Okay... I've heard that some p-docs will hospitalise people or even check on them daily when they have the kind of response to Prozac that your mother had. How come? Because people who haven't had much history of suicidal / rageful acts have been known to attempt to harm themselves and / or others as part of the agitation that some people experience with Prozac. Sometimes it can take a while of stopping Prozac for the symptoms to disappear, so people are usually monitored very carefully while they stop the meds.

Is there any way your mother could see a p-doc instead of getting prescriptions by an MD? MD's often don't know as much about side-effects and withdrawal syndromes as p-docs because they have a whole heap of medications to try and keep up to date with rather than focusing on just psych meds.

> I never know when she's telling me about our shared reality, or her own.

Yeah. That is why it is important for doctors to do a thorough assessment of symptoms BEFORE starting medications. So they can carefully monitor alterations in symptoms / the emergence of new ones.

I checked out the med in this psychiatry manual I've got. It said that it is quite different to Prozac (and other SSRI's) and that it is known for having relatively few side effects. I guess it tends to be used for people who don't respond well to Prozac (and other SSRI's). It is primarily an anti-depressant but also has a side effect of sedation so is suitable to aid sleep and help with anxiety too.

'The drug is particularly effective at improving sleep quality - increasing total sleep time, decreasing the number and duration of nighttime awakenings, and decreasing the amount of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep' - so maybe it was prescribed to assist with the nightmares?????

Does she have a follow up appt. with the MD to assess how the med is working out for her anytime soon?