Will Taking Prozac Affect My Gains?

Off Topic
1

Hey, whats up everyone. I’m 18 years old and weightlifting is one of my greatest passions. No matter what life throws at me, I can always work it off in the gym. Anyway, as of lately I have developed OCD in which I have horrible intrusive thoughts that cause me depression. My therapist recommended prozac, but he said it could affect my sex drive.

I automatically related lowered sex drive to lowered testosterone levels, but Im not sure if I’m right in assuming that. I asked my doctor if that was the case and he said he didnt know. So I was just wondering if any of you take prozac? And if you do, has it affected your muscle and strength gains? Also, if you don’t take prozac feel free to voice your opinion, I want to hear as many views as possible. Thanks.

2

I’d stay away from it. Fight your OCD and channel it for good. It’s not easy; probably never will be. I think I have the same problems. Exercising is one way.

Working and education are others. You want to be obsessed with something? Find a job/career path that puts yourself in position to give back to society or help people and let yourself be obsessive and compulsive about that. Yeah you’re a bit young to be thinking about this type of stuff but maybe not. The better outlook you can maintain throughout the day(s), the less likely you will be to fall into your own mental traps.

You might also look to a drug with better pharmacology and tolerability like cannabis. It helps ease the mind as well as anything. Plus your user name is GoldenState which means it should be obtainable where you are. =)

3

Our society is pussified and over medicated. You’re not mental, you’re just a crybaby. Man up and focus your energy into forging an invincible mentality and limitless ambition.

You think men who fought with swords and lopped of eachother’s arms were without a ‘chemical imbalance’? Get real, they built our society. Get real, stay away from the emasculation initiatives put forward by the vagina thugs and become a modern viking.

4

[quote]Rohnyn wrote:
Our society is pussified and over medicated. You’re not mental, you’re just a crybaby. Man up and focus your energy into forging an invincible mentality and limitless ambition.

You think men who fought with swords and lopped of eachother’s arms were without a ‘chemical imbalance’? Get real, they built our society. Get real, stay away from the emasculation initiatives put forward by the vagina thugs and become a modern viking.[/quote]

For every person who thinks that they have a disorder and really don’t, there will be some who actually do have the disorder. You have no right to judge OP’s condition as being legitimate or false.

And no, society was built through diplomacy. It was routinely destroyed by those lopping the heads off of others. (The pen is mightier than the sword; ring a bell?)

Also, would like to x2 Rusty Barbell’s advice. (Assuming this isn’t super-full blown clinical OCD, where you can’t even function due to the thoughts; in that situation I wouldn’t know the correct action).

5

[quote]Rohnyn wrote:
Our society is pussified and over medicated. You’re not mental, you’re just a crybaby. Man up and focus your energy into forging an invincible mentality and limitless ambition.

You think men who fought with swords and lopped of eachother’s arms were without a ‘chemical imbalance’? Get real, they built our society. Get real, stay away from the emasculation initiatives put forward by the vagina thugs and become a modern viking.[/quote]

You’re a wanker, and you have no clue about depression or mental illness. Please, do not dispense any more of your ridiculous advice. Depression and anxiety are serious, and affect about 1 in 10 people at some point in their lives. I hope you never suffer from it.

To the OP, before you consider medication you should look at therapy. I would recommend Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which is as effective as medication. Medication can be useful to relieve symptoms; for example, if someone suffers from serious anxiety. But SSRIs, like Prozac, are marketed as correcting a chemical imbalance, when it’s not clear that they are doing that at all. And doctors can be too eager to prescribe them.

I have taken SSRIs, and I would never take them again. The side-effects are unpleasant (like low libido), and they do not resolve the problems that cause the depression, which counselling and therapy do. But if you are taking Prozac, don’t stop taking it yet. Consult with your medical practitioner, and try CBT. It’s important to taper off SSRI dosage, if you do decide to stop.

