Hi all
I regularly wrote and chatted on this forum last year and found it a huge help, but haven't been on for some time - apologies if i didnt reply to any of the lovely people i'd chatted with!
Just wanted to let people know that really you can and will get through through this but please be patient! I went through all sorts of side effects with fluoxetine and sometimes it was hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I am so glad i stuck it out as i have now got my life back, the fear and anxiety are gone and i am really enjoying life to the full again, something that i couldnt even imagine 12 months ago.
I know i am not cured forever , it doesnt work like that and i continue to take a low dose as a precaution while i go through some big changes (all good ones though!). I hope hearing this will help someone to keep persuing happiness.
Everyone is different but there is hope. Persevere, talk to friends and family (hiding this will not help), be honest, most of all rest if you can and look after yourself.
I wish everyone who is suffering from depression the strength to keep going and find their happy place again, it is there just dont give up in it .
Good luck all, you'll get there.
Vix xx
Thanks Vix, it's heartening to hear your positive comments. It's hard to be patient as I suffer from nausea and loss of appetite when going through the anxiety. I have been on fluoxetine for 16 weeks and am still not there yet. I have suffered horrendous side effects throughout this time. I have periods of feeling good and then back to the nausea. I don't want to up the dose or change meds which is what people are telling me to do. My doctor wants me to stick with it but it is hard as after 16 weeks I would expect recovery.
How long did it take you to get to that feeling of peace, where you can stop the inward thinking and awareness of not feeling good??
I'd love to hear, thanks x
Hi f
Nausea was my worst symptom, lost nearly 2 stone in 2 months (tho i was overweight but not the way to lose it!). I had 3 months on citalopram first before fluox but changed because nausea didnt improve much and struggled with extreme fatigue.
If i remember rightly it was between 16-20 wks of fluox that things started to pick up for me and there was no miraculous good feeling just an odd day when i forgot i was ill (sounds daft but i just started to realise id had a normal day now n again).
I eventually went up to 30mg as although feeling physically better i still felt blue. That was probably 5 months down the fluox line.
Then i levelled off and began to live more fully again
Everyone is different and different things work but if youve noticed improvement then do try hang in there. I found my even keel at 30mg after avoiding an increase for a long time without revisiting side effects thank god but i may have just been lucky .
Believe you will get there, get some exercise preferably in fresh air every day (i dont do exercise but walked 30 mins each day) and get yourself up and ready to face the day as often as you can (tho sometimes blankets days are just what you need😀).
Take care and good luck
Vix xx
Hi Trix,
It is so good to hear from someone who understands the nausea and loss of appetite, most people seem baffled by it. I have only had two bouts of mental illness and the last one was four years ago after my father died. I ended up in a psych clinic and because the anti depressant (Lexepro) I was given hadn't worked after a couple of weeks and I was still nauseous, the psychiatrist tried to give me ECT. To cut a long story short, I declined and did eventually recover after about 8 months. This time I lost 12 kilos but I was pretty thin before that so I looked really bad. Have managed to put a bit back but everytime I have a bad day and eat very little I think I lose the weight again. Anyway I'm staying off the scales now, it's just something else to worry about.
I'm still on 20 mg prozac but like you may up it to 30mg. So you didn't revisit the side effects, that's interesting because I worry so much about going through all the dry retching again but maybe it wouldn't happen. I do feel better than I did so maybe I will hang in there a bit longer, fluoxetine seems to be a very slow acting drug.
Yes I do walk every day and try to eat well but being vegetarian, the food isn't really weight producing which is what I need.
Thanks so much for the information, you've given me some hope......
f l
Hi Feline Lover
Thought I'd just send u a little catch up email. I too didn't have side effects when I upped my dosage to 40 mg from the 20 mg but I think at the time the anxiety was so terrible that perhaps I wouldn't have noticed - I spent most of my days dry retching! Personally I am still having more good days although I have a terrible cold at the moment which is making me a bit low today-also it's the weekend so too much time for thoughts! With you, keep going, as Vix says try and get out in the sunshine when you can and take time to smell those flowers. Concentrate on the nice and the beautiful and little by little you will find more peace.
