can anyone offer any advice, I have been taking fluoxetine for 24 days, have experienced lots of side effects, worse one not being able to sleep or eat, thinking of stopping them, or should I continue, as ive seen on these posts it takes a while to work? feeling very down, husband dosnt agree that I should be taking meds and sort my head out.....
hiya Mandy, sorry to hear you are going through such a rough time. this web page has been of great benefit to me as I've been going through the ups and downs of fluoxetine, other peoples advice would be to persevere I reckon, though it may be worth another visit to your doctor if things are that bad that you can't eat or sleep. thank god I'm able to sleep alright up until now, though my eating is not as it was I force myself to have some porridge in the morning and a light snack in the evening. I'm only on day 14 so things may change for me? I can only hope that things get better for us all in time, I'm sure you'll get some very positive comments from other people on this web page who have in some cases taken fluoxetine for long periods of time. it does seem rather sad that your husband is'nt a bit more supportive in your times of need Mandy, I'm quite sure that his support and encouragement would speed up the healing process for you, hopefully he will realise that. best of luck Mandy, keep us updated on how it goes, I try and update every couple of days, I feel better for it! caio.......
Thank you for replying David, I do hope it gets better too, never been on anything like this before, I am usually very outgoing and positive, I am trying to keep myself upbeat and reletively normal, the eating is a problem, have lost lots of weight, hope all goes well for you.
Hi Mandy
whatever else you decide to do, please DO NOT just stop taking Fluoxetine - with twenty-four days of it in your system you'd have to cut down gradually, wean yourself of it, is my understanding. Definately you need to go and see your GP and talk things over with him/her.
Just counted and surprised myself - I'll have four weeks in tomorrow, which is either half way or two thirds the way to the six to eight weeks it's supposedd to take fluoxetine to really start working and the side effects to start disappearing. I'vee been luckier than you in that I have felt better and better since the third week.
Are you doing anything to distract yourself from your thoughts, to stop the whirl of negative thinking? What do you like to do when you are 'normal'? Can you do some of that now, is it possible? anything will do, just to get you out of your head for a bit! How about a walk - really good if it isn't raining!
Sounds like your husband doesn't understand anxiety/depression and may even carry some negative feelings about it, especially in you. This means you need to find others you can talk to - there are plenty of us once you say "Help!" - as you have done by posting here.
Good luck and stay with it, at least until you've spoken with your GP (and if s/he isn't sympathetic, go see another one!)
How much effort does it take to try "to keep myself upbeat and reletively normal", Mandy? I'm finding the magic word is "acceptance". The more I accept that I am currently depressed and anxious (and that I'm getting old and have a bad back and my legs hurt de day de dah) the more I am able to treat myself with kindness and care and understanding and the more I do these things the more my fear of old age, bad back and painful legs, etc, diminishes and goes back into the future, where they belong. Today, I can manage and cope. Right now, I am alright, warm and dry and fed and knowing these things, my anxiety diminishes and I feel better and less depressed.
I'm not saying you're doing it wrong - how would I know? but I do wonder if you could be kinder to yourself. You are ill. Like the worst possible flu times ten - how would you treat yourself for that?
Hi Mandy, I would definitely suggest you stick with it. Different people react differently to fluoxetine and for some the side effects can be worse than for others. I would also suggest you speak to your doctor again it's important to let them know how you are reacting to the meds and if need be they can sort out an alternative dose/drug. But don't just stop taking them before consulting your doctor!
Also I have found it extremely useful to see a therapist who I see once a week. There I can work through many of the issues that have been getting me down recently and over the years. I see therapy as a vital part of my healing now and would recommend therapy to everyone!
I hope you start to feel better soon
Best wishes
Magia x
Thank you Magia, I managed 3 hours of work which was really hard, feel so ill, worse than ever, my doctor is on holiday until Monday, I suppose I could try another, its the feeling of despair and out of it, cannot seem to reason with myself at the moment, also am now feeling shaky and hot and sick , really which I had not started thhese tablets.
Thank you carl, its nice to speak with someone who is on the same AD
Well done for even managing 3 hours of work! 👏
I know how you feel with the nausea and shaking and generaly feeling like crap.
I saw a different doctor than my usual one because he was unavailable, it was at the same practice though so I would suggest that as they will have your history on file and would still be able to help.
Also I know it's hard but it's best to keep busy.
I threw myself into my dance training (even though I was told to rest) but it helped me take my mind off of the nausea and helped to release some tension (in a weird way). it was tough to be around people but tougher to be by myself because I would dwell on what I was going through mentally. So it really really helped me to stay busy, but I also slept ALOT!
