Ran out 18 days ago

[Limeslime]

I last took my fluoxetine 30mg on 8th June.
I have been taking fluoxetine for 2 years.
This is embarrassing but I couldn’t afford my prescription charge so couldn’t collect my new box after I ran out on 8th June.
So this means I haven’t taken any in nearly 3 weeks.
I feel ok. So far anyway.
Should I restart my fluoxetine or assume that it is out of my system now and I feel ok, therefore carry on without them?
I’m toying with whether or not to go to the chemist and collect my prescription. Or not.
Any advice very welcome!

[Faith1011]

Hi Lime, I think I would call my dr. and explain the situation. See what he/she thinks. Also if you run out because of not being able to afford your meds you should definitely let them know because they might have samples for you or another solution. I remember once I stopped Fluoxetine just on my own accord, I felt "normal" and didn't think I needed it anymore. It took about a year but I eventually relapsed and I had a very rough spot where I had to restart the pills and wait until they started working again. For me, I think I just do better on anti-depressants and even when I get anxious spells they don't hijack my life like they used to.

[panic_down_under]

I last took my fluoxetine 30mg on 8th June.
I have been taking fluoxetine for 2 years.

So this means I haven't taken any in nearly 3 weeks.
I feel ok. So far anyway.
Should I restart my fluoxetine or assume that it is out of my system now and I feel ok, therefore carry on without them?

Fluoxetine has a very long half-life, about 6 days for fluoxetine itself and up to 16 days for its active metabolite norfluoxetine, aka desmethylfluoxetine, which actually does most of the work. It takes about 4 weeks for all the fluoxetine to be eliminated and up to 80 days to get all of the metabolite out of your system. So at 3 weeks you still have about a quarter of the fluoxetine and around 85% of the norfluoxetine active.

Because of the long half-lives fluoxetine can be essentially self-tapering and some can quit it without significant withdrawal effects. But the operative word is "some". There are no guarantees and it usually takes a while for fluoxetine to begin working well again when it's reinstated. I urge you to discuss this with your GP asap.