Coming Off fluoxetine!

am trying to come off the above, its exciting and scary, i have been suicidal in the past but long ago.

i am on 2X20mg p/d x 7, p/w so i have cut it back to 3 x 40mg & 4X20mg p/w. all my own choice.

The weirdest thing was before i thought about it and the doc asked my 'why'?

i couldn't answer him.

I am starting to 'think' again, its weird. its like poking your head out of the duvet.

looking back on my text, its all, i am!

maybe i am becoming me again, but this time more knowledgeable.

anybody else in the same boat?

P.S. i am m 40

am just not sure, there def is a big thing about sleep.

what is the difference between vivid, lucid, nightmare dreams?

or waking up like you are responsible for the whole world, then you let it down and fail?

it does get to the point where i am scared to sleep.

fun and games i guess

Hi Paul

I'm weaning myself off these damn drugs as well after 5 and a half years - i was on 40mg daily in liquid form. For the past month after consulting with the doc i've dropped this to 20mg and intend to stay on this dosage for another 2 months (although the doc said 1 month - no way) before dropping to 10mg.

As you can see i'm in no hurry to go to bed and have the horrible, scary dreams that i thought had long gone and the headaches (had them at the start too). Had a horrible dream on Tuesday night and still have the vision of it now. Hope i don't return to it especially on this stormy night. I'm lucky i don't work as i regularly find myself going to bed in the early hours and sometimes the late early hours. Thank heavens for Diazepam. Its that or drinking myself to sleep - neither being that healthy.

Best wishes

Best wishes.

Hi everyone! Just thought I would let you know my experience! I started on 20 mg of fluoxetine approximately 8 years ago after finding my birth mother (really bad experience)...In september of this year (2013) i had started taking them once every 2 days (as i was having a hard time affording them). On october 8 2013 i took the last one in my bottle and have been off them since! Its 21 days today and i'm experiencing a bit of moodiness, low a bit, and dizzyness every now and than. I am hoping this is will eventually go away as I do not want to go back on the pills. That's my little story for now!

Good for you Jody. Thanks for your insight for what the future may hold. I hope you continue to improve until the last traces of this drug is out of your system.

I've had a hard day today and turned to drink which i know is a depressant but heho i don't drink that often. I had to make lots of calls as my father's house (he died in Feb) has been sold. It was the house i was born in 52 years ago so its been a mixed emotions day but i have a very supportive sister which has eased the burden somewhat.

Keep well, strong and thanks for sharing.

Best wishes.

Damn - i've had to admit defeat. Dropping from 40mg to 20mg was too big a jump for me. Have been on the lower dose since 24th September but have got back so many of the side effects that i started with 5 and a half long years ago that i've decided to do it even more gradually. Luckily i'm on liquid fluoxetine so have decided from today to up my dose from 20mg to 30mg.

I'm sure its trial and error but so desperately want to get off these drugs although the reasons i went on them have not necessarily gone away....just diversified. I'm not going to let Fluoxetine win just yet.

Hope you folks out there are having better luck than me.

Hi - Long story how & why I ended up being prescribed these. Anyway, within hours of the 1st 20mg dose I started to feel ill - extreme anxiousness, head pain and other strange sensations. I would say that I then almost totally lost interest in food .

My insides were aching from lack of food - and cooking is one of my favourite things, which made things worse - especially when you are trying to cook & eat with your family .

I know that these drugs can take " a couple of weeks " to start working - but , I'm sorry - after only 6 days on these, I though I was going to die. I felt better without them. I know that I didn't give them enough time to 'kick in' - but they were kicking ME in - and in all sorts of ways. I kept falling asleep in the afternoon - and a nights sleep was impossible. I would wake at anytime from 2:00 to 5:00 - with my mind on fire - all sort of thoughts just racing around there.

SO yes - I wimped out.

I do know that I need something - to try and lift my general mood , but in all honesty if this is what it takes - or if all AD pills do this, then I don't think I will even try anything else. I suppose I was being somewhat naïve expecting a wonder pill that would just - boom - everything's great again., but I was not expecting to feel so much worse on these.

