3rd week of 20mg and feeling awful, is it drug or me?

Hey Sebastian

Sorry for your break-up.

Sounds like you are suffering depression and getting the standard set of Fluox side effects - which we have all been through or are going through now. The good news is thhat if you stick with the Fluox it does get better and then much better - they say six to eight weeks but I was lucky and started to come good after the third week. It was not good till then! Now I'm on week nine and feel on top of thhe world, troubles at a suitable distance - deal with what I can and then put them aside. This is my first time on anti depressants and I'm 69 - but age is not relevant.

Your first step is to accept your current position - single and depressed. Just acccept this and put it aside - not so easily done as said, I know. Next is to get out of your head and into your body. Stop thinking about  things and do things. Distraction is thhe name of that game. What distracts you, occupies your mind? Clean your home, go for a walk and notice your surroundings, watch movies, whatever does it for you. The more you can distract yourself from your thoughts, the sooner you will start to feel better. You have to grieve but don't get  maudlin and don't think about the future or the past. Stay in the here and now and distract yoursself.

Anxiety and it's symptoms are just excess adrenaline pumping around you - so deep, slow breathing helps you calm down and stop the arenaline release - and you feel better. Takes practise.

You'll be OK - this is just a passing phase and you'll come good again.

Keep posting and venting.

Hi Sebastien

Sorry to hear of your breakup, such an emotional time to go through.

You have classic symptoms of having medication side effects, plus of course trying to cope with the breakup.

Side effects can take quite a few weeks to get through, and along the way you'll have many ups and downs.  This is typical of this drug.  Slowly the down times will get less and you'll begin to feel back on top of things again and able to cope much more.

You do need lots of patience waiting for this drug to start working, but just go with strange side effects at the moment, and things will start to ease eventually.

Best wishes

K xx

 

Thanks both of you. That is really helpful advice. I feel better now that I know I haven't accidently self-inflicted pain on myself. 

hey sebastion, welcome to the group! lots of worthwhile advice between peeps on here so I'm sure you will get a variety of answers. at first glance I would say that it's more of an emotional thing that's getting to you right now, with the breakup so very recent, plus seeing her on Monday would'nt have helped you, and to be honest if you're likely to see her regular then it maybe a constant trigger for your anxiety. do'nt know if there's any animosity between yous, or if it's cordial and you can still chat, that would help perhaps. and of course if you are hoping to get back together then this will continue to bug you for ages man, making the fluoxetines job a wee bit harder. I've had, and am still having, some weird side effects, the major one for me being a spaced out drugged kinda feeling that's with me day and night, quite disconcerting after a while. and I would say it's quite common over analysing things, the low self esteem thing too. sorry for your break up sebastion, hope things pick up for you soon in all ways

Well you said something - words, body language, facial expression - to your GP that caused him/her to think Fluox was the way to go for you. You went to seek medical advice and you got Fluox. I'd stick with it and see how you go.

I had a lot of doubt about the wisdom of taking Fluox during the first weeks - every day was a decision to take the capsule or quit. Now, I think maybe I'll  stay on it for the rest of my life!m Today has been a terrific day for me, feeling great and - as dear Cate says - feeling joyful!

Hi sebastien

Sorry to hear about your break up, always a difficult emotional time :-( what you're describing sounds like typical side effects of fluox mixed with your sadness. Unfortunately its likely to get worse before you get better on these drugs.

As to whether its worth sticking it out I guess only you know how bad you felt before. I was recently reminded by my dr just how bad I was when I first saw her.  Despite being fed up of side effects I realised just how far I'd come, a million miles from a place i never want to revisit. And despite feeling sorry for myself now and again I would say in my case it's def worth sticking it out.

You may have a few more weeks of cr@p before you feel proper improvement,  hopefully not. But if you do try to ride it out remembering the long term goal -feeling better. Be kind to yourself, rest if you need to, keep yourself busy and distracted doing things you enjoy wherever possible. Eating well (if you can, I struggled) and doing even 15-20 mins exercise a day outdoors if possible really does help.

Hope the worst passes for you soon ans you start to feel brighter. Reading other peoples experiences on hear helped me a lot as well as the support from people who have been or going through it.

Take care and good luck

Vix

hi, i dont suffer with depression, but i joined this group as my happy bubbly 19yr old daughter does. she had a nasty stomach virus for weeks, and literally couldnt eat, by the end of it, she was a mess, couldnt get up in the morning, crying most of the day, didnt want to shower/talk/go out.

dr gave her flu tablets, and the side effects were horrid, rapid heart, couldnt sleep/irritable/fear of busy places, whole body shaking, BUT from day 9 i noticed a tiny change in her, and each day she has got stronger, she is now at the end of week 5.

side effects seem to change each day, some days they are mild, some days a little more troublesome.

my advice would be to keep a diary, make a note of your side effects,  are they there in a morning, but gone by the afternoon,?

my daughter finds making decisions hard, she cant even decide what she wants for tea! and she finds not sleeping the hardest thing, but some nights now, she is  still waknig up, with sweats, or rapid heart, she sticks her headphones in, and listens to gentle music..

the side effects will pass/change/come and go, as hard as it sounds accept them, and just think, they will be gone soon. force yourself to get out for a walk, even if its just 10 minutes.

daughter has a safe place, sat at home with me, snuggled under a big blanket with her pyjamas on, infront of the log burner, so, when she is at work, and getting anxious, this is what she tries to force into her mind. Her safe place.

she had dreadful erratic thourghts before taking the tablets, convinced she needed to finish with her boyfriend of 3 years, 5 weeks into these tablets, and she hasnt mentioned it once in the last 2 weeks.BUT she does get very over emotional, if something upsets her, she goes into a crying meltdown, where before it wouldnt have effected her. she accepts this and understands its the depression or tablets making her see it as a drama, which does help.

good luck to you, take each hour as it comes, somewhere on here i put a "poem" about breathing, it kind of explains things a little, and may help.

xx