Fluoxetine advice

[danniboy]

Hi I've suffered with panic and anxiety for 3 years following two traumatic events in my life which both happened in the space of one month. I had counselling and CBT for a year which helped at the time. I was also prescribed Citalopram twice, was too scared of side effects so decided not to take them and continue with the CBT. Last year I was prescribed Fluoxetine, again too scared to take them. I have never really been free of the panic attacks, just put up with them and sometimes take betablockers which don't really help long term. I'm just plucking up the courage to take the fluox and looking for anyone's advice. Are the side effects bad and how long did it take to have any effect?

[honeybee3939]

Hi Danni

Welcome to NMP, its lovely to see you here i hope we can be of some help.
if you put the word Fluoxetine in the search facility at the top of this screen you will find lots of posts regarding this medication.

Also scroll down to the bottom of this page there are some links to help too.

Love

Andrea
xxxx

[ruthb1]

Hi there,

i too suffered a lot of traumatic events 3 years ago with the space of 3 months, i was put on mirtazapine, beta blockers, diazepam, the list is endless. the mirtazapine heloped as i thought at the time put i didnt always feel fully right if you know what i mean. so i eventually came off them, then in november last year it all started again, twitching in the legs, panic attacks, drinking all the time so i went back to the docs and they put me onto fluxotine, i was like you and i needed a lot of encouragement from my firends on here to take them, but i took them and it was the best thing i could have ever done, i feel so much better being on them, maybe its becuase its prozac that why you dont want to take them, i know thats what i felt anyway, it will take a while for them to get into your system and i started having really vivid dreams and i also couldnt sleep for more than 5 hours a night, but i perservered and now i dont even notice i am on them.

i feel so much better for taking them, if you had high blood pressure you would take the tablets for that wouldnt you so just becuase you have depression anxiety panic attacks dont be frightened of taking the medication it will help you get better

take care


ruth

[greenfairywishes]

hi there

felt like i was reading about my own situation there. i too was scared of taking anti-depressants and when i finally plucked up the courage to take citalopram i had an awful reaction to them which didn't help matters. so i went for a while just taking beta-blockers until i got so bad i didn't feel i had any other option to try prozac, and that seemed to be the only thing the doctor could suggest.

i have been on prozac for nearly 2years, started on 20mg daily which has now been reduced to 10mg. i had a really tough time getting used to it, the first few weeks were hell and i didn't feel any benefits for at least 4 months but now i don't think i could cope without it and don't know where i'd be if i hadn't started taking it, i'm glad i carried on despite the side effects.

just keep in mind that everybody is different, prozac might or might not work for you, but it is not your only option, there are plenty of anti-depressants on the market and it might just take some time to find the one right for you.

it certainly won't cure you but it will take the edge off so you can put the effort into doing things to help yourself. i have found that healthy eating and exercise have been my saving grace.

try doing something that you have always wanted to do, i started to learn the guitar and even though i am awful at it, it keeps me occupied and makes me feel i am achieving something.

i hope i have helped you in some way, keep in touch and let us all know how you are doing

take care

laura

[KLK1107]

Hi! I was actually just put on fluoxetine... I honestly only have ever experienced loss of appetitie and increaded anxiety when I was on it... I was on it 2 other times as well and was trying to get off of it because we are trying to get pregnant, but everytime I go off of it, 3 months later when it's out of my system my panic attacks are back out of control... so here I am back on it for the third time now... but those are all the side effects I have gotten from the 3 times I have been on it... the worst for me is the loss of appetite because I am emetophobic and therefore when I am not hungry I can't eat and then I feel sick which makes me panic...

now my mom was also on fluoxetine and she absolutely loves it... she got headaches the first 2 weeks and that was it... so everyone is different...

I know that I don't like to take medication and I am very scared of side effects, but for me fluoxetine is well worth the side effects that I have endured because in the end, it really does help push the panic away... obviously it's not miracle cure, but it definately helps...

if you have any questions about anything else you can message me, I am by no means a professional, but I have been on so many different types of medications you would think I should be one haha!... good luck!

[nomorepanic]

Have a look on here ..

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7784

Near the bottom you will see loads of posts about medications.

I was on Prozac and never had any bad side effects but the down side for me was that it didn't touch the panic attacks or anxiety - just helped with the depression.