Regarding OCD, I used to suffer from that as well. I would obsessively wash my hands, and it got so bad that my skin was dry all the time and cracking. But I realised that you have to use your willpower to resist the urge to go back. Even small things like washing my hands three times instead of five, no matter how badly I wanted to go back and do it again. And when you realise that you can stop yourself, you can do even better next time. Some people say you should put a rubber band on your arm, and every time you go back to do the same thing obsessively, you snap it back to stop yourself. I’ve never tried that, but you get the idea that it’s something you have to actively resist.

6

I think Prozac will diminish your gains. SSRIs disrupt the sleep cycle and especially inhibits REM sleep, which is when anabolic hormones are secreted. Stay away!!!

7

[quote]Rohnyn wrote:
Our society is pussified and over medicated. You’re not mental, you’re just a crybaby. Man up and focus your energy into forging an invincible mentality and limitless ambition.

You think men who fought with swords and lopped of eachother’s arms were without a ‘chemical imbalance’? Get real, they built our society. Get real, stay away from the emasculation initiatives put forward by the vagina thugs and become a modern viking.[/quote]

Shut. The Fuck. Up. You. Uneducated Cunt.

8

I’ve been through that bullshit. Took meds for like a month and become some lil soggy kleenex of a dude, and then got off that bullshit, close that door behind me, and got 4.0s in school because I forced myself to be strong.

If you want to encourage a dude to be a drug reliant untermensch, you guys go ahead. I’m telling you it is bullshit. I know it.

You gotta take your fist and make your life. How is some pills gonna fix your mind? Chemicals are secreted by means of thought reinforcement. If you get out of a bitch mentality and into a powerful one, the depression ends. You can force the CNS back in business.

9

Oooooh, tough topic. I think rohnyn’s being way too absolute on his opinion, but overall I kinda agree with him.

By that I mean, if it’s at all possible to fix it without drugs, fix it without drugs. Drugs are often prescribed too soon.

Of course, sometimes drugs will be necessary, depression is not something to take lightly, and this will depend entirely on the situation, and we don’t know the OP’s situation, but definitely something to think about.

10

OP lives in a 1st world country, has access to the internet, and can afford a psychiatrist…how bad could his life really be?

When I got where he is at right now I thought about my Grandmother’s upbringing. Her Father killed himself when she was 14, her Mother ran off and abandoned their family, and she had to fend for her 4 young siblings at that young age in a poor third world country. Dropping out of school and working two jobs as a servant for wealthy people to feed her younger siblings, all the while having to keep creepy fucks from trying to rape her when their wives were away.

Don’t you think that shit would make you depressed? She forced herself into a state of ‘will’ and ‘do’, and she is currently 98 years old, still ticking. Moved herself from hopeless poverty to first world society in a less than half a life time. Brought her whole family with her as well.

You are a man, you have a penis, and testicles…not to mention 20x more opportunities and luxuries than she did. If she can do that, then I think you can get out of this ‘feel bad for yourself’ bullshit.

You are a strong person already, you have dedicated yourself to IronLife and don’t want to be weak. You obviously want OUT of depression and sadness, or whatever it is that afflicts you. You just need to realize the power only lies within yourself. Do you think some Paki Doctor who sees you as another client to slang some Chinese ‘bitch mentality’ pills to, gives a FUCK about helping you? Noone can help you but you, you are 100% alone in this world. But…

You are strong and capable and WILL succeed. You have that power within yourself.

Take your fist, and make your life.

11

I take goddam prozac and i don’t seem to be making gains as fast as others.

It really is a pain in the ass to have something that helps(mentaly) you make you worse in another area(physicly)!

12

[quote]Rohnyn wrote:
If you want to encourage a dude to be a drug reliant untermensch, you guys go ahead. I’m telling you it is bullshit. I know it.
[/quote]

You clearly didn’t read past the first paragraph of my post, did you? Because if you had, you would’ve noticed that I said he should not rely on medication, and that CBT is far more useful and empowering. But you’re just here to spout this rhetoric about strength and superior beings.

