Diagnosed today with severe depression, fluoxetine

[BobShark]

I was diagnosed today with severe depression, my GP has prescribed me Fluoxetine.

Can anyone tell me about their experiences with this medication?

Honestly the worst part of how I'm feeling is the total lack of energy, and motivation to do anything.

I'm a single parent to a 10yo boy, with no family (living overseas). I have a couple of good girlfriend's who I can talk to about this but nobody with any actual experience of having been through it.

I will be starting therapy and CBT as soon as I find a therapist.

I'm Feeling overwhelmed and emotional about it all, relieved to find an explanation and positive that I may have found a way forward but I'm still afraid not really sure what to expect.

I'm on it after a terrible period of extreme anxiety. For the first few weeks nothing changed and I still felt dreadful. And then, somehow, I didn't..
It's been a life saver but don't expect instant or even fast results. Your brain chemistry needs to sort itself out and that can take a while. Good luck x.

Fluoxetine is very good. It will take a week or so for you to start to feel better but then it should really help you. It’s very sensible to take medication when you need it. It’s not an artificial high, it’s a rebalance. I hope you feel back to normal soon.

My DD is on it. it may take 6-8 weeks before you see a positive impact but it made a whale of a difference for DD when on the right dose.

I am on it and stick with it , you might feel worse initially while it settles into your system but it gets better and my anxiety has settled loads.

Initially I took it in the morning as it made me a bit high and then changed to bedtime as it was making me sleepy. Has made a difference with me. Previously on citalopram but stopped working.

It takes a lot longer than a week unfortunately.

Thanks so much for your positive messages, after almost a year of feeling this way and finding reasons for it I've hit a wall and afraid of it goes much longer I won't be functioning at all.

I'm so glad to have found a reason for how I'm feeling but terrified about how this plays out over the next few weeks,

I really appreciate all your support ☺️

@BobShark I've been on fluoxitine now for about 4 weeks. I've got an anxiety disorder which when it gets out of hand sends me into a depressive state.
Not noticed a massive improvement yet but my mood is better that it was. Had my dose upped today.
Like a pp said I'm absolutely knackered and completely fatigued atm.
Mind you I told my psychiatrist last week how tired I am and how I'm not really doing a lot. She (refreshingly) said 'but your ill. If you had the flu or something you wouldn't feel bad about resting. X

@Ilovedogs1 this resonates 😂
I'm a single parent, with a full time job and a home to look after, I'm seemingly doing 'a lot' but what nobody sees is me laying on the sofa for hours or a whole day when my son is at his dads trying to recover from it all.

I am one of those people who always cope with everything, and I have nobody to lean on so I can't opt out, or at least I haven't yet reached the place where o can't do the things.

All I want is my energy back,

I moved to Fluoxitine after several awful months on sertraline and then citalopram. Within 3 days of starting fluoxitine it was like someone had opened the curtain and I could finally see the sunny day outside.

Life changing.

I took it for about 6 months, which was enough time to make some changes that helped life to be better, and I could come off the medication.

It's great stuff OP

I had horrible restless legs for the first three nights but do persevere. I hope you fell better soon and based on many experiences, you will

It's fabulous stuff.

Took me 6 weeks of feeling worse before I felt better though so be kind to yourself.

it saved me. I had moderate/severe depression 10 years ago, and started to feel better within a few weeks. It was slow progress mins, had to up the dose a couple of times. At one point I was taking 60mg a day, having started on 20mg.
but it really worked for me. came off it after five years with no problems- with tapering supervised by the GP.
things git bad again during lockdown and I went back on it for a bit, but am coping ok at the moment
but it helped me so much.
I also found ensuring I drank plenty of water helped reduce side effects when I started taking it/upped the dose
but a hand hold from me, hope it works for you