How to tell if antidepressant dosage is too high?

[Kiwi_87]

I'm on 20mg fluoxetine. I've been on it for just over 7 weeks (2 weeks on 10mg, 5 weeks on 20mg). I just feel really flat and disconnected. I'm wondering if my dosage is now too high, and perhaps I should have just stayed on 10mg, since lower doses work better for some people. are there any signs of when an antidepressant dosage is too high?

Steph xx

[Bike Rider]

They can take up to 12 weeks to sort themselves out, so keep on this dose and see what happens after that time.

I felt the same as you, that has now gone but I do get tired around 4pm and can sleep for an hour.

I have been on 40mg for 14 weeks and they have helped me no end, but up to the 12 week mark I was having bad days too.

[Kiwi_87]

Thank you xxx I don't know if the dose is too high, or maybe even too low. xx I have a gp appointment on the 18th so will ask then xx did you have insomnia side effects for a while? I'm still experiencing insomnia and keep having to take a sleep med, I'm really hoping the insomnia will go away at some point, its a nightmare xxx

[ElleEm]

Hi kiwi!

All completely normal. The flatness, the insomnia, everything. What you may find is soon you'll be able to go to sleep fine but wake early (4-6am). That's normal too. I'm 12 weeks today and can sleep until around 7 now (still wake early but able to go back to sleep).

[Kiwi_87]

Thank you so much!! Xxx did you have problems with insomnia too? Xxx

[Bike Rider]

Hi Both.

I am a bad sleeper anyway, so I wake at 4am and any other time.

But as Elle has said, all normal as the chemicals in our brain, Cortisol, Serotonin, Adrenaline etc sort themselves out.

Give it 12 weeks and see how you feel, give them chance Kiwi. 20mg is a low dose, you can go up to 80mg.

What sleeping meds do you take, Amitriptyline is supposed to work and is non addictive, children take it apparently.

Do you exercise at all, that can make you sleepy later on.

[Kiwi_87]

Hi Bikeride, I take 50mg quetiapine at night to help me sleep. I hate it, its vile and leaves me feeling so groggy the next day. I really can't cope with being on it for much longer, but the fluoxetine causes me such extreme insomnia, I have no choice but to take something to help me sleep. I've asked my psychiatrist if I can take melatonin instead as a sleep aid as its supposed to give you a more natural sleep.

I walk everywhere and yet still don't sleep. I'm just going to see what happens next week. I don't have an appointment until the 18th, and it seems pointless getting my hopes up then. x

[Bike Rider]

Hi Kiwi.

You have only been on 20mg for 5 weeks, so at least 7 weeks to go I am afraid, but it WILL be worth it I promise you.

Things during this time will settle down and ask about Amitriptyline. A friend is on a high dose of Fluox and he has to take Amitriptyline at night to wind him down, so to speak.

[Kiwi_87]

Thank you I am just so flat that I couldn't even interact with the delivery man because I feel so flat that I can't look at people the flat feeling has really worsened my social anxiety. it was never this bad before. did you feel so flat it made you anxious? is this normal in week 8? xx :(

thank you for saying about sticking at the 20mg dose for another 7 weeks, that's really important for me to know xx 'm on quetiapine, it works but I hate it. I'm speaking to the mental health team tomorrow and I'm hoping they'll be able to give me some melatonin. I've got the gp appointment on Monday so its not too far off. every day is a real drag on these meds :( xx

hope you're ok xx

Steph xx

[Bike Rider]

Hi Steph.

Yes I felt flat, very flat and lost my enthusiasm for most things.

I packed up cycling, golf, fly fishing, but after some 18 months I have got it all back, its just the weight I have put on and the unfitness that is a pain.

The flatness didnt make me anxious as such, but I did wonder what had happened and then start to make excuses, oh I never really wanted to do thing, etc. I played golf for nearly 50 yrs, of course I wanted to do it.

I think its the anxiety that causes the flatness, not the other way round. I found that on bad days I would enter a comfort zone and didnt want to leave it. Cutting the grass was a very big issue during these times, washing the car was a no no. It meant getting out of my chair and disturbing my "safe place".

There is nothing unusual in what is happening to you, just accept that its all part of anxieties happy games and it will go I promise, but it takes time, 18 months in my case, but sooner in yours I feel.

My issues gathered around irrational thoughts on things that I had done, so they were real and could, even though it was a billion to one chance, happen.