[quote]Rohnyn wrote:
You are a strong person already, you have dedicated yourself to IronLife and don’t want to be weak. You obviously want OUT of depression and sadness, or whatever it is that afflicts you. You just need to realize the power only lies within yourself. Do you think some Paki Doctor who sees you as another client to slang some Chinese ‘bitch mentality’ pills to, gives a FUCK about helping you? Noone can help you but you, you are 100% alone in this world. But…
[/quote]

You’re a joke, and if you really believe this racist, ignorant nonsense then it’s clear that you have no business giving advice to anyone.

13

[quote]Rohnyn wrote:
OP lives in a 1st world country, has access to the internet, and can afford a psychiatrist…how bad could his life really be?

When I got where he is at right now I thought about my Grandmother’s upbringing. Her Father killed himself when she was 14, her Mother ran off and abandoned their family, and she had to fend for her 4 young siblings at that young age in a poor third world country. Dropping out of school and working two jobs as a servant for wealthy people to feed her younger siblings, all the while having to keep creepy fucks from trying to rape her when their wives were away.

Don’t you think that shit would make you depressed? She forced herself into a state of ‘will’ and ‘do’, and she is currently 98 years old, still ticking. Moved herself from hopeless poverty to first world society in a less than half a life time. Brought her whole family with her as well.

You are a man, you have a penis, and testicles…not to mention 20x more opportunities and luxuries than she did. If she can do that, then I think you can get out of this ‘feel bad for yourself’ bullshit.

You are a strong person already, you have dedicated yourself to IronLife and don’t want to be weak. You obviously want OUT of depression and sadness, or whatever it is that afflicts you. You just need to realize the power only lies within yourself. Do you think some Paki Doctor who sees you as another client to slang some Chinese ‘bitch mentality’ pills to, gives a FUCK about helping you? Noone can help you but you, you are 100% alone in this world. But…

You are strong and capable and WILL succeed. You have that power within yourself.

Take your fist, and make your life.[/quote]

you seem to be confusing OCD with depression. The OP has OCD, which is believed to be caused by imbalances in the brain. poor quality of life has nothing to do with OCD.

EDIT: and yes, I know the OCD is causing depression. but treating the symptoms and not the source would be stupid. telling him to “man up” is horrible advice.

OP I don’t know from experience if Prozac will affect your gains. however you might feel less inclined to lift in general, I know anti-depressants can sometimes cause a shift in the things you enjoy.

14

Damn, this turned into quite a heated topic. Rohnyn, I get where you are coming from. Anti-depressant meds are being handed out way to easily these days by doctors. I understand that I live in a 1st world country and that I have limitless opportunities, and I am taking full advantage of that, but that has nothing to do with my situation.

You are confusing OCD with depression. OCD is a mental disorder. I have a type of OCD in which my mind produces horrific images that I literally have no control over. My mind lacks the ability to let these images go and I obsess about these thoughts literally from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed. It’s not a matter of trying to “man up” and focus my thoughts elsewhere, because I can’t. It interferes with me functioning in my daily life.

The images I see torture, confuse, and scare me which in turn makes me depressed. I’m doing cognitive behavorial therapy at the moment and I’m all for beating my OCD without meds. However I was just curious to see how it would affect me if down the road I did need to take prozac because cognitive behavorial therapy doesn’t work out.

And thanks to everyone who replied. It’s helping a lot.

15

TO the OP, you should worry about getting your life in order first before worrying about whatever gains you might be missing. Will SSRI’s screw up your gains? I don’t think anyone can answer that. But you are young. Weightlifting is a life long journey, and should not stop you from doing whatever else you want to do. Working at a pharmacy, i see a lot of people on SSRI’s.

I really question their efficacy in treating depression. However, you have OCD. I don’t see the harm in trying the medication for a couple months and seeing where you are.

I’m really surprised you would even ask a question to a bunch of strangers on an internet forum, but I hope I helped you out a little.

