Hello everyone,
I'm just posting this to hopefully encourage anyone who is still waiting for their fluoxetine to take effect. I know how helpful I found stories like this when I was struggling - it gave me some hope! I began taking 20mg in August, and I would say it took about 8-10 weeks for me to literally stop feeling anxiety completely. I was on 20mg for 2 months, during which time I had definite improvement, but I had a bit of relapse so my doc increased the dose to 40mg. About 2 weeks later the anxiety subsided and has not come back. I'm still taking 40mg per day and will speak to my doc about how to proceed in the spring.
My very worst symptom was insomnia, it was TERRIBLE. My heart was thudding all the time, and sometimes when I was trying to sleep I'd get shots of adrenaline so strong my arm would suddenly shoot up into the air. Then of course I became so worried about sleeping that it became a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy and I just ended up a stressed, miserable, insomniac mess. It wasn't only that that was worrying me - I had a very difficult year for a number of reasons - but that seems to be my main 'symptom'. I felt scared and hopeless and I became completely exhausted with it all.
Below I have reposted my own timeline which I wrote about a month in, copied from my diary thread:
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Days 0-4: no effects except for a couple of days of headaches
Days 5-6: complete insomnia and extreme depression (notable because I’m not taking it for depression, I’m taking it for anxiety). Luckily I knew that it had to have been the drug so I managed to keep myself going, and it was over fairly quickly.
Days 7-23: the depression lifted and the insomnia eased to ‘crap but manageable’ levels, ie. I got SOME sleep but definitely not enough to feel refreshed and happy. The GI effects were pretty bad! I lost 1.5kg in about a week because I had serious diarrhoea. It was better at night, but through the day and in the morning – not good! Mood-wise, I have been finding that I’m in an ok place mentally and sleep gradually seems to be improving. I have more nights where I don’t wake up til morning, however sleep quality is still low. Even if I don’t wake up in the night I feel very tired the next morning, like I haven’t slept. I’m having very vivid dreams so I’m pretty sure I’m not getting into ‘deep sleep’, which is why I still feel so tired since I’m only half-sleeping. I’m spending a lot of my days in a sleepy, yawny, jelly-limbed state.
Days 24-25: for some reason, major upsurge in anxiety. I had 2 days of horrible thumpy heart, terrible sleep. During this time I began taking ginkgo biloba, folic acid and a B vitamin complex (which also contains folic acid, taking the dose up to 500mcg which is what’s been recommended). I’m taking it first thing in the morning with my fluoxetine, which I’m not sure if you should do, but it’s the only way I’ll definitely remember them all!
Days 26-27: insomnia has settled again, anxiety has calmed down quite a bit and I've had no panic trips to the toilet in the past 2 days (down from several times a day so hopefully that particular delightful side effect is over!). I’ve stepped up my game again on all of my anti-stress measures (meditation, Epsom salt baths, eating well, avoiding social media, etc.). I’m still so sleepy and sometimes it makes me irritable. Doc has told me to do another 4 weeks on 20mg and see how I go, and if the results still aren’t there she’ll bump up the dose. I’m not too keen on that idea given that I keep reading that when the dose increases the side-effects start all over again!
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Reading through my diary it seems incredible to me and a distant, horrible memory that I ever felt like that. I feel great now, I sleep well, I'm not unduly stressed and I can handle things just fine. It's really wonderful.
If you're only a few weeks or even a month in and still struggling, DO NOT GIVE UP. You may need to speak to your doc about increasing the dose as I did, but it's very, very worth sticking with. At some point you will be able to do what I did and look back on how you felt and it will seem like a bad dream!
Another couple of tips I could offer are:
1. Folic acid - I began taking 500mcg per day after reading that it can enhance fluoxetine's anti-anxiety effects, and maybe it was coincidence but it was shortly after that that I began to feel that things were improving (men may need more than 500mcg)
2. Mindfulness - I had been terrified to be alone in my own head, for years. I always had my headphones in, noise around me, someone to talk to, I couldn't stand to be left to think. I tackled that head-on with mindfulness and I really think it helped make my head a less scary place! Try an app or a book, it's so relaxing.
3. Go offline! - One big trigger for stress for me was social media, and it took some time for me to recognise that. It's very addictive! Try giving yourself a social media holiday if you use it, and you may find that a few days in you're feeling a little calmer.
4. Exercise - If you don't exercise, start. Anyone can exercise, and its mood-enhancing effects are second to none. In fact I'd put this as the most important of them all.
Anyway, I hope this helps someone. Success stories are what got me through!
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