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Wilburis
30-03-07, 09:59
Hi

Could anyone tell me their personal side effects with taking either of the above.

I really am nervous taking meds and have tried others but I seem to get all the side effects. My GP said that I think I get the side effects and so then stop myself from continuing (which is true). I really dont like taking meds and do wait for the worst side effect to hit me hard. My GP told me not to read the leaflet!!

PLease could anyone tell me of their personal experiences?

Many thanks - Liz xx

Nel
30-03-07, 10:16
If you agree with your doctor that you are only THINKING you get the side effects then you should give them a go. If you were sensitive to side effects you would know, it wouldn’t just be a case of thinking you were. I get a high temperature and dreadful confusion on anti-d’s.
They affect everyone differently and to be honest you can only reassure yourself when it comes to taking meds, as we all react differently. Good luck x

strawberrie
30-03-07, 10:16
Hi Liz, well i shouldnt say this but i am a big prozac fan :blush: . When i first started taking it i felt pretty spaced out for a couple of weeks. I felt like i was emotionally tired (if that makes sense?), like i didnt feel worried about stuff because i felt too tired to worry. But not physically tired, more mentally tired. After a couple of weeks this feeling went away and i noticed that my anxiety was improving. I reckon it took about 6 weeks or so before i had the full effects. The effect it has given me is to make me feel 'normal'. I still have attacks of bad anxiety, but it is not a constant thing at all, which it was before i started taking it. The only bad thing is that when i came off it i went back to how i was -very, very bad anxiety. As a result i went back on it and am still on it now. I dont think that it is addictive, its just that i think it masks the anxiety so unless you have found other ways of dealing with it, when you stop the prozac you just go back to how you were before. Anyway, that's just my personal experience, i'm sure other people will have had different experiences to me.

mag

Wilburis
30-03-07, 16:20
Thanks for replying.

Strawberrie = did you get any other side effects until Prozac kicked in?
I just want to feel normal again?! Did you get dizziness?

Nel - I think my problem stems from taking Lofepramine and then getting a sore throat. The leaflet said if you get a sore throat, temperature, flu, tiredness, etc, ring your Dr urgently. As it can be a symptom of a rare blood disorder!

So I called the out of hours Doc, who told us to come straight to A&E for the blood test!!!! Luckily enough the test came back normal. But the dizziness I had on the tablets was not good, I felt like I was drunk, even if it did stop after a couple of weeks, I wouldnt have been able to continue with them, made me too anxious!

Many thanks - liz xx

seeker
30-03-07, 22:54
Hi,
I have been taking prozac for about three months now - I had bad depression and health anxiety. I suffered a little with headaches to start with, but I took mine at night and slept through most of the other side effects! I felt great for about three weeks, then six weeks in I had a little blip for a day where I was down. then I felt marvellous again. I still feel much much better now, certainly mentally - positive, thinking straight, able to cope with work, interested in my friends and family again and looking forward to things again! I was really worried about the side effects, but have found no need to worry. I have also accepted that if I need to take them long term to prevent a reoccurence, then so be it - if I had diabetes, I would take regular medication. Hope this helps.

nomorepanic
30-03-07, 23:01
Proaz - had no side effects, helped the depression but never touched the anxiety and panic. Stopped them 9 years ago as never helped me.

LadyBug
30-03-07, 23:40
I took sertraline 3 years ago for a year, and it worked wonderfullly. I am now on it again. To begin with it made me feel slighlty more anxious, but that went away after a week. A side effect that I also have is night sweats. Once the sertraline starts working after about 3 or 4 weeks I start having night sweats. But the benefits of sertraline outweigh the night sweats, so I deal with them. Sertraline works for me!

strawberrie
31-03-07, 12:30
Hi liz, just to follow up, no, i didnt have any other side effects (and never have) apart from the spaced out feeling and tiredness in the first couple of weeks.

mag

Smarteenie
31-03-07, 18:29
Hi there Strawberrie. I have been on 20gm of prozac for the last 8 months and am now on the early stages of coming off it. I took it for panic attacks. I felt really odd for the first two weeks but then I was in a really bad place when I started taking it - after the initial two weeks the side effects stopped and the full benefit was after four weeks. For me it helped and the panic attacks stopped. This time gave me an anchor and the time to find out more information about what I was up against and I had counselling and started yoga to learn relaxation. Don't read the leaflet though - it actually stopped me taking them - it paints the worst picture ever and I'm sure they only print half of the stuff on the leaflets to cover their backsides!

I really hope everything works out for you.

Take care.
x

Wilburis
31-03-07, 21:08
Im really suffering with dizziness at the moment, and wondered if I started taking Prozac or Sertraline, would it stop the dizziness, which is driving me crazy and giving me more anxiety!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is dizziness a side effect of taking Prozac, because if it is, I really dont know if I could start!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for replying everyone and for reading this. Hope you are all having a good weekend!!!!!

Liz xx

sammie
01-04-07, 10:10
hi liz

when i started on seroxat ( which i believe is in the same family) i felt dizzy it lasted about 2 weeks then went. i also felt quite sick but again that lasted a couple of days . everyone is different with regards to side effects i believe this is the tablets kicking in. once in my system it was great. try to remember that your body has to get used to the tablets and my react in an unconfortable way. once your past the two weeks it all settles down xxxxx