Hi there in the 2-3 weeks, my OCD and anxiety were magnified tenfold. This decreased by the 4th week though still hasn't gone. I am now 8 weeks in and those original side effects are gone but am not much better than before starting the med, hoping to turn a corner soon.
Hang in there, the increase in OCD and anxiety should decrease soon and I'm sure you'll stabilizeit just gets a little worse before better keep in touch xx
Hi All, If i could give each and everyone of you a hug and give you a moment of peace, i would do that. I'm new to the forum. But not at all new to Prozac. I'm back on the Prozac yet again, probably for the 8th or so time in my life. I went off of it recently again, under a doctors supervision and very slowly after only being on a low dose (20 mg, then on 10mg for a year before the last weaning). But wow, some stressors hit me that i did not have a good handle on (my fault, i never followed up with the CBT the doctor recommended and had not been doing my meditation because i 'felt good') and on Sept 23rd i had a whopping panic attack and *boom* all of the symptoms were back: constant anxiety, panic attacks, problems sleeping, bad dreams, constant feeling of fear, not wanting to go outside, feeling trapped, feeling hopeless..I guess you all can related. Well, even though i've gotten out of this hole several times with prozac, this time, once again, it feels like i will never find my way out. Every moment is discomfort and misery and hopelessness. This past week I was desperately trying to not go back on the prozac. I just really wanted to try and beat this without any drugs this time. I have been seeing a great integrative psychiatrist that has tested me for many things, identified mineral and vitamin deficiencies that are known to cause these problems, and have been following his regimen of 5HTP, inositol, zinc, methylfolate, etc etc. Maybe not as close as i should have. (again, i felt 'fine') . I'm sorry I dont want to ramble. Im here just to find some hope. I just want to feel OK again. And to say hello to you and as wierd as it sounds coming from a hopeless person, i know that you can all feel really good again, bc it did work for me, but i'm afraid for some reason this time it wont work for me. If that makes sense? Hugs to you all.
Hey all, just joined up. I've had a brutal year. I took Zoloft for almost 20 years and this past spring it stopped working after I was given an antibiotic and a steroid back to back. So i tried lexapro which everyone says has so few side affects, but after six weeks I had extreme anxiety from it and burning in my arms, which I still don't think my pdoc believes me about. I had a pdoc who thought because of how I reacted to lexapro that I'm bipolar, though I've never had a manic episode in my life, so I went through a hellish trial of bipolar meds, all making me worse, ended up in the hospital inpatient for a week and started on a super low dose of 5mg of prozac. Seemed okay for the first few days, not normal but not bad, got sent home, and by day 15 was so depressed. Was on it three weeks before beginning new pdoc to up my dose. I'm on 10mg now for 11 days and and horribly depressed. Should i keep going or find something new? Up the dose? i know this list says to stay the course, but if i'm not seeing any improvement? Some one please give me advise.
Parosbvamp: you should probably give it more time before you give up on the Prozac. I am no doctor but based off my experience I believe i can give some advise. I am on 10mg and have not decreased or increased my dose. My doc and I decided on 10mg because I had a bad reaction to Lexapro.
The first few days on prozac for me was "fine", my side effects didn't kick in for about a week, which included; worsened anxiety and depression, abdominal pain, vomiting, 0 appetite, insomnia, intrusive thoughts,constipation, muscle aches, headaches and as you described a weird burning pain in my right arm. This all lasted for about 2 weeks (2-3 week period of doom i like to call it).
By the 4-5 week mark I had some good days and had some days where I felt pretty "normal", although there were some bad days mixed in. The morning where hard and got better as the day went on. I didnt feel great but I didnt feel terrible, best i can describe it is melancholy.
Week 6-7 came my first blip where I felt just terrible for about 7 days, I had a couple anxiety attacks and my depression was back where I started, week 2-3 made me want to stop taking the prozac but week 6-7 I REALLY felt like giving in, I would constantly look at this timetable and tell myself I had to stay the course and not give in. It was like i started all over again.
By week 8 I was starting to feel better from my Blip but still melancholy, although there were some good days mixed in. Some days where great and others just so so. But I didnt have days that were absolutely terrible, which was a big step for me.
And here I am at week 9, I can tell that the Prozac is working and my good days are outweighing the bad. There is definitely room for improvement and still do see improvement every day. I dont think that I am out of the woods yet and I still have some rough days ahead of me.
Stick with your dose and soldier through, and believe me do I know its hard, I wanted to quit so many times but i'm glad I didn't. Things do get worse before they get better, and the progress is so slow that its tough to see, and there wont be a day where all the sudden you wake up and things are better, its gradual, very very gradual. I wish you the best of luck and please ask any questions as i want to help anyone going through this tough time.
Thank you so much, Swift Wind. You give me hope. My doc said to use the klonopin he gave me, but i'm trying to use it sparingly. I start an intensive outpatient program next week which guarantees that I will get to see a pdoc once a week to adjust meds as I still need to come off of lithium and gabapentin. (two bipolar meds the last doc gave me before going into the hospital). This morning I took 1/4 of a .5 tab of klonopin and it was an okay day, did have a few high anxiety moments, but manageable. I was hoping since I had been on the 5mg for 3 weeks that i wouldn't get the worst of the side affects and really i've only had some dry mouth, increased anxiety and major depression. I'm so afraid after the horrific trial of lexapro that nothing will work for me again. I had even tried zoloft again after the craziness of lexapro but it made me suicidal after a week on the dose i used to take. :(
Do you think I should be counting from the start of this dose increase or just from the beginning?
Ok so I haven't increased my dose so I can't speak to much to that. But from what I hear, and from what I've researched, you kind of start over when you increase your dose. I say kind of because the side effects aren't as bad and don't last as long. Even the timetable says to stick with the original dose for at least 8 weeks to give it a fair shot. But again I'm not a doctor and I haven't increase my dose. I was in your shoes not to long ago wondering when and if this stuff is ever going to help me. All you can do is take it day by day and don't give up, give yourself a break.
I have an appointment with my pdoc tonight and will talk about that. Today is another rough day. Came home from work feeling hopeless and like I'll never get better. I just want my life back.
Hi ! I started at 80-60 mg because Lilly rapport said on their website "no differences in effectiveness of Prozac between 5 and 60 mg but à high dose kicks in sooner" (average traduction sorry bro)Originally Posted by parisbvamp
Week 8 today and feel à little better compared how I was before, but I feel good at night and I cant' sleep before 7 AM even with benzos, since few days I can cry and I cry everyday but after I feel better.
So for the conclusion I feel something : excited at night, sleep the day, a discret return of emotions and in bonus cat's eyes for the style(mydriasis=dilated pupils)
Omg all your posts give me hope. I’m on day 5 and feel miserable. Nausea is slightly better but anxiety is horrible.
So I went up to 20mg two days ago. Been noticing some racing heart during the day and more panic. I start the intensive outpatient program today, hoping that will help. I'm finding it hard to hope that I will ever get better. Anyone else who has gone through this and come out better please post, cause I really could use the hope.
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