Suddenly stopping fluoxetine

[nibdedibble]

I am on 20mg fluoxetine daily for menopausal symptoms. Have been for 7 years now.

I just realised today that I haven't picked up my prescription and actually haven't taken it for a week. I feel fine. I looked up side effects and I don't have them.

I did taper off a couple of years ago but felt like brain fog was too much. GP suggested I go back on it. I don't think this was the right decision.

What would happen to me if I just didn't take it? Has anyone done that? I know you're not supposed to.

Extremely bad idea. You will be confused, emotional, hot and cold sweats, headache, brain zaps, palpitations, shaking and feeling sick. People can die from withdrawal and 7 years is a long time.

It stays in the body a long time (half-life) so you may not notice anything

Just checking in. Didn’t start taking it again. I’m fine. No noticeable side effects of stopping but I was on a very low dose.
It’s been several weeks now and though I’m a bit sharper of tongue, the flip side is that my libido has totally returned, and that is an absolute joy! (DH agrees...)

Bloody well done 😀
Your one of the lucky ones, no withdrawal
Enjoy 😉

I was on this for years, was taking 40mg a day and had a really low episode and had the crisis team team. They told me to stop the fluoxetine in preparation of taking mirtazepine. Never again! I needed Valium due to the effects of stopping them and the brain zaps lasted months.
I’d advise anyone not to stop them cold turkey it’s absolutely rotten.

Unforgettablefire eek, that’s awful. I didn’t do it very deliberately and have been lucky but the advice is definitely not to do what I did. (I was on it to control hot flushes, I wonder if that makes a difference?)

Glad it worked well for you, OP. I don't remember having much difficulty with my various cold turkeys off fluoxetine, either. Some brain zaps, some anxiety, but nothing major, and I was on 60mg. I'm back on it at the moment, because I've been patchy with my meds, and my GP specifically wanted me on something where skipping doses is unlikely to cause major effects.