Long term Prozac use concerns

[ks336_7]

I have been on 80 mg of Prozac once a day for about 10 years for OCD.  I never suffered from depression, just OCD that was overwhelming.  I have enjoyed a great quality of life these past ten years with very few side effects (weight gain being the worst s/e).  Is it safe to continue?  

[Paxiled]

Oh, and I wanted to also add, Prozac has been on the market a long time now.  If there were a lot of problems with it's long term users we'd know by now.  We have seen it with other meds.  So another reason not to let this be a concern to you.  Peace.

[Paxiled]

None of these meds had long-term trials conducted before they were approved by the FDA.  In fact, the trials were quite short.  I was forced to research this question because of a problem with Paxil, but there isn't much out there on ssris.  Most of the long-term problems are reported with addictive drugs such as benzos because addiction specialists exist to withdraw people from these substances.  Since anti-depressants aren't technically addictive people aren't sent to addiction clinics to come off of them, and so there's less known.  My two unprofessional cents are this:  these meds alter the way our brains normally function.  That's what they're supposed to do.  So if you intend to stay on the med, you've basically decided you couldn't survive without it and have a decent life and agreed to alter the functioning of your brain.  When these meds first came out they were intended only for short-term use.  The thinking was they would calm a person to the point where therapy would work better.  But since therapy doesn't actually work with a high percentage of success for the more chronic cases (neither does medication, actually -- it's all oversold for profit-making purposes) many of us ended up staying on the meds for long periods.  As far as I know, as long as you stay on the med, it does what it does.  If it doesn't poop out you continue as you are, in your altered state.  It's when you quit a med that you find out if there are long-term consequences.  As far as we know, the vast majority of people recover quickly as their bodies adapt back to functioning normally, some take longer, some take a real long time, and some never get back.  And once you quit taking a med, it won't necessarily work the same if you try to go back on it.  Prozac is thought to be one of the more benign anti-depressants to quit taking because it stays in the body a fair amount of time; most leave the body very quickly, causing the body to have to adapt more quickly than the body is able to.  So I guess I would say, if the Prozac is working for you, and since you've already been on it a long time, just stay on it and don't worry about long-term consequences.  You must have been pretty sick to have decided to take it in the first place, though that's not even most often the case, and it's working well for you and you feel fine.  So why cross the bridge of what happens when you quit it if you have no desire to quit and it's still working?  If you do have to quit at some point, you can deal with it then by doing your homework and making sure your psychiatrist knows how to manage that part of it.  In the meantime, enjoy your life and don't worry about what you don't have to face.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

There are no warnings about long term use, and it is considered safe by the fda. That's the current state of knowledge.

[Jaquta]

I don't know.  I expect many would say yes.  I don't know if there have been adequate long-term trials.  I feel that in some respects patients have been used as guinea pigs.
That is my personal opinion but I expect on some level the medication is safe.

I accept your question is regarding safety of medication but I would also strongly recommend psychotherapy to help address the underlying anxiety.