Starting Prozac Help!!

Hi friends,

I started taking Generic Prozac one week ago at 10mg once in the morning for GAD, panic disorder, an depression stemming from the two. This is the first time I've taken an SSRI and the first four days where a dream. Now I have absolutely no appetite, nauseated, severe anxiety (pure adrenalin surging through my body...almost like I'm on fire, racing thoughts, chest tightness, you name it) and extremely unsettling dreams. Sometimes I feel like I'm being a baby about it but I always push through it and show up for work (I bartend at a busy bar and its not conducive for a relaxing, low stress time). I want nothing more to feel better as I am just exhausted and over dealing with my disorders. Do these awful side effects subside? I really want to push through and be on them for atleast six weeks. I take 5 mg xanax as needed but that isn't even calming me down. I'm calling my doctor on Monday to discuss side effects. Any input and words of encouragement would be wonderful. And if anybody has expierenced this what helped you? Thanks y'all, I hope everyone is feeling happy and pleasant!!!

And again, please only positive feedback. I'm definitely a hypochondriac and if I hear horror stories about prozac ill only give in and convince myself it's the devil. I'm trying to be very positive about this expierence and keep an open mind to getting better and I wish everyone else hope in their seek for happiness

with the no appetite thing you're going to have to force yourself to eat normally. do you feel nauseated right after you take the pills? it usually subsides if you eat while taking the pill. You should ask your doctor about increasing the dosage because apparently it's not working for you.

I wake up at 10 am and take my pill and go back to sleep (I work a night job). Nausea is persistent all day and I have a total aversion to food now. I'm supplementing with nutrient shakes. I always cycle with my anxiety depression. Two months usually. When I started taking the prozac last Sunday I had just ended a bad two weeks so I'm leaning more towards this being a side effect, like the meds are getting into my system and revving me up. I hate having to take xanax because it makes me so out of it and I bottom out the next day with depression . I am hesitant about upping my dosage because I can't bear the physical side effects anymore.

You certainly shouldn't increase the dosage before you've become accustomed to side effects. At one week, there is also little question as to whether or not to up your dose -- it is simply way too soon.

Funny! I have begun taking prozac last week as well! However, I am taking 20mg which I think is considered the lowest 'therapeutic' dose, whereas 10mg is a warm up. I have strong anxiety which I believe fuels the depression. My psychiatrist warned me about the initial start up effects, which anxiety patients are predictably sensitive to. Doctor advice is to wait them out, they are generally transient and will leave soon.

I hope it all works out for you. For a couple days this week, I had very little anxiety, but still feeling down. Today the anxiety seems to have come crashing back in. More time is needed to level out.

What you are experiencing are temporary and will go away in a week or two.

Hi,

I was on prozac for several years. When I first started and whenever the dose was changed (up or down) I would feel nausea, increase in anxiety and loss of appetite. They all passed after the first week or two, so if you think you can tolerate it that long it's worth staying on them. Around the three to four week mark you should hopefully start feeling the affects of the tablets working, and by six weeks they should be fully in your system and helping.

It is good that you are going to see you Dr, I found that very reassuring when I was struggling with side effects. They were able to put my mind at rest.

Good luck!

Milli

x

Thanks everyone. I'm going to stick with it even though its tough. Today's a new day, maybe it will be better!

So, just an update. Appetite is slowly coming back and nausea is subsiding. Still feel jittery and anxious. Hoping that passes soon as well.

Hi,

I am glad the side effects are starting to ease. The jittery anxious feeling should pass soon too.

