Feeling fed up

[panic_down_under]

I hope you had a great Christmas

And I'm hoping yours is turning out much, much better than you feared, Sally.

Mine was okayish. Could have been better if those naughty Kiwis hadn't mugged Santa again this year and taken the good stuff meant for me, replacing it with coal. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Mrsmitchell1984]

[Mrsmitchell1984]

So day 1 on 30mg- feeling awful - hot flashes, sweaty palms, minor digestive pain and pain in my lower arms? Very strange. My sleep is disturbed again and I am feeling generally in a despairing mood-
constant distress - I hope that this goes soon x

thinking about it- I may just have a cold and I am translating all
these symptoms to a cold - who knows x

[panic_down_under]

thinking about it- I may just have a cold and I am translating all
these symptoms to a cold - who knows x

You might well be. Only time will tell

[Mrsmitchell1984]

Thanks PDU- I hope you are having a great holiday season and I just want to thank you so much for you advice and help you have given. Even though it is holiday season- you have still come out to help x

[Mrsmitchell1984]

How long should I give fluoxetine PDU? I’m starting to think it has run its course for me x

[panic_down_under]

How long should I give fluoxetine PDU? I’m starting to think it has run its course for me x

The dose increase is going to take many weeks, not days, to take affect, Sally. How long I can't say as it depends on your biology, but it takes up to 30 days just for fluoxetine plasma levels to stabilize after a dose increase (or decrease). Unfortunately, there are no short cuts with ADs (or therapy). Plus 30mg is still at the low end of the therapeutic 20-80mg range.

[Mrsmitchell1984]

Thanks PDU- I will give it more time.

im probably looking at at least another 5.5 weeks (1.5 on 30mg and then 4 weeks for the 40mg). I had to pick the slowest drug didn’t I

[panic_down_under]

Thanks PDU- I will give it more time.

im probably looking at at least another 5.5 weeks (1.5 on 30mg and then 4 weeks for the 40mg). I had to pick the slowest drug didn’t I

It's swings and roundabouts, Sally. You don't need to be concerned about withdrawal if you miss a dose and quitting is usually much easier than with other SSRIs.

[Mrsmitchell1984]

It's swings and roundabouts, Sally. You don't need to be concerned about withdrawal if you miss a dose and quitting is usually much easier than with other SSRIs.

That’s a good point. I have quit 3 times in the past - but I do find that I get very angry when I lower the dose or quit. I do it very gradually- for example at 20mg, I will gradually go down to 10mg (reducing one 20mg tablet per week) and stay on 10mg for about 6 months and then reduce by one tablet a month- and I stayed on 2x20mg per week for about 3 months so a very slow quitting time period. However, despite being a very calm person, I turn into a dragon when I reduce or quit- it’s like I am a different person and have no control over my anger. Not much bothers me usually and when I am on the tablets- I usually let people walk all over me and don’t really care too much - but the slightest disrespectful behaviour when I quit or reduce is blown all out of proportion. I wonder why that is? I often hear about people murdering their children on the news and we never know why someone does something like this out of the blue - but when I am reducing dose or quitting my anger is so great (I wouldn’t murder or hurt anyone) but I feel completely out of the control x