Fluoxetine, side effects, feeling the lowest I ever have

[phil-f]

i really sympathise with all the people starting prozac, whatever week they may be on. I've just started week 5. have had depression before several years ago but got through it. took prozac this time for really bad anxiety problems which were stopping me seeing friends, going out, making me feel insecure etc... the prozac actually has made me feel really really depressed at times. maybe its just societal pressures or just that i am a man and feel i need to be strong but for some reason I find it really hard to talk about things like this even to my close friends but i've been crying a lot recently and dwelling on everything negative. it's almost impossible to think of anything positive. I know its irrational and a reaction to the drug but it feels like i'll never get better.. I also did something very stupid at the weekend I drank alcohol for the first time in 5 weeks and took recreational drugs, I had a really fun time, and felt like myself again and socialised with a number of friends that I haven't seen for ages (been a hermit a long time now, due to the anxiety then prozac sideffects) It felt great chatting to everyone and was a well needed release from the torment.. naturally now i'm feeling like i've taken a massive step back, feel like such an idiot for getting ahead of myself.. I can only hope that it works for me soon, if not i suppose I may have to discuss upping the dose. I most definitely will not be drinking etc.. again for the foreseeable future.. Apologies for the long post but I needed to get this off my chest. Good look to all and sorry if my post was inappropriate.

---------- Post added at 22:25 ---------- Previous post was at 22:15 ----------

this might not be relevant to some people on here but this is a short talk by a local lad who runs a sceptic/humanist group where I live about mental health and the way that its viewed in relation to other health problems.

It made me feel a bit less alienated and alone.

- wont let me add the link but if you google 'worfolk lectures - mental health' you should find it.

[Janey86]

Hello everyone,

I started this thread an age back. I've been away for months. I'm not sure why as I found this site such a comfort. Basically, to update on my situation, I'm still on prozac (60mg per day) and it still isn't having any effect. I think it's fair to say it's about time I try something else! I'm still more-or-less the same, depression-wise; it's so awful. I've been avoiding going back to the docs for over a month... maybe tomorrow. My biggest issue at the moment is oversleeping. I sleep for literally 16/17 hours every day. I quit my job due to the events of the past 6 months (I didn't like it anyway and it was massively stressful) but I have been offered a new job, starting in 2 months' time. So I have two months to try to improve substantially. Not feeling massively confident things will change, but here's hoping.

How is everyone else doing?

[Tufty]

You have given the Prozac more than enough time to work its magic Janey - stopping and changing to something else if needed would be advisable. I posted on this thread earlier in the year and wrote that I was better when reducing the dose, since then I reduced the dose further and continued to improve. I stopped it completely 14 days ago with a view to taking something else if necessary - I've got a script for escitalopram ready but am so far OK.
You need to go to your docs about reducing the Prozac this week, it may take a few weeks to come off it before you start something else, so the sooner you can do it the better.
Let us know how it goes
Love Sam

[TerryMcc]

Hi guys new to the forum thing but am finding this one very comforting knowing people are in exactly the same boat i am. Its sometimes hard to get out how im feeling to my boyfriend who i live with (we also have a 9yr old son) to my family also because i crave some normality. I started citalopram 2months ago but had to stop after two weeks eventhough the 20mg was helping so much and i felt soooo happy unfortunately im allergic to them. I then started 20mg of prozac and fell deep into depression, overwhelming thoughts about cutting (something ive never even considered before) when my boyfriend found me in a daze at the bottom of the shower with the water running (i wanted to cut but he doesnt know) i went back to the doctors and asked to up the dosage to 40mg. That was 2weeks ago. Since then the anxiety is unbearable im snappy, tired, overthinking its just hell. Even when i laugh i feel its fake like im not even there. I guess that why thoughts about cutting have came to me because i need to feel like im here. Might not make sence to some but its the only way i can describe. I still am plagued with wanting to go in the shower sit down & cut i think about it every single day. The thing is i have an amazing supporting very handsome boyfriend, a well behaved 9yr old and a family who adores me.... This makes it worse! I have no reason. I dont know what to do......

