozac, here are a few links you might be interested in:

http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~z67psc/Lawsuit.html
http://www.prozactruth.com/taper.htm
http://www.antidepressantsfacts.com/pinealstory.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/s312381.htm
http://www.uspharmacist.com/NewLook/DisplayArticle.cfm?item_num=94
http://members.aol.com/atracyphd/aftermat.htm
http://www.hotch.demon.co.uk/wc/sibut.htm   (a slimming SSRI)
http://www.outlookcities.com/psych/ATracyPhD.htm
http://www.outlookcities.com/psych/
http://www.drugawareness.org/Oldsite/tracyarticle.html
http://www.socialaudit.org.uk/5111-005.htm#underlying%20problem
http://www.socialaudit.org.uk/5100what.htm#981113
http://www.socialaudit.org.uk/425ssritable.htm
http://www.socialaudit.org.uk/4554-01SKB.htm#Dear
http://www.socialaudit.org.uk/4390EU61.htm#DRUG
http://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/2020_000825_SSRIwithdrawal_feature.html
http://www.drugawareness.org/Archives/4thQtr_2001/92501Psychiatrist.html
http://www.socialaudit.org.uk/4200JOGL.htm#Prozac%20Backlash
http://www.breggin.com/paxilcomplaint.html
http://society.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4316640,00.html
http://www.socialaudit.org.uk/5016-112.htm
http://www.socialaudit.org.uk/4200ahyo.htm#A.H.%20Young
http://www.socialaudit.org.uk/4342SA98.htm#Dear%20Dr
http://www.socialaudit.org.uk/4200doan.htm#D.O.

[all names taken]

The mental health forum is free posting
family practice and dermatology are not

[Morenorm]

I would strongly advise against checking out the links provided by Peagee. They are (at least the ones I am familiar with) anti-psychotropic medication sites filled with all sorts of propaganda which will only make you feel worse. I have read all the books by Dr. Breggin, heard all the arguments, and have even fought the withdrawal battles. I, and many others like myself, have determined that chemical imbalances ARE REAL and that the medications help. I have concluded that my quality of life is more important than being miserable trying to cope without the antidepressant and anxiolytic which my system require. Yes, there are side effects, but what drugs have no side effects? Life is too short, I take my medication as prescribed and am happy. You do whatever it takes to get to that point. Yes, I may be dependent on my benzodiazepine but what's the big deal. I know people who are dependent on asthma medications to breathe. Find what works for you and keep on living. Take the anti-medication advice with a grain of salt. Best of luck.

[Peagee]

LOL - you don't want someone else to check out the links?  Dr Tracy, Peter Breggin, David Healy, and many other eminent experts are all wrong?  WHY do you feel so strongly that Mandy should not judge for herself?  

As for 'free' - then why does 'Ask a question' on Mental Health page immediately come up with the $19 dollar charge warning???

[Peagee]

Mandy - There is something very strange afoot when someone advises you NOT to look into a lot of evidence for yourself.  Peter Breggin is an eminent psychiatrist and has also been an EXPERT witness against GSK.  He is also a RESPECTED author.  There are many other respected, eminent authors and professionals in those links.

And there is no way of knowing what damage is done to neurotransmitters in the brain until AUTOPSY. There is NO real understanding of what mind-altering (psychotropic) drugs actually do, until AUTOPSY as EVEN THE DRUG COMPANIES admit in a roundabout way in their adverts ("MIGHT be caused by....") and their statements.

You go search and make your OWN mind up.  Its YOUR mind that counts here.  Not the minds of those who are prescribing the drug.  All the best :)  Paula

Morenorm - advising anyone not to research, not to seek knowledge, shows at best lack of rationale, at worst an agenda which includes 'closed' information tactics where people are seeking to understand issues, just like those tactics to date shown by GSK.  

[all names taken]

I've posted new questions and have not ever seen the $19 charge thing in mental health. Why would it charge some and not others? Maybe administrators can answer.

[Peagee]

I haven't gone any further, but in this forum - when I go to ask a question I get this (copy/pasted) page immediately come up:

"Please Read the Following Carefully

A $19* membership fee is required to post a question in this forum (payable online using MasterCard or Visa).

Each membership or renewal entitles the member to:

Post 1 question in the forum

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By use of this site you agree to the following Terms and Conditions.

*So as to help as many people as we possibly can, Med Help will accept two "free" questions
per month from people who qualify under the US government 2002 Poverty Guidelines."

Seems odd if different fascias are coming up in different areas, maybe if I pressed the Continue button or something....  but it does say "this forum" in it, so didn't bother.

If it IS  free in one area and not another - that DOES seem strange too....  

Have a nice weekend :)
Paula

[Peagee]

Well, I've now been past the warning page on Ask a Question, and clicked on the Coninue Button anyway.  This is what I got...

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Note: Click on the 'Continue' button below to connect to Verisign Payment Services to securely process your donation.  You will be returned to our  web site and will be allowed to post your question when the transaction is completed. The information above  will  be used only by Med Help International and its agents to process your donation.


