[HappyMomAnna]

We can go into this the most sane people on the face of the earth and three months later be found in the corner rambling on and on....between the sobs and laughs and well.....posts here in a last ditch effort to find another living being who can RELATE....

But, often I see mention that one or the other of us has had a doctor--friend or someone else suggest anti-depressants could help us cope or at least not spend the whole day crying about one issue or another one child or the other might or does actaully have.....

Do you reject the idea that a little Porzac might be worth the try? WHY?

I don't exactly have this issue in my life--I found Porzac years ago and know when to call my doctor for that little green and white....and the relief that comes a few weeks later when I can think straight again.

My need of a little help with medication was NEVER an issue with our homestudy or with anyone involved. And the fact that when I feel very crazy I know where to start digging has actaully been very helpful for me--and for my family.

If your doctor or another person in your life has ever jokely or seriously recomended that you consider anti-depressants during this time where you are parenting a child with special needs what has made you decide Yes---or No and why?

Maybe we can use this thread to talk about a fear of going down this path--or why going down this path has been good or bad for you?

[bumpkin]

I know many parents adopted and bio that have found great reliefe in the "vitamin p" . All parents should use all available avenues to be the best parents we can be, and if that is the way for some I am all for it.

[JuliannaTeresa]

I went on Prozac. Unmonitored by a Doctor and had an Allergic reaction which caused a dramatic hearing losss with Prozac.

I had much better results with Zoloft!

[HappyMomAnna]

JuliannaTeresa--so sorry you had a reaction did your hearing come back or is this loss perm?

[JuliannaTeresa]

Hearing is gone forever, and also has very very annoying Tinnitus.
When I first started on the Prozac it would play Christmas Carols, and the old Television Theme songs!

I have to wear a hearing Aid to make up for it.

The good part is though it gives me an strong understanding with hearing impaired children who need Adopting and Advocacy!

[dadfor2]

prozac....hmmmmm..

actually, my therapist mentioned that i should go on prozac due to what is going on in my life, just to get through this ordeal.

i am not opposed to the idea, but with male friends that are on it, or had been on it, said they have sexual side effects from it. they said that male, more then females, have sexual side effects from it. And to be honest, im frustrated enough.....lol (a little too much information)

so, as of now, ill wait....but if i keep getting crazier with my emotions....bring it on....

dadfor2

[HappyMomAnna]

Actually I think they say that about almost all the medication there is out there. My husband never has taken prozac--but has tried several other anti depressants. He did have a "reaction" with Paxil and I had to run for cover everythime he walked in the house!

It was fun for awhile---but, really.

He didn't do that well with anti-depressants until he tried Wellbuturn as a means to kick his nasty smokeing habit and then he decided that was his choice of anti-depressants over all.
He has gon back to them during the last few months following some of the biggest stress he has had.

[Anigel]

I think there is a certain conocation, a stigma, that goes along with the mention of taking anti-depressants. Unlike with something like zyrtec (allergy meds) which is no big deal and nobody gives it a second thought. When you mentione Prozac, there is a change. It's almost as though by taking it you admit there is something wrong with you. Not like high blood pressure, or diabetes. This sigma is bigger than that.

You all seem to have totally gotten around that, but haven't you ever noticed that, the slight twitch when you tell someone? I'm sure you have or we wouldn't be talking about the advoidance of taking said anti-depressants.

I don't know why it was created. Maybe it has been the advertising for the drugs themselves the tv shows that so a total change from what was before to after, or maybe it's been around longer than that, something as simple as a fear of the unknown.

The stigma does seem to be less for the other newer drugs, so maybe "Prozac fear" stems from it being the first of it's kind. (it was wasn't it?)

Note: My ex took Prozac, while we were dating and those aforementioned side effects where a problem from time to time.

[RiverGal]

I am not taking prozac for the same reasons as some of the posters; mine is to help combat bouts of OCD and depression. I am very pleased with the results. There are no feelings of being "drugged," just helps me see things from a less emotional perspective. Having a past history of drug abuse, I was concerned about using any meds, but these little wonders are not addictive, contain no narcotics, and work only to regulate our body's natural flow of seritonin (sp).