Ive got another apt with the docs next week - and will see if they can suggest something that is easier on the soul ....

Hello

Has anyone got any tips etc on how to get through the 'weaning off period for fluoxetine. My 15 year old daughter had a breakdown last year and was put on 40mg per day. She's been doing really well (with us fully supporting her for the last 11 months as local camh are rubbish), she wants to come off her fluoxetine completely and her locum psychiatrist suggested going down by 10mg per week. As we are now on week 4 she's in the ten but its a liquid which she hates so she hasn't taken it every day. She says shes OK but feels like she's slipping a little {has been a bit up and down and sleepy/tired a lot), but doesn't want to admit defeat and wants to get off them. I'm not sure whether to encourage her to carry on the weaning off period or make her an appointment with yet another locum who doesn't know her etc etc. Any suggestions? Does it start to settle/get better?

Hi everyone...I haven't taken my 60mg fluoxetine for 5 weeks..I'm still feeling a little dizzy and tired when will it be out of my system xxx

Hi,

Iv been off mine for around 7 weeks now. No reduction just straight off them after about 6 years.

I didn't really notice that much at the beginning just the nausea. Then the dizziness started around 5am it was horrendous. This was about 4 weeks ago now. Then the painful upset stomach for about a week. Then it all died down. The dizziness I started to realise that I had to slow right down untill it passed. As that is still continuing at the moment. Upset stomach has started again. Tiredness is a issue at the moment but I know will pass. Aswell as all of the other symptoms. Erratic dreams I have been told is another issue but have always had them so no problem there ha ha. I know if I stick to it and the symptoms it will all stop. It's just the knowledge of when. Hope you are doing well.

Hi everyone, I've been searching the internet for days to see how people feel after coming off fluoextine. I've been off the stuff for 10 days now. 

I came off cold turkey after having extremely hight anxiety after being on them 7years. I feel that after being on them so long they had stopped working and turned on me.

The first few days were strange, I felt like a zombie and felt very tired. For the last few days I have felt more normal and awake. I have had weird dreams, but nothing too bad *touch wood*.

I am worried that in a few weeks time when all the prozac has come out of my system that I will feel a down, and this is what scares me most at the moment. 

I feel that after looking on the internet to see how people feel after coming off prozac that many just get on with their lives and don't really come back to share their experiences. 

I've been on Prozac or something similar for almost twenty-five years. We always come back to Prozac. I can't say life is happy go lucky but I can say every time I've thought It wasn't really working and weaned off......snail slow...I've realized what horrible shape I was in without it. Made me understand its importance. No single pill or cocktail of pharmaceuticals is the cure all. You must study and research your own disorder, talk to others with it, learn what to expect and how to lead a well lived life regardless of your situation. It can be done it just takes time finding the right drug and dosage, right doctor or therapist and educating yourself. May you find that peace.

Hi guys im new to this so im not sure how it works. I went to the hospital on april 5th for shortness of breath and my chest feeling heavy. 2 days later after xrays, blood work, an echo, and other testing being done i was told everything was normal so they assumed it was panic attacks. So i get put on prozac 20mg and it was pure h*** getting on them. I was very weak, my body hurt, i had headches, no care for food or sex and then about 2 weeks in i finally got a lottle bit of relief with the breathing and chest tightnong and felt it was the right medicine for me. The day i was on it exactly one month i had a feeling of what i assume is depersonalization...( i felt like i didnt care about anything and life wasnt real and whats the point) so of course i cried that night because i didnt want to feel this way. So i immediately stopped the prozac seeing as i had only been on it a whole month exact i figured it would be ok and my doctor agreed. But this feeling came back last night and has been like this all day today and i know my doctor said prozac has a half life and it would take about 4 to 7 days to be completely out of my system but should i not be feeling somewhat better by now? Someone please help!

Hi there: Just wondering how things panned out getting off of Fluoxetine? I have a Rx for 10mg and and terrified to start, based upon all the negative I read ESPECIALLY how tough it is to get off. I am 60 years old, so if I had to be on them for the rest of my life, I'd be okay with that IF they worked long term. So, interested to know if you managed to escape the withdrawal? Thank you!