"i have been on fluoxetine for about 3 months after being diagnosed with dysthymia( 40 year old male ) and can positively say that it has improved my quality of life. in retrospect, i have felt &quot;dysthymic&quot; probably since early adulthood, and it took me so long to find out why i felt this way. it was only after doing my own internet searches that i found a condition which was exactly how i had been feeling for so long (..and this is the important point to note about dysthymia - many people have it for so long, that they just accept that the depressive feelings etc. are part of their personality). i had a few side effects early on - mainly nausea, but that subsided after a couple of weeks. after a very long time in my life - i feel positive!"