I did have anti sickness tablets at one time too but not sure they helped much. Dry crackers on waking and fiery ginger beer did tho - might be worth a try! 😀
I am just starting my 6th month on fluoxetine and the last few days have felt low again. I still feel like I have no motivation and the blues. I am def better than I was but is this how you felt around this time. I am also pregnant so it could be from the hormones 
Thanks Joanne,
Again it is heartening to hear that someone truly understands the horrors of constantly dry retching. That stage seems to have passed though I had a bad day last week when I dry retched a few times. When that happens I get so down and think I'm back to square one. I still don't have an appetite and become anxious wondering what to eat. However I have been re reading a book which got me through last time I was sick and the book advocates acceptance of all bad feelings and always lookiing forward. I particularly liked the book as it had a section on nausea and vomiting. I have found that very few self help books mention that.
I hope you are getting over your cold, I can understand it making you feel low.
Thanks again for the encouraging comments
Thanks Vix,
I love ginger beer but unfortunately it has a lot of sugar and as my blood sugar levels are high I can't really have any. I found Ativan the best for nausea but as they're addictive I couldn't take them regularly and had to be selective about when to take them.
It must be a wonderful feeling to be over all these horrors but I know after my last recovery I felt so incredibly happy just to have my life back. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can enjoy life again.
Yes i think so, couldn't shake the underlying blueness for quite some time but there were lots of ups and downs along the way. I knew i was much better than when i started though so that gave me hope.
Im pretty sure the move to 30mg was the final step though i only took it for few months (mostly cos i kept forgetting the one every other day!) but it seemed to have already done the job.
And yes the pregnancy can cause you all sorts of ups and downs itself! I know, im 13 weeks! So had all the fatigue, two major scares and now headaches but ive been waiting too long for this to give in to the blues!!!
How far on are you? I used to chat to a girl on here that only got depression in pregnancy poor love! As if you dont have enough to contend with .
I can only say for me it took a long time to get to my happy place with down days in between. But i got there and eventually stayed there. You can too. One day at a time.
Take care
Vix xx
I found sugar free ginger beer in tesco!!!!
And yes, i felt so happy to just feel well again i think i was slightly manic for a few months but in a good way😀
Hi feline lover-just remembered a chat with my doctor which may reassure you. When I was at my worst and not eating at all he said to me to not put so much pressure on myself. If I didn't want to eat that's fine. I said to him but I'm going to waste away! And he said as long as I drink water that would sustain me. A lot of this illness is about acceptance but sometimes we put ourselves under even more pressure - I have to eat/I have to sleep/I have to get through the day. All you have to do is whatever you want to at any moment and little by little we get there! Xx
Thank you! I think a lot of the problem is that I got depression after a miscarriage at 5 1/2 and took 10 fluoxetine and it cured me within 3 months and I stopped the medication. I was fine for about a year and half and a lot of depressing problems hit with deaths in the family so I started it back and then found out I'm pregnant. I've stayed on a low dose the whole time but have continued to have up and down depression which scares me for postpartum depression. I'm 27 weeks now so not much more to go.
Hi Vix,
We don't have Tesco in Australia but I'll look to see if the local supermarket has sugar free ginger beer.
Yes I can understand that slightly manic feeling, if I have had a good day it tends to more manic because I'm just so happy to feel normal.
That is reassuring Joanne, great advice. When I tell people I can't eat they look horrified. I have said the same thing so often 'but I'm going to fade away'. In fact the book I was talking about suggested that people place too much emphasis on not eating and protruding bones so it's good to hear that your doctor said the same. Take care x
What dose are you taking now?
Hi, Nicole. At 6mo. I felt the same as you. No motivation and low spells. I think that is pretty much the way it happens for a lot of people. Just keep hanging in there and you will come through.
Are you feeling better now Karen? What month are you on?
I'm a little over 6 1/2 mo. in now. I am not feeling low, but not quite my normal happy self yet. No anxiety, except maybe a little first thing in the morning. Starting to get more motivation back. I think I'm almost there!
That's good because I don't have any motivation either but I'm pregnant and always tired. My hormones are also constantly up and down so I'm sure that's not helping my recovery. I'm still anxious from time to time worrying about postpartum afterwards.