Raising up fluoxetin from 10 to 20mg, better to wait?

[Dominus]

Hi, I’m on my my 36th day on fluoxetine 10mg.

Besides the first 1 and a half week that I felt horrible and I needed to take Lergigan several times to calm me down and sleep, I started then feeling better with up and downs, low mood, anxiety, but also some days or hours with more positivity, I was even able to smile, sometimes laugh and make a joke; I switched from Lergigan to Atarax to calm me down at least in the morning where I’m more disturbed by some anxiety, obsessive intrusive thoughts. Lately, for 8 days in a row I’m experiencing strong depression, strong anxiety, obsessive thoughts.

It might be because my body needs more fluoxetine? According with my doctor I should raise to 20 at the beginning of this upcoming month, but I would like to do it today (just a few days before).

What do you think, would it be better to wait to see if these symptoms will go away and raise to 20 in more stable days, or should I raise it now?

I’m concerned about the side effects or raising up the dose, I’m scared to feel even worse that I’m feeling right now.

Thank you for your answers

[Trueblue]

Being on fluoxetine and probably any other anti depressant is a bit of a rollercoaster ride unfortunately. Some days you will start to see glimpses of your former self and other days it will feel like you’re back to square one.

I would wait until your doctor tells you to increase the dosage as a few days won’t make much difference. Unfortunately, from what I’ve read, fluoxetine is a very slow moving drug and can take between 3-6 months for it to properly take effect.

It may be that you need to be on a higher dosage as 10mg seems fairly low. When I was first prescribed fluoxetine I was put on 20mg and am now on 40mg

It’s sensible to increase the dosage gradually I think, but it won’t be a quick fix and will take time so you will need to be patient.

Being on here and other online sites has helped me in my recovery and has given me reassurance when things have been tough so well done for reaching out and I hope you get the support that you need. There are a lot of people struggling with this at the moment so you are not alone!

[Dominus]

Thank you for your kind words Trueblue, they are realistic and comforting.

I lately discovered that not feeling alone and not the only one helps me somehow, as well as developing patience, being compassionate and having hope. Even if it’s pretty difficult when I fall down to keep myself together, but somehow I’m still here.

I’m really happy for you that you found your stability may this be a message of hope for all of us struggling right now.

[Trueblue]

I’m glad that my reply has helped. It can feel very lonely when struggling with anxiety & depression but it is a lot more common than you think. It’s just not talked about because of the stigma attached.

Please let us know how you get on and keep posting if you need any support or help along your journey to recovery. We will all get there at some point. It’s just a bumpy ride and you need to have patience and the belief that you Will get through this.

Wishing you all the best!

[Dominus]

Today was the toughest day.

I don’t open up so much about my deep feelings of this moment with my girlfriend because she is so sensitive (even if she doesn’t show it) and I don’t want her to get affected too much by my unease.

My psychologist has been giving me appointments more sporadically, once a month.

Currently I don’t have a job or friends where I live now. Only some acquaintances that I see once in a while.

Today I was at this place where you can go to talk, socialize, play games and I felt like I was exploding, I needed to open up about how I feel.

So I did with a social worker that was very professional and caring, I also cried (which is something I felt I needed to do since I started feel horrible) and she suggested to me to talk to my doctor and say how I’m feeling, so I did.

I have a tendency to hold myself back from fully showing how I feel, and this makes me feel trapped into myself. I accumulate “■■■■” over and over, then I explode.

I think I need to learn how to don’t be scared of showing the spontaneous way I’m feeling.

Btw, the doctor told me to increase fluoxetine to 20mg tomorrow in combination with Atarax 3 times per day, so that’s what I will do.

I don’t know how it is gonna go, but opening up and crying, being listened and supported, gave me some relief and some hope.

It was like lowering the anxiety critical level.

So I want also to send a positive message to whoever is currently feeling in a similar way I felt: you don’t need to demonstrate anyone, neither to yourself that you are strong keeping everything inside. The real strength is feeling that it is enough before reaching the limit and don’t feel afraid or ashamed to ask for help.

[Dominus]

Hey,

I would like to discuss with someone else who had or has the same experiences as mine.

Third day on 20mg, but I’ve been for 5 weeks and 2 days on 10mg.

Since I started fluoxetin my close eye sight is blurry. Premise: I wear eyeglasses. I would like not to change lenses, I hope it’s just a side effect that will fade away over time. Does anyone got his eye sight back to normal? If yes, when?

