Does fluoxetine really work for anxiety and panic attacks?

Hi.I started taking fluoxetine 20 a week ago for my anxiety and panic attacks.I am feeling very anxious and just want to know if it really helps with anxiety and panic attacks and how long does it take to work?My docter said i should go back to him in a month and then he will decide if i must stay on fluoxetine.

Hi There
I suppose the difficulty is that all meds react differently to different people so what works for one doesnt for someone else and vice versa - you have to do what your doc says and listen to your own body not others experiences - there are always other med if this isnt for you but i would give it at least 6 weeks x

Hi

I Must Admit That Fluoxatine Has Helped Me Alot I Do Take It With Propananolol But It Does Help. Must Admit It Took About A Month Before I Felt The Effects Though

Thanks everybody.Ive been feeling more anxious since ive been on fluoxetine.I only started taking it a week ago but my hands shake alot now and this morning i woke up having a panic attack.My hands were sweating and i was extremely dizzy and nausues.I also have low blood sugar so i also feel anxious when my sugar goes too low.Does fluoxetine influence blood sugar levels?

Hi there,

I'm on day 20 of fluoxetine and I have been on it before, it worked great for me last time and I was off it after 8 mths. I'm taking it again 2 yrs later as I've been having another serious bout of anxiety.

I did feel truly awful in the first week but I think it was because I read the side effects and then I looked out for them. I've been feeling so much better lately, able to go out more and less anxious. I'm having a bad today today but I think that is because I have my period.

I've been keeping a diary blog (link below) to record how I've been feeling every day since I've been on it, so feel free to visit. You can see in the first week I was in a terrible state and I've been getting better every day, hopefully you will start to improve now you are through the first week...don't lose hope, keep on taking them.

If you still feel no improvement after a month go back and see your doc, everyone is different so what works for one person may not work for another. There are lots of other similar meds which you can try.

Jo x

I have taken fluoxetine on two seperate occasions.

I am in my 6th year of depression which led to high anxiety with panic attacks.

1st taking - 1year duration. 3rd year of depression. I would fluctuate between mania and real rock bottom depression. I attribute my increased levels of anxiety to this period. I was however leading an active lifestyle and my alcohol consumption was moderate.

2nd taking - 6months. 5th year of depression. I initially started to feel better but then the effects started to wear off. The doseage was doubled and I started to feel increased levels of anxiety. These effects started to wear off and I ended the treatment. Alcohol consumption was 0.

I was on it for about a year and it didn't touch the panic and anxiety - just helped with the depression.

I just took myself off if in the end as it seemed pointless being on it!

I think they are gd i heard they get ris of somet out u brain witch doesnt make u so anxcious btw i took me about 2months till it started working

I took it years ago as a teenager for OCD. It didn't help a lot. I went on it again in Dec'07 for anxiety and it helped a bit but then I had huge stressors all at once and it didn't seem to help at all. Then I got over the stress and was doing great on 20mg Prozac and truly thought my anxious days were over! I weaned off but in about a month, the anxiety/panic symptoms returned and I have just gone back on one week ago due to anxiety symptoms causing agoraphobia!! So we will see if it helps this time. Hope it works for you!
btw...for me the worst side effects were the lack of libido and blunted feelings.

I took it 10 years ago after a very very bad incident (two children killed) not mine, but say no more......

I was left tramatised, depressed anxious, stressed, you name it I felt it... though I manged to cope and only symptom people saw was the stress side I was very snappy when usually I am a very patient person.

