Fluoxetine

Hi,

I just wanted to reply to you as i know for a few days i kept checking back here and when i did get a reply it helped me.

First off, you are not alone... i know saying this doesnt always help (plenty people kept telling me i wasnt the only one suffering..but i thought 'who cares...theyre not me') but it is true and i found that discovering someone i knew fairly well had actually recently been in similar position to me really helped. (im naying im happy my friend is depressed - just means they understand which always helps).

First off - im pretty sure when i read the leaflet with my fluoxetine that it said you shouldnt drink alchohol on them. I know this seems sh*t - but its partly because alcohol is a depressant in itself and will make you worse, in addition to making the pills less effective. (im not a doctor, but i have studied a great deal on health and human sciences )

If you are in doubt about anything in relation to them...ring your doctor and ask him/her to check the BNF (guide for all prescription drugs that docs use)

Im in a similar position - i now cant remember if i can or cannot take them with my pill and as im due to start the fluoxetine as soon as they arrive, along with my pill - i could really do with knowing! luckily my sis owns a BNF so i will ask her to check it for me.

I cant remember what else you said (one thing ive noticed with my depression...real shitty concentration compared to what i used to be like!) so i might reply again!

oh yes.. and also once i'd pressed publish i saw that i could see ur post below anyway... oops!

im not stupid, its just abeen a long and emotional rollercoaster of a day today - you know!

my friend said that the first few days of taking them she felt a bit 'dazed', bit spaced out and a bit of the dry mouth which is apparently common.

However, she said it is bareable and that i would be able to work when im next supposed to be in (10th).

Also, please remember that you are a unique individual and how they affect you and the time it takes for any *possible* side effects to show in you will be a unique reaction too. I was initally very against the tablets (dunno if you've seen earlier posts by me) but also a good point was made to me \"If you were diagnosed with diabetes, you wouldnt think twice about having insulin, or if asthmatic - you'd gladly accept an inhaler to help you. similarly, you have a medical condition - the drugs will help you'

Im trying to train myself into actually thinking this could be somewhat interesting and a learning curve about myself and life...hence why im going to attempt to make a video diary of my experience!

All this coming from a 21 year old who hates photo's, let alone videos of herself...but we shall see. if it goes wrong, then doesnt matter.

Best of luck though, and i might post back once ive started taking mine and if you can, let us know how u get on!?

*hug*

Hello again and thank you for your replys. Now its going on towards two weeks of taken them i have had a couple of side effects: loss of appitite last week for a couple of days and the last few days felt a bit sick. Other than that thats all so far and hopefully that will be it. I am due to go back to my doctor on wednesday which for some reason i am very nervous about. Think thats because the doctor i sore last time wasnt my own it was another in the surgery as mine was on holiday so im a little worried what my own doctor will say to me. So far im not feeling any better or seeing any change on my moods etc but i know thats due to the fact they take about 4--6 weeks to get in your system ! I have a couple of drinks sinse being on them which i didnt find any problems with and i felt fine but i will be careful

my doctor said that drinking alcohol whilst on fluoxetine is ok. I had a nyt out a few weeks ago and after drinkin for a wile i feltreally really sleepy!, then felt really drunk and ill! lol

On 2nd day of tablets. seems ok so far. had slight weird sensations yesterday when reading, almost as if my brain couldnt keep up but dont know if thats due to tablets or just happened anyway.

head feels a bit 'heavy' today, like something pushing down on me and i have a slight headache...

on the plus side, nothing quite like as bad as i originally expected! we'll see..early days yet.

Hi there

Just picked up this thread - it was like I'd written it myself! I've been taking Fluoxetine now for a week, 20 mg every other day, as from today, a tablet daily.

Side effects: felt very tired and quite ill for the first few days. I thought, wow, these pills are strong and couldn't believe people take up to 80mg per day!! I'd be like concrete. However - strong effects now seem to be lessening. I still have a nagging headache off and on, and my sleep is definitely erratic (last night couldn't drop off for eg). What else? A slight 'disembodied' feeliing like I was looking down on the world. Also a thick head like a hangover - found myself not being able to remember names and find the right words. The main thing I can report is drowsiness and lack of energy during the day (annoying since this was one of my symptoms that forced me to the docs in the first place). I've not started taking the pill in the evening and this seems to be lessening the day time sypmtoms.

Positive Effects: well after a week it's early days, but I'm definitely feeling more myself, more in control of things. Also I've noticed I'm not obsessing about situations and annoyances. Feeling more chilled and less upset and anxious. Yesterday, I sat at the computer and blasted through a piece of work I'd been somehow dreading - which made me feel very positive about myself. Strangely too, I'm feeling more optimistic about the future - actually really looking forward to being the happy, enthusiastic, energetic person I know myself to be at heart. Not the cowering, miserable, introspective and embittered neurotic I was becoming.

Other stuff: I read on the internet that some find caffeine to be troublesome with F. so I really cut back on my coffee. I'm actually wondering if that might have added to the headache and tiredness. So I've now decided to just carry on more or less as normal and have a coffee when I fancy one. Let's see.

Alchohol: I've taken this as an opportunity to really cut back on the wine. I'm wondering if my previous intake (about half a bottle a day) was actually one of the causes of the downward spiral of depression. I know it does strip Serotonin from the brain and cause low mood (that's true as anyone with a hangover will tell you) but trouble is, when you're down booze is an easy, quick win, pick you up - if ultimately self defeating. Anyway, I've not been drinking apart from a tiny splash of wine with evening meal for the taste. The way I figure it, I'm trying to get back a 'normal', balanced lifestyle - not become an abstinence freak!

So - general sum up is that the pills seem to be doing some good. I can cope with side effects. And am finding the nausea and mind-numbing stuff to be lessening day by day.

Good luck sweetheart. And keep going. You're not alone!

me again...

I think i am noticing some effects - feeling slow, dull headachey and not really following what people say, plus slight difficulty in finding words or thinking quite 'clearly'.

Also, as expected and not what i wanted at all (Im gonna be blunt here people) - this medication has messed up my stomach and given me the runs!

not uncontrollable, but mildly annoying nonetheless and not very pleasant. I knew this might happen due to knowing that i have a fairly nervous stomach anyway.

just wondered... anyone else had the same and someone please tell me it goes away?!

lol, not the nicest subject i know. but i gotta laugh about it or it just gets me worse!

cheers

Fluoxetine has worked better for me than Citalopram and Veniflaxine.

My suicidal thoughts went after about 3 days and my mood started improving. First two weeks was 20mg / day then I increased to 40mg for week 3. Week 4 I've dropped back to 20mg.

Side effects - loss of appetite - which is fine as I want to loose a couple of kilos. 1st 10 days were very awkward with sleeping and eventually had to take sleeping tablets for 3 days, however sleeping is now back to normal-ish routine. No ejaculation during sex or masterbating - which is really frustrating for the 1st couple of weeks, but it is something that I'm getting used to and I'm not embarrassed to talk about so hopefully this discussion will help others. That's a side effect I can live with to enable me to have a lift from my depression and there are other types of sex and loving activity.

Alcohol definitely is a depressant in itself. And mixing these meds with a drink has meant a hangover in the morning after only 2 pints the night before. Best to keep alcohol to a minimum.

Wondering how long I'll be on them, but everything I read say try them for 6 months and seeing as I took Mirtazapine for almost a year b4, then I suppose I'll be on Fluoxetine for a while. Oh I just want to be stable in my moods.

Signed up to a Mindfulness & Depression course which is very interesting and session 2 is today - looking forward to it.

Hugs to all.