help needed

[rossthekid]

Hey, looking for some advice/support. I started 20mg of Prozac for anxiety approx. 6 weeks ago. After some side effects early on I felt it started to work, it was very low improvement though and my anxiety was still very evident. I spoke to gp and he said I was after 4 weeks, with some minor improvements might be worth trying 40mg. So for the last week I have increased and I feel terrible. I feel like I have been hit by a bus, dizzy, and my anxiety again has got worse. Any advice? Should I reduce back to 20mg or 30 mg or should I continue on 40 mg and hope things improve.
cheers ross

[Electric_Worry]

I'm only on 20mg myself, however I have heard that it's not uncommon to experience side-effects once you up the dosage. It's difficult to provide an answer as it's a personal decision but if the doctor thinks it's worth trying 40mg then I don't believe a week is a long enough time to judge the new dosage on.

[BusyMom12]

Hi Ross , I was on 20mg successfully for 2 1/2+ years. When I went off and found I needed to go back on , I initially thought I would need a higher dose. I started back on 30 and when my anxiety was unbearable when back to 20. Not feeling I was improving fast enough I kept messing with my dose even in tiny amounts to try to gradually increase. It wasn't until I realized every time I changed the dose it messed me up and talked to my pharmacist who assured me that 20 mg works for the majority of people that I finally stuck it out on the 20 and got leveled out and now feel great. I personally would give the 20 mg a good 10 weeks or more. If you read my other posts you can see that even though I felt I was doing great , I continued to improve for a long time. I hope this helps , hang in there , it'll keep getting better.

[Deepthinker]

Ross, I was nowhere near where I wanted to be at 4 weeks on 20 mg of fluox/prozac. I was, however, starting to feel much better. I also noticed a very slow, but steady, progression of feeling well. At my four week check-up, my doc suggested upping my dose, since all of the anxiety wasn't completely gone. Because of the testimonies on this forum, I told my doc that I would like to continue at the 20 mg for at least another four weeks. My doc said that at four weeks the meds were at their full therapeutic level, but because of the countless experiences I had read about on NoMorePanic, I didn't really think my doc knew what was best in this instance. I am so glad I listened to my body and the people on this site. I could feel myself improve with each week and now in week nine, I am almost 100%. All my depression, which was brought on by the anx/panic, is gone. All the daily anxiety and worry is gone. I still have a little anxiety while driving, which was my initial problem, but even it is getting better and is not nearly as intense as before the meds, not even close. The most helpful posts for me, during the early days on the meds, were the ones by Mrs. Cav, Janine, Sick and Tired, Oncewassupergirl, Maddis mum, Ocean2, and a few others I can't recall at the moment. When I read what these ladies wrote, I could really identify with their symptoms, side effects from the meds and knew I wasn't the only one feeling this way. I think it took most of them about 8, 9, 10, and sometimes 12 weeks to really feel 100 %. In fact, the ONLY person who seemed to think I would be all better at 4 weeks was my doctor. Now if you aren't better at all after 4 weeks or if you are way worse than before meds, I might recommend changing doses or meds; but, if you have improved at all, I would stick with the 20 mg for at least 8 weeks before giving up. I have read many times that prozac is THE slowest acting anti-depressant, but one of the most effective. Sorry the post is so long! Oh, I love what Busy Mom said, as well. Her posts last week gave me lots of encouragement. At 8 weeks, I was thinking, "Shouldn't every BIT of this stinkin' anxiety be gone by now?"; but, after reading how Busy Mom continued to improve after 8, 10, 12 weeks, I thought "Okay, I can do this!". By the end of the week, even more of my driving anxiety had lifted! I was thrilled! Hope you stick with 20 for a little longer and see some improvement! Blessings!

[rossthekid]

Thanks guys,
To be honest what you guys are saying was what I was thinking myself. However, I am 1 week into 40 mgs so I am going to stick this out for a few more weeks. As you say every time you alter the levels it seems to take you back a few steps. Today after taking them I did start to feel that nice warm feeling at a very minor level so I hope I am over the worst of the second round of side effects. In hindsight I should have left things at 20 mgs for a few more weeks as they were improving but not to the level where I could work and I felt was this it? Hopefully, 40 mg when settles will help to a higher degree and you never know maybe quicker. Interestingly the tiredness, nausea, stomach upset sets in early evening so I think its needing time to work. Thanks everybody and I will keep updating.

[OncewasSupergirl]

Deep Thinker,

Thanks for the mention!
Like you when I started Prozac and using the forum I read lots of old posts that kept me going, I actually still keep in touch with Ocean, MaddisMum and Janine over a year on
Just to add my input, I work in mental health, I was always told 8-12 weeks is the minimum for therapeutic improvement. Unfortunately a lot of GPs just do not have any psychiatric drugs training so just prescribe them like an antibiotic and expect them to work just as fast!
A good GP trained in mental health is hard to find. My own experience was my GP have me the Prozac with no follow up or local community support, this is terrible practice especially as in the past when I tyred other brands of AD I actually felt suicidal.
Also I just want you a to bear in mind the Prozac won't completely eradicate your anxiety, it should help you to learn/motivate yourself to learn strategies to cope with it. I still suffer anxiety, at a much lower level n way more manageable though.
I've read a lot of books for personal and work use and definitely recommend Claire Weekes, it's the hard way but it does work with perseverance.

I wish you all well on your journey to recovery x x

[Deepthinker]

Hi, Oncewassupergirl! It was great to hear from you and you are very welcome for the mention. :-) You and your friends on here helped me so much. Every time I had a new symptom, I would get on the NMP website and try to find out if it was a side effect. Y'all's posts kept coming up and after a few weeks, I felt like I knew each of you personally. :-) You all brought me so much comfort during that time. I think it is wonderful that you all stay in touch! After reading Ocean's entire thread, I sent her a private message letting her know how much she had encouraged me and asking her how she was currently doing. I heard back from her within a day or two. She was so thoughtful. Regarding the meds, I wish I could have spoken to you or someone with your knowledge when I started them. I also wish GPs couldn't prescribe them unless they have more training in that area. So sorry about how your GP treated you. I agree with what you said about the anxiety. Now that I feel so much better, I am working on some other strategies that will help me get over the driving anxiety; CBT and a counsellor. Only now am I starting to realize how negative many of my thought patterns were. I have always considered myself a happy person, but after that first panic attack, I began to fear and catastrophize so many situations, even things that were NEVER scary before panic. Thanks, again, for your message and encouragement. Would love to stay in touch. Blessings, Debra