16

[quote]Rohnyn wrote:
I’ve been through that bullshit. Took meds for like a month and become some lil soggy kleenex of a dude, and then got off that bullshit, close that door behind me, and got 4.0s in school because I forced myself to be strong.
[/quote]

Wow! A whole month?! You know that it takes 6 weeks or more just for the drugs to reach therapeutic levels in your blood, right? Just because you were living like a little bitch and confused it with depression doesn’t mean that there aren’t people who actually need meds.

First off, depression doesn’t come from a lack of seratonin, but by all means, please share with us how to think ourselves to chemical secretion. Forget brain chemicals, what kind of thinking do I need to do to blast my Testosterone through the roof. You could be on to something here, maybe the decline in testosterone rates are because we think about titties less than we need to be…

17

I think the correct statement would be , " not all depression is caused by Just low amts of NE and serotonin." But yes, if that poster has any ideas on how to control chemical secretion in the brain, i’d like to know too. That would be supersayin

18

OP, remember this: most here offer advice with good intentions BUT there will be very few here (if any) that are qualified to give good advice. Anyone who IS qualified would be unlikely to ‘diagnose’ via the internet.

Perhaps you might benefit from a (proper) second opinion. CBT may be an option after the initial course of medication? Nobody here ( 'cept you) knows your full history, hopefully your therapist / medical advisor does.
Best of luck whatever you decide, if Prozac is required it doesn’t mean you should stop training, you will still gain, muscle and experience. You have a LONG way to go. (I first trained at 15, still going at 50!)

19

[quote]GoldenState wrote:
Damn, this turned into quite a heated topic. Rohnyn, I get where you are coming from. Anti-depressant meds are being handed out way to easily these days by doctors. I understand that I live in a 1st world country and that I have limitless opportunities, and I am taking full advantage of that, but that has nothing to do with my situation.

You are confusing OCD with depression. OCD is a mental disorder. I have a type of OCD in which my mind produces horrific images that I literally have no control over. My mind lacks the ability to let these images go and I obsess about these thoughts literally from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed. It’s not a matter of trying to “man up” and focus my thoughts elsewhere, because I can’t. It interferes with me functioning in my daily life.

The images I see torture, confuse, and scare me which in turn makes me depressed. I’m doing cognitive behavorial therapy at the moment and I’m all for beating my OCD without meds. However I was just curious to see how it would affect me if down the road I did need to take prozac because cognitive behavorial therapy doesn’t work out.

And thanks to everyone who replied. It’s helping a lot.[/quote]

okay, this advice comes with a qualifier: “I’m not a psychiatrist BUT”

these mental images and thoughts sound more like schizophrenia. I always thought Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is when you feel compelled to do things you can’t explain, such as repetitive tasks and habits.

opening a door 3 times before passing through the archway for example.

20

[quote]GoldenState wrote:
Hey, whats up everyone. I’m 18 years old and weightlifting is one of my greatest passions. No matter what life throws at me, I can always work it off in the gym. Anyway, as of lately I have developed OCD in which I have horrible intrusive thoughts that cause me depression. My therapist recommended prozac, but he said it could affect my sex drive.

I automatically related lowered sex drive to lowered testosterone levels, but Im not sure if I’m right in assuming that. I asked my doctor if that was the case and he said he didnt know. So I was just wondering if any of you take prozac? And if you do, has it affected your muscle and strength gains? Also, if you don’t take prozac feel free to voice your opinion, I want to hear as many views as possible. Thanks.[/quote]

Look to yourself for a cure, not to drugs. I was diagnosed with OCD 2 years ago, although mine revolved more around compulsive counting and attachment to numbers. Drugs were the first prescribed solution, you know why? because they are the easiest for a doctor to get you out the door.

Dependence on drugs for things like OCD (extreme cases aside) will only make things worse in the long run. Counseling, therapy, and support from your family and friends are much more powerful than drugs, and will prove to be much more beneficial in the long run.

Obviously I am very anti-drug, and “cured” myself through therapy and counseling, which I truly believe in. PM me with questions or comments. I wish you the best of luck.