Increasing Dose, any thoughts

Hi friends,
I have been on Prozac(fluoxetine) 20 mg for a month now, still having early morning awakening and anxiety. My depression has lifted a little bit I should say, but I am contemplating increasing the dose to 30 mg, as previously I have done well on 40mg, but this episode of depression is only mild compared to the previous occassions. Any suggestions and advice will be much appreciated.

I would simply ask the dr prescribing you. Are you suffering any side effects? Ask dr if there are any consequences of increasing dose. Good luck.

When I started taking prozac, my pdoc said my dose was probably gonna be somewhere between 10 & 40 mg (definitely not over 60 or 80). over the past 10 years, i've gone up and down, depending on what else I was taking. from 20 to 30 isn't that big of a leap, I don't think; I am currently holding at 20. I can tell when my dose is too high (40 mg) because my head feels cold from the inside - weird!

Thanks guys, I have increased it to 30mg, feeling ok, some days are good some days are bad, i am trying to be positive and motivate myself, previously i was on 40mg before i started to feel better and regain my confidence, sleep is a major problem now, i just want to sleep and forget about everything else, but with so many things happening in my life I am finding it hard to get sleep, taking alprax at night but still keep waking early in the morning feeling anxious. Hope it goes away soon. God help me overcome this depression and difficult times in my life.

Prozac helped me alot, too. Good luck with it! I hope you can get your sleep issue resolved.

20 mg of prozac is one of the lowest dosages. Personally I would try the increase - there aren't many side effects with prozac so it should be safe. I myself am on 80 mg per day as part of my daily cocktail of meds. I've tried so many of the antidepressants but ended up back on prozac and am glad. I had so many bad reactions to the newer meds that are out. I'm staying with the tried and true.

shall I leave it for a month or so on 30mg before increasing to 40mg?

It's a trial and error type thing and everyone is different. Your doctor should be the one making this call....he'll probably have you stay on 30 mg for a couple of weeks to see how you react to it. I hope it works for you!

don't know if u've spoken with your doc but if u haven't let him know what's going on. i've learned mine can't help me if i don't discuss my symptoms and frustration. hope this helps. wishing you well.

I am planning to meet my new doctor in a weeks time as I am moving places, lets see wht he thinks, my previous doctor was not happy at all to start me on antidepressants as she thought it as a normal response to me going through divorce, but i was convinced that i was slowly getting depressed.

Was it a regular physician that you saw? If so, I would also look for a new psychiatric doctor too. Too many physicians prescribe things when it's not their area of expertise.

my job is such that i need to keep moving places every year or so, but i will make sure i will see a psychiatry doctor this time.

I would be careful regarding the doctor who said it was normal since you were going through a divorce. I've found that too--some seem reluctant to prescribe. Medications can prevent the damage that repeated untreated depression can yield. Like one of the other posts mentioned--don't hesitate to inquire regarding increasing or changing meds.

Could not see my GP, tried last two days, now i have upped my fluoxetine to 40mg on my own> hoping to see GP soon and seeing a therapist next week