Hi. Ive been on lexamil(escitalopram) for about 8 months and my doctor switched me to prozac(fluoxetine) about 3 weeks ago. Iam on 40 mg per day. Iam not feeling good at all. Iam tired and want to sleep the whole day. Does not matter how much i sleep at night i still wake up feeling very tired. I also have a constant headache. Is these symptoms normal and will it go away? Can somebody give me some advice?
Ed, in my fifth week, my nerves are on edge constantly and CANNOT sleep more than a couple hours at a time and never during the day. Others have said they are tired and have a headache, but not my experience.
The morning anxiety is the worse! Hope you and I both have some good experience and soon. Also using Xanax .25 but does not help much.
Praying for some comfort for us both.
Hi Barbara, I can relate to nerves on edge, morning anxiety and sleeping couple of hours at a time. It will be 6 weeks on 20mg on Sunday for me.
Hi Barbara,
I have been on Fluoxetine now for almost 6 weeks and the morning anxiety for me is also bad. Also the tiredness I am finding difficult as I have no motivation to go out and exercise.
Its great to share thoughts with people that are going through the same thing xx
Hi Ed,
I'm on my 6th week and the morning anixiety and tiredness are the worst. I hope these symptoms fade soon!!
Donna :-)
Thanks for the messages. I was on lexamil for 8 months more or less and my experience was that these medications work. The lexamil took a couple of months to set in, but once it did i started feeling a lot better. I just hope that will be the same case with the prozac ass the side effects iam getting this time is a lot worse than with the lexamil.
Hi Ed you poor thing, I remember that awful feeling, like you're in glue? I reckon it will pass and one day soon you'll wake up n suddenly say 'hey I feel like actually getting up today ' and you'll go about your day knowing you're thru the worst. These meds TAKE TIME! They're powerful stuff. The 'time' of taking my prozac I found made a big difference. 12 o'clock was a good time for me . Never at night!!! If I missed taking it at 12 midday I'd get awful yawns .. that was a drag but at least it reminded me to take it!! Do you like coffee that helped me too!! But not after 2 pm!!
Hi Bonnietu. Thanks for the message. i will certainly try taking the meds as you said. Roughly how long were you on the meds when you first started feeling an improvement?
Hi Andrew, how are you doing? Have you seen any improvements at all though by now? Just to give you a bit of hope, that morning anxiety has disappeared for me at week 8. I still struggle a little to get up, feel tired and a little indifferent now, but it certainly beats the crazy anxiety of the two months before!!! My sleep is still not great though and I am relying on sleeping pills still, daily for 9 weeks now, I am now fearing I will get addicted
Hi Ed,
the side effects of fluoxetine are just awful, I can relate! I struggle with the headache a lot too, it is more like a terrible head pressure and head fog, like I can't see clearly through it and constantly want to rub my forehead to make it go away. I also never feel really rested even if I sleep long enough.
I am just at week 9. I think in weeks 7-8 the headaches started to disappear at times and I got them more after 5pm, togerther with feeling feverish and cold, like when flu is coming on (that was a new symptom suddenly). Now in my 9th week, the headaches start improving again. They still come and go at times, but definitely improvement, so I am remaining positive, that maybe in a few weeks symptoms will go away. Last week I started to exercise every other day and that has helped me energise much more than resting I must say. It is so hard though to push yourself to do that when you feel so tired, but then once I started exercising I actually found out I am not that tired, that it is more in the head. The medication side effects are really challenging. I went through hell in weeks 1-4...I don't even want to think about it now!
All the best! x
Oh and by the way, I noticed the headaches always got worse after coffee! I only have one or two cups a day but there was certainly a pattern for me. When I cut it out, it got better. Now I enjoy again one cup a day coz feeling a bit better.
I made the same switch for interactions with the citalpram and another med I'm on. It took a long while and I had to back off on the 40mg to 20. I just couldn't handle the side effects. Each person's different. I was happy with the citalpram on the minimal symptoms before I had to start the other Med's needed from a TBI. It takes time to figure out if it works for you and live with whatever side effects you can handle that out weigh the other. Time and you may keep a log to compare.
Hello again Ed, gosh it was a long time ago , 20 years! But I do remember my Doc saying it'll take 6 weeks b4 u feel the effects & it was, 6 weeks, for me. It seems a long long time to wait & suffer thru but all you can do is to keep going, you're that desperate & I'm glad I did , but , I wish I had been regularly monitored by my doc & psychiatrist & most importantly given & made to do counselling same time / during taking them. and I wished I had tried to come off them 2 yrs in , just to see how I faired. If no better go bk on . But I didn't come off them, I felt fine on tgem so stayed on them. the longer you're on them the longer it takes to come off them & like me if you've been on Prozac for 20 years 😱, (NONE of my family or friends ever knew!!!) maybe you just have to accept you can't come off them. Either way you suffer from the side effects, headaches/ yawns/ restless legs/ etc !! It's tough. But at least being on them boosts u up to living normally n not like a hermit within yourself!! If you find they're not having a positive effect ask to up the dosage? I thought docs put you on a high dosage first ( shockingly) then they reduce you down to the minimal you feel well on. That's what makes common sense to me n what happened to me. After 12 weeks maybe you need a higher dosage? But hell im no Doctor!!!!