Another thing:

In the morning, doesn’t matter what time I go to bed, I always wake up between 7/7.30.

I feel like I want to sleep more, but if I try, I get in my brain kind of movies with people I know, or characters from something I’m watching on TV, or random people: they do weird things without a logic sometimes.

Pretty much when a movie starts, I notice it and I open my eyes. I change position in the bed. Everytime I continue this way I get anxious, restless, annoyed and irritated.

Sometimes I’m able to fall asleep (because I check the clock and it has been passed an hour/1 and a half), but I don’t feel I slept.

So now I’m trying not to sleep again when I wake up, I eventually stay in bed, or I stand up doing some exercise, eat a sandwich. But I really would like to sleep more. Maybe because of my old habits: I always felt the need to sleep in the morning.

Does someone also experienced or experience that?

Btw I’ve been on paroxetine ( which made me felt, passive, sleepy, careless) for more than 10 years and I wrongly decided to gradually quit it by myself.

If fluoxetin will work In will never do the same mistake.

Thank you for you shared experiences in advance!

[Britt]

Fluoxetine can bring all sorts of weird side effects, but every time the dosage is changed (and soon after), you can experience them (and others) all over again. Be patient especially in the transition times. They’re always the worst.

[Dominus]

Thank you, I really need to be reassured…

It’s tough. I had a few good moments, but mainly bad ones.

Sometimes feeling desperate and stuck, but I always try to be positive and distract myself. Even if with ocd is pretty difficult to focus on something else, of course.

[Britt]

It’s always possible that it isn’t a good fit for you, but once the dose is raised, give yourself a few weeks to see if it makes a difference. If it doesn’t, it may be time to wean off and try something else with your doctor. Unfortunately, so much of these types of medications are a waiting game…and it can take a long time and several tries to find one that works for you.

In my case, I ended up not being able to use an SSRI and had to go to an adrenaline blocker and fast acting meds with short lifespans for when I had panic (propranolol and hydroxyzine) because an every day med made me feel worse. I just couldn’t use them.

It is so tough to be patient when you’re feeling bad, anxious, worried or scared…but be very persistent in your communication and really document your feelings when you’re feeling them so you can show your doctor the frequency at which you’re feeling things and it will help them to help you too. SSRI meds are not for everyone, but when they DO help, they really can change your life for the better.

I hope you find some relief soon.

[Dominus]

I’m sorry to hear that ssri didn’t work for you, but I hope that with those alternatives you found your way to manage the situation.

I know what it means to feel bad and not being able to show it like a broken leg.

I’ve been on paroxetine for more than 10 years and it made me feel lazy, sleepy, like I didn’t care so much about what I was saying or doing. But it helped me to don’t feel depressed and anxious. Only partially with ocd.

After 6 weeks on fluoxetin 10mg I raised the dose to 20 and I’m on my 8th day. I do regular exercise, I go for a walk 2 or 3 times a week, I go to a social center to meet and talk with other people (sometimes forcing myself). I can do chores, going to shops, but only if I’m in a decent mood.

Pretty much I’m trying to motivate and push myself even if inside I’m heavily struggling most of the time.

In 2 days I have an appointment with the psychologist and I will say that I need appointments more frequently, even just to speak out how I feel. Because it’s not healthy to keep everything inside (at least for me). She just wanted to have an appointment 1 time per month, but I’m feeling that is definitely not enough.

[Britt]

Definitely advocate for yourself and push for what you need. It’s easy for medical professionals to suggest what you may need, but that isn’t always enough for you, as the patient. I hope they’ll increase those visits and that it brings some more relief for you.

I think it’s great that you’re forcing yourself to get out and talk to others and DO things even when you don’t always want to. Sometimes “fake it til you make it” is a great strategy to keep you from being isolated.

[Dominus]

It went pretty well today. I’m gonna have more sessions and got referred to the psychiatric clinic where they can help me better with my situation about mental health.

I love it: “fake it until you make it”, I’m gonna adopt it as a sentence to repeat to myself among the other ones

Thank you for your encouragement, it really made me feel warm in my heart.

[Britt]

Anytime! So happy it helped. And congrats on advocating for yourself! Sounds like they gave you resources to get a handle on things. Before you know it, you’ll be thriving!!