Fluoxetine anyone ? Nearly 4 weeks, not much difference really ? Or ?

[huoitfea]

I’ve been on fluoxetine 20mg for nearly 4 weeks now. I decided to go on it for my health anxiety/ existential anxiety.

I had been anxiously awaiting some test results and was losing my mind over it. I decided to start as soon as I got the clear with the results.

I am not really feeling any different. I haven’t really had many reasons to actually spiral lately, since the results came back. Mood is kind of similar. Motivation is the same, energy levels are the same. I’m sleeping a bit better. That’s it.

Is that normal ? Does it take more time ? I just wanted to feel a bit better generally and less spiralling. I guess I might be spiralling a bit less, getting a bit less frustrated with the kids, maybe. But I’m not sure. Maybe I am feeling better but it’s just very slight ?

how do you notice you’re feeling better ?

Fluoxetine can take up to 8 weeks to kick in if i recall correctly, so hang on in there.

They may up the dose.

Hi, lovely news on the clear results. Keep on for a little while. I had some sort of breakdown during Covid (nurse) and I remember taking fluoxetine and just feeling numb. About two months later I laughed again for the first time in all those weeks and it was wonderful.

I was on it about a decade ago and found it to be a lifesaver. I noticed the difference after 2 weeks. However that was for depression. Ironically one of the side effects of the Prozac was anxiety which I wasn’t really aware of before… perhaps it’s not right for your symptoms. Beta blockers might be better for anxiety but might be worth going back to GP to discuss

When is your review op?

Hey I’ve been trying to post but my posts weren’t going through. Review was the other day. Not that useful. Doctor said do you have any to go up ? I said, is it not working ? Can you tell after 3 weeks and he was like, no it’s too soon to say that. Eh well why are you suggesting I go up in dose or asking me in the first place then ? Confusing !

i will stay on 20 mg for now. Then see how it goes, I feel a bit flat.

I did. It worked.

Could you specify what you did ? Go up a dose at 3 weeks? Glad to hear whatever you did worked ! Tell me more please 🙏

It was a long time ago so i dont remember exactly. I was upped to 60mg. Was taking it for about 2 yrs with threapy.
My mh did improve after. Id say always go back to the gp.

It’s now been three weeks since I posted this. So I’m around week 7-8 now. From week 4 things took a real turn for the worse for me.

I couldn’t stop focusing on stomach sensations and trying to work out if they were pain or anxiety. I thought about it all day; every day, obsessively. It just got worse and worse, the more I thought about it. It just felt like a knot in my stomach. I even saw the GP who prescribed propananol.

then I made my mind switch topics to something different and rewarding and then I just could not stop thinking about that. Racing thoughts, day and night about this other “ positive “ topic. No appetite at all. Racing thoughts about how I’m finally going to lose weight I’ve been trying to lose for ages.

my sleep has gone down hill BIG time. The other night I got 3 hours sleep. My thoughts were just racing so much. I’ve calmed down a bit now but I’m still feeling a bit wired. I am still not getting great sleep but it’s a bit better than it was earlier in the week.

anyways, I don’t think it’s mania, as I’m aware of it and watching and not actually doing stuff that’s out of character. I’m just thinking a lot.

I have a GP appointment on Friday, so I guess then we will decide if this is the right medication. Would love to get some thoughts from anyone who may have experienced something like this?

It took about six months for mine to work OP, I was so close to giving up, but I went up to 60mg and haven’t looked back

Did you also have racing thoughts and inability to sleep ? No appetite during that time ?

Ironically I had quite bad anxiety when I was on them having never had it really before. I think it calmed down though. I didn’t have racing thoughts as such. Also completely killed my appetite and I lost quite a lot of weight when I was taking them. See what doc says at review because they shouldn’t be disturbing your sleep so it might be that they just aren’t right for you

I'm guessing this is the first antidepressant you've tried? It's worth giving it a good go - they can take up to 2 months to work - but given your experience I agree it's sensible to get a review and try something else. Do you know that antidepressants aren't hugely helpful for anxiety though? You need to do some exposure work either self-led or with a therapist, really facing your fears. I'd really recommend the Overcoming Health Anxiety book. Antidepressants can springboard you to have the motivation to do this work.

yes, I have never tried antidepressants before. I’ve been prescribed them a few times, also for depressive episodes which isn’t what I would describe I’m in at the moment.

I didn’t know they don’t really work for anxiety! I was aware fluoxetine is activating and could make it worse for a while.

thank you so much for the book recommendation. That’s a great idea. I will get it !

Fluoxetine works perfectly for me. No side effects, it kicks in quite quickly and it has literally saved my life. When I need medication, that’s my go to request because I know it’s the best one for me.

Having said that, there are so many on the market and I know that something like the Citalopram that gave me terrible anxiety and panic attacks, is doing the same thing for someone else as Fluoxetine is for me. It’s just a case of finding the right one for you.