day 3

hello Joanne, thankyou for your reply. Your story makes interesting reading, the fact that you decided to stop taking the prozac, whereas I had no say in the matter, my docter made me stop, no weaning off them, just stop, full stop. And yes that hurt, still does, but as you say a few weeks down the line things should be back on an even keel again. I like your self am not functioning as I should be, although some of that must be down to my worrying as to what is causing the liver troubles, oh the joy of getting older! Thanks again, and best wishes to you.

Yes, my reasons for stopping were that we were THINKING about starting a family and of course, pregnancy and prozac are not ideal! However I have since learnt that a great many woman have children whilst taking the drug with no ill effects. Your story is quite shocking though-you poor thing. I can only imagine it was hellish to stop taking something your body was reliant on for so long. It's a shame your doctor didn't look into other causes of liver issues before assuming the Prozac was to blame. The main thing is you are getting back on track and day by day that drug will work it's magic, David. I'm sure the life thing won't turn out as bad as you anticipate. If there's one thing I've learnt it's that worry is rarely justified. Take care. Jo

*life thing -I meant liver thing

Hi Joanne.  Today is day 10 on 40 mg, encouraged by your improvement in just over  two weeks.  Waiting , hoping and praying. I was on sertraline 100 mg for four years for OCD then retired then after a few months ....like and idiot I decided to stop the sertraline as I felt great ....within a couple of months depression set in.....went back on Sertraline...then Lexapro 20 mg then back on Sertraline ...150 mg started to give me tremors... Now Switched doctors who has weaned me off sertraline and now on Flu. Thanks for sharing.

Isn't it a terrible way to feel Meeps? Along with depression I have had crippling anxiety however now the prozac has kicked in I am at least able to eat and the feelings of dread are not so intense to the point where I think I need to be taken away in a straight jacket! Weekends are hard for me hence it helps me to chat to others on here-especially if I think I can offer any kind of reassurance! It truly is a dreadful way to feel but at least you're on track now. I'm in the uk-where are you?

Yes it's terrible..never thought this would happen to me. I am in the US

I wake up in the morning with a scowl,on my face sometimes heart palpitations ...get rid of them by getting up listening to my,iPod and walk my dog for about a half hour .  During the day I feel very blah or tired. Funny but by evening time I feel pretty good then go to bed and wake up and it starts all over again. Yes talking with others helps also  reading about otherswith positive outcomes really helps. Hope I can write about a real positive outcome soon. I find it uplifting when others continue to post when they feel improved! Hope your weekend continues on a happy path.!

Hope your week continues to be uplifting!

Hi Joanne,  I've been on Prozac 20mg for 15 weeks now.  Keep having good periods but then have setbacks lasting days.  I'm in the middle of one now and I find it hard to eat and feel slightly nauseous.  From your experience is it worth waiting longer or changing meds.  I'm just so desperate to feel well again.  Thanks

Hello there felinelover. Setbacks are part of recovery! Still I have days where I can't seem to drag myself up and even where I eat very little. Think of how you were at your worst - is there any improvement, ie. are you having more better days? Unfortunately recovery does take time. I have found the anxiety network online to be a useful resource to help with negative thoughts and recommend you take a look. Are you having any kind of therapy? If not this will help you recover. Believe in yourself! You will get there. Take care, Jo

Thanks for the reassuring words Joanne, yes I am better than I was but still feel frustrated at how long these meds take to work.  Last time I was on Lexepro and I recovered and regained my appetite after a few weeks.  With Prozac it's been up and down for so long and I guess I have lost my confidence.  I have tried psychologists but I just can't relax with them and don't feel they help because my main problem is losing my appetite and weight loss (12 kgs this time) which makes the anxiety really bad.   Psychologists don't seem to know what to do.  Still I'm eating better than I was, I just hope I do get better and don't stay the way I am.

How long have you been taking prozac for? Are you taking other meds?

I read that you are in England, I am Australian, living in Perth.  These problems obviously affect us all world wide!!

Thanks again

Hello feline lover. I can understand your frustration. It is such a miserable way to feel.

