Fluoxetine - Side Effects, Good Stories Please....

[Sushipaws]

I just got a prescription of Fluoxetine from my doctor after almost a year of trying to cope without medication.

All I've read is how terrible the side effects are and I'm scared to start taking them.

How bad are the side effects and how long do they last. If you go by the previous posts on this site, it seems they last for weeks and make you feel dreadfull.

I feel like such a failure for giving in and trying medication but I'm really at the end now and I can't do it anymore on my own.

Any advice most welcome.

I find it hard to get up, the hardest I have ever found it. While dd has been away there have been days when I just have not got up

I find it hard to get up, the hardest I have ever found it. While dd has been away there have been days when I just have not got up

THat is interesting divastrop as I have had a really bad upset stomach and really smelly farts, dp slept on the couch the other night,

i was on this for 17 days and doctor has changed it now as it was upsetting my stomach and she also said if ur lethargic or exhausted which i felt on days then it is not a gud idea to drive, although i did feel better in my mood the side effects were bad, but everyone is different i would stick with them and go bk to your doctor if side effects r very bad!

Just to update I have now come down with a horrendous cold so i think a lot of the problems may have been that. I haven't been sick since yesterday lunch time so hopefully I will be ok now, I did wake up at 2am and took hours to get back to sleep.

Oh no Dita, I hope you get better soon.

I slept ok last night but I really didn't want to get out of bed this morning. Good dh got up with dd so I got a sleep in. I felt really giggly this morning, like I had done something naughty, like under age drinking.

I don't know how long the meds take to work but I've not lost my temper at all today.

well, I've been on them for 2 months and feeling miles better. yes, some side effects, but they mostly wore off after about 2 weeks. I drink a bit on them - I don't have many vices! I've been a bit flaky after drinks a couple of times, but just drink a small amount the first couple of times and see how you feel - it just depends how you react with it. It is worth giving a go - worth trying anything to feel better! I woke up claustrophobic a few nights, had a dry mouth and felt like I had the cdaffeine shakes, but it wasn't too awful. I felt a bit better after 2 weeks, a good bit better after 4 weeks, and a bit better again now, after 2 months. I'm fine getting up in the mornings - no problems at all.

Sushi, I am feeling a lot better this morning, I also have not lost my temper for a day or so.
I spent most of the day in bed yesterday but I feel a lot better for it. Trust me to get a cold, also dd1 was coughing all night poor little thing.
WEH glad they are working, can't wait to be there.

Well day three and I've felt like a zombie all day. I couldn't be bothered doing anything. I played with dd all day and fed her etc... but I couldn't be bothered doing anything for myself, like eating. DH brought me home some chips but dd wouldn't go to sleep so they got cold and I had a bit of a strop.

I hope I'm not so spaced tomorrow as I have to go to work.

Dita, I guess I'm at the point now that you were on Friday when I started this thread. Are you still spaced out? Oh and hows the cold?

Also my dd had 6 dirty nappies today and I'm scared it's the meds going through while bf'ing. My doctor said this is the best one to be on but it's still worrying me. I guess it might just be teething as she's had her fingers in her mouth all day.

I guess I'd better go to bed now.

I took it 3 yrs ago for about 6 mths for various reasons and I too felt anxious after reading the side effects, but really you just have to try them, if they don't agree with you then you can lower the dose or try different ones. To begin with I felt shaky and got a dry mouth, emotionally I felt braver and more detached, less intense. When i increased my dose i did start getting bad headaches, whch was one of the main resons I started to come off them. I would take the AD's in the morning alongside Ibuprofen! I decided to come off them without consulting my GP and had heard of the side effects of coming off too fast so I tried to do it slowly, but still suffered side effects. These were extreme sensitivity to noises, sounds and images, jumpyness and insomnia. but it didn't take me long and now I'm absoloutly fine, feel on top of the world and glad they were there for me when I needed them. So take them. Give them a chance to work, don't worry to much about the side effects, the worse ones are extremely rare. Talk to people about your fears. You'll get better. Good luck.

