Fluoxetine

[mumtoateenger75]

Hi
I am 45 and over past 2 years have felt a lull of black cloud coming over me
Symptoms like tired all the time
Highly reactive
Stressed
Anxiety
No get up and go
I went to my doc and they gave me vitamin b6 on prescription to try for 6 weeks
I feel it helped with tiredness but no my low mood
My doctor has now suggested trying 10 mg of Fluoxetine
I have started my first tablet yesterday
Just wanted feedback and reassurance from anyone who has taken it before and if it made a difference
I haven't told anyone I'm taking it as it feels like I've failed or like a dirty little secret don't know why x

Been on and off fluoxetine for a number of years. I works really well for me with no downsides. I am a decade older than you and had a very high pressure job. It helped me function normally.
I am on and off it as my depression is situational so I needed it when mum died, when I had a shitty divorce etc.
You have not failed. You are ill. Would you refuse chemo if you had cancer?

Thankyou yes that's reassuring knowing you had no side affects and yes your right xx Thankyou

I have also been on Fluoxitine on and off for a number of years - firstly to help with energy levels having M.E many years ago and latterly for anxiety, linked to peri-menopause like you. It has certainly helped me. I've seen quite a few negative threads on the Menopuse board about using SSRIs, but everyone is different and personally I would rather take them than have HRT.
There is no shame as the previous poster said, they are a medication to help with a condition.
Just note that they can take several weeks to start working properly (3-6 I think) and they can heighten some feelings of anxiety while they are kicking in - that's perfectly normal and passes but if you feel it's unmanageable then go back to your doctor.
10mg is the lowest / starter dose - 20mg is usual for an adult, so see how you go and don't feel bad about it possibly being upped gradually. The maximum is 60mg a day to give you some context.

Yes GP did say she would put me on a low dose to start which I prefer as I can then see how I get on x
It's reassuring to hear good feedback of it x
I'm guessing the people around me would notice it more

@mumtoateenger75 why has your GP given you anti depressants for peri menopause symptoms? Has she diagnosed you as depressed?

The guidance from NICE is that HRT is first line treatment not ADs. This is set out very clearly in the 2015 NICE menopause guidance.

Menopause specialists are despairing at GPs still doing this and there has been a huge campaign by them - in the media too- to get this bad practice stopped.

ADs are powerful drugs with side effects. They are not a treatment for menopausal symptoms.

You need estrogen unless you have a long and established history of depression.

I am a health journo- I speak to loads of drs on this and have written about it professionally. I can't emphasise enough how this is regarded as the wrong treatment.

Please see another GP and read as much as you can on this.

The website of Dr Louise Newson has lots of articles on this topic and about incorrect use of ADs.

Good luck!

@mumtoateenger75 The NICE guidelines are pinned to the top of this page.

Go to them and click on diagnosis. Look down the page to 'managing short term symptoms' and I think it's point 1.4.7

It says very clearly that SSRIs are not to be used for peri meno psychological symptoms.

You will get posters saying they are happy on drugs like this but it's not the right treatment and that is why NICE has said so.

I wouldn't touch AD unless it really was a last resort.

I cannot stress enough how healthy eating and dropping lots of carbs/ sugar lifted all my symptoms. I have slipped off the wagon and they are back again.

Oh .....I have no idea I just trusted my doctors professional opinion
She never mentioned HRT as I am
Not having night sweats or hot flushes and my periods are regular as clockwork x

I was on it some years ago when I was very depressed in my 30s. It lifted my mood very successfully after a few weeks and when I felt better 9 months later I gradually tapered it down with no ill effects. However that was well before menopause so I couldn't say whether it's actually HRT you need but just wanted to share my positive experience of being on ADs

@mumtoateenger75 Out of interest, why did you yourself think this was related to peri menopause and post in the menopause forum? (Rather than maybe mental health?)

Did you associate your low mood with hormonal changes?
Did your GP not?

The NICE guidance is that in women of your age, low mood is usually hormone -related if it's a new symptom.

There are thousands of women using ADs in middle age but that doesn't mean it's right or the correct treatment. Many of those women are suffering from hormonal-related low mood and many/ most GPs do not know the right way to treat it (and some just hate HRT for no reason other than their own bias.)

It's actually become a medical scandal of sorts that too many women are being treated with SSRIs instead of hormonal treatment.

This is a link to a medical website where there is loads on it- do some research and maybe speak to another dr.

www.menopausedoctor.co.uk/search?query=anti%20depressants

Hi because that is what I went to my doctor thinking it was and that is what my doctor said I seem to be suffering with and she decided that was a route to go down
I didn't realise I had done anything wrong posting under this subject

I think maybe I confused you.

I wasn't for a moment saying you had done anything wrong.

But I assumed that when you posted on the menopause forum, you thought your mood was linked to being 45 and possibly in peri meno.

I wondered if you had mentioned peri meno to your dr and she had dismissed it and given you ADs.

It's not advisable to reach for ADs straight off anyway with mild depression; GPs are advised to suggest counselling/ cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT on the NHS) or lifestyle changes such as daily exercise. They are supposed to offer those first.

You don't have to suffer from hot flushes or irregular periods to be suffering from hormonally- linked low mood. In women of your age, it's usually triggered by lower estrogen levels, unless it's reactive depression caused by some life events.

I presumed it was peri as I've never really felt like this before I've never suffered from depression at all and I went to the doctor and suggested that I felt it was because of that x she said that vitamin b was a good start I took that for 3 months with very little change and felt it getting worse
So she recommended to take the ADs
I was scared at first to take them
But I know I can't keep feeling this way either

You should see a different GP if you can, who knows about peri meno and the correct treatment.

Take some time to read all the articles in the link I left about how ADs are rarely the correct treatment for low mood in peri meno.

Ok will
Do Thankyou x