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Fluoxetine withdrawl or re starting that's making me so confused...help

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paul75690
paul75690

Hi. I have been on 20mg of fluoxetine for a year and half and they worked fine for me.i only took them due to a bad phase in my life and was a little down and depressed.i suddenly stopped them as I ran out and then I started taking citalopram a couple of weeks later for a bout 3 weeks.in this time I suffered what felt like a young midlife crisis and questioned my life choices.i was unsure of my relationship that I previously had been so happy with,I suddenly wanted to change my new car as I hated it.i wanted to move out from my mum and dads,and just didn't want to do anything at all.i stopped the cotalopram and got another subscription for the fluoxetine again and am now 3 weeks into them. I still don't feel properly in myself and just feel I need time out from the world and have no interest in things.i love my girlfriend but feel I need space from her to decide what I want.i just want to be back to where I was 6 month ago. Is it the withdrawl of fluoxetine that is making me like this or is it the swapping and changing medication. I'm hoping now I'm back on fluoxetine I start to feel normal

Soon and will get my old self back. Any advice would be great thanks.

0 likes, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • sarahB2890
    sarahB2890 paul75690

    Posted

    It's probably because of the change of meds remember that medication stays in your system and because you went off of fluoxetine your body needs to adjust to them again

    Give it time it will take a while before you will feel normal again

    • paul75690
      paul75690 sarahB2890

      Posted

      Thanks sArah that's what I was thinking. Appreciate your reply
  • katecogs
    katecogs paul75690

    Posted

    When you come an SSRI you must never just stop them or you'll be very ill. These meds take a long time to work in the beginning and must also be withdrawn from your body slowly.  Took me months to withdraw.  These are not like others types of nirmal meds where you can stop, change, start ....... so I expect you've had withdrawl  from Flu, beginning side effects from Cit, withdrawl from Cit and now beginning side effects from Flu.

    There is no quick fix.  Changing meds won't find the magic button and neither will constantly changing doses.  Either of these meds will work, but you have to give them months.  They are tough and you're bound to feel uncomfortable for a while yet.  It takes a good 6 weeks for a broken bone to start mending, and so the same time needs to be given to these meds too.  Some people take longer and some get better quicker.  They will help you though.

    You will get back to your old self again - just give them time to work again.

    K xx

    • katecogs
      katecogs

      Posted

      Silly iPad misses words!  First line should say 'when you come OFF an SSRI' ........ 🙄🙃
    • sarahB2890
      sarahB2890 katecogs

      Posted

      I take fluoxetine when needed and doesn't make me sick when I go off of it

      but going off of it permanently is hard on the body especially adding a second medication

    • paul75690
      paul75690 katecogs

      Posted

      Thank you for the reassurance Kate.

      I just want to understand what my true thoughts are. And if these thoughts I'm having now are thoughts I'm having due to side effects and depersonalisation. I'm just so confused and not me 😕

    • katecogs
      katecogs paul75690

      Posted

      Hi Paul

      When you're depressed or anxious your thoughts are also affected and become irrational.  The medication helps greatly, but when you first start the meds and when you withdraw your thoughts can be all over the place and become weird sometimes.  It's not how you normally are.  Depersonalisation happens as the result of these too.  It will all settle down if you stay on one meds, one dose, and stop swapping them about.  It takes a long, long time for the meds to build up in your body, so changing dose and meds makes your body not know if it's coming or going.

      You will be yourself again.  You can recover from this.  You just have to stay on the meds and keep going - accept whatever happens (it'll be the meds) and very slowly it'll get better.

      My son had a massive melt down 2 years ago, started these meds and went through hell.  He couldn't work for 4 months but slowly the meds started working and within 9 months he was back to himself and is now happy again.

      K x

    • paul75690
      paul75690 katecogs

      Posted

      The first time I had the fluoxetine they worked quite quickly to be honest. And I didn't really suffer anything with them,maybe tiredness but that's about it.so I'm putting this down to the withdrawl part yes. Just hope the fluoxetine work quite quickly this time around.its been 3 weeks just over and I have odd "decent" day.just as I say seem to be questioning everything from my relationship to my car lol.very frustrating but yes I will carry them on.
    • katecogs
      katecogs sarahB2890

      Posted

      It is advisable not to stop abruptly (cold turkey) as withdrawl can be unpleasant with sickness, brain zaps, shaking, and lots of other side effects and can result in a visit to hospital.  Not sure why you don't feel any affects - maybe you're amongst one of a few :-)  The meds take a long time to build up in the body and a long time to leave the body, so taking just a few wouldn't generally have much of an effect.

      Yes adding a second medication can be tricky.

      K 🙃❤️

    • katecogs
      katecogs paul75690

      Posted

      I take Citalopram and this is my second time on them.  This time they took much longer to work and I had a different experience.  I'm better again now, but reckon this time it took about 6 months for them to kick in?

      What happens first time doesn't always happen the same way the second time.  I've heard that from a few others on here too.

      Yes, the odd decent day will happen.  It's how the meds work, the those days will get more frequent as time goes by,

      K xx

    • sarahB2890
      sarahB2890 katecogs

      Posted

      It's the damnedest thing but I have a malfunction every month around my cycle I ended up having a mood disorder worst than pms

      My doctor said I could take fluoxetine

      To get me through this horrible problem every month and even though I only started taking it in January my friends and family noticed a huge difference in me

      I'm fine all the other days so I don't need it all the time

    • katecogs
      katecogs sarahB2890

      Posted

      Ah the wonderful womens cycle eh!  Mother Nature has a lot to answer for 🙃  Amazing what our hormones to do us at times.

      Glad it's working out for you with these meds and that taking them how you do works for you ❤️

      K xx

       

    • sarahB2890
      sarahB2890 katecogs

      Posted

      Just have to adjust to the new dose yet

      but it really helped when I went on the 20mg I didn't have too many side effects after a couple of months my friend had me over and immediately said there was something different about me she said I was like night and day

      Funny you don't notice it yourself but others sure do

  • deborah93854
    deborah93854 paul75690

    Posted

    Hi,

    You should have never changed the meds. You say you were fine on Flux, so why did you change them? You are getting side effects fm the new meds. It takes them time to kick in fully. 6-8 weeks.

    Give them time and you shld feel better.

    Good luck.

    D

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