(P.S. Your question will be posted in the forum using your nickname of: Peagee)"

I reckon that from THIS END at least, $19 is the price for getting one short answer to a question :}

[all names taken]

Do you live in the US? I'm in Alabama

[Peagee]

In amongst those links you dismiss so lightly, you will find the following passage written by one of the brightest researchers in neurology/biochemistry.  She was one of the team who discovered the binding assay for drug receptors (she didn't make SSRIs, just discovered the process).  I am a little surprised that you feel that you have the intellectual superiority  to dismiss her fierce intelligence and her statement as mere 'propoganda'?  And it seem more than a little arrogant that you dismiss Peter Breggin by name and by implication, the other eminent experts also.

Here is the 'propoganda' extract of eminent neuroscientist, Dr Candace Pert - joint discoverer of that binding essay for drug receptors such as SSRIs without whose discovery you would have no psychotropic drug to defend:

" While the Mood Disorders Clinic defends these drugs, the developer of the serotonin binding process which made this whole group of serotonergic medications possible, Dr. Candace Pert, stated in TIME (October. 20), "I AM ALARMED AT THE MONSTER that Johns Hopkins neuroscientist Solomon Snyder and I created when we discovered the simple binding assay for drug receptors 25 years ago. Prozac and other antidepressant serotonin-receptor-active compounds may also cause cardiovascular problems in some susceptible people after long-term use, which has become common practice despite the lack of safety studies."

"The public is being misinformed about the precision of these selective serotonin-uptake inhibitors when the medical profession oversimplifies their action in the brain and ignores the body as if it exists merely to carry the head around! In short, these molecules of emotion regulate every aspect of our physiology. A new paradigm has evolved, with implications that life-style changes such as diet and exercise can offer profound, safe and natural mood elevation."

Can I suggest that you could seek to attain some understanding of what you actually read?  That way you would at least come up with a more persuasive statement.

Have a nice day.

[Peagee]

Hi, nice to meet you :)  I've only ever 'met' one other person from Alabama, she's a lovely person and has become a good friend.  

I'm in Wales, UK.  Got to go offline very soon, its not far from midnight here, I just keep logging on to see if John-John's OK but am giving up in a minute :)  Will be going away for the weekend in the morning, so will maybe speak to you again Monday or Tuesday.  From this end of cyberspace, this site is a bit slow in posting messages - yours wasn't there when I posted the one following it, its hard to keep track when messages suddenly appear from before you post LOL.  

Hope you (and everyone else) has a good weekend :)
'Night
Paula

[Peagee]

Apologies for 'stretching' the thread LOL...  It the copy/pasted credit information stuff, I should have put breaks in the countries listed but didn't realise it was all joined up together and so would make the board  a bit overwidth.  Sorry, my fault :)

Paula

[heygirl]

I am not saying this applies to you, but many doctors have found that people on Prozac and other antidepressants are actually suffering from low thyroid!  The problem is that most docs were trained in the last 30 years to only give one thyroid test...the TSH.  This is not adequate.   This does not take into account the functions of the liver in converting thyroid to it's usable form called t3.  I would suggest finding a doc who is willing to do a WHOLE thyroid panel for those of you who are depressed or anxious.  Ther is a website FULL of information...About.com, thyroid desease site run by Mary Shoman.  Find Doctor Donald Michael's comments. He is a Psychiatrist/Neurologist who has found great success with thryoid treatment.  He has don't much for me as well as many others. I will be back with another website and discussion group to try as well.  I just can't think of the specific name right now.

[heygirl]

ok...here is another site full of information...
***@****.  that address will get you to the person who runs the site. It is full of info...check the archives, type in depression and DMich as the author.  TONS of information and success stories.  
I am so glad we have the internet these days to do research.  We are no longer on our own at the mercy of medical schools, all different and physicians, all good people trained by medical schools and doing the best that they can.  We can learn on our own. I have learned SO much in the last 3 years of research.

Also, check your morning temperature BEFORE you get out of bed.  If it is consistently lower than 97.7 you are probably hypothyroid and may not need antidepressants at all.  YOU NEED THYROID!  Before the changes in medical training in the last 30 years, there was little "depression" and "anxiety attacks" and fibromyalgia.  Docs just gave natural thyroid and found success. I tried natural thyroid...it was good for me..but discovered I do better on timed released t3 instead.  BUT...no more prozac! This is not a Magic pill.  Just replaces what our bodies do not seem to naturally produce to the degree we need it.
Good luck!

[heygirl]

ok...my mistake.  The address at St. John's University is not a website but simply the address of the guy who runs it.  Just go to google.com and type in "thyroid discussion group" and it will lead you to the site.  Maelstrom...St. John'...something like that.  Go to the archives and type in depression...and DMich as the persons name. I spent over a year watching these discussions before I could understand what was going on and then acted on my learning.  I have not been disappointed.