I took fluoxatine for PND.
For the first couple of weeks I felt really tired and spaced out. Then I felt loads better mentally but had insomnia so switched to taking them in the morning instead of the evening.
After a brief settling in period they helped so much. I was able to function again. I was on them for a year, and thought they were great. Annoying stuff could happen, I wouldn't care! I came off them after a year, with no problems, only one day of feeling weepier than usual.
HTH

Hi sushi, hope you are feeling a bit better this morning. I am actually feeling quite good now, Friday I was in a reel mess and Sat I wasn't a lot better but yesterday I wasn't too bad at all and today i got out of bed straight away when I woke up for the first time in about a year.
My appetite has come back but I am not starving like I was before, just eating sensible amounts of sensible food and not craving crisps and chocolate I hope that lasts, I have lost 5lbs since last Weds, it is the easiest weight I have ever lost and I may try going running again tonight as I feel that much better.
I am a little nervous this morning as it is playgroup and I think that is what sent me that step too far so I went to the doctors last week. I just hate feeling like everybody doesn't like me and trying to force myself into conversations where i am clearly not wanted or just sit on my own and look miserable. I am going to try really hard not to let it get to me today.
if doc said meds are Ok for bf then I wouldn;'t worry too much, i don't think the effects would be nappy related anyway IYSWIM.

Morning Dita,
It is GREAT news that your feeling better, I'm so pleased for you and I hope I feel like that in a few days.
I know what you mean about playgroups, my problem is that I talk too much. I have come to the conclution though that these people aren't people I'd choose to hang out with, they're people I have just been thrown in with, like work colleagues. So who gives a f**k what they think anyway, we should just do our own thing and be who we are. Do you have a choice of playgoups, is there a different group you can join or even a toddler music group?
I had about 2 hours sleep last night, I have never experienced insomnia in my life. I dropped off quite early but my dh poked me in the back and said I was snoring, I couldv'e kicked him. DD woke up at 4am and I was so pleased it gave me an excuse to get up and do something.
Anyway I'm meant to be at work today, dd is in nursery, but I've called in sick and I'm going back to bed.
Hope you have a good run later.

hey sushi, i hope going back to bed helped.
Playgroup wasn't actually too bad, I have been going there for 4.5 yrs so actually have a lot of friends there I just get really paraniod, I have been talking nicely to people all morning who have actually been really nice. I wonder whether as I have been getting deppressed I have gone a bit weird and people have found it hard to talk to me.
I slept all night last night so hopefully you will be better tonight.
p.s. I think you should have kicked your dh.

glad that people are feeling better.

I have had really bad shakes today, so bad people have commented. Am going to try and have an early night tonight and see if that helps as I only got a few hours of sleep last night.

Hey Twinset, I hope you have / had a good nights sleep and your shakes have gone.
I showed my dh this thread and he lasughed at your M&S experience, I know it probably wasn't funny for you but I can just picture it
I spent today in bed and feel quite good tonight, have a wee glass of wine in the hope that'll help me sleep.

Hi i am in my 3rd week of taking 20mg of fluoxetine but the lightheadedness still comes and goes. I see. Most people saying the side effects go away after 2 weeks so a bit worried. Has anyone had aide effects lasting more than 3 weeks??
Xx

Hi new to this,
I started taking fluoxetine in June 2018,for anxiety, felt OK after 2 months so took myself off thinking I didn't need them, 3weeks later I'd gone completely downhill and the doctor put me back on them.
I've continued to take them for the last 4months, but I've noticed a dramatic difference in my hair, it's gone from shoulder length to 3inches on top, I've noticed nothing whilst washing my hair or on the pillow, and no signs of alopecia, had blood tests taken this morn and Dr's app this Saturday coming (6/02/19)
Drug seemed to have worked the past 4months, but this last week I've become low, crying for no reason, vivid dreams, dry mouth, and skin has got really bad again this last month (acne)

Is there anything I can take for hair growth before I loose the lot 😭😭😭