Extremely anxious about taking Fluoxetine!

Victoria I believe you are best helped by concentrating on the positives. There are many of them but you cannot focus on them particularly when you are reading much that is negative. Always go to your GP and to a specialist for best advice. Forums such as this are not the best place to be unless you are strong enough to pick out the wheat from the chaff. It is good to be able to discuss your problems here but that is not the answer. We can point you towards the real help you need and then it is up to you. You can get better; you can make yourself get better; you can fight your problems but you just need some medical help to get you on the right path. Akways tell your GP everything that affects you (hence the diary to aid your memory) as no doctor can do a good job with only part of the information.

I know all the negatives already and im not ignoring any of the advice given but I need to try and find what works for me. I dont plan on being on these medications for extreamly long term. I'm on my 5th day my head feels abit funny but im going to stick to it and see if any improvement is made.

Victoria jessica

Have you looked on the Fluoxetine section on this website which has got quite active recently.

I've been on this drug for over 5 years (eek, yes, that does sound a long time) and been contributing for 5 of them and not all negative but the drug is a means to an end and is nothing to be ashamed of - i certainly am not. 1st few weeks can be tricky (i'm now coming off them).

A couple of things to try:

If you get nausea - drink a tea with a high content of ginger - excellent relief for the symptoms of nausea.

Take a supplement high in vitamin B12 (a vitamin lacking in us sufferers. If i think of anything else positive i'll let you know.

Good luck, best wishes, persevere and go with the flow.

MP

VJ - i've also sent you a private message.

MP

To quickly explain, I'm a professional counselor for Depression, Anxiety and ADHD. Sadly, about 75% of today's teens suffer from major Depression at least once in their lives. Working with these children, I have understood the true unique insides of these magnificent beings. Also, I've seen doctors prescribe medications to them.

At 18, you should get counselling done or just talk with friends. I remember when I was at your age, I suffered from Depression as well. All I know about these medications are that they make it the disorder worse and only help for a little while. For example, for Anxiety, doctors prescribe Depressants and for Depression, they prescribe addicting medicines that are hard to quit.

If you suffer from Anxiety as well, learn to control it. When I was about 14, I used my Anxiety and Depression for good. It helped me see the truth in life. The truth is, the more harder your life is, the more better it will become in the future. I dedicate my time to help as I want to share my story and educate others about our unusual world. If you control your Anxiety, you can write a song, make a machine, start a company, become a millionaire. The possibilities are virtually endless.

Now, it's up for you to decide about your future. Talk to people about these disorders and try to limit or not take medications as those never work.

Good Luck and Enjoy Life!

ishaan123456789: I have tried counselling and it didnt help as I didnt get on with the counsellor he seemed too rushed and like he didnt want to be there.. my doctors plan is to have me on these for a month and then refer me to another counsellor so both the medication and counselling will work together, and hopefully I can come off the medication once I feel ready to.

Hi! I thought I take fluoxitine (prozac) as well! And although it takes a few weeks to kick in I think that it is definitely worth it! It has helped me so much and the only side effect I have ever experienced was the fatigue. If it doesn't work you should defo try something else though! It's not as bad as everyone makes out! I've been on it for almost a year now Don't worry about it x

Just to let you know i had a lovely day today. It might have had something to do with the sun shining which always helps.

Ishaan - i disagree that the anti depressants don't work (having been on Prozac for over 5 years but now coming off them)

Lets hope everyone has a reasonable day today(as it is now).

Best wishes to you all.

Hi Jaguar

I've sent you a PM

I have removed the off topic posts and comments. Sorry it took a while but I have had a few things to sort out with the forums.

Regards,

Alan

Hi,

Any medication is trial and error and there are different brands of medications as well (something I was quite naive about until recently). They usually advise that you start the medication, wait a couple of months then change if necessary. Medication doesn't work for some people, just like therapy won't for others.

As someone who has been on another type of anxiety/depression medication and been able to come off of them, sometimes they're just needed when you're going through a harsh period in your life and just can't cope. For others, it's long term. You're young and depression will make normal life events 100 times worse and harder to deal with anyway but hopefully these work for you and you can come off them when yourself and your GP feel you are ready to. As someone who dealt with depression at a young age, I was always told not to rely on the medication and (as someone who knows several people who have been medicated for years), you can feel numbed by some medication, some numb the good and the bad but you've got to see it as a short term thing and try to deal with your issues at the same time to be able to get to a stage where you can come off of them in years to come. Bear in mind that most leaflets are warnings, a lot of them have scary possible side effects. Weighing up the pros and cons is also a good thing as well.

I have a mother who has been on the same medication for years and she probably will be for the rest of her life but I think that is much to do with her not resolving issues that have lead to the depression. She's not had any problems with the medication that I'm aware of though.

Good luck and, whatever you do, don't read horror stories! You will always hear mainly the bad online but the happy people are always off too busy getting on with their lives to tell you the benefits.

I decided to stop taking my medication, it was not only making me feel worse depression wise but it was also making me feel so sick I wasnt eating for like 2-3 days at a time. Im going to try therapy again. Thanks for all the feed back!

Hello im kieran ive been told ive had depression for past three years two months ago I started having panic attacks terrible things feel like I cant breath start sweating from the inside out its very scary seen dr again last week and was given fluoxetine and told I have anxiety have just been taking these tablets for three days so far so im hoping they kick in soon so I can take and do the job anyway fluoxetine they can make you have weird strange feelings thoughts hun but not everyone gets them I have had thoughts of hatming myself on them but its more of a fleeting thought I find it passes quite quickly if you have something to concentrate on I put my childrens pictures on my ceiling above my bed and find laying down looking at there pictures thinking of days out to the seaside etc and telling them I love them through there pictures if you know what I mean it helps it really dies help one thing I would say is my dr asked me to stay somewhere I.e parents brotheres freinds house or have someone stay with you just for the first three weeks of taking medication so someone can keep an eye on you and you have someone to talk to it is very hard I wont lie but I promise you its worth it so try them the bad thoughts only occurred for the first week really and while it felt constant it really wasnt it was probably about sixty seconds the thoughts lasted as I say its already helping me this anxiety feels like your right on the edge of having a panic attack all the time it has helped with that already it is calming it down although I still cant do certain things yet like I was on a train yesterday and nearly had to pull the emergency brake to get off also I found hunger pangs I mean real hunger was eating breakfast snacks and between six-ten full dinners a day that is also calming down now still get the hunger pangs but not as bad after the third day started drinking milk lucozade and nourishment drink I found they helped hope you get better soon and just remember there IS a light at the end of the tunnel it might be a long tunnel but just keep walking and pushing on thriugh hun good luck you will get better

kieran

I'm on it and it's not really affected me much, I had a bit of Diarrhea for a bit and leg twitching, and noises in my ear etc.. But I'm okay now.. I've been on it about a month and ten days.. Also on 20mg..

Hi Victoria Jessica, I was just wondering how you got in on with the Fluoextine ? I have recently had a rollercoaster year and have been on a various amount of medication and really to know success. I have a beautiful wife and baby and I need to endure that a I am the best person I can be and right now I am fighting the demons of anxiety on a daily basis which is not what this life is suppose to be about. There was some very good replys to your question, and just wanted to know if this worked for you as I am currently knocking at the same door. Thanks