Fluoxetine withdrawal symptoms

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Hi there im new to this forum but can anyone help ? ive been on fluoextine for 13 years & have recently started to come off them . i was taking 20 mg daily but doctor has put me on 10 mg every other day ( liquid). Its been about a month now & im starting to get these awful brain zaps , foggy head , feeling detached etc. does anyone know how long these side effects will last ? starting to regret coming off them 

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4 Replies

  • Posted

    i came off 20mg after 8 years cold turkey the only withdrawal i had was brain zaps they lasted a long time- many months but did become less severe and less frequent

  • Posted

    after 13 years i think you should go a bit slower, like 2 mg at a time, and take at least 6 months or more to do it. psychiatrist and drug companies tell you how to use the drug, but not how to come off, or the brutal side effects of coming off. Is there a reason your stopping ? fluoxetine has the longest half life of any of the SSRI drugs, i believe its around 15 days.... so it stays in your system quite a while even if you go cold turkey, which is not recommended at all. I have heard there are things to help with the brain zaps, but slow slow slow with the withdrawl......... please be careful..❤❤

  • Posted

    Hello

    I came off fluoxetine about 2 years ago, after taking them for about 15 years, like you I had to take one every other day, it was the worst thing I ever done, I didn't have a problem coming off them, but felt good all of the

    time while I was on them,, but now I have depression again, and its more difficult this time around and taking longer for it to go, I have been on it for almost 5 weeks this time and have had some good days, but then go back to, the fussy head and low mood.

    When I am better this time I will insist I stay on a low dose.

  • Posted

    Sarah, how are you feeling now? because I increased from 10 mg to 20 mg for eight weeks and could not tolerate the side effects. I went back down to 10 and have been having withdraw symtoms ever since- 7 weeks now! Some days are better than others.. Looking for encouragement from those who have been through this and hoping someone out there will tell me this will soon go away!

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