When I was at my worst, not eating, sleeping or functioning, I begged my Doctor to give me something to calm me down.  In the UK tranquillisers are not often prescribed as they are addictive. Reluctantly my doctor gave me 5 mg diazepam and it made no difference whatsoever! I was in hell of a state though! What did help me to get better sleep is a antihistamine called Phenergan. Used for its side effect, which is drowsiness I was able to use this to get a reasonable nights sleep. At my worst I was terrified to wake in the morning to have to deal with another day. Now I am at a point where I do eat and get to sleep but always wake at 4 am with some anxiety. I am hopeful though that with the help of a private psychologist and CBT which helps with changing negative thoughts I am moving forward. Would some CBT not help you with the eating? There is lots about CBT on the anxiety network online.

I have been taking the Prozac 40mg for nearly three weeks now and whilst I know it is helping if I have a really bad day I may not eat well.  I lost one stone in weight but it actually did me a favour!

indeed, I am in the UK. Anxiety has no boundaries! Keep at it! There's only one way up from rock bottom

PS I'm a fellow feline lover. I have a beautiful long haired boy and little British shorthair girl

Yes I think the mornings are always the worst.  I am starting work tomorrow for the first time since I've been sick, only one day (relief teaching) but I can feel the anxiety and although I took an Ativan today it had little effect.  I'm just hoping I can handle tomorrow, I need the money so I'll have to stick with it.  I don't have the problem with sleep but I did a few years back when I had mental illness after my father died.  I went into a clinic for 4 weeks and they put me on seroquel as well as the anti depressant and that worked wonders.  I'm also on a very low dose for sleep this time too.  The morning anxiety is so bad, lying in bed and feeling bad.  The mornings are dark here at the moment, when it gets lighter I'll start getting up earlier. 

I find cats very comforting, mine are both long haired ginger cats I got from the cat haven.  They are 11 now so they spend most of their time sleeping indoors.  It's really cold here at the moment so they don't venture out much at all. 

 

PS How long have you been on Prozac for?

hi feline lover, I would say from past experience with Prozac that after 15 weeks and still having setbacks that rather than changing medication you should have your dose upped to 40mgs per day, you will still have a few weeks of adjustment and bad days, but they will get further apart until one day you will suddenly think, hell I have'nt had a bad day for at least a month!! hang in there..... 

Thanks for the encouraging post David.  Tomorrow will be end of week 2 on 40 mg Fluoxetine.   Been tough, constantly thinking of myself is driving me further nuts! Decided to restart my volunteer activities. 

Hi David, thanks for the advice.  I've decided to give it a couple more weeks on 20mgs then see the doctor to discuss increasing the dose.  I have had periods lasting up to 2 weeks when I have felt great but then I revert back to feeling bad again.  How are you going with the medication?  Are you feeling any better?

hello pussycat lover, it's early days for me, only day 9 for my 20mg journey so I know from past experience I have a long way to go glad to hear you are riding the storm, please believe me the end result is so worth the rocky road you travel to get there! you must realise that even if your doctor does increase you doseage to 40mg it's not an instant cure, you will once again  go through the ups and downs you had with the 20mgs, however the bad days get further apart and become but a memory, patience, keep active, walking, fresh air, healthy food, music, positive thoughts, light at the end of the tunnel, best wishes  keep in touch.....

Hi David,

Is is possible to reach a point where you don't improve any more?   I feel this may have happened to me.  I don't seem to be able to get a continuation of the good days, in the end it always reverts back to the anxiety and nausea.  That is what worries me about increasing my dose, the weeks of nausea and dry retching I went through earlier on which has improved somewhat.

How are you feeling? are you having good and bad days or just bad.  What makes a bad day for you? 

that's a good question, "is it possible to reach a point where you don't improve any more"  from my past experience with fluoxetine I got to a stage on 20mgs where I did suddenly hit a brick wall as in the improvement in my health, wellbeing, stopped and didn't continue until a few weeks of the 40mgs were in my system, from then on it was a gradual weekly improvement until I really was in such a great place mentally that I even felt 10 years younger! this drug is no quick fix unfortunately, one has to be very patient, but keeping in mind the end result it's so worth it. I hope that you do get to that stage before too long felinelover. myself well, strangely enough I'm having one side effect that wasn't present last time round, and that's excessive sweating in particular from my head/neck area, so what that's all about gawd knows. My days are pretty good this time around, probably because I went through this at the beginning of the year so kinda know what to expect. One day at a time..........