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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask your experiences with fluoxetine

50 replies

Imreallytrying · 21/10/2019 10:30

I’m on week two and feel dreadful, shakes, cold, and really bad anxiety. I thought it would help me 😢

OP posts:

Original poster

Imreallytrying · 22/10/2019 17:49

Oh dear, I am struggling with the nausea and dizziness and no appetite 😢

OP posts:

OnlyTheTitOfTheIceberg · 22/10/2019 17:49

I really struggled with it - racing heart, shakes, disordered thinking - and after persevering for several weeks my GP switched me to sertraline with which I got on much better, very few side effects.

MerryDeath · 22/10/2019 18:05

it's early days for you still. i am on sertraline and started on 50mg - felt no improvement and had a permanent headache. i went back to the Gp to ask to go back to citalopram and she instead increased my sertranline to 100mg... counterintuitive but ok... and bam, it kicked in, virtually no side effects. it's amazing and i don't feel i can be without it now.

Orangeblossom78 · 22/10/2019 18:19

For the nausea it can help to have it with something to eat. I first took this in 1999! and have been on and off it since...stopped for pregnancies etc

Aaarrgghhh · 22/10/2019 18:28

Fluoxetine didn’t work for me but regardless it can take up to six weeks to truly notice it helping. I’m on sertraline and after about six weeks I started to realise that I wasn’t crying so often I wasn’t thinking about ending things and I started finding a routine to get on top of things. I’m still on it now and don’t plan to come off any time soon. Along with sertraline I think fluoxetine is also safe to take while pregnant and I’m finally ready to have another baby and staying on is a relief.

Petrichor11 · 22/10/2019 18:51

I’ve taken various ADs over the years, I had a couple of months on fluoxetine a few years ago but didn’t find it helped and it gave me a bad stomach. But I know it did help my mother years ago although not sure about side effects.

But please know that just because fluoxetine might not be the best drug for you doesn’t mean there’s no help! There’s loads of ADs out there with slightly different effects and side effects and different ones suit different people.

HeresMe · 22/10/2019 19:39

I took it for about 6 weeks, going into CBT one day I was shaking crying suicidal and full of anxiety and stopped taking it.

Also better know as Prozac

TheDarkPassenger · 22/10/2019 19:44

I take it on and off alongside lithium. I wouldn’t use it as a long term thing tbh as I am numb on it, I don’t laugh I don’t cry... nothingness. It also ruins my sex drive! On the plus side it doesn’t make you put weight on as that’s a massive trigger for me!

I’m currently off it and the belly laughs are amazing! 😂 the simple things in life hey!

tillytoodles1 · 22/10/2019 19:45

I can only take Seroxat, not the generic fluoxetine as it makes me shaky and nervous, Can you change it for a while to at least give it a try

TimeforanotherChange · 22/10/2019 19:48

I felt much, much better on them. They really did make me feel calm and non stressed and able to cope with life.

I also put 3 stone on in 6 months which is why I eventually came off them. Still struggling with the weight gain.

AhACruelWindFlippedHerFaceOff · 22/10/2019 19:50

I have it before bed so I sleep through side effects. You just persevere for a month before judging it's performance. Xx

ThebishopofBanterbury · 22/10/2019 20:00

Great for my depression..helped so much! Not so great for my sex drive though :(

Fredella · 22/10/2019 20:08

When I started on it, I was already mentally and physically rock bottom, so the side effects didn't make much difference. Had to have my dose increased to make much difference, but once it fully kicked in (took about 3 months) it was marvellous! I discovered parts of myself that had been missing for years, including my sex drive!

Original poster

Imreallytrying · 22/10/2019 20:15

I’m going to try and switch to taking them at night.

OP posts:

Lucifer666 · 22/10/2019 20:26

OP it normally takes about 4-6 weeks or more for them to kick in but if the side effects are unbearable then see your GP and try something else. I took fluoextine for about 8 months and had to come off it cos I had bad side effects, but that was more to do with the fact that I had undiagnosed Bipolar Disorder at the time and as fluoextine is an SSRI giving someone with bipolar SSRI based medications is like giving a diabetic sweets. OP if you're really not sure don't worry there's loads of anti depressant meds that might suit you better everyone reacts differently. Hopefully the side effects will calm down once it kicks in. If not discuss with your GP. I hope it works out for you. Good luck

Inebriati · 22/10/2019 20:29

I couldn't cope with the side effects during the day, and if I took it at night had the most terrible nightmares.
I got better with (buffered) Venlafaxine - it does make you really sleepy at first, but that wears off.

Orangeblossom78 · 23/10/2019 09:00

Maybe could try taking at night or morning and see which suits as all seem different. I found it kept me awake if I took it in the evening.

My GP told me to come off it in pregnancy / breastfeeding as others are better for those times, but that was quite a while ago so maybe the recommendations have changed now. As far as I remember it was about the nature of its long half life or something. Not sure.

BeBesideTheSea · 23/10/2019 09:05

I have been on it for years, and find different “makes” give me radically different side effects wrt nausea, appetite, heartburn and sweats. So for me it is the fillers that are used not the actual fluoxetine. No-one takes me seriously though

underground76 · 23/10/2019 09:55

The symptoms you describe are very normal considering you're only two weeks in. It takes longer than that for those sorts of antidepressants to kick in and yes, you can feel worse before you feel better.

EmeraldShamrock · 23/10/2019 10:10

They are pretty normal side effects for the first 4 weeks.
I was on them for years, I found they didn't help my MH issues, ATT I went with the flow.
I changed over to steraline 7 months ago I feel so much better, again not sure if it's from medication or the DC being more settled.

ClosedAuraOpenMind · 23/10/2019 10:14

I'm just coming off fluoxetine after more than five years and it's helped me massively

I did struggle with some side effects at first, but found drinking lots of water helped with the headaches I would get, and the others (night sweats and v vivid dreams) lessened as the anti-depressant properties kicked in

stick with it if you can

Cactusmum · 23/10/2019 12:16

I was on it for 6 years, unfortunately depending on the person you have to ride through the side effects for the first 4 to 6 weeks.. worked well for me for about 5 years, the last yr it kind of seemed to stop working. Im on Lexapro now for the last 4 yrs or so.. (i think you call it Cipralex in the UK?)

Londonmummy66 · 23/10/2019 13:44

I had a lot of problems with it - mainly suicidal thoughts etc - and was taken off it and put on sertraline which was much better for me. The thing with anti-ds is that different drugs work better for different people and it can take a while to find the right one. If you are no better at the end of the week I'd go back to your GP and suggest trying a different SSRI.

bringincrazyback · 23/10/2019 14:06

I mostly got on OK with it. Apart from the little problem of being unable to orgasm whilst on it.

TimeforanotherChange · 23/10/2019 19:12

@bringincrazyback - that just gave me a lightbulb moment! I couldn't orgasm either on it. I had put it down to a menopause thing, but the problem has gone away now I'm off the fluoxetine.

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