I never thought I'd have a prescription for Prozac, but look out Mom, I've got 2!For the past three years, I've visited various doctors in an attempt to get an explanation on a decrease in the amount of energy that I have on a daily basis. One doctor told me, "You're getting older. So, you're just gonna be more tired." Two other doctors just looked at me like, "Being tired is no real medical condition so what's your REAL problem?" I took tests for anemia, calcium deficiencies, and all sorts of things that could possibly explain my lack of energy. Everything came up negative. All of the doctors recommended that I exercise. Well, I was already doing that but I was still tired.
Being someone who works out and drinks water, and sleeps 8 hours a night, I expect NOT TO BE TIRED. I started doing some research on being tired and so much of the literature touted the benefits of exercising. Well, I was already exercising. Toward the end of this 3 year period, I started to feel that my exercising was not refreshing me like it used to. In fact, I started to get pissed off that I was so tired and I began to be in a REAL BAD MOOD.
I went to my primary care physician and told him that I was tired and was feeling bad about being tired. He gave me a written test which graded me to be mildly depressed. "Hmm," I thought to myself. "Now that this test has said I'm depressed, am I gonna be helped about being tired too?" I thought.
Well, long story short the doctor gave me a prescription of Prozac. That's right. I wrote it. PROZAC. And when I asked him if there were any side effects, he said there weren't any. Okay then. He assured me that I would feel better and it would help me not to feel tired. Now, for 3 years I've told doctors that I was tired, but not until I was "depressed" could they remotely offer me a solution.
My primary care physician also said that women have a lot of hormonal fluctuations that can explain moodiness and even tiredness, he suggested that I also talk to my gynecologist about my condition and see what she says. For the first couple of days, I took the 10 milligrams of Prozac, the doctor assured me that it was a low dose but we should carefully monitor if it helps me.
About 1 week after I started taking Prozac, I had an appointment with my gynecologist. I explained my tiredness and moodiness to her and told her that my primary care physician gave me a 10 milligram dose of Prozac. She looked at me and
said, "That's nothing. You should be using at least 20 milligrams." I asked her, "Will it help me with being tired?" "Definitely," she responded, "The longer you take it, the better you'll feel."
Now, I take the prescription from her, but I'm really ANTI-DRUG. So, I'm not feeling that great about the possibility of taking 20 milligrams of PROZAC. Remember, I'm someone who believes she is in overall good health. But all of a sudden thanks to a 10 question test and admittedly being a bit itchy, I've become a part of the PROZAC NATION. I wasn't feeling good about that. Drugs sort of scare me.
For 31 days, I took 10 milligrams of Prozac. I experienced the first migraine I ever had in my life during that time in addition to becoming sexually dysfunctional. (I refuse to explain that on this blog.) Anyway, on the upside, I lost a couple of pounds, I did feel happy, but overwhelmingly I kept feeling like there were air bubbles floating through my brain where my emotions were supposed to be. I felt like I was in a Quentin Tarrentino movie without a sword. And you know that's dangerous.
Well, thanks to my two birdies, Steve & Stella, who encouraged me to do research on Prozac and natural alternatives to deal with my lack of energy and moodiness, I actually found a woman's herbal supplement at the health food store and I'm back to being me without the bad attitude and without the bubbles. Bye, bye Quentin.
The reason that I'm sharing my personal story with you is because I believe doctors are over prescribing harmful drugs and we are under-researching alternative solutions for ourselves. My research on PROZAC found numerous testimonies of addiction, sexual dysfunction, and long term mental health issues.
I'm fearful of us entrusting our well-being to people who seemingly aren't really interested in helping us. I would have much rather taken a herbal supplement than a potentially addictive pharmaceutical. Wouldn't you? This world is outta control.
Much love and health,
Yasmin
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