Definitely consider psychotherapy if you're in London then I would recommend Fresh Start Psychotherapy
just spoke to another doctor, he said to stop taking them and then see how I go and then I can speak to my own doctor on Monday who may prescibe something different, bit scared of the withdrawel syptoms.......what would you do as side affects very bad.....
my doctor is away until Monday so I spoke to another one who suggested I just stop taking it and I will be fine ? I can then re address the situation on Monday with my normal Doctor, feeling very confused as to what to do???? however the side effects are very bad, now got shakes and hotness over body...
It seems a bit drastic to just stop even though Monday is only 3 days away. Personally from what you've shared I would still stick with the fluoxetine and go to see your doctor on Monday. I wouldn't want to go through withdrawal symptoms of stopping, then have to deal with the side effects of a new drug/doseage. I know it's tough but it will all be worth it once the drugs start to work their 'magic'.
I know, but I feel I have to try for my sanity as they make me feel so desperate and ill, I will see how I go, if the doctor suggests another I will try but these tablets are making me like a zombie, I will let you know how I get on, thank you for your support and glad to hear that you sound on the way to a normal life.
Yes please do keep us updated and if ever you need to offload then I think this is a pretty good place to do so 
It's so tough but you should be proud of yourself for wanting to get better. That takes a lot of courage to even admit you have a problem.
I still have tough days but nothing compared to before.
Xx
I will let you know how I get on, I need to be strong and try and cope with my anxiety on my own, hopefully it will pass, it may be that I do try something else after the weekend, lets see how I go, so glad that your feeling so much better and able to cope. xx
There's no shame in asking for help. I felt so silly and nervous when I began therapy but honestly it has helped so much! And I do believe talking about things to friends/family, therapist, or strangers on the interweb is a kind of therapy in itself.
I am not a GP and know nothing about Fluoxetine except what I have picked up on line - and that tells me you should not just stop. Anyone else know about this?
Were I you, I'd stick with it until I spoke to my own GP - the one who prescribed it in the first place. That means making an appointment for Monday and then sticking with it over the weekend - two whole days!!
The shakes and hotness are symptoms of adrenaline rushes - horrible to experience but not harmful to you. The thing is to calm yourself - know you are safe and nothing bad is actually going to happen to you. I use breathing exercise - deeply in through my nose and loud exhale through my mouth, over and over, deeply and slowly, counting each breath. Concentrate on your breathing, remembering the count. If you lose count, start over - it doesn't matter, the idea is to shift your focus from whatever it is you are anxious about.
What's your weather like tomorrow? Can you get out for a walk? It is brilliant therapy!! I wish I could do it but my legs don't allow!
Keep posting here - let us know how you are gettting on. Whinging and moaning is great - you are depressed, after all. Good news is great, too.
Good luck and please let us know what you decide to do.
Hello Mandy I am a long-time veteran of Prozac (fluoxetine) who has bern off of it for more than 6 months due to it just not helping anymore. My psychiatrist yesterday urged me to start back on it as I had asked for Lexapro and he vehemently refused to put me on it saying that "..it is a much older medication and since I'm bipolar and wasnt able to tolerate any of the mood stabilizers .. there would be no value in putting me on Lexapro since my "diagnosis" is bipolar." I took one this morning and I feel irritable like I did when I stopped it before. For the pasr 6 months I had been taking the nutrient l-Theanine and I wasnt feeling as darkly depressed, but still very down. My medical doctor told me that NO medication was going to help if i didnt seek counseling and find a way to be happier. However, after decades of counseling AND medication, I'm still very sad much of the time. This may be too much info, but during some very manic years beginning in 1999, I cheated on my husband who wasnt invested in me or our marriage, and everything blew up in my life (i know what did i expect but my mania was in charge). After getting off of Effexor XR, the mania disappeared and the depression descended upon me and has never left again. I was put on Prozac which i wanted to believe was working, and I stayed on it for at least five to six years. I know this is a roundabout journey of what's happened to me but when the 20 milligrams of Prozac didn't seem to be working anymore I asked my medical doctor who was giving it to me at the time if a higher dose or a different medication work and he put me on 30 milligrams once a day. It just seemed to make me even more irritable and so I phased myself off of it when the last of the bottle was gone and haven't been on it like I said for 6 months or more now. I know you're in a very hard place and I hope that something will help you but don't let anyone tell you that you just have to sort your emotions without medication that would be up to you and only you. I do take a lot of natural herbs and remedies that have helped with my anxiety but it takes a lot of reading to find them and also it's just the same as medication AKA trial and error. Just as other posters have said I would certainly seek medical attention for your lack of appetite because you do need to eat for sure. Just because a person's name is MD or Ph.D after it doesn't mean they know your body only you do and you must take control of what you do to help it. If something isn't helping then you have the right to question that and even to stop taking whatever that substance is. I wish you the very best during this difficult time.
hi mandy i was wondering what types of side effects u had after stopping prozac i took it for 4 weeks and stopped i was having very bad side effects and how long dud ur side effects last