[OCDelighted]

Last 5 months have been a ****ing nightmare! I was taking 20mg of citalopram for 5 years without any real drama. Stopped because my OCD symptoms had reduced dramatically and I was feeling numb emotionally. Biggest mistake I've ever made, within 3 months I was completely broken. Re-commenced citalopram 20mg for 5 weeks to no avail, upped to 40mg only to find my anxiety worsening still. After 3 months I called it a day, my OCD seemed to have vanished for the most part only to be replaced with a crippling depression like I've never experienced before. Have been taking fluoxetine for the last 2 weeks and I'm starting to loose hope if I'm being honest. Anxiety is off the chart and I'm back at work, it's exhausting pretending your fine when inside you're anything but. Today took 2mg of diazepam, it seems to help curb the anxiety. I'll give it another 2 weeks before making a change if I see no progress. Next stop clomipramine!

[theablac]

HI OCDelighted , I have been on fluoxetine foe 8 weeks now ,this is my second time and like you I had awful side effects during the first weeks and thought the medication would never work and this continued until 7 weeks but when I got there things really started to sort its self out and this last week I have felt like my old self ,I can now think straight and settle down and rest without any negative thoughts , The time you have been on the tablets is not long enough to tell if they are working for you they can take a good few weeks to kick in but they are one of the best when they do , I know its easy to say stick with it and you will soon feel the benefit but it's not easy to do ,the people on this site have or are feeling just like you and we are all there when things get bad , even talking this way really helps and to read how others have coped really helps , Take one day at a time and you will get there ,

[Netty.]

Hello everybody ,
New to forum please be patient . I have been on flouxetine for 14 years then at Christmas my doctor changed me to seroxat... Which has just made me slow and put on even more weight . ... I have made a decision to come off anti depressants which is really scary after being on them for so long ... Can any one offer any advice on how long till they are completely out of system .
I was always an anxious child hate being at school .. Away from home etc . Then in my twenties it got so bad couldn't do much at all eat out, go on bus , queue in shop but with plenty of excuse family didn't notice and I stayed like that for years ..
After 8years of that I eventually got help and started meds and gradually my life got better marriage , driving , eating out .But 14 years on not much more has improved .
Feel like I need a break from meds to see how I really feel ? Does that make any sense to anybody else ? Has anyone else put weight on with these pills ?
Sorry for super long post

[theablac]

HI NETTY , Like you I was on fluoxetine for along time and then I came off them but I have had to go back on as after about six months I started with depression and anxiety again , I have now been back on them 10 weeks and after all the side effects I am feeling much better and I don't think I will stop them again in a hurry , I hope you don't start being ill again but all I am saying is be aware that it can happen and if you feel things getting bad again get help sooner rather than later , x

[spennock]

I know I'm a little late to this post...but after waking up in the middle of the night in a terrible panic attack I had to go searching to see if this had happened to anyone else. It is so helpful to know there are others out there like me. I was on Cymbalta for several months and wound up going off everything since it wasn't really working. I did great for a couple of months and then the depression came back something awful. My doctor put me on celexa but my heart was racing so bad that I didn't last more than a week on that. I have now been on Prozac for 2 1/2 weeks and am having terrible panic attacks. I wasn't having this before so I'm assuming it's just a sign the medicine is actually starting to work. I'm going on faith that it will get better. I start back to work in 3 weeks so it's kind of crunch time for me. Glad to know there other people out there in the same situation.

[SADnomore]

Hi, all,
I just thought I might add a bit of food for thought here. When I didn't respond satisfactorily (feel normal/better, function well) on one SSRI, he simply switched class, rather than put me through trials of all of them. I am now on something that addresses more than only serotonin, and it is working well for me. Doctors all have their different reasonings, but my doc's preference with changing to a different class being the key has worked for me.
All the best!
Marie xx