Fluoxetine review in hope it helps others

15 weeks ago I was sat at home reading and reading over positive reviews of Fluoxetine thinking that would never be me and that I would never get out of the awful situation I was in.

I suffered with major anxiety which was fuelled by worries about my health which came on pretty quick... Id convinced myself that I had cancer due to symptoms of feeling sick, back pain and itching (at the time I had no clue that these were symptoms of anxiety).

I spent the weekend in hospital having various tests which could not find anything at all wrong. I was crying to every health professional I seen telling them I knew I had cancer. After the weekend in hospital and having it confirmed I did not have cancer. I went home feeling much better but it only lasted a day. The next day I quickly convinced myself that I had a different type of cancer and again different symptoms came which escalated the fear.

These fears came and went over a period of 2 weeks ... I was totally sleep deprived due to being unable to switch off, not eating, feeling sick, heart palpitations, constantly needing reassurance that I wasn't dying (I was ringing my GP twice a day) and eventually on my worst night telling my husband I wanted to die as couldn't carry on feeling this way any more! I could literally see no light at the end of the tunnel and was really unable to accept that my symptoms were anxiety related. Things were honestly so bad my husband was off work as I was unable to look after my children. I literally felt like all the colour had gone out of the world and it would never come back.

My GP eventually prescribed me Fluoxetine, propranolol and zopiclone to help me sleep. First thing I can say is it takes Fluoxetine a long time to work and comes with lots of side effects but please do not let this put you off! There are no SSRI's that are a quick fix unfortunately. The zopiclone instantly helped me be able to sleep which I can honestly say lifted a big weight off my shoulders although I was still waking up really anxious the fact I could sleep and shut off was really helping. The fluoxetine gave me really bad stomach problems, headaches and decreased appetite at first and about 4 weeks in I experienced a spike in anxiety which came as a bit of a shock for me as some of my anxiety symptoms had slowly started easing up. I was able to get myself out of bed and wasn't constantly feeling sick. The spike in anxiety lasted about a week and I can honestly say since then things have just got better and better. Id say I am 95% less anxious now, I am able to rationalize with myself now (if I have a headache I can accept that I am probably dehydrated not dying of some awful illness). I actually have tears as I am writing this because anxiety can be so scary and crippling (I had no idea before this happened to me). It can literally consume you and control your life. Fluoxetine has saved my life! Its been almost 15 weeks since I started it now and I can honestly say I am probably a better person than before. After going through such a dark time I feel like I appreciate feeling well more and embrace the little things in life. The only side effect that I have now is night sweats which can be a little bothersome but id take them any day over how I felt. Although I should mention Ive gone a week without night sweats now so I am hoping they are gone but don't want to speak to soon either.

If you are reading this now and feeling like there is no hope and you can't carry on then I promise you that things can and will get better!! Don't be afraid to take medication and don't be afraid to talk about your feelings there is so so much out there that can help you. Fluoxetine has saved me and I hope that by reading this even if I can just give one person some hope then I will be happy. Sending so much love to anyone suffering xxxxx

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