Weaning off Fluoxetine

[idawmn]

I had been on Fluoxetine for 7 weeks at 20 mg daily. For the past 5 days my dosage has been cut to 10 mg daily. Does anyone know how long it takes to wean off of this drug? I'm seeing my doctor about it today along with another issue but was curious in the meantime. Thanks.

[Deepthinker]

idawmn, i am not sure but i have heard that it takes longer than other ADs because it has a much longer half-life. i know this doesn't help much, but i wish you the best. let us know how things go. blessings!

[anthrokid]

Hi idawmn,

I'm sure you've spoken to your doctor by now, but I'll reply anyway in case I give you any extra information or it is useful to someone else.

Fluoxetine has a longer half-ife than other drugs, which means it takes about 3-4 days longer than other SSRIs to be completely out of your system. However, fluoxetine is also the least likely to cause cessation or withdrawal symptoms because of its long half-life. This means that most people can just stop taking it without weaning and have little to no symptoms. Weaning is a good option still as some people may experience a few nasty symptoms, but it isn't very common. And you can wean off fluoxetine faster than other drugs. You could try a couple of days on 5mg then stop all together at this point.

[idawmn]

Thanks for your response. Well, change of plans here. I'm going to stay on the Prozac for awhile longer and am going back to the 20 mg dosage again. The problem I was having wasn't attributed to the Prozac but to an infection that I had. I have agreed to stick with it longer and see how it goes. Thanks again.

[anthrokid]

Oh dear, sorry to hear that all of your dramas were due to an infection. But good to know that you're back up to 20mg and giving it another go. Hopefully it works for you