Furious Seasons

October 01, 2009

Farewell Prozac

That's the name of a new blog that first appear in early September and which I ran into yesterday. It's an ongoing account of a British writer and "wage slave" who's recently taken his last hit of Prozac and walked away from medicating depression after six years of Lexapro, Celexa, Cymbalta and Prozac. He's a pretty good writer.

"Last weekend, on Saturday morning, without fanfare or drama, I swallowed what will hopefully be my last ever antidepressant tablet with a mouthful of orange squash, looked out of the kitchen window and then got on with my day. It was an entirely unremarkable act which means nothing unless I find that I'm able to cope without it ever happening again, which is what I hope.
"I'm aware, of course, that addiction to something as pervasive as nicotine is an entirely different pair of trousers to the kind of discontinuation syndrome associated with SSRI antidepressants. But I wonder if there might be some way of drawing parallels between the two. Having what might turn out to be my last antidepressant reminded me of the day I had my last cigarette, and how that marked a similar change in my life between everything that was before and everything that was after. Sometimes these things happen, and they do mark a change - not the towering epiphany of predictable fiction, but an event that really does mark a difference between one time and another."

It goes from there. I hope it all goes well for him.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at October 1, 2009 12:03 AM

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Comments

I admire this man's resolve and as you say, I hope it goes well for him, but I'm a little suspicious as to how well versed he really is in SSRI discontinuation syndrome, since it's my impression that giving up nicotine is probably a piece of cake compared to getting off Prozac. I hope he's prepared for all the symptoms that could go on for weeks, if not months, and all the mood fluctuations, crying jags, brain zaps, neuropathic pain, fatigue and God knows what else he's in store for. It just enrages me that medical professionals and patients alike are so cavalier about this stuff. So few people have a clue. Go over to the Beyond Meds blog to see what withdrawal can be at its worst and for some great wisdom related to the topic. I'd be waiting for the other shoe to drop if I were the author of Farewell Prozac and I sincerely hope he's got the courage and resilience to get through withdrawal/discontinuation. I wish this for anyone taking this brave and frightening step to get off psychotropic drugs.

Posted by: Sara at October 1, 2009 01:14 PM

"Farewell Prozac" has been on SSRIs for over six years. Yet in all this time he was never offered an antipsychotic or mood stabilizer for the "dark thoughts" which developed on the SSRIs, most notably on the Cymbalta.

This must be a First.

I hope he weans off the Prozac very slowly and I also hope that he tells someone he is doing this! Just in case.

Good luck to "Farewell Prozac".

Posted by: Rosie at October 1, 2009 02:50 PM

"Yet in all this time he was never offered an antipsychotic or mood stabilizer for the "dark thoughts" which developed on the SSRIs, most notably on the Cymbalta.

This must be a First."

More like fifty millionth and first.

Posted by: Neuroskeptic at October 3, 2009 01:22 AM