Hi. Just would like some encouragement! The forums suggest that 6 weeks is still early days but everyone around me keeps saying why am I not better as nhs websites say 4-6 weeks. It’s really not helping! I am waking around 4am with panic attacks. My head feels so tight and I have waves of nausea and dizziness. By the afternoon tho I do start to feel a bit more positive , then I go to bed and it starts again. I am trying so hard to just stick with it but everyone around me is losing patience. Can anyone advise please. Thanks so much
I hit week 6 tomorrow, I’m having the same thing I started to feel better in the evening but then wake up feeling awful again! Apparently we are so close we just have to ride this bit out. Xx
Thank you! It’s so hard that the very meds that are supposed to make you feel better make you feel worse at first! If it wasn’t for being able to share with others going through it I don’t know what I would do. Just want to feel better! I hope you have a good day!
Caz have u any idea how many weeks its actually supposed to take? Xxxx
I think it’s different for everyone but definitely months rather than weeks. Just hold on in there!
Hi Caz,
I am 6 weeks in and though things were getting better but last few days not so good. wake at 2.30am every night and chest pains/palpitations during the day. I do improve as the day goes on (mornings can be hell) but still don't get that feeling that I've turned the corner yet. I will keep going on the 20mg as a lot of side effects have reduced- headaches,dizziness. 4-6 weeks is short estimate, everyone seems to be different, I read some can wait 3-4 month for any sign of improvement. Hope you feel better soon.
6 weeks is indeed way too early - people often state that are the ones who've never taken these meds. Count recovery in months, not weeks. Took me 6 months. Its typical to start noticing changes around 3 months. Everyone is different, so don't compared your timescale to anyone else.
That's how is started for me - each evening I'd feel my head clear, felt positive - each morning I'd wake with anxiety. It carried on like that throughout recovery with the positive feeling growing little by little until my day felt quite normal ... though the morning anxiety still happened, though I knew it would disappear as the day wore on. So yes it will happen day after day - bit like groundhog day 
At 6 months I woke up and the anxiety had gone. I continued to feel a little shaky from there on but felt myself all the time, and as more months passed I grew stronger and better. Have been well ever since.
K x
Thanks so much. I will keep your reply close to me and read it when I feel rubbish! People around me just keep saying the meds can’t be working as I should feel better by now.... it’s so isolating! Thank goodness for this forum! X
Hiya caz.. sorry to say but yes still to early for Prozac to settle down in your body... your know different to any one eles who wants this med to work as soon as we pop the first tablet ( me too) but it’s a very sloooooow working med, but once it does kick in it’s great, Iv been on it now for 8 months and build up to 60mg ... and mine didn’t start to settle down untill around 3+ months sorry!! B4 then st your stage I felt the same, I had good days as well as bad, also the morrin seem to be my worst, then I’d take my Prozac and the day got better... now days I’m fine all day long now, I can actually smile again, and not worry if tomorrow will be a good day, or bad, as it’s always the same for ME .. good...
as any of your family/friends ever taken Prozac b4?? If not then they can’t say how you should be at this stage, we all react different on this med... Iv been on two other antidepressants and they were easer then this one with side effects... BUT Prozac as been the best ( for me) I’m making me feel good again.. as for what the NHS sites say, take it with a pinch of salt as like them, and docs they read it in there book to say when we should feel ok, and unless they’ve been on Prozac it’s hard to say..
We are all different in the way that we react to meds.. you will get there, and you’ve come this far that you will turn that corner don’t worry, and defo don’t listen to what people around you say, as no one understand what it’s like.. good luk, keep intouch on here, we are all here to listen big hug 🤗x
You need a lot of patience on these meds and so do family and friends. It is isolating and when I was ill I thought I was the only one ever - surely nobody else could feel like I did. Its very common and sadly people don't talk about it much for fear of being laughed etc. I was ill for 16 years and recovered - everyone can. Let the meds work, take it slow, accept whatever happens at the moment - it gets easier.
K x
All I ca say is this is bad. I am at 38 days at only 10 mg. I have had very few good days. I feel sick, depressed and anxious. When will it end?
I let my husband read some of these post just so he can see what we are all going through.
Soon I start at 20. That mean I start all over again?
Can, sorry I can’t be more positive right now.
I been on these before and it takes 12 weeks to get rid of side effects. Some people may be good at 6 weeks, but everyone I’ve seen it takes around 12 weeks. I’m in week 8, and it’s just starting to get better. It is not a quick fix by any means unfortunately. I have over 20 years experience with these.
What made you stop taking them? And how long were you ok for before relapsing?
Hi stacey i am week 11 and my anxiety is the worse it has been. I am only on 10mg is this normal? Hope i dont mind me asking u just seem to onow about the meds. Im thinking of tapering off xxx
Hi Star,
I don’t think 10 is enough to do much. My Dr started at 20, now at 40. He wants me to be on 80 eventually. The problem with going off is you would have to start totally over with side effects. I still have anxiety at 8 weeks, Dr says to be patient. I know from past it takes a really long time for side effects to go away.
I was on Effexor (Venlafaxine,) for 20 years, the last few years I started having bad depression, so I wanted to try something else. I tried natural options first, which didn’t help. I forgot how long it took to get stabilized on it in the first place. It took months. It is not a quick fix by any means. It is a very slow process, in my opinion.
I dont really want to i creasecas i am hoping to have another baby this year and ideally dont want to be on meditation when pregnant. I hooe this anxiety goes soon. Iv just got into bed an feel scared to go to sleep because i know whats coming during the night. I feel so tired of the constant fight to be well xxx
Try to relax. I have just got into bed and I know that I will wake by 3 feeling terrible and having to go to work but each day is a day closer to feeling better. If I give up now I still have to go through withdrawals from Prozac and then be left how anxious and depressed I was before so no choice really! Just know when you are awake and going through it you are not on your own x
That has really encouraged me, thank you so much x
I know it’s very hard. I took a high dose of Effexor when pregnant with both children, and they are healthy 12 and 15 now.