Prozac 10 weeks help

Hi. I have been on prozac now for 10 weeks for severe anxiety and depression, I started off on 10mg for 1 week which I had a huge energy buzz and felt pretty good, I then went up to 20mg for 6 weeks. During that time I felt quite bad at first I had increased anxiety but my depression stayed the same, I felt tired all the time and I was quite easily agitated. Towards the end of the 6 weeks My sleep disturbances had stopped my depression had pretty much gone and my anxiety had gotten quiet a bit better but still not great.

My gp then put me up to 40mg which is what I have been on for the last 3 weeks and I feel horrific, I started having bad intrusive thoughts, My anxiety is sky high especially in the morning and I'm either not sleeping at all or sleeping in. The intrusive thoughts have mostly subsided at week 3 on the 40mg but the anxiety is a nightmare. I was wondering if anyone could offer advise as to if this is normal and if it will get better and a rough time frame on how long the 40mg will take to calm my anxiety down if at all?

Thank you so much for reading. I'm really in distress.

I'm sorry I can't offer any real advice, but I am also on 40mg of fluoxetine and had a very hard time the first time my doctors upped me from 20-40mg. I got horrific intrusive thoughts and became very unwell, I came back down to 20mg and levelled out, before going back up and I'm now doing well.

They say that with fluoxetine it can take longer to work on anxiety than depression. I'd say that in another few weeks you might feel the effects, but I wonder if you might benefit more from a dose of maybe 30mg? For a while. It sounds like you were doing better on 20 than 40 anyway.

Sorry I can't be much help really. Didn't want to read and run. X

Thank you so much for your reply. It's nice to talk to people going through the same thing.

How long would you say it took you to level out on the 20mg before you went back up to the 40mg?

Also I wa thinking about trying 30mg but at the same time I do wonder if I just keep perservering that it will get better. I'm in two different minds it's driving me mad lol!

You helped alot just by sending a message so thank you again! X

hi there,

i had the exact side effects on the lower dose, and then later with depression diminishing but anxiety remaining quite high. The reason i haven't upped my dose is because im scared of experiencing the sky high anxiety that comes with a dose increase.

What you are experiencing is completely normal, however, and if you stick it out, i am sure your anxiety will begin to subside to normal levels, then after 6 weeks on the 40mg it will most likely decrease a lot and you may find good relief.

Unfortunately, as I experienced and read a lot and believe (though i am not a professional by any means), each dose increase will increase anxiety at first (the worst being week 2-3) and then subside slowly after week 4, so you should be there soon... stay strong and please update <3

Hi hopelesspanda, thank you so much for your reply!

It's really helpful to know what I'm experiencing is normal as sometimes I feel like I'm going out of my mind! I also didn't realise that it happens with every dose increase which now makes alot of sense haha!

Thank you for your support I will keep updating!

Going out today which I am dreading but at the same time not as it's with my best friend it's more the going out part I'm dreading if you know what I mean! I think I will have to take some diazapam but atleast I will get out!!

<3

Hi Citrine.

What you are experiencing is totally normal for this med.

My GP put me up to 30 mg from the initial 20 and then to 40 mg. I am a bit surprised your Gp has raised you so soon, as Fluoxetine is notorious for is slow acting process, 12 weeks for each increase in most cases.

You may not get the side effects each time either, it depends on the person. Mine were nowhere near as bad as the initial dose and now after 12 months on them only the tiredness continues, which if I am occupied, I can get over.

12 weeks is the mark though, I am afraid. So you have a little longer to go, but they helped level me out no end. I started to calm down, then to see things more rationally and then to believe it. I too, had bad anxiety and very irrational thoughts and it was these that brought on my depression.

The not wanting to go out bit or the anxiety it causes, I think, is down to the fact that we get into a comfort zone, to try to protect ourselves, our thoughts and we don't want to leave it. I could make a cup of tea, sit down with a book, get my thoughts under some sort of control and feel as calm as I could, then something comes along and you have to get up or go out and you know the bad thoughts are going to return, they are waiting for this disturbance to get back in and we know this, hence the "I want to stay in" syndrome. But once you are out and chatting to your friend, they will go again as your mind will be occupied with things you do like.

My anxiety was at its worse in the morning, I would wake at 4am and feel ok, go back to sleep and wake at 6.30, from that point my anxiety steadily got worse. Now apparently we produce Cortisol around 7-9am, this is to wake us up and give our brain the boost to get going, however, in our anxious state this is the last thing we need. I started going to the gym again, used a personal trainer, but went far to hard. This created excessive amounts of Lactic acid and Cortisol, which, when I asked my GP and also read about, can cause both depression and anxiety to start up in sufferers. This will go as the body adapts, but the 4 weeks needed for this to happen wasn't worth the effort, so I started a far more relaxed exercise pattern.

My anxiety and irrational thoughts tends to start to calm down around noon time, not every day, but most. Also on bad days a glass of wine in the evening is a great help, it does calm me down.

But as you are feeling less depression and anxiety, the meds appear to be working and I believe they continue to do so for as long as you take them, just give them time.