Took my first prozac/fluoxetine pill today - anyone else on this?

[nikki1978]

So my cbt therapist this morning today suggested that I need to start taking medication. I have suffered from health anxiety for 12 years now and have been having a pretty bad episode for a few months now but have been feeling unable to cope recently. Not that you would know it to look at me but I am pretty good at covering up my feelings.

Every little thing wrong with my body sets me off and I always assume it is a serious or deadly illness. I can go from dementia to motor neurone disease in a matter of hours!

Anyway therapy isn't working as I am so anxious and wired. I gave put off taking medication for years but I have really had enough now.

Took the pill 5 hours ago. How long till side effects kick in? Bit nervous I will feel worse before I feel better.

Anyone else on this drug and want to share experiences?

I've been taking fluoxetine for 8 weeks now. Side effects not as bad as I expected. Dry mouth and a bit more anxious for the first couple of weeks. They've helped me a bit I think. I'm considering increasing dose, seeing consultant next week to discuss.

I take it and had no side effects when I started it.

I took it about 4 years ago for PND which was much more anxiety based depression. It worked wonders. My side effects were insomnia and dry mouth, especially the latter. Ironically the insomnia didn't wear me out. My sense of well-being came back quickly
I wouldn't hesitate to take this medication again if I needed to.

Ah thanks that's good to know. My body has had all it can take of being anxious. I need to relax!

Should I be expecting side effects already or will they start in the next few days? I am a bit concerned about losing my libido too - did anyone manage to get away with this one not happening?

I have been on this since end May at 20mg and 40mg for about three weeks. Main side effects at the start were headaches and then being constantly hungry (not good for weight control). I feel with 40mg, it is working finally and my appetite is back to normal. I also have anxiety and I am doing a mixture of CBT and mindfulness. My therapist is pretty insistent I do the daily meditations, so I look at these as medicine too.

Sorry, side effects took a day or two to kick in and a couple of weeks to settle down, except the hunger which I didn't realise was even an issue until it went away. With 40mg, the main side effect is fatigue.