Been on fluoxetine/prozac for 8 weeks still have severe anxiety and mood hasnt really improved

were you on fluoxetine ? & no

although i have been given some diazepam for incase it gets really bad but even that doesnt help much and i dont like being on diazepam very much 

Hi Laurie,

If you don't mind me asking what were you on it for? I'm on it for social anxiety and depression and currently on week 6 with no tangible improvements but decrease in the original side effects (increased anxiety and depression). Thank you xxx

Hi Katie,

This repose is for both you and hopelesspanda. I was on flouexitine for 25 years until it stopped working due to a drug interaction. I was on cipralex and then Zoloft. I am back on flou. at 8 weeks on my latest increase which has brought me to 40mg. I suffered increased anxiety and depression, nausea, the shakes and disrupted sleep patterns. I am just now starting to see improvements. I took clonazepam 1.5mg over the day when it was very bad. I now take .5mg in the mornings. I still have anxiety in the mornings but it gets better throughout the day. Especially if I busy myself. This is a slow acting medication. It takes awhile to get balanced in your system. Be patient and kind to yourselves. Rest when you can and try to distract yourselves if you can when you are struggling. If you have more questions, I am happy to help.

Hi! I’ve been taking Flouxetine for 8 weeks. 2 weeks was at 10mg and 6 weeks at 20mg. I have improved depression wise. The anxiety is awful though. I’ve never experienced anxiety before but it causes me to have severe naseau all day. My Dr wants me to take .5mg in the morning and in the evening of clonazapam to help with the anxiety but I’m afraid of getting addicted. I have improved a lot but have further to go. Should I stay with the 20mg or increase or switch meds? I took 20mg Flouxetine for 3 yrs and just came off it in April cuz I felt good... big mistake! 

Hi Lanie,  I too hadn't experienced high anxiety until my meds stopped working. Prozac does work for anxiety but it seems to be the last thing to go. I was taking 1mg clonazepam in the morning and .5 around 5pm everyday. I was worried I would become addicted. My psychiatrist assured me that when I felt good we would slowly wean me off. I have done that myself with no problems and now I only take it if I'm having bad anxiety. I think most of us worry about taking these medications but if we had cancer or diabetes we would take any meds they gave us to feel better. We too have an illness, I'm just thankful there are medicines out there that can help us. As for wether you should increase that is up to you and your doctor. If you have any other questions I would be happy to try and help. Good luck and I hope you find peace soon.

Laurie, I know yours is an old post, but I would like to know if it finally worked for you. 

I have been on Flu for depression for 18 weeks  5.5 of those have been on 20 mg.  I still feel sick, stomach problems and anxiety. All the side effects are so much worse when the anxiety comes. 

I hope you eventually got to 100 %. 

I took this many years ago and it worked so well. Just don’t understand what’s going on. 

Hope you are enjoying life to the fullest.!

Hi Kevin, 

I just saw your post and thought i might offer some reassurance. My anxiety definitely spiked in week 2-3 of taking Flu. It was higher than it ever was before. Since you started 20mg two weeks ago, in the next couple days the side effect of increased anxiety should subside and you should start feeling a bit normal. For me, the side effects lasted until week 4-5 though in a lesser extent. 

I am not in week 8 and can see some improvement, though anxiety can still be high at times (though i have been on 10mg the whole time and definitely need an increase in dose). I can see the light at the end of the tunnel -- some days have been much better than before flu, though some days were worse. 

Most people feel the best improvement between week 8-12. You'll get there soon, keep going, and good luck xx 

I can't think you enough for your response!  The past two days have been really anxious for me.  Today I felt like I was going crazy.  I've come out of it for the most part this evening with just moments when the anxious thinking starts and I step back from it.   As you know, it's exhausting and crushing because you feel like it's not going to stop. 

Yes I totally understand and I'm sorry that the start up effects are so hard  

As you mentioned, typically the anxiety is crazy in the morning and tends to subside in the afternoon. I also had crazy thoughts and thought it was never going to end, but eventually the craziness did around the end of week 3/4.

I then still suffered for the next week or two still, but now my mood is better and there are no crazy thoughts. My anxiety can still be high at times, but I have faith that in the next couple weeks it will subside. For some people it works quickly, for others it may take longer. 

Stay strong, these side effects will soon pass and feel free to message me if you need some help or anything getting through it  

So glad you wrote this!

Iv bn on Lovan 3 1/2 weeks, started 10mg for first 5 days & felt hreat so the Dr bumped to 20mg. Boom- depression, restless, listless floods of tears, you name it ifelt it. However In that time i was also diagnosed with overactive thyroid so had to start meds for that too. I felt the sumptoms combined with Lovan side effects were too much sodropped back down to 10mg. Again, felt great for few days the BOOM- every terrible feeling / emotion u can imagine i have felt. Today is my worst day yet. Thinking i am crazy. That the meds wont work for me. Even thought about checking in to mental health facility.

I had a Brain clot last year that was misdiagnosed, took me a year to even start to recover from that, then i started having panic attacks.

I just want my life back.

I am a Mum!

Hi Hun I'm on week 6 of20mg I felt I could control my anxiety last week a little better but I'm feeling still really depressed and anxious I was wondering if a woman's period can make things worse as I came on yesterday and feel a little like I'm going backwards again x

Jane, are you feeling better? Are you still on Flu?

HI Nancy yes still on flu just been upped too 40mg and I have been put on a very small amount of rispiridone which has slightly calmed my anxiety down and my mood has lifted still loads of improvement to be made but the rispiridone has actually helped my anxiety how are you Nancy are you on same amount of flu have you improved at all ? Xx

Jane, this is week 18 on 20 mg and week 30 on Flu. I don’t see much improvement in anxiety and a little with depression.

An educated quess is that menstrual cycle would impact on your anxiety. 

 That and and a stronger dose is bound to have an effect. 

Take care. I’ll check with you in a few weeks. 

Nancy sounds like you need something else to help lift your mood and help with anxiety go and see your doctor and tell them your struggling xxx

Jane, I do see psych 1 to 2 times a month and he says I need to stay with the Fluoxetine same dose.

The funny thing is at around 7 to 9 I get much better and think of all I can accomplish the next day , but the next day the depression and anxiety are back. I didn’t know I had anxiety until I started Flu   

Hope today is better for you. Stay positive. 

Hi nancy76309 ....i know it was two years ago ,,but your last comment about ya psych told ya to stay on the flu ,has given me some hope ,as I'm on week 13 with not much relief ,, just increase in anxiety ,,I've had a couple of amazing days ,,then it stopped im on 40 now ,,,was 20 till two weeks ago ,,I'm just gonna keep on going ,,hoping tomorrow something diff might happen .....thanks ...p.s hope alls good with you now ..