Milli

x

I don't even thinks this qualifies as anxiety. This is fear! For two days I've had a tight knot in my chest that has been constricting and sending out adrenaline waves to the rest of my body. Racing, rampant and incoherent thoughts? If this is the meds I can't do it anymore. Or am I really just this crazy

I hope the side affects go away, I'm not on it but some like it and i had to go through a med change years ago for others and it does take time

After taking a xanax i calm down considerably. I hate taking them. I feel like its a sign of weakness and thanks to all of those that abuse benzos it makes those who REALLY need them hesitant to take them due to horror stories. I've never felt such intense feelings physically and mentally the past couple of days. I fear that I'm going to lose my job since it gives me the worst panic (I am a people pleaser and fear failure) I guess I'm going to take my xanax as needed till this either leaves my body or I get psychiatric help. I need to give myself credit for still getting my work done through this. Even though i feel weak and ashamed I'm still functioning.

Talk to your psychiatrist, please. You may need an additional medication to help you
through the adjusting period of Prozac.

I have found Prozac to be one of the best medications I've ever taken. I hope you will
like it, too. Of course, we're all different in how we metabolize things, so you'll need to
take that into consideration and be careful about how you manage your meds.

Take care.

I have an appointment today with my GP to hopefully get some insight and a referral to a psychiatrist. Thanks everybody for the support. It's been a rough month

Hi Sarah,

I hope your GP appointment went well and was useful. I also hope the side effects are fading now.

Milli

x

Thanks. She referred me to a psychiatrist and put me on lamotrigine 50mg before bed in hopes it calms the severe anxiety/panic

Are you still taking the Prozac?

Sorry you are having this experience. If I were you I would continue with the prozac. I have been having a couple days of intense anxiety, but I am choosing to continue prozac because I know my anxiety condition involves episodes like that anyway. I think that it is easy to fear/blame the meds.

I odee! Yes I am continuing the prozac as directed. My GP feels its a good sign that I haven't had a depressive episode since I've started and has hopes it will take care of that. The lamotrigine is supposed stabilize and alleviate the anxiety. And yes, it is easy to blame the meds. Hopefully this new stuff will work so I can stop living on xanax. How are you feeling on your dosage?

I have definitely been having relief of anxiety, perhaps 50% of the time. A great step forward for me. I feel tired and weary a lot, a sign of depression, but I have found myself with a few more smiles on some days. I have hope for prozac but I think I will need a higher dose. I no longer wake up early and struggle to fall back asleep from the prozac....but to be honest, some days I wish I had that side effect so I wasn't waking up late on my days off.

I am also on Lamotrigine, it is a bit of an artifact from when I was diagnosed Bipolar 2. New Pdoc diagnosed me with depression and anxiety, and I agree with that change. However, I don't believe I will ever quit lamotrigine anytime soon; it has been too helpful. I am on 150 right now. I just went down from 250 because 200mg and 250mg never seemed to have any additional benefit from 150mg. Lamotrigine was never my life saver, but for a time after I started it I could say I was 80% well! Unfortunately, that effect seemed to go away -- something my Pdoc warned me about. She cautioned me that I needed an AD with it but I refused, wanting to stay get the most out of lamictal instead.

I have taken prozac before -- was extremely restless, could not sleep, had a low appetite, etc. SSRI's always gave me nausea at initiation. It did not seem to help save reduce my irritability. I never went above 20mg and was on only 10mg for a good deal of time, thus never gave it a full chance. I have been told with lamotrigine that every med will work differently. Lamotrigine seems to 'enhance' ADs. I have noticed this time the side effects are greatly reduced, at least the start up ones for now. That's why I am trying prozac again with more hope.

I'm definitely experiencing some positivity for now. I hope it stays and that it reaches out to you too.

Odee, glad to know everything is working. I'm having hopes for the prozac because usually when I cycle and have four or five days of severe anxiety and I will bottom out with depression-not the case this time. Would you say your expierence on lamotrigine helped the anxiety for you and kept you at a normal, level mood? Glad to hear you're feeling better. That makes me happy.

I have been taking prozac for about a year now and I feel it's helped me tremendously.

I'm on two weeks and I've noticed a huge increase in energy and general good mood. Sometimes I get freaked out at how much energy I have because for YEARS I've always been lethargic and tired all the time. It's foreign to me but I'm getting accustomed to it. I'm having high hopes. Is this what "normal" people feel like? Haha