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Feeling really down..increased dose=worse depression?

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Dengirl29
Dengirl29

I'm really struggling right now. My meds were switched to a different manufacturer and I've been struggling the last few months especially around menstrual time. I finally upped my meds from 12.5 to 15 and I'm about to be at the end of week three since then and I'm a wreck. I feel so up and down. sad anyone have advise?

0 likes, 27 replies

27 Replies

  • kirstie_92875
    kirstie_92875 Dengirl29

    Posted

    What's the name of the med your taking I noticed when I got my repeat prescription I was on normal fluoxetine then the next prescription is called prozec not Prozac but PROZEC it was really strange to me when I first took it but I'm only on 2.5ml as every time I up my dose I feel 10x worse and I can't deal with it that's why my psychiatric is testing me for ADHD and other mental disorders to see if I should be on the right med I would go back to your psychiatric gp and see what they say Hun but it did take 4 weeks for me to start feeling a bit better and being able to go out I can't work due to concentration and I can't focus or listen or can't take nothing in my mind which makes me struggle bad in life.. so I have to stay home and catch stress from my kids I would love to live a normal life I was only diagnosed of gad but stick to it you should soon see the side effects get a lot better

    • Dengirl29
      Dengirl29 kirstie_92875

      Posted

      I'm on fluoxetine right now 15mg but I asked for Brand name since the manufacturer keeps getting switched. I normally work but my anxiety and depression was thru the roof today. I wasn't sure anyone would reply since time difference I'm in US

    • Dengirl29
      Dengirl29 kirstie_92875

      Posted

      I also started out on 2.5 mg but tablets I was cutting them in quarters
    • kirstie_92875
      kirstie_92875 Dengirl29

      Posted

      Every time you up your dose you are gonna feel the anxiety again I did when I tried to go up to 20mg my anxietys bin so bad for 3 days.. but now I'm back on 10mg as that worked for me but give it time a few more weeks you will see a big difference soon

    • kirstie_92875
      kirstie_92875 Dengirl29

      Posted

      Yea I'm trying so hard I gave it 3 days and I felt very very bad that I end up ringing my psychiatric up and telling them I was better on 2.5ml they have booked me in on Monday for an appointment they are testing me for ADHD personality disorder they think I've got more then general anxiety as I keep going up and down also where I can't work I can't focus I can't concentrate I can't make friends because I'm very defensive and I can't trust people

  • lookingonwards
    lookingonwards Dengirl29

    Posted

    Your dose is actually very low still. I would suggest you go back to your Doctor and ask for some hormone level tests. Get them to check mid cycle and also during your cycle. My sister suffers like you do with her menstrual cycle and she has just been put on the birth control pill to balance her out. Her depression got really nasty around her cycle each month and pretty much sent her wanting to curl up in bed. Have those hormone levels checked also ask for iron levels, thyroid, vitamin B,  Vitamin D, and anything else you can... just tell your Doctor to add it all in to the list if it is there for a checking. Are your meds in tablet form? How are you getting the 15mg as in do you have to cut the tablets or is it liquid?
  • lookingonwards
    lookingonwards Dengirl29

    Posted

    p.s ....  I take the main brand of Prozac as I refuse to take anything that is generic. It is more expensive but I find if I go to different drug stores and fill my prescription on generic then I end up with different brands each time. Whilst they tell you the main ingredient is the same it is the extra fillings that are not! I have become quite sick from side effects from the extra fillings and also so has a friend of mine who had to visit the hospital. I was told by my drug store pharmacist that some people are actually better off just taking the main brand and knowing that no matter what store they go to to get their script filled that they ask for that same brand each time. She told me some people are quite sensitive to the generic brands as well. You will feel off with each increase usually the worst is around that 2-4 week mark I find then it very slowly starts getting better but once again verrrrryyyy slowllllyyyyyy.............
    • Dengirl29
      Dengirl29 lookingonwards

      Posted

      Did you find that the brand name is stronger than generic? I had my hormones, Vit D and thyroid checked and they say they are fine. Which I know can't be the case. I'm about to go to another hormone Dr to have them checked though. Is the birth control helping her? I'm on tablet so I have been cutting them.

    • Dengirl29
      Dengirl29 lookingonwards

      Posted

      Also every time I try to increase I back back down because I can't handle the intrusive thoughts and anxiety. Did your depression and anxiety get worse before better when you increased?

    • lookingonwards
      lookingonwards Dengirl29

      Posted

      I am not sure if there is any stronger or weaker between the generic and main brands as they would have the same doses in them just different filler components. 
    • lookingonwards
      lookingonwards Dengirl29

      Posted

      When you cut the tablets what are you using to cut them with? 

