Changing meds

[Scoobydoo1]

Been on flouxentine for 6 weeks now with no effect, have taken them for 8 years before and was trying to wean myself off them when things got bad again. I know my probs and I am going to get counselling , prob is there is a 4 week wait, so at the mo I feel awful. If the doc changes my meds does this mean I have to start from square one again, with waiting the 6 weeks and new side effects? Any advice would be great please xxx flouxentine always worked wonders for me in the past...

[Tufty]

Scooby I could of written the above myself. I have been on Prozac since 2003, initially 20mg, then 40mg for a few months, back down to 20mg and for the past 3 years I've been taking 40-60mg a week but increasing when feeling stressed. Up until Feb this year I was taking 40mg a week - then I had a bad spell and decided in my wisdom to take 40mg a day for a couple of days - I was a wreck - buzzing electric shock sensations, unable to sit down etc and took it back down to 20mg which I took for a month without a slight improvement. Frustrated and impatient I went up to 40mg a day and managed a month on it but without improvement. So I reduced back down with a view to changing to something else ?escitalopram or amitryptiline and I almost immediately improved and reduced it from 40mg daily, to 20mg daily, to 20mg every 36 hours within 3 weeks and felt almost normal again

When I went back up to 20mg daily because I found taking one every 36 hours tricky I became highly anxious again, which went when I decreased. In the 3 months since then I've reduced it to 20mg every other day, to opening the capsule and taking half the powder every other day so about 5mg a day. I was doing well, back to work and feeling really normal, until a couple of weeks ago - as most people with anxiety do I'm questioning whether I've dropped the dose too low, if it's just because I'd loaded myself up with Prozac in those first few months and now thats run out or I need to change to something else??? I've increased again to 10mg a day - there is evidence that 5-10mg is an effective dose for most people but as slightly more people responded to the 20mg dose that is the licensed dose in the UK. Could you reduce your dose in a view to trying something different?? Then if like me, you feel better on the lower dose you can just stick with it.
I don't understand why Prozac has worked for us in the past and not now but I don't believe when you start a new antidepressant you start from square one - your brain chemicals will be different, the Prozac will have made some changes and you have perservered the past 6 weeks and will have that experience that will help - honestly! You will have learnt more coping strategies and tolerance of the anxiety.

Have you any idea what you would change to?

Love and hugs
Sam