someone told me prozac is a placebo drug? is this true? and what does it mean exactly?

Question

ive recently started taking prozac and would be interested to know your feelings about this. thank you x

Answer 1

I dont think it is. Placebo means that its just a sugar pill and as you think you are taking medication that you will get better.

Answer 2

A placebo is a fake drug; like a sugar pill.

Placebos are usually used in medication research, some people get the real pill and some people get the placebo. Then they see who benefits. If the drug doesn't appear to be any better than a placebo, then it isn't an effective drug. If someone consents to be in this study, they are made aware that they might be taking a placebo.

Sometimes placebos are given to patients who are hypochondriacs or have confused ideas about what they should be taking. I used to work for a mental hospital, and we had a patient who insisted she needed "a pink pill." Nobody knew what she meant, so the doctor gave her a pink placebo to make her happy.

No, prozac is not a placebo.

Some people are very opinionated about mental health because they don't really understand it--that if the illness is "all in your head" then you must be able to just "think your way out of it" without using medication. These people are just uninformed.

I take Paxil, which is similar to Prozac. It has been a big help to me.

Answer 3

Well said Andy S - no-one can challenge that answer!

A Placebo is something that is taken by a percentage of the prople conducting a trial for a drug instead of the actual drug. No-one on the trial knows whether they are taking the real drug or the placebo so the results would show clearly the effects of the actual drug (you would look silly making up effects & finding out you have been on a placebo!).

With regard to you taking Prozac - your doctor wouldn't have prescribed it if he/she didn't think it would help. I have known people who have been prescribed Prozac and it helped them with their depression (it has got other uses so don't panic if this isn't what you've got it for). Don't expect an overnight result though. It takes a while for the effects to establish.

Answer 4

Prozac is not a placebo. A placebo is a term used to describe a 'mock' 'drug' which provides no medication whatsoever. It is sometimes used in trials i.e. a placebo is given to 10 participants and the real drug is given to another 10 so the study can show exactly which patients actually improved (or didn't). Prozac is a REAL drug - an anti-depressant which, amongst other things, boosts the levels of serotonin in the brain.

Answer 5

A placebo is a substance containing no medication and is prescribed or given to reinforce a patient's expectation to get well. Prozac is certainly not a placebo and the person who told you that is being a little ignorant.

The placebo effect is when the patient takes a pill believing it has a 'cure' in it, (when it doesn't, it has no chemical or medication in it); they start to get better thinking it is the medication but it is all psychological.

Prozac does contain chemicals which are proven to help lift depression.

Antidepressants alter the balance of some of the chemicals in the brain (neurotransmitters). SSRI antidepressants (Prozac amongst others) mainly affect a neurotransmitter called serotonin. An altered balance of serotonin and other neurotransmitters is thought to play a part in causing depression and other conditions.

Answer 6

Prozac is not a placebo. A lot of people have opinions about this and most of them are wrong. Prozac was one of the first of it's class of drugs and there was some really bad press at first, so when a lot of people even hear the name Prozac, they get all negative. I have attached a link that lists all different anti-depressants, their classification and side affects. Anti-depressants can be over-prescribed, but also help many people. Just watch for any major or remarkable changes in your personality (listen to what other say) or in your feelings. The changes should not be something that you feel dramatically. If any of this happens, call your doctor immediately.
Another thing you need to be careful of is if you are younger (child or teenager) - anti-depressants can be very dangerous to younger people.

Answer 7

Prozac is not a placebo. It is a real drug used primarily for depression. A placebo is the same as a sugar pill. Placebos are given to a percentage of testers when testing the effects of a drug. This way they can tell what the real drug does or does not do.

Answer 8

Prozac is not a placebo drug! Placebo would mean u are taking nothing but a tablet etc... that did nothing....and was not even a drug....

if u were in a drug study half the patients would take placebo (double blind study) and half study drug..... so they cant be the same....

(Martin C - the last trial i worked on (with regard to the heart), this 70 yr old actually loved his pill and wanted to try and buy this drug from the US (wouldnt have been possible for years) and we unblinded him to find what he was on - he was on Placebo.... was so funny at the time. You had to be there)

Answer 9

It is NOT a placebo drug. That means that it has no drug in it at all. As in a pretend drug. This is a silly thing to tell you. Doctors or professors use placebo drugs in controlled experiments in labs or hospitals to see how people take to drug treatment. They give some people the real drug and others just a pretend one. Then, they see how the people react to the pills.

Answer 10

Placebo isn`t a drug and yes Prozac is

Answer 11

Prozac is a very active SSRI, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor with a profound effect on many peoples depression, anxiety or phobic symptoms.

A placebo is an inactive preparation which relies on its effect on the mind of the patient, i.e. it works only because the patient thinks it will. Good examples of this are homeopathic preparations.