fluoxetine dose

[Maj]

Hi,

I know there has been posts about the dose of fluoxetine people are on but I'm interested to know if most people start on 20mgs. When I was put on this dose a few weeks ago I had to come off it as I felt so awful - really awful! I was talking about this with my friend last night, who works for a drug service, and she seems to think I should have started on 10mgs. Would anyone agree with this. I'd love to hear from anyone.
Myra

[Danath]

i thought 20mg was the min. therapeutic dose, and it goes up in increments of 20mg if its increased i think. the first time I took prozac i recovered really well after a few months but after i had a relaps i tried it again a few months ago and could'nt sleep unless i got drunk or took a zopiclone (not both together mind you, that would be dangerous) they can definately make you more agitated but then so can a lot of SSRIs

best asking a pharmacist, they're paid a lot of money to know these things

Dan

[Maj]

Thanks for your reply Dan. I think I was surprised how I felt when taking them because I had taken sertraline before and had no side effects. Maybe fluoxetine is just not for me.
Myra

[JaneC]

Myra,

I started on Fluoxetine this week. Took 20mg the first day and slept whole of the next, not that unusual as I have CFS, but decided to drop down to 10mg to ease myself into it (that means liquid rather than capsules if in UK, as far as I know).

Might be worth giving it a try? I'll be stepping up to 20mg within a few days - and if I have to go above that, I'll definitely be doing it 10mg at a time.

Best of luck x

[Tangerine Man]

Myra,

It depends on your GP. I started with 20mg (which did not work very well) and have taken 40mg for the last 4 months with few side effects other than feeling occasionally tired but this is making me have a balance in my life. So if I have a pressured meeting or occasion I then take time out for me to recover and this with CBT therapy is helping.