Fluxetil, A Safe Generic For Prozac

[smilia]

I could not find any info but the generic prozac is so much cheaper. is it safe?

The ingrediants say Fluoxetine 20 mg equivelant to Fluoxetine HCI (prozac).

and the name is Fluxetil.

Also is Lexapro better then Prozac?

Thanks

[tim armstrong]

I could not find any info but the generic prozac is so much cheaper. is it safe?

The ingrediants say Fluoxetine 20 mg equivelant to Fluoxetine HCI (prozac).

and the name is Fluxetil.

Also is Lexapro better then Prozac?

Thanks

Hi Smilia,

You really need to talk to a Dr. about these drugs. But both Prozac and Lexapro are SSRI antidepressants. Both also help alleviate anxiety. Generic drugs use the same chemicals as the brand names, but become generic when the patent expires, usually after 20 years. So they can be made anywhere in the world, and become cheaper. But while some generic brands of drugs do have less of the active ingredients, competition between companies, and monitoring bodies help to maintain fairly good standards.

All the drugs you mention will help alleviate your symptoms, but not necessarily the underlying causes, which in both anxiety and depression, often benefit from proven methods of counselling or therapy. Tim

[Sheryl]

The generic form is fine provided Prozac is right for you. The main concern I have about Prozac versus most of the other SSRIs is that it takes a long time to take effect , both initially and then for any adjustments in dosage to show an effect. SSRIs such as Zoloft and Paxil have the same efficacy but kick in much quicker which makes them much easier to adjust dosage. Also, the slow onset of Prozac may increase the risk of suicide in people just starting on it (they despair when the pills don't seem to be helping).

If you are already stabilized on Prozav and happy with it and just worrying about the safety opf the generic, go ahead. But if you are planning to newly start on an antidepressent, it would not be my choice for the reasons just mentioned.

In addition, it is highly advisable to have some professional guidance in going on an anti-depressent. Some brands are better for some type of people thasn others. For example, if there is anxiety mixed with the depression, some of drugs are better than others in addressing that, and a wrong choice may worsen the anxiety.

Perhaps the biggest danger is for people who are actually bipolar rather than purely depressed, antidepressants can set off a manic episode.

And,as Tim mentioned, it is advisable to also get some type of therapy if you have not already. Short-term goal-oriented therapies like CBT tend to work well for depression.

That said, it is true that there are some people who, no matter how much therapy they get and how well they progress in it, need to stay on anti-depressents indefinitely. The odds of being one of them is greater the longer the depression is present and also the longer the stress exposure that often preceded the depression lasted. So getting depression treated quickly, with therapy and if necessary also drugs, may actually decrease the need to use drugs long term.

I'm assuming in all the above that you are taking or planning to take this for depression. SSRIs do have some other uses, such as for premenstrual dysphoria (formerly called PMS)); the most data on that is using Zoloft. Also used for some types of chronic pain, but for that definitely should have trained advise, espcecially in terms of potential interaction with other drugs.

[John K]

I have to agree with Tim here, there are far too many people running around on this type of medication, and the underlying reason is the insurance companies don’t want to pay for therapy. The last report I saw that in the USA for every 5 people on antidepressants or anti anxiety medications, only 1 actually needs to be on them. The other 4 were placed on them because drugging a person is far cheaper than providing them therapy and giving them the mental tools to cope should the problem arise again in the future.

The negative fallout from being on these drugs ranges from negative effects on a persons sex life to seeing everything as vanilla and not dealing with problems but hiding from them. It can also make you ignore things that absolutely must be done and not feel bad about it. The fallout from that mind set could be emotionally and or financially devastating.

I saw a persons opinion the other day who suggests the west is so messed up and obsessed with political correctness because too many people are on these drugs. I have to agree that there is some merit in what was said. The political correctness drive wants to produce a happy world where nobody is offended. This is much the same as a person would feel on these drugs not being offended by much if anything. That opinion certainly provides food for thought. The opinion starts of citing an attack on Santa and not allowing him to say ‘ho ho ho’ because it may offend someone.

[karenbenn]

Both medications are SSRIs. But each has its unique features, which should be considered when choosing the medication.

Fluoxetine has the longest half life of all SSRI (it means that is stays longer in your system). Lexapro (escitalopram) is an improved version of Celexa.

Here is comparison of Lexapro with other antidepressants: http://www.emedexpert.com/compare-meds/escitalopram.shtml