      The birth control has been helping her as she has been skipping the sugar tablets now as well. She found that on the birth control she had to go on one where basically the tablets stay the same for the whole time and do not change each week. 

    • lookingonwards
      lookingonwards Dengirl29

      Posted

      Totally!! If you read back on these forums you will see it is very normal to have increased anxiety each time you do an increase until it settles down again. It is like 1 step forward and then 5 steps backwards. But trust me it does get better but it takes its sweet time. I am at about 10 months now and I am 8 months at 40mg and only the last month or so have I felt 100%. It took time and yes it was tough but I pushed through it because I knew I had to do so.    

      Think of it like this...     if a child had never had a chocolate before and it goes to a birthday party and has its first chocolate then it will come home and drive the parents crazy as it is not used to the sugar....   but then say the child has a chocolate every single day for 2 weeks then the child becomes less hyper each time as the childs body has started to get used to it...   now say after 2 weeks the child starts to have 2 chocolates per day what is going to happen? well the increased dose is going to make the child hyper again as now they are having more sugar again...  but it settles down again as the body gets used to it...   then you guessed it the child starts having 3 chocolates per day and off it goes on its hyper party again and drives the parents crazy until it becomes settled in the system again and normal and expectant that this is what it is used to doing. 

      Now in reverse...  the parents decide that the child is now having way to much chocolate so they decide to cut it out... they have two choices... A: cold turkey knowing the child will have mass meltdowns as it is used to its chocolate and sugar load at a certain time.... or B start cutting the child back to 2 chocolates per day so the child still gets the treat but the withdrawls from the sugar are a bit kinder... after a while the withdrawls from moving from 3 down to 2 chocolates the parents move down to 1 chocolate per day knowing there may be more withdrawls from the sugar each day... then slowly down to half a chocolate then a quarter then a chocolate every second day for a while... every 3rd day for a while...   etc etc until they stop completly and give the child an apple smile

      Medication is the same sort of thing... when you add something new into your body it takes time to stabilise. I am not a coffee drinker if I have a cup of coffee now I will hit the wall.... but if I started having a coffee every day for a month sooner or later I am not going to feel that same effect and suddenly need to drink 2 coffees per day as I will be complaining that only 1 coffee is not even hitting the edge to keep me awake anymore. 

    • Dengirl29
      Dengirl29 lookingonwards

      Posted

      That makes perfect sense and you are completely right because I am a coffee drinker and it works the same way! I use pill cutter. I have been trying to get to 20mg but always back down. sad IT makes me feel like I'm crazy with racing thoughts and being jittery but I know I just need to push through it. I've been on 15mg for 3 weeks just about. I'm going out of town this weekend to Tn and I hope it calms down by then. I do have xanax from forever ago but don't want to take it. I guess I'm just freaked out the medicine will make me do something that's not me

    • lookingonwards
      lookingonwards Dengirl29

      Posted

      Increasing to 20mg probably will not make the side effects to much different to what you feel now. Also I had that same fear that I would do something stupid... but I realised I would never do that because I was aware of it and scared of it. I think if you were not aware or did not care is when the real problems happen.
    • Dengirl29
      Dengirl29 lookingonwards

      Posted

      Yeah but I have suicidal thoughts but I would never want to do that. My doc said it's OCD because I'm like "what if" I did this or "what if" I did that. Of course I don't want to act on the thoughts but they scare me to death and I went to the ER last time they were bad when I tried to start celexa. I just don't want to increase those and it does when my anxiety shoots up.

    • lookingonwards
      lookingonwards Dengirl29

      Posted

      You will get better trust me. We have all felt that way... because depression sucks and it is horrible and no matter how much we try and snap out of it it just stays there...  but be patient and just do as your Doctor tells you and be positive.
    • Dengirl29
      Dengirl29 lookingonwards

      Posted

      Thank you! I am feeling better today than yesterday! Do you feel like you get down still when it's time for your menstual cycle or did that never effect you?

    • lookingonwards
      lookingonwards Dengirl29

      Posted

      Yep.. I am going thru peri menopause and this week my cycle has been giving me some grief. I woke up today feeling a bit anxious but I knew what it was so forced myself to keep on going. I think when you know it is your hormones that helps as you do not live in mystery. 
    • Dengirl29
      Dengirl29 lookingonwards

      Posted

      Does your anxiety cause intrusive thoughts too? I have two girls and I didn't develop the hormone problem until I became pregnant with my second child. She is 18 months now.

    • lookingonwards
      lookingonwards Dengirl29

      Posted

      My anxiety used to cause intrusive thoughts but it no longer does... I just have a heavy chest feeling when it happens which is rare and sometimes when sleeping I wake up to my heart beating... but nothing is actually going thru my head anymore which is a bonus!
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