Prozac

Q. I've had an anxiety disorder for 16 years . I tried many things, but nothing worked until I was put on prozac and then I got my life back. I have felt great until a month ago when I had surgery and had my gallbladder out and I really went downhill. It was so disappointing to feel some of those awful symptoms again. I know that fear played a big part in it; fear that I would get like I was 16 years ago, and this is making it worse. I just want to know what happened to me after that surgery that it all come back? The doctor upped my Prozac and I'm starting to feel better now, but its a slow return and very disappointing. Can you you offer me any help please?

A. We are also not sure what your anxiety disorder is. As such, we have based our answer on Panic Disorder. There could be a number of reasons as to why the prozac stopped working:

1. Definitely the fear that it would 'all' come back is a trigger for some people
2. It is not unusual for some people to actually develop panic disorder following an operation and the physical and mental stress of the operation may have triggered it again.
3. Some people report what is called, 'poop out' from the SSRIs, including Prozac. For some reason, in some people, they simply stop working.

Medication is not an effective long-term treatment for Panic Disorder. While there is no doubt it can be very necessary in the short-term, the most effective therapy in the long-term is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Have you used Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

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