Prescribed Fluoxetine but too anxious to take it!

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Basically as the title says... I've had a stressful time recently and am really rather depressed. I saw my GP who is referring me for counselling and prescribed fluoxetine for me. I've picked up the tablets but can't bring myself to take them.
I'm terrified that:

• advice leaflet says might not be able to drive, I have to drive to work! Work is currently helping me feel vaguely OK so not going is not an option.
• side effects generally sound awful, nausea, anxiety, insomnia.. I already have all this - I don't think I can cope with being worse
• petrified of becoming addicted to them. Have friends who have been on prozac for 20+ years. Really do not want that.
• worried I'll be zombie- like.
• loss of libido seems really common. I don't want to lose my sex drive

I'm sure most of this is irrational anxiety driven by my depression.. please someone bitch-slap some sense into me so I can make a decision and either take the fucking pills or return them to the pharmacy.

Hi

I was you 15 months ago. Sitting reading the side effects of the tablets. Terrified that I would have every side effect going. Becoming zombie like. In fact from picking up my tablets it took me three months to actually take them.
I take 50 mg sertraline. Starting dose. Lowest dose possible and I can honestly say it saved my life.

I wish I had trusted my doctor and taken them straight away instead of battling on my own for two years.
I won't lie to you the first week wasn't easy. I had few side effects and it doesn't work as soon as you take first tablet. It takes a good few weeks. But you are suffering now. Unnecessarily.
I can drive on my tablets. Before taking them I was anxious about driving.
I had insomnia before taking them and now sleep well.
I can work now and before I couldn't.
I am not spaced out, zombie like at all. Quite the opposite.
Sex drive same as before. ??

I say trust your doctor and try. Lots of luck. 2014 is your year to look after you

Oh Christ just take them. Honestly. You may have some unpleasant symptoms for a week or so (I did, it was grim) but once they start working you'll be a new person altogether. If they don't help you at all, the doc will reassess and try something else, there are countless options.

Anxiety is truly crippling, please don't live with this horrible illness. Clever and wonderful people have invented a cure, we are so lucky to have these pills available and affordable. Free if you're Scottish!

I hope you feel much better soon.

Hi!

I started taking them 4 days ago and it was the best decision I have made in a long bloody while!!

I prescribed them before Christmas but I was so worried about what effect they would have. Please feel free to PM me x I felt better after the first one although I must admit I was concerned that I felt "drugged" but like I say.. day 4 and that's clearing up nicely :)

When have you been told to take them? I am on 20mg and am taking it before bed and that seems to be working ok

DS2 (aged 20) has been taking fluoxetine for a couple of months; he's had no side effects (or none that he's told me about) & has been fine with driving etc

He's not out of the woods yet but is feeling more positive about life & is less zombie-like than before

I have taken them and they were a great help. I would say don't take them at night as they can give you weird dreams.

Yeah someone else said that Sydlexic but they make me so drowsy after I take them that I am fit for nothing more than sleep. As I was having an issue with my sleep taking them before bed seems to make sense. I know some people take them in the morning but I need to be able to drive.

Thank you all.
I've been prescribed 20mg but not been told when to take them, just once a day. I will try to get myself motivated to start taking them tonight. I know logically it's for the best, just so worried!

I this is a common problem when your GP prescribes ADs but I can only endorse what every other poster has said. The thing is about side effects is the drug companies are compelled to cover themselves legally to list every single thing that could be a side effect.

The other thing that you need to know is that these meds react differently on different people, and I note someone says "don't take them at night because they can give you weird dreams" and that is what happened to her, but won't necessarily happen to you. Different ADs react differently on individual people, just to confuse us all a bit more!

Please take them - these are effective drugs and you won't become like a zombie but if you don't take them, you are likely to get more and more poorly.

DS2 does get the dreams but thinks they're a good thing

Fluoxetine changed my life - that simple. It was like switching the colour back on. I had minimal side effects and I take 60mg a day. It is one of the safest out there - I took it through 2 pregnancies. Please take it - it is the start of the rest of your life xxxxxx

Thank you for all your kind words and advice. It was exactly the kick up the bum I needed. I've taken my third tablet just now and so far side effects aren't too awful as far as I can tell. Just headaches and a little bit of mild nausea. Hoping to be feeling more like myself again in the next few weeks.

I had extrme post natal anxiety and OCD, I was ill for a very long time and briefly admitted to a mother and baby unit, fluoxitine helped save my life. I have beem on it for nearly two years but the benifits far outweight the side effects. I take mine in the morning and really dont have to many side effects appart from slightly weird dreams but this is alot better than not sleeping. I would also contact a CBT therapist as this helped me so much. Good luck and rememeber they may take a while to kick in so bear with them.

I used fluoxetine for around a year at a 20mg dosage. It actually made a real difference to my life. It made me feel like my old self again and I wish I had been prescribed it earlier.

Not on anything now but it seemed to 'jolt' me out of a pattern of anxiety and depression.

Hope you are feeling better soon x

I'll join you OP. I'm on 20mg of fluoxetine and started 25 days ago. I had daily headaches and felt a bit jittery and nauseous for a week or so, but also had a cold which wouldn't have helped. Just before I was prescribed them, my DSis phoned me up unexpectedly and I broke down and told her everything. Turns out she is on fluoxetine too for anxiety! I had no idea.

I really does help to talk to people with similar experiences so keep posting if you need to. Obviously everyone's side effects will differ and some may have none at all. The anxiety I felt about taking them was eventually dwarfed by my determinedness to get well, but I'd been in denial and refused medication for years, and got to that desperate stage of willing to try anything or be knocked out to feel better. Not feeling any significant positive changes just yet but I will go on this journey with you. You are doing the right thing.

FWIW I take mine in the morning, just because it's easier to remember 'wake up - pill time - start day' routine. I've been okay driving with them too.

I was on them for a few months OP and they made a massive difference in my life. I went from being too anxious to leave the house ... to having a night out with a pub for a friends birthday. I am on Venlafaxine now as my gp didn't think the Fluoxetine was strong enough for my anxiety but I give a heart thumbs up to Fluoxetine OP. Good luck