Is it the fluoxetine or what?

[pinkpiglet]

I have been taking fluoxetine for about 8 weeks now and although my anxiety and depression have subsided i feel very tired pretty much all the time. I don't sleep fantastically but i wouldnt say i sleep badly either. I'm usually in bed and asleep for 11pm and I'm up at 7am but i wake regularly through the night and often struggle to get back to sleep. I also have underactive thyroid so i do not go into the third stage of sleep (deep sleep). I am finding it such a struggle to come round in a morning, i am very lethargic and can't be bothered. I would even go as far as saying i feel depressed. I usually start to come round in the afternoon (which is a good job as i work evenings). I have a 2 year old son though and I don't have much motivation to take him many places these days (although i make up for it when i can). I am just so tired, I have never been much of a cat-napper during the day but these days I would gladly hop into bed for a few hours shut eye. My partner complains because our sex life is on thin ice but once in bed i just want to sleep has i am exhausted. I am begining to worry that there is something more sinister lurking behind my tiredness but i don't want to jump back on the train to health anxiety. I just wondered if anyone else on fluoxetine feels like this?
It is really starting to get me down and i feel as if i am going to become depressed again.

[hoover]

hey pp.ive been taking prozac 20mg for 11 days now and also feel seriously tired and sluggish-havent been to the gym either ( usually go 5 times a week ) as I just havent found the energy. Im starting to wonder if this is what my experience of the drug will be or whether i should just keep taking it and see what happens...this lazy /blah feeling is kind of bringing me down too!

[pinkpiglet]

Hi H, if it helps, i felt bleurgh! after a week or two on prozac but then after 3 weeks I started to pick up and felt much better. I felt almost back to my old self. You will probably find that once it gets into your system you will feel like going back to the gym again. It's just been over the past week ot two that i have felt tired all the time (TATTY). I don't know wether it is due to the prozac or not and I'm hoping it will pass. Anxiety eh? who needs it?

[hoover]

i sure dont hehe.
thanks for the advice,i hope you are right .
did you put on weight at all with prozac? my doc never warned me of that side effect and i noticed heaps of people report weight gain online and its making me quite paranoid...( like i needed another thing to feel paranoid about )

[pinkpiglet]

It's hard to tell at the minute as i had already lost a fair bit of weight from the bad period of anxiety I experienced from march to august. I don't seem to be putting that weight back on just yet but it is early days. My mate actually lost two stone over a year when she was on prozac so i wouldnt believe everything you read.

[hoover]

i wish i was that way -i comfort eat and balloon when im anxious/low which contributes to a very negative cycle.

thanks for replying to me pp,no one else had and its good to finally hear a reply !

[pinkpiglet]

No worries hoover, It was nice of you to reply to my thread! Thanks!
I am going to try and motivate myself tomorrow and see if i feel any better. I'm not going to get very far laying about on the sofa all morning am i now?

[Mudskipper]

I've been back on fluoxetine for the past month, and I too have been very weary at times, although it's starting to improve now. I'm not dropping off on the sofa as much as I was, although I do find it very easy to drift off to sleep when I need to. The dosage can make a difference too. I'm on 20mg a day, but a few months back, the doctor put me on 40mg for a while because he thought I needed it. Frankly I couldn't function at all, fell asleep at my desk several times and driving was not a good idea...:ohmy:

[hoover]

how long did it take for you to notice a positive change on the fluo mudskipper ? ive been on it 14 days now and not really noticing anything except side effects ...

[Mudskipper]

Hi
It was almost a month in before I really felt something like my old self again. I know the instructions usually say around 14 days, but, in my experience that's an absolute minimum. I'd give it at least a month then, if there's still no improvement, maybe see your doctor and try something else. My wife couldn't get on with fluoxetine but citalopram works fine for her.

Take care

[SiMPLiFY]

I was on 60 mg. Fluoxetine once daily and 5 mg. Diazepam twice daily and felt VERY sleepy!

I took myself off of the Diazepam and still felt sleepy

I took myself off of the Fluoxetine for 3 weeks and had horrible symptoms.

Now I am taking 5 mg. of Fluoxetine (dissolved in water) and am beginning to feel more awake but still lack motivation.

I've only been doing this for 5 days now so I need to give it more time to see if this small amount is maybe all I need.

I understand your concern about the sleepiness. It was not a pleasant experience. I hope you can find some relief.