fluoxetine anxiety hell

[mummysworried]

Hi im on day 12 of fluoxetine and am having horrendous anxiety issues which im assuming from reading other posts are side effects from the fluoxetine. I feel paranoid, anxious, feel as if people are trying to harm me, i feel the need to hide my car in case people dont like me and recognise it, i feel like people are talking about me and are a threat to me. i replay every conversation i have checking in case i have said something offensive and then spending hours/days worrying about it. Im in absolute hell, has anyone else had these types of symptons to this degree of severity and will it pass. Im on 5mg of diazipam to help aliviate these feelings but its hardly taking the edge off, please can anyone help, i feel like im going mad some days and am at the end of my tether.

[Joannecolliswest]

Hi I am goin through a lot of what you have just described and can relate to you I just keep telling myself it's the tablets too and I've been told it will pass and yes I feel like I am goin mad and want so much to be back to normal for me and my family who are also goin through it with me .

[Emphyrio]

What dosage are you on out of interest? You could ask your GP for liquid fluoxetine, and you could start on 5mg and build up to 20mg (or however high you/your doc wants you to go). You can make 'cranzac' by opening up the capsule and dissolving it in fruit juice too.

I found that the majority of the agitating side effects were over by week 6.

[mummysworried]

Thanks, i am on 20mg capsule form, this forum is great and it helps knowing other people are feling the same. I really do feel completely mad and worried somedays and that i cant take any more but it must be the side effects and there is hope thanks

[pretoria]

I don't know if it's psychosemantic but the Cranzac method seems to help me with the SE's

[Kayleigh100]

Same here. Day 10 here and I woke three times in the night in panic, with Shakes and paranoia (which isn't people coming to get me but everything going wrong).I do over analyse like you Mummy, not conversations but my work and life issues and it is, indeed, hell.

I didn't have a bad evening last night and wondered if I was turning a corner but it seems not, not yet.

I read on this forum somewhere about the unreality of panic and it made perfect sense until it hit me and my brain just wouldn't accept it had to let good thoughts in.

I am on 20mg fluoxetine.

7.20 in the morning and already verging on tears.

[Janine]

Kayleigh this perfectly normal at the stage that you are at, all these things happened to me and like you I spent many a early morning in tears because of how I was feeling and what sort of night I had. Just take it one day at a time and you will find that you will have better days and eventually they will out weigh the bad days and nights, it is not easy especially when you feel better in the evening and when you go to bed and then it is really hard to accept how things change overnight. I knoew 10 days seems a long time but on this medication it is still really early days.

Hope this helps a bit

Janine xx

[LindsayD]

Hi, I suffered what my GP termed a 'nervous breakdown' four years ago following the death of a very close family member. I felt I was coping with the grief and just carried on, trying to balance family, work, and Christmas with two small children who I felt I had to be strong for. Over time I started to develop lots of the symptoms you speak of. As well I kept getting a horrendous throbbing on the top of my head and muscle spasms and I soon convinced myself I had MS. I was in such a state of constant anxiety about the symptoms I was having that I was in a constant state of panic. I was admitted to hospital for all the physical tests (which came back clear) but looking back now, not one doctor said to me that any of my symptoms could be caused by the anxiety itself. I could be watching telly or looking directly at something and my vision would just 'switch' to the side. Sometimes I could be sat in a chair and it was as if the whole lower half of my body was swinging from side to side. My doctor prescribed eventually presecribed diazapam (for a 3 week period reducing dosage each week) and beta-blockers which I stayed on for four months and fluoxetine which I was on for a year. I agree the first two weeks on fluoxetine was awful but the beta-blockers stopped the panic attacks so although it was still there in my head at the start of my recovery, the medication allowed my nervous system a rest from the constant attack I was putting it under. the first few weeks were awful but the key for me in the end was to stop thinking 'how much longer can I live like this?', 'my children don't deserve this?' and 'What will I do if I still feel like this next week?' - I had to think 'Right, what do i need to do to get through the next hour?', then 'what do i need to do to get through this evening to bedtime?' and before you know it you've got through a day, two days, a week and you will feel better! And get up and move! I used to write this on a note next to my bed lol! If its the middle of the night and you wake up and feel panicky, get out of bed and read, put TV on, anything! I used to think 'why can't I just be a normal person with a normal routine?' but hey, if it works, do it! You will find no peace laid in bed worrying.
I just want you to know that you will get over this and you will find a peace! It might not be a peace that you had before, I always say I will never be the same person I was before my anxieties began but thats just like any illness and the effect it has on you and your life. I've not been anxiety free for four years but I do know that I was in a very dark place and I got out of it. Once you can do that, you know that you will never be in that place of uncertainty again, even if the anxiety and all its symptoms come raging back again.
I know its easy for me now to sit hear and say but I want you to know that you are not alone. i still have days when I feel my anxiety is returning. i will get home from the school run and go through everything I have said to other mums just in case I have said something that will have made them have a negative view of me and not like me! I know how you feel and i'm here if you need advice please message xxx

[Kayleigh100]

Thank you Janine. Thank you Lindsay. I appreciate what you are all saying about it taking time.

I am trying the one day at a time route. I have identified seven major stresses (not all in my control) and am ticking them off as I go. One passed yesterday - my breast check was OK, so I still need the ultrasound and possibly surgery but the significant lump is likely to be something cyst-like.

Last night was OK again with a panic attack when I woke, but I did at least sleep through to 5 and not have other panic waking episodes overnight.

How are you getting on Mummy?

[mummysworried]

thank you everyone. I had a few good days and really thought things were getting better but this weekend has been hell and all the anxiety and worries are back with a vengence, even the 5mg of diazipam isnt really keeping it at bay now. Is this normal to start feeling better then to completely turn around and be back where i was. I feel like i wont ever get any better now and that im stuck in this cycle of worry and misery, analyzing everything in my day over and over. I have 4 children , 2 with autism, 1 deaf and a baby with complex issues, my family need me to be me again and im just not anymore, my husband is suportive but i feel like im letting everyone down. This has been a really bad night but i have found asda sleep aid knocks me out for the night so i can now at least sleep and not be worrying. I have noticed that im fine in the day and feel near normal and all this starts up again as soon as the dark comes, is this a symptom of something as every dark hour im spending in misery, any advice is appreciated thanks