Question About Prozac

[Purple Fish]

Hi There,

I am taking Prozac (20 mg a day) and have been since May. Before that I was on the same dose and tried weaning myself off them by taking one every other day for about two months then stopping altogether. A month later I felt awful again and so went back to my doc who put me straight back on them.
I saw my doctor about a month ago and he wants me to continue on 20 mg a day until January just to make sure I will be OK for christmas. I really want to come off them now just to see if I am back to `normal`. I will take his advice though and not do it myself without him knowing!
I`m not sure what to expect though with coming off them. I daren`t Google anything as I don`t do that anymore (I`ve learnt doing that one!) and I worry about going back to square one again with all my anxiety symptoms!
Does anyone have any advice who`s been through the same? I also suffer quite bad PMS which varies from month to month but I do take Norethisterone (mini-pill) for that. I`m not sure if the Prozac helps with my PMS too, so i`m worried about that aswell!
Ho hum! :shrug:

Tanya
xx

[House fan]

Hi Purple Fish,

I would always follow your GP's advice on when he/she thinks you are ready to come off your medication. I honestly don't know why you are so keen to stop taking prozac at this stage though. Prozac is a drug that does wonders for some people, and absolutely nothing for others, you are fortunate to have found a drug which seems to be helping your symptoms.

Im quite sure there are members on this site who would be more than happy to stay on medication a lot longer, if it meant they got some relief from their symptoms. There is such a stigma about antidepressants these days, particularly prozac, and I honestly cannot understand why. If you had a heart condition, and the doctor gave you medication to take for the rest of your life, you would in no doubt take it without too many questions, and if it relieved your symptoms I'm quite sure you wouldn't be back at him too often asking when you could come off them. So why the rush to get back to 'normal'?

There is side affects when coming off medication, and prozac is no different, it has to be done slowly, and with great patience from the sufferer, who has to understand fully that these new 'symptoms' are all part of the withdrawing process, and it will take the body time to re-adjust without them. It is this fact which many sufferes don't fully understand, and when these symptoms all of a sudden appear, unfortunately, they worry so much that it has the potential to make them feel worse than ever.

Stay strong in the fact that you seem to have a good GP, and he has found a medication which works for you right now. When the time is right for you to start coming off your medication, I think you will know, as will your GP, but upon reading your thread about 'I really want to come off them now just to see if I'm back to normal', and 'I worry about going back to square one again', I would sense that this might not be the right time just yet.

Hope this helps

House.