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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask about Fluoxetine

21 replies

Grapeeatingweirdo · 19/05/2015 21:47

I've been prescribed Fluoxetine for depression and anxiety and was wondering if anyone here had experience with this medicine.

Luckily, I'm on a much lower dose than in the past because my issue is more anxiety than depression.

My real issue is the "spaced" out feeling I still have after taking them for a week.

Will they still work if I take one every other day? I have a full time job that requires being on my A game and can't afford to be so zonked. On the other hand, the anxiety was starting to drive me mad.

Help! How have you been able to minimise the side effects of Fluoxetine? They really do work but I can't go on like this.

OP posts:

Mammicar · 19/05/2015 21:48

I've been on them for a few years now. 40mg a day for anxiety. The side effects do away for you have to persist for at least three weeks from what I remember. I had the zonked out feeling and nausea which was hideous but after 3/4 weeks I was ok

They have helped me.

OrangeVase · 19/05/2015 21:50

I was lucky - I didn't suffer too badly with this althoguh I do know what you mean. I did reduce my dose as I began to fell better and the spaced out feeling eased. BUT I don't think I could have done this while I was feeling the worst of the depression.
Good luck.

ophiotaurus · 19/05/2015 21:54

I had the spaced out thing for about a week then it passed. I actually felt stoned. But now I feel much happier. Far better than I was on sertraline. Felt like a zombie on that.

SummerHouse · 19/05/2015 21:57

Does not mix well with alcohol. Otherwise ok.

TestingTestingWonTooFree · 19/05/2015 21:58

Please don't muck about with the dose, go back to whoever prescribed it and ask for help.

Malenky · 19/05/2015 22:02

I haven't taken fluoxetine but I've taken sertraline which is another SSRI and it's really best to stick with the dose they told you to take for at least the first two or three weeks. They are fantastic for me and do work but I know the feeling you're talking about, luckily it hasn't been too bad so far, very occasional.

OrangeVase · 19/05/2015 22:38

Sorry - should have said - I reduced the dose with the consent of my doctor because I felt I was coping better.

hiddenhome · 19/05/2015 22:43

Try taking them at night until they're in your system. You get the worst of the side effects over with by the time you wake up. I always took my SSRI before bed.

MsVestibule · 19/05/2015 22:48

I took the full dose for about a month, then scaled back to one every other day. However, I don't remember feeling spacey on them. Have you spoken to your GP?

ACSlater · 19/05/2015 22:49

I found Fluoxetine AWFUL. Made me really unfeeling other than violent outbursts. Never ever again.

CelibacyCakeAndFuckThePO · 19/05/2015 22:54

I have to take my meds at night because they knock me out if I take.them in the day.

I was on Fluoxetine and although they stopped me being suicidal and pulled me through the worst.of.My depression, the side effects were too much. I didn't know that I could ask for a other SSRI to try though - some meds do not suit some people.

I am now on Seroxat.and I'm in love with it. It makes me.normal with no side effects. Apparently it's really hard to withdraw from though.

Welshmaenad · 19/05/2015 22:54

Fluoxetine saved my life.

I agree that taking it at night is your best bet. I was taking it in the morning and was so crushingly tired by 7pm that I was going to bed as soon as the kids did, took me ages to work out that taking it in the evening worked better for me!

SmillasSenseOfSnow · 19/05/2015 22:55

If you take them less regularly than intended then I can only imagine you are going to worsen the side effects. At least that's all I can remember happening when I forgot a pill when I was previously on SSRIs at various times.

You've only been on them for a week, give it a chance. This is not 'it' for the foreseeable future.

Choccybaby · 19/05/2015 22:56

I don't think they'll work as well every other day. Might be best seeing your GP and maybe trying something else if the spaced out feeling doesn't settle

ThomasRichard · 19/05/2015 23:01

I had that spaced out, absolutely shattered feeling too and went back to my GP after 2 weeks, who prescribed me the prolonged-release so that I could take 1 tablet a day after dinner so I'd be awake the next day. It's worked really well.

duplodon · 19/05/2015 23:02

It depends how much you need and want it, or whether you can go another route. ADs are great for when you are really in the shitter but that also helps you cope with side effects. I had terrible side effects but I was so unwell overall it hardly mattered, I needed them. If your anxiety is mild or mild-moderate and you can manage your anxiety through other means, that would be better for you. If not, take the drugs, the side effects will pass in time.

Lemondrizzletwunt · 19/05/2015 23:05

I took them, and I also lowered the dose to one every other day. However, please please talk to your doc first (they can't forbid you, so telling them is informing them so they can care for you effectively) and please do it if you feel the same way in a couple of weeks. SSRIs take a while to build up in your system, and please also watch out for a bad patch in the next week or so. For the first couple of weeks I was more volatile and more prone to feeling suicidal than at any other time.

cakedup · 19/05/2015 23:07

Yep, Fluoxetine saved my life too. Have been taking it for years, no side effects, just feel normal. I take 20mg daily and still feel a bit low sometimes but feel well enough to do something about it, which is normal, it wouldn't be right to feel happy all the time.

However, the first few weeks of taking it were AWFUL. I remember feeling really trippy and calling my GP in Sainsburys going "help me, I feel really weird!" She told me to stick with it and I'm glad I did. It just takes a bit of time for your body to adjust to it. Please don't mess about with the dose, that's more likely to have a negative effect.

Welshmaenad I've always taken mine in the morning. So are you saying that taking it in the evening makes you less tired in the day?

Gooseysgirl · 19/05/2015 23:12

It took me at least three weeks before the initial side effects left me. I completely lost my appetite and was exhausted.

TheCatsFlaps · 20/05/2015 00:09

Fluoxetine did nothing for me, I ended up on SSRI's and benzos, but your own mileage may vary. I have an extremely high tolerance to most drugs and can knock back midazolam like sweeties.

KingJoffreyFanciesDarylDixon · 20/05/2015 00:14

I'm on Fluexotine for depression (no side effects - works really well for me) but take Propanolol for anxiety.

The anxiety was crippling and Propanolol totally saved my arse.

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