20mg Fluoxetine, feel worse. Please help

[BusyMom12]

Hi hOrse , All the encouragement everyone has given you has been spot on. The only thing I could think of to add that may help is that even if it takes 8-12 weeks for the meds to work, it doesn't mean that the whole 8-12 weeks will be terrible. It generally for most people starts with mostly downs and few ups. I think most people kind of have a peak point where they have several really rough days or maybe even a rough week or two but then gradually , if not ever so gradually , they start to see that the ups are increasing until eventually they start to outnumber the downs. From what experiences I've read , I think a lot of people were just like me. Even when they were up they were so afraid of a coming down spell , they stayed tense and had a hard time enjoying the good spell. Try hard to relax and enjoy the good spells as they come. Do the best you can with the flexibility your life allows to find whatever routine or amount of activity helps you deal with it the best. As you start to feel better your heart may race off and on. This site helped me to realize that this is a side effect and not necessarily anxiety and as I started to feel better I was able to remind myself of that and take a few deep breaths and try to ignore it. It then became more of a background aggravation than a cue for panic. This is my second time on Fluox , I had over 2 1/2 really good years on it , I even started a very successful small business while on it. And even though I felt good on it in a relatively short (8-12 weeks or so) period of time, looking back , I realize that I continued to improve on it for well over a year. Gradually getting more energy , more drive and less tiredness while on it. Unfortunately I got to feeling so good and didn't even feel like I was taking anything , that I thought maybe I didn't need it anymore. I have been kicking myself repeatedly for going off of it and I don't intend to go off of it again. I wish you all the best on your journey and hope the ups start adding up quickly.

[h0rse]

Wow thanks for your answers. This is an amazing site, very helpful ! Well I want to stick out with the medication. The hardest part is the feeling that I'm not myself. I had it before the medication due to anxiety, but not to that point I have it now. This goes with this hazy unreal feeling, like a foggy brain. My doc said those unreality feelings are linked to depression and anxiety, I hoped the fluox will improve this, until now it's worse. gah. I hope it get's better over time. It's the most frightening feeling I ever had. Did any of you experience this ? Will this lessen, too ? All the best and take care.
h0rse

[theablac]

HI h0rse, It is very frightening when you head feels muddled and you are feeling detached , this is one of the side effects of this medication , with time it will ease and you will start to feel a little less confused ,it takes time but you will get there and you will start to feel better I assure you , it is very frightening I know I went through the same thing , You are doing the best thing sticking with the meds. We are all here for you and in a few weeks it will be you trying to help others through the bad times that you are going through now , Take one day at a time and you will get through I know its not easy . Let us know how you are going we are here to help if we can . xx

[Janine]

One day at a time is really good advice, i even got to the point that it was an hour at a time or just getting through the next 15 minutes, but i did and you will too even though it does not feel like it at the moment, the way you are feeling is the drugs making you worse before they make you better.

xx

[theablac]

HI Janine , I agree sometimes you do need to break your day into smaller parts to get through and like you I know how h0rse is feeling at the moment , We know how hard it can be and how hard it is to stick with the medication , the side effects are awful but you have to look at them as the medication starting to work don't you , When you start to take the tablets nobody can warn you for how you are going to feel and when the side effects take over you feel worse than ever but if you stick with the medication it will help you to see the good times again and to start feeling normal , Anyone finding it hard to stick to fluoxetine just read the messages on this site and you will see you are not alone and there are so many of us who have got through it and you will too , we are here for you and we know you can do it . xx

[h0rse]

Hi guys. Thanks a lot for your answers. So I don't know what to do. I feel so strange. Random thoughts rushing through my head, the feeling I'm not myself. I dont want to leave the bed, so strange is the feeling. Besides that, I'm writing some homework for university, and one came back with a pretty bad grade. this is so frustrating, I can't concentrate properly on my work. I wasn't that bad before taking this drug. All this stuff is making me even more anxious, so I'm on the verge of a panic attack all the time. What should I do ? Keep taking the drug ? When will this end ?

Take care

[theablac]

HI h0rse , I would carry on taking the medication if I was you , for one thing you would have to wait for those to get out of your system before you could try something else , Why not go to your doctor and ask about going on beta blockers along side your fluoxetine this will help to take the anxiety away until you are feeling better my doctor gave me some short term until the worst of the side effects had eased , you will certainly start to feel better soon I assure you but go and tell your doctor how you feel and see what they can offer . We on this site know how you are feeling and it is awful and its no joke when you feel like you do at this moment but it will be worth it in the end and you will start to see better times slowly at first but then you will start to feel normal again and that's a great feeling , this is my second time on fluoxetine and I have been back on them about 12 weeks now and I am feeling loads better , I can think straight and things aren't muddled in my head I am also free from the bad thoughts that kept coming into my head , I have felt great for the last 3 weeks so it would have been about 8 weeks when I started to improve , you have been on the tablets now for a couple of weeks so you haven't that long to wait for improvement you really have to try and take each day at a time and just think of the side effects as the start of the medication getting into your system and starting to work . Do try and keep positive although its hard we are all here for you and are happy to try and offer advice to get you out of the black hole your in just now . TAKE EACH DAY AS IT COMES AND KEEP THINKING TOMORROW HAS TO BE BETTER AND SOON IT WILL ,xx

[Janine]

I had propanolol which is a beta blocker to help me through too, i started on 80mg slow release which had to be doubled to 160mg at 5 weeks in as I felt so bad, in fact I am still on it as it helps with my migraines.
I found that some days I could work and some days I could not think straight to be able to so it must be hard with you with university work to do, just try and not stress out about it as when you start to feel better you will think straight again.

xx

[theablac]

Hi h0rse , Just wondering how you are and to see if you are still taking the medication , you must be stronger than you think if you are coping with taking the tablets and still going to university because we all know what a hell it can be in the first few weeks on these meds. The anxiety , panics and your head feeling fuzzy will all go away with time , I know you want it to happen straight away but that is not how these medications work , its not easy but it will be worth it , KEEP IN TOUCH WE ALL WANT TO KNOW HOW YOU ARE AND WE WANT TO HELP IF WE CAN xx

[h0rse]

Hi guys. Sorry for the delay. I was having a rough time lately. I came off the tiny dose of ativan (lorazepam) which I was taking for a few weeks alongside the prozac. Since then I hit rock bottom. my anxiety is through the roof, I'm completely disfunctional. Honestly, I don't think prozac will start to work ever. it's been over 6 weeks and 3 weeks of 20mg and stll no improvement. If something, than I'm much worse than without medication. I try to stick with it for another 2-3 weeks. If I'm still this bad after this time, I'll quit it. Thanks again for your support. Take care