Hello everyone. I was taking fluoxetine for about 3 years and this year I decided to stop it… My thoughts, fake anxieties etc came back on August after I have stopped it completely for about 1 month. I have to mention that I was taking fluoxetine because I had Panic attack disorder, OCD and Depression. Now I am on 10th week and still I don’t feel like myself 100%. I still have irrational obsessive thoughts etc. All day, every day I am thinking only this condition… I am worried that fluoxetine (20mg) hasn’t worked fully on 10th week yet (like it 3 years ago). Should I increase the dose (to 40mg)? My psychiatrist said that I can see how it will go this month with the dose that I am taking and at the next month that I will see him again will discuss if I should increase it. But I am concerned that I have to this immediately because it hasn’t worked fully like I said and I don’t feel myself 100%… I am scared of the side effects that I will have and I don’t want to have again side effects like I had on the first weeks when I started taking it again 1-2 months ago… They were terrible… How long will the side effects last after increasing the dosage and how they will be?
Hello,
I’ve been on fluoxetine for a long time; over 20 years. I was on 20mg a day for quite a long period of time but recently it was increased to 40mg as I was struggling with anxiety and OCD thoughts. The increase has taken a long time to kick in and I’m still not 100% but I’m a lot better than I was and the increase has helped.
I believe that it can take a long time for these tablets to help and you do have to be patient. As for side effects I remember waking up early when I started the 40mg dosage and feeling very hungry, but this didn’t last for too long. The tablets seemed to dumb down my anxiety but I still struggled with intrusive thoughts and still do, although the strong feelings of anxiety have lessened and I do feel like I’m slowly getting better.
See how this month goes and give your body time to readjust to the tablets again. You may just need time for the tablets to kick in.