Fluoxetine bad experience

[Lizzyg]

Well I lasted 7 days on the stuff.

I was hyper with panic atack after panic attack for 6 days.

Came down with a bump on Sat gone into a deep depression and could not get out of bed. Doc was called and told to stop the pills.

I have had the worst weekend ever, crying constantly, not able to see or talk to anyone, horrible physical systems and just wanted to die. If someone offered me something I would have taken it and ended it all!

It is now Monday and the stuff is slowly leaving my body. Feel absolutley exhausted and the anxiety is still there got the not being able to breath today

Being rre-assessed on Wednesday to see what meds to try next.

What a rollercoaster anxiety/meds are why can't I just be normal????

[PESKY]

to be fair you sound similar to me. i know exactly how you feel. just sack everyone off and do what YOU want to do. im sick of people interfeering and telling me how to get better and how to feel. best thing is treat yaself thats wat i try n do. you must have a guilty pleasure be it fatty food, gambling or wotever. i no most people will disagree but i feel much better when i just screw everyone else and treat myself. hope you get better soon i no how awful it is to feel the way you do as i feel the same. chin up and treat yourself

[joannap]

hi lizzyg

i was exactly the same as you but did stay on them - i felt stuck between a rock and a hard place - worried that they would have worked if i came off and worried about staying on them! day 5 of taking them i was taken by mum to casualty for an emergency assessment by the on call psychiatrist on the advice of my gp because i was that bad but they just gave me a small amount of valium. for around 2-3 weeks i was literally climbing the walls with constant panic attacks - constantly crying - i was so bad my mum and husband had to do a rota and could not leave me on my own for even a minute. i could not face seeing anyone and i literally could only walk to the end of the road and back for a bit of fresh air (forced to by my mum!) - the rest of the time i spent huddled by the radiator crying my eyes out.

the days where i was not in constant panic - i was in a big black hole i thought i would never climb out of. i was absolutely obsessed with dying - i was convinced i would not live through it and also thought i would be driven to suicide. i remember hanging onto my husband shouting i wanted to die so i know what you are experiencing.

5 weeks in - my gp doubled the dose - i was horrified because i thought i might go back to square one but i did not really get any more side effects. almost 8 weeks in - i am starting to feel a lot better. i don;t feel great but i don;t have to be babysat - the anxiety has virtually receded and i am getting glimpses of the old me for minutes/hours at a time.

i am not sure how much of it was down to the prozac and how much of it was "me" because i was in a pretty bad way to begin with. i was on an ssri years ago and my gp warned me then that you can feel 100 times worse before you feel better. this is the sixth time i have taken an ssri - 3 of the times i don;t seem to have had this awful settling in period and 3 times i have but this was the absolute worst - however - this was probably the worst i have been anxiety wise before taking them.

i am typing this - looking back now - not sure how i even got through the days. i have since found out that prozac is incredibly slow to build in your system - around 30 days minimum compared to citalopram for instance which takes 7-14 days so if you try another ssri - even if you feel really bad - it should only be for a shorter amount of time and perhaps you can ask for some diazapam to minimise the side effects? hope you feel better soon x

[joannap]

ps - just read your earlier posts - don't be scared to take diazapam - i literally had to be forced into doing so but when medication kicks in - you won;t need it and you certainly won't get addicted after a few weeks of a small dose x