7 weeks on Prozac 2nd time around. Still not myself

[Fishfry85]

First time post but have been dealing with anxiety... Ok so I'm a 31 year old male and recently weened off Prozac 20mg. I was taking one every 4 days and so on until I made it two weeks 3 times in a row. All hell broke loose the last time I went two weeks off. I had a major panic attack which I took Xanax for but ever since then I have been all over the place. I immediately went back on 20mg Prozac and still don't feel like my old self. I have been on the Prozac for 7 weeks now and have been taking 1mg clonazapam every 6 days. It seems the clonozaepam works for like 6 days for me. Is that possible or is it just in my head? I was going on 7 days and then got very sick from the flu and I had to take another one because I could tell what was making me feel bad. I guess I just need a place to vent. Should I switch medications? I was on Prozac for a year before I tried weening off and everything was so good in my life. It seemed to only take 3 weeks the first time but now I'm still anxious, weak in the limbs, and have background anxiety a lot. I am in a bad environment as well because I am a military guy and have been away from my family for 3 months and am in different countries all the time and constantly moving. Any help and advice would make my day. I feel pretty alone on this and feel as if I'm never going to be the same guy I used to be. I have seen improvement somewhat on the Prozac so far. It's just not the improvement im looking for. In December right before I seemed off I had been feeling so good and everything was going so well. No anxiety whatsoever

[chiguy]

Hi FishFry!

I'm really sorry to hear that you're having a tough go of it. Your situation sounds very similar to mine. I was on Fluoxetine (Prozac) from 2008-2015 and decided to quit cold turkey on my own in January 2016. BIG MISTAKE

My March, April and May this spring were quite a roller coaster, and I'm around week 8 or so back on 20mg myself. I guess what I'm saying is what you're feeling is totally, 100% normal for someone reintroducing an SSRI to their system. I'm still getting the hang of it too! I also wondered if I should try something else, but I'm sticking with the Prozac. It's proven to work for me in the past, so on I go.

This is a UK centric board, but as an American, I see you're also from the US and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service. Your schedule, travel and circumstances are no doubt stressful; of course you get anxious (and rightfully so!)

For me, talk therapy and seeing a psychologist along with the medication has been life-changing. Not sure what is available to you during your deployment, but if you are able to talk to someone, I'd recommend it.

I totally understand how you feel right now and I wish you the best. It does get better!

[Fishfry85]

Thanks for the response! I'm glad someone reached out who is in a similar situation. I think I am going to stay the course as well. I'm kind of hesitant on starting other drugs at this point as well. I used to be on celexa a 4 years ago but I think in the end it gave me more anxiety. Prozac worked so well for me last year that I'm praying it works again. Maybe I'll ask the doc about increasing to 30mg if no significant change is present by week 10.

[chiguy]

I also have an aversion to new drugs, etc. While I know that the medication does help me, I also think that many of my issues are externally driven, which is why talk therapy has been great for me.

Each person is different with this stuff, so I think talking to your dr. regularly is the right move. I myself considered a bump to 30mg but stayed at 20mg. The 20mg worked before, so it should be able to work again.

I also try to avoid comparing episodes of anxiety, but that's just me. It did help me put the current situation in perspective a bit more and definitely alleviated a lot of my stress and intrusive thinking.

Keep at it; you're doing great.