I took fluxotine (prozac) and for me they were the best thing ever! within 6 months to a year I was back to me, I had gained enough confidence to go back out to work after being home with kids. 6 years on I have done well for myself, but prone to panic attacks anxiety and stress, (due to a long list of reasons I will not bore any with) I have been prescibed Citalopram and scared witless about taking them after reading post, not critising post, they were very honest and informative, but not reassuring enough to make me want to take them. If I take anything, I would prefer fluxotine, however, no two people are alike, what worked for me may not work for you... But hope info helps.. :yesyes:

First I want to stress that everyone is different when it comes to medication. Having said that, I am on 40 mgs of Prozac and it is working great for me! I did find I had increased anxiety the first two to three weeks though, but I am so glad I stuck it out. It seems to take about 6 to 8 weeks to "really" work, but well worth the wait. I am somewhat med phobic, so starting a new medication for me is very hard. I was on Paxil for several years and it was wonderful, but for some reason stopped working. Then I was on Celexa which was great for the anxiety/panic but not great for depression (for me). But then again, I have a friend who swears by it. So it is really a "trial and error" sort of thing... medications. I'm just so grateful there are medications that work!!! Good luck to you!!!!

hey i'm on fluoxetine for depression and anxiety and it's taken about 6 weeks to really work well, but since upping my dosage level i've felt the anxiety again so just push through it and it's totally worth it :)

Hi Jasmine - what have you upped your dose to? I'm taking 20mg for depression and am on about week 9, but don't really think it's working - or at least I'm very much up and down - was still feeling terrible earlier this week. I'm reluctant to up my dose because I don't want to go through the side effects again, but wondering what you found.

I wanted to thank you for this thread - I know it is old but I wanted to response.

My doctor just prescribed me Fluoxetine yesterday for GAD. She said it works for anxiety as well as depression.

I don't really have paniac attacks but I have had a few small ones in my life I know. FOr me, my most bothersome symptom of anxiety is the tighteness in my chest and always feeling "keyed up" just exhausts the hell out of me (which in turn makes me slightly depressed but I honestly more problems with anxiety than depression).

Anyhow, I took my first dose of the F (tired of spelling that!) this morning and I did NOT feel good. I actually felt "sped up" (I have never taken "speed" - you know that drug so I can't know what it might feel like but it almost like too much caffeine or something). So I did have some coffee this morning too - but I hardly drank any of it because because I felt so odd. I felt nervous and a little jittery (my coffee is weak too!).

I feel a bit better now but that freaked me out - like I felt more anxious than before I took it - which is not fun. It is scaring me. I am already a huge worrier!

So, it sound like this might be a normal reaction/side effect - is this just my body adjusting to the meds? I know my dr said 4 to 6 weeks but I was figuring I would not feel anything right away!

I have been unemployed for a long time and finally accepted a job offer yesterday - so I am happy about that but worried about my anxiety making me tired so much that I may not perform well. But I also don't want this medicine making me feel all out of it and sped up. I don't want to blow this - I would rather deal with feeling anxious

Am I being paranoid?

I had an allergic reaction to a sulfur drug once - so I guess I get nervous about taking anything new. I don't want something to make me feel even MORE nervous!

How many days should I give it before I know that this is not normal? I don't want to feel like crap when I start my new job!

(ugh, why can't I just be normal, you know??)
Anyhow, thanks for listening to me.

To feel normal sounds great..I am back on prozac for the 3rd time and it has always helped however I'm on my 21st day and still having very anxious episodes especially in the mornings but I am confident it will start working soon. Be patient once it starts working and the se die down you will feel great:hugs:

i dont know if i will be getting any reply. the dates on the posts are so old. I hope everybody has moved along and recovered from all the above. i am battling anxiety and depression for over a year now and I been on cipralex,pristiq+serocuel XR then I got off of it took serodolect. i feel much better than how i use to, altho my whole life is a battle... every second of it. I'm a powerlifter and crossfitter. I have passion for both. with those i fight my way and see better days. There are periods of times that i feel completely recovered and then suddenly everything goes to fu**ing hell. sometimes it feels like another day at the office.. sometimes it feels eternal and dark. I get feelings beyond comprehension sometimes. but hey overall i'm good.. im stronger than what i use to be. recently i been having anxiety attacks so my doctor told me to take fluxetine ... i feel like a lab rat sometimes... is it how its sps to be ? i dont know. whatever my doctor suggested for me so far have made me feel better and better. I have lost 160lbs of fat with excercise and diet. i use to be extremely obese. anyways ... just felt like taking some weight off of my mind. good luck to all

It took five weeks of ups and downs before I started to feel better and more like me again, four to six weeks is what my doctor told me