Prozac - Losing friend

[Lurve]

I have a very close friend that I have known since childhood that recently lost her Mum and the breakup of her marriage in a very short period of time and was struggling to cope.

I was there for her, and tried to help her with the feelings or just to listen. She went to her doctor's as well and they prescribed a Prozac (fluoxetine).

Unfortunately, since being on this drug (about a month now), she has totally withdrawn from me and refuses to answer any call or messages and has now even removed me as a friend on Facebook. I know a few others that she is friends with and is fine with them and we were such good friends before the tablets, but it's almost as if a switch has gone off and I've somehow become an enemy. I have tried to give her some space, but still letting her know i'm there for her if she needs me. But it's heartbreaking, will this improve when the tablets stop? is it a side effect?

Has anyone else had a similar incident with these tablets, any help would be appreciated?

Should I keep trying to contact her or just stop and wait it out?

It may just be that she feels you know too much about her feelings and she feels uncomfortable with that -it can unbalance a friendship. She may get over that, or she may not. I'm not aware of this being an effect of teh fluoxetine, but it could be that as part of feeling better she doesn't want to be reminded of what people know about her. It can take quite a while for fluoxetine to have its full effect, and she may feel better when it does and be ready for contact. However, she may remain uncomfortable that you know too much about her. I would suggest sending her a neutral message every week or so, just to say you hope she is well and to let you know if she'd like to meet up for a coffee. However, you may have to be prepared for the fact that she may not want to continue the friendship.

It doesn't sound like her behaviour could be caused by the medication.

It sounds more like you've said or done something which she feels is making her feel worse and wants to make some distance between you and her.

Can you think what this might be?

Thank you for your replies.

No, cannot think of anything at all, it literally was a conversation where said she had been to her doctors and had prescribed her the tablets and she had to go out and then she never responded again.

The day before that, she sent me a message thanking for being so lovely . It really is confusing.

I think if you're sure she has got your messages and is choosing not to return your calls etc then there's not much you can do I'm afraid.

Could there be somebody badmouthing you to her?

From a pharmacological pov, there's nothing about Prozac that would give rise to this behaviour, so I'd guess that there's something else going on. I'm sorry that she's treating you like this, it must be really confusing :(

That's what I feared .

I think you need to gve her some space, she needs to deal with whatever is going on in her head and probably can't deal with other relationships just now. Just let her know you will be there for her when she needs you. The first month on prozac can be a bit crap actually so she may well just need some time for that to settle down. Try not to take it personally. The drugs aren't making her behave this way, her depression is.

I'm sorry to hear that she isn't responding to you. I know when I was at my worst with depression I couldn't face seeing anyone. I must have come across as maybe being rude or something but that wasn't the case.
The first few weeks on Prozac I felt very detached from my body. My heart raced & I felt panicky & anxious. I would leave contact for now. She will contact when she's ready.