Deb

[HappyMomAnna]

There very much is an avoidance to take--and/or talk about anti-depressants especially with the 'older' population. I have had many reaction to my honesty about the change in my life. I started my first Prozac way back in 1994 and it was worse then! I heard everything from: God doesn't want our minds to be controlled to only mentally ill people take medication!

In 1999 my mother and father--in--law took my niece on a Sunday drive to the beach and a drunk driver crossed the center divide at NOON and killed my father-in-law and my niece died the next day! My mother-in-law was critical and even last week was avoiding any anti-depressants even though she did go on them for a short time after the accident and even though when she did take them she could sleep--eat--and not burt into tears every 20-mins! It has been terribly difficult to help her understand that sometimes the relief is what matters---It breaks my heart that she is suffering and avioding one thing that could actually help her right now.....the whole family took Prozac for about 6-months after we lost our beautiful neice! Sometimes we still need it!

[rindava]

had this 3 1/2 year old foster daughter who had clearly been severely sexually abused by someone in her birthhome....the SWs solution to the problem was to have the baby medicated so she would not act out so much during visits...never did pin anyone for the abuse, and kids were returned, the little kids is now 8 and in a mental hospital...

If you really have any questions about why maybe just why you should not be taking drugs just to get through life, then you really may want to check out Dr. Bryan Post's books, etc...

Yep, being treated for depression did make a big difference in my homestudy and the children I was considered for .....

and I have always hated the approach of here take this bottle and in a few weeks you'll feel better ...but for God's sakes don't talk about it

and I hate what this drug them all thing is doing to schools and our county....there was this polar bear in some zoo being put on prozac so he'd be happy to be in his cage and then PETA got involved and made them stop drugging him and he wasn't so happy any more and they found a better zoo for him....(It was on Dateline or something about 5 years ago) and I always think hey, that bear must be more important to this world then most foster kids

parenting these kids sucks a lot some of the time, find a person to talk to about it and process your feelings

[rindava]

my son had severe consitapation the entire time he was in foster care...his entire body smelled like **....so you know what the foster parent did for treatment???/ gave him tic tacs and had him brush his tongue...he could have died, his bowels were locked when I got him....

[RiverGal]

????? I am lost. I don't think the original question had to do with drugging the kids, their pets, or using prozac to "get through life."

Some of us have simply used prescribed meds to get through a slump...not as a lifestyle. In the case of chronic depression, sometimes "talking it out" is not enough. Depression can be both situational as well as organic. If the brain is not spitting out the right amount of chemicals, meds can help regulate the flow...as does Prozac.

Once again, whether or not to medicate is a personal decision. What might work for some of us might not for others.

Deb

[HappyMomAnna]

MissngLinkInFL you are correct no one here is talking about medicating a child at all--in any way what so ever....

rindava--this thread is talking about the adults not the children sorry to confuse you but no one here is in any way suggesting or advising or advocating medication for a child......that would be a completely different topic.

[Cleopatrick]

My husband had to take it once, and it did a lot for him. Our son's adoption happened so fast that we just weren't fully prepared for it. We found out about the bmom 20 days before he was born. We had to have an updated homestudy done over the holidays, he was born 7 1/2 weeks premature and spent three weeks in the hospital, we had four foster kids at home and it was just one stress after another. When we got him home it was constant trips to the ER and nobody could ever figure out what was wrong with him. He finally blew his lung out when he was five months old (in retrospect a good thing - he had a pinhole in his lung and it gave out, sealed over when the blow out healed and he's been fine since). We were told to call our parents because he wasn't going to live through the night. While he was in the hospital that last time we were waiting for a judge ruling on his adoption (long story) and we had to testify in court for one of our foster kids TPR's. They post poned our testimonies as long as they could, but since we had this child the longest, and TPR was vital to his life they finally had no choice but to call us. I lost 50 lbs and about 1/2 the thickness of my hair (literally) by the end of it. My husband had a panic attack and ended up on prozac for about a couple months. It's what he needed to get him through the rest of it and he's a little embarrassed by it, but still glad he did it. He thought he was having a heart attack that day, but he was just having a panic attack. I'm glad he did it, he truly needed it because he wasn't able to cope at that time.