Dose increase?! Will I ever be me again...

Look, It takes time to get the benefits from these drugs.

I have found that if I exercise, walk, or just clean house it helps.

I have been on a number of anti depressents for the passed 25 years. Efforex seems to work best so far. There are days I am not myself and get down, I take a walk and tell myself I will feel better.. After the walk or exerscise.. I do FEEL better. Drink plenty of water to get the garbage and the medicine into the system.  See your doctor and find out if it needs to be increased or decreased.

   You control you.. So think and you will become better.

Good Luck

Hi, Katy.  5 weeks in is probably too early to start feeling better. Some people have a good day here and there in that time, but I think for most it takes a little longer, maybe 6-8 weeks. I know it took me longer than that. I'd hang in there a little longer. I know how you feel not able to much do housework and wanting to sleep all day. These are typical side effects of fluoxitine. Hope you feel better soon and keep us posted on your progress. There are a lot of people on here with good advice and willing to help. It's a wonderful forum.

Hi Katy - stick in there. I've been in the same place as you at about the same time and all I can say is that it does get better. I started to feel better in week 8 no anxiety or depression but soooo tired & lethargic but went back to work on a part time basis & after that it was slowly better each week. Now 3 1/2 months later I feel great 99% of time I just have a little blip now and again but the difference is I feel in control of the blip & not the other way round. So stay focused & take it one day at a time and do what your body wants xx take care & keep posting xx

Thank you all for your messages.The support really does help.

Feeling so frustrated with myself - life is passing by while I sit at home doing nothing! I'll give it more time, I just wish I could feel like I'm making some progress. I'm still awaiting my counselling appointment so maybe that will help when it finally starts. I'll hold on for now. Thank you all. Please keep sharing your progress - it keeps me going and I'm sure there are many more here that rely on it even if they don't interact much. I spend a lot of time reading on here, feels a little like I'm intruding but it makes a huge difference to know you're not alone.

Thanks again xx

Hi Katy, 5 and a half weeks here.  I'm pretty much in the same place you are, the odd good day here and there but generally feeling fairly grim.  Just having the occasional day here and there where I feel better than I have in years really helps keep me focussed on the fact that the prozac is doing its thing and I just need to be patient.  Difficult when I feel anxious and depressed, but trying to keep my eye on the big picture. 

I'm back in work for a short day tomorrow, having been off since October, so that'll be fun .  Only to see my team for an hour and pick up a laptop so I can start getting back into things, but still, very daunting!!

Try and look after yourself, little treats through the day and don't give yourself a hard time.  I've just joined the forum and it'd be good to see how you go, so please do keep posting and I'll try to do the same.  Best of luck with it over the next few hours and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for you.

Katy

Most likely an increase to 40mg will help... be prepared for a repeat of the side effects though.

Im on 40 and have been to 60 for a week and back to 40 as wasn't sure if it was the right thing.

I have put on weight - this is giving me new anxieties, cant seem to shift it. It may be my blood pressure tablets tho...

I'm a bit fed up again now too - I may have expected the happy pills to be a little more than they are.

I may be having an off day - I will just sit it out before my next move.

Bah!

To all who have replied - thank you so much. I will respond to you all but I'm having a little trouble communicating right now. Your messages really help, please keep posting and I'll get back to you as soon as I'm able. Good luck to you all, I hope you're doing okay and thank you for your support xx

Hey!  Sorry you've had a rough time of it recently, and don't put pressure on yourself to reply sooner than you're ready to. 

The GP was fine, I'm lucky that she's very understanding.  As I said to her on Friday, I was seeing some improvement but had a pretty lousy day and weekend mood wise.  You know, the kind of days that you just want to go back to bed and wait for sleep, with the hope tomorrow will be better?!  Just anxious and a bit, well, meh.

Anyway, I'm still on 20mg for the next 5 weeks and we'll review it then.  She's given me the details of a therapist, so I'm going to book an appointment tomorrow. 

Looking at other threads around the net, it seems that some people experience the medication working more quickly when they start therapy.  Anything is worth a go at the moment. 

Overall, like you, making slow progress but definitely better than I was 6 weeks ago (nearly seven) when I started.  Just looking forward to a bit more stability, if that makes sense?

So glad to hear you're feeling a bit more hopeful too.  Make the most of those days/hours.  I always loved listening to music, but haven't done that much since the depression/anxiety.  When I had my good days, I loved doing that so much - I felt 16 again!

Let us know how you're getting on when you feel up to it.