Would love to hear a postitive story

[Bgary530]

Hey guys,
Day 3 on 10mg fluoxetine for panic attacks and obsessive thoughts. Have always been a very happy person and I am in no way depressed just had a panic attack and haven't been able to get it out of my head. Been actually feeling a little better latley since starting the meds and I am increasing the dose to 20mg after a week on the 10mg. All I read everywhere is horror stories about this drug about side effects and what not. Would love to hear a positive Experiance using this treatment for panic and constant worrying to help ease my mind while starting. Thanks!

[Rochelle121]

Sorry you are having a rough time at the minute!
Im currently on day two of my second go at these meds.
The first few weeks and the side effects are hideous. BUT this medication IS amazing when thes pass at about 6-8 weeks usually around 6 and lifting mood at 8weeks.
These pills saved my life in the past when nothing else worked and I was at my last ebb. I too have intrusive thoughts and these did get worse for me to a point I questioned my own sanity at times but I carried on. I wasnt sure if they were even going to work at points. Infact I was sure they wasnt but its all I had and they were the best anti depressants I have ever used. If you can stick out the SE and do all you can to do that you will not regret it.

[Bgary530]

Sorry you are having a rough time at the minute!
Im currently on day two of my second go at these meds.
The first few weeks and the side effects are hideous. BUT this medication IS amazing when thes pass at about 6-8 weeks usually around 6 and lifting mood at 8weeks.
These pills saved my life in the past when nothing else worked and I was at my last ebb. I too have intrusive thoughts and these did get worse for me to a point I questioned my own sanity at times but I carried on. I wasnt sure if they were even going to work at points. Infact I was sure they wasnt but its all I had and they were the best anti depressants I have ever used. If you can stick out the SE and do all you can to do that you will not regret it.

Thank you so much for your reply! Today is day 5 of 10mg and I will be upping the dose to 20mg after day 7. I tried for a month to fix my panic on my own but finally convinced myself I need help. I have had moments where I notice the obsessive thoughts aren't as strong but have also noticed moments where they are worse then usual. Sometimes I do feel very strange but I think it's just my body getting used to the drug. I know the medication isn't a cure but I'm just hoping it will help give me the strength to work on myself for the better.

[Rochelle121]

Anti depressants give youa lift to feel more confidant at being able to tackle things for yourself. They never eradicated my anxiety/panic but they did give me more confidence to be able to help myself :)

[Tessar]

Fluoxetine has helped me enormously, Bgary.
I tend to use it in the winter because I find it really hard going with the dark evenings & when the weather prevents me from doing things outdoors.
I'm not taking it at the moment because I am having my "summer break" if you like. I notice such a difference when I am NOT taking it. I'm more irritated, more tired....

Is really good that you are interested in positive stories e cause they often get buried amongst the bad.
For me fluoxetine has been 100% positive :-) it gives me more energy, helps me relax & I feel more confident as a result.

[Bgary530]

Fluoxetine has helped me enormously, Bgary.
I tend to use it in the winter because I find it really hard going with the dark evenings & when the weather prevents me from doing things outdoors.
I'm not taking it at the moment because I am having my "summer break" if you like. I notice such a difference when I am NOT taking it. I'm more irritated, more tired....

Is really good that you are interested in positive stories e cause they often get buried amongst the bad.
For me fluoxetine has been 100% positive :-) it gives me more energy, helps me relax & I feel more confident as a result.

Thanks for the response! 95% of what you read from simply googling prozac makes it seem like a poision pill so it's nice hearing from people who had great success from the drug. Would love to hear more happy stories!

[TweetyBird2]

Tomorrow will be week 12 for me, and I feel SO much better now that the side effects are gone.
I think the side effects are our bodies and brains trying to adjust to this new chemical.
From what I read in books (The Anti depressant Solution, Antidepressant Sourcebook, etc) it really is a matter of letting our brains adapt to the changes this medicine does. And it is a slow process. First there's a flood of seretonin, but not enough receptors, so new ones have to be grown. This takes time.
THEN you'll feel the good effects of the medicine.
Personally, I had to adjust my dose lower a bit, and then tritate it back up... taking the full 20mgs at one time was just too intense for my body to handle. (really bad jitters and heart pounding). Too little, I felt depressed again, too much, I was a human energy drink to the tenth power, lol.
The fluoxetine does take the edge off of things, now that I can feel the "good" calming effects. It just takes a while and the ride is very bumpy for some of us till we get there til our bodies and brains adjust.
Good luck. If you stick with it, I think you'll like it too.

[HalfJack]

I got my first long term job after I started taking it :) It was about 5 years ago now but I don't remember having any side effects at all. My roommate took it too and we both found it really easy in comparison to other medication we'd both been on. Until coming here I actually had no idea it was difficult for some people on it at first.

The way I used to explain how it helped me was that it "took the edge off", which helped enough so that I could deal with what remained.
Good luck :)

[Oosh]

I took Prozac for four years. I took cipralex for four weeks and threw it in the bin !

Prozac produced a better than well feeling for me. It's stimulating. It enhanced all aspects of who I was. Plenty of euphoria doing things like jogging, listening to music, writing (I became very wordy and creative)
I had no worries, nothing affected me.

Gave me some nervousness in retrospect which didn't help my social anxiety.

I used to rave about it to everybody like it was a lifestyle drug.

I only gave it up because it seemed to stop working after the four years.

Four weeks on cipralex some time after and I was wanting to sleep all day, didn't feel better in anyway and downstairs stopped reacting to what my brain wanted it to do. BIN. Shocked-horrified-BIN.

I thnk about Prozac on a regular basis years after.

[fduop]

I'm glad to see you want to hear a positive story. When I allow myself to hear too many depressing stories it just brings me down. A lot of times I've found that the ones I love the most end up dragging down also, but that's another post.

My panic and anxiety was kept in check for a number of years after first being treated. Then for who knows, it reared it's head again about a year ago. At the moment I'm going through the effects of my fluoxetine being increased. But this forum, more than anything has truly eased my mind. I still had the racing thoughts, heart palpitations, etc... But I'm reaching the end of the tunnel on that, and feeling better each day.

So if I leave you with a good story it's you can get better. Maybe with a different treatment, this is my second time fighting. But you can get through. Best to you.

[rossthekid]

I'm glad to see you want to hear a positive story. When I allow myself to hear too many depressing stories it just brings me down. A lot of times I've found that the ones I love the most end up dragging down also, but that's another post.

My panic and anxiety was kept in check for a number of years after first being treated. Then for who knows, it reared it's head again about a year ago. At the moment I'm going through the effects of my fluoxetine being increased. But this forum, more than anything has truly eased my mind. I still had the racing thoughts, heart palpitations, etc... But I'm reaching the end of the tunnel on that, and feeling better each day.

So if I leave you with a good story it's you can get better. Maybe with a different treatment, this is my second time fighting. But you can get through. Best to you.

How long have you been on the increased fluoxetine for and how long did you have side effects for when it was increased?
cheers ross