Hi. Thanks for everyone's advice and comments. Iam still only 21 years old and the depression started last year with not being able to cope with my studies at uni. The problem that i have with the meds is that it doesn't seem that anybody ever fully recovers on them. I just want this all to end so that i can get my degree and carry on with my life. Is there anybody that fully recovered from depression and felt great while on these meds?
Thanks for everyone's advice and comments. Iam still only 21 years old and the depression started last year with not being able to cope with my studies at uni. The problem that i have with the meds is that it doesn't seem that anybody ever fully recovers on them. I just want this all to end so that i can get my degree and carry on with my life. Is there anybody that fully recovered from depression and felt great while on these meds?
Hi Luci, it will be 6 weeks tomorrow. Today has been the worst day so far. Thursday a close second but was ok ish yesterday. Mornings still the worst but struggled most of the day today. Still keep waking up every couple of hours at night.
Uff. It is so discouraging, isn't it, when at 6 weeks you get some of the worst days, still. And yes, mornings are the worst part on this medication. I remember well after 6 weeks I had couple of my first really good days, when I felt a little grateful for some things in life again and could see glimpses of my old self before the depression. Having blip after those was especially hard for me, as I felt so betrayed again by the lack of continuous progress, and i rememer staying indoors for couple of days just surviving the day again and shivering with anxiety. Really the turning point for me was 8 weeks. The last week, my 9th, was really good - I jogged daily and I went back to a drawing class too. Feeling renewed interest in hobbies and feel like setting small goals again. It's not all rosey and easy every day all day long yet; today I felt the anxiety coming back, with no reason, just felt so tearful in the evening and afraid; but I dealt with it - went for another run and endorphins have helped to keep the anxiety at bay. The fact I could make myself go and help myself when needed also means the recovery is on the way and the meds are working better now. I hope you can also have a turnaround point soon; give it a few more weeks Andrew! I so look forward to hearing you reporting the first few days of feeling better too
Hi Ed,
people do recover, please do not lose hope. Along with the meds helping with the recovery, you will learn eventually more coping techniques with stress and anxiety too. I know it doesn't feel like it now, but the breakdowns and depressions do make us stronger. We find new strength when we hit rock bottom.
When I was 24 I suffered first round of depression/anxiety. I recovered with the medicine after about 9 months, to stop taking them. I had great 7 years, then had another breakdown and bout of depression when 31, due to challenging circumstances and also because I never dealt with my issues properly. But again I recovered with meds, quite quickly, like in 3 months. Recently, after another 5 years the depression came back again but this time I am doing also therapy and I feel finally I am on the way to recover for life...the root causes need to be addressed. The meds starting working for me at 2 months and I am starting to feel better and stronger again. The positive for me was that both times in the past when I had the illness, I always had my best years after I recovered - I always achieved more, workwise, took on new hobbies, built more confidence etc. The experience of the mental struggles does change you and makes you stronger. And it makes you more open and connected to others too. So in a way I am also grateful for the bad times.
Do not lose hope. People do recover. Also on here you can find posts reporting positive recovery. I believe we can all do it! Uni is very stressful time indeed and you will get through it!! All the best.
Hi Luci. Just want to check on how your feeling at the moment and if the medication has started working for you? Also thanks for the positive feedback.
Hi Ed,
I am just over 11 weeks now and I am quite well, about 80% recovered I would estimate. Sleep and appetite have improved, no more anxious shivers, even the head fog has lifted. Anxiety occasionally tries to creep in, but I can sort of manage it and not dwell in it for days.
You are still too early in the meds, do not worry about them not working at all. I had no relief whatsover till about week 6, and that was only for a few days here and there. At 4 weeks I was still at the heighest anxiety and unable to do anything really. Every one is different but for me after 6 weeks I started being maybe 50% better, and then major improvement was after 8 weeks. Since then I have been functioning quite well and have found enthusiasm again and can feel calmer and hopeful avout the future. Still not 100% there yet of course but it is is best in years for me now.
So do not despair just yet. You too will get better, Ed! But I know when you are at the worst, it is so difficult to believe in. I hope these posts can bring a little reassurance that we have all been there where you are!
All the best, Lx