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Horrible spacing out/drowsiness side effect after increasing from 20mg to 40mg fluoxetine

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lauren39599
lauren39599

Hello, I'm new to this website just hoping it can keep me more positive while I get through this. I've had generalised anxiety disorder for years now but I've only recently tried medication. I was on 20mg fluoxetine for nearly 8 weeks, the first week and a half was awful with side effects then I just felt the same as I did before taking medication which obviously wasn't as bad as the side effects. I agreed with my doctor to up the dose to 40mg last week after just under 8 weeks because it wasn't really doing much. Since I upped the dose 3 days ago I've been feeling spaced out/drowsy not quite with it nearly all the time which is something I experienced when I first started taking the 20mg and I'm not happy about it I hate feeling like this I'm scared of feeling as bad as before. I was wondering if people could please tell me how long they had side effects after increasing their dose if they had them? And whether 20mg didn't work for you but when 40mg did? Thanks

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  • katecogs
    katecogs lauren39599

    Posted

    These meds take a long, long time to work and often people think they're not working because they see no sign of improvement.  It can be 3-4 months before any benefit is started to be felt, sometimes much longer.  8 weeks is quite early still.

    Often mediciation is increased at this time because of a failure to see any sign of improvement, but the meds are working in the background and will kick in when they're ready.

    You will get side effects with dose increases and it'll feel like you're going backwards for a little while.  Side effects last for around 2 weeks for some, and sometimes a bit longer.

    Increasing a dose won't bring recovery to you any quicker, but of course the dose might suit you more.  The meds works real slow and will bring recovery in their own time.  There is no quick fix, no short cut.

    Recovery often comes in waves too, so your mood will be up and down for quite a while until the low times peter out completely.

    Count recovery in months, not weeks.

    It is scary feeling like this, but try and ride the wave out.  The meds really will help you in time.

    K x

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    • lauren39599
      lauren39599 katecogs

      Posted

      Yeah my doctor said usually at 8 weeks the full effectiveness us reached though so I'm going with what he said, he seemed to think the fact it had't had an effect yet was most likely because the dose wasn't high enough. Sorry but to be honest I wanted stories of hope not something that kind of made me feel worse about it. Increasing the dose does help people though and helps them quicker than if they stayed on a dose that wasn't strong enough. I know they should help me eventually, thank-you for your reply I know you only meant to help me and tell me what you think is the truth. I know I can get through this its just I don't want to quit university in the process aswell, it's a hard time for me and I need positivity

      Lauren x

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    • katecogs
      katecogs lauren39599

      Posted

      It's just that some people are fed false hope into thinking they'll be better in a matter of weeks and then get more depressed and anxious because they're not.  Also many people do increase way too soon before letting one dose settle, making themselves feel worse.

      I do feel for you as I know how hard it is having suffered this illness for 15 years and then recovering completely on SSRI's.  I also nursed my son through this too only just over a year ago, which was a very difficult time for us all.  He's now recovered too and back to his happy self again.

      You will get through this.  These meds will help you to get back to being well again

      K x

       

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  • nicole430
    nicole430 lauren39599

    Posted

    I had a similar situation as u I'm on 40 mg now and I'm much better besides for waking up early , I'm getting there sometimes u just have to give these things time and relax I missed 2 weeks of school and don't go on Thursdays now not to push it I went from half a pill a day for 2 years to 1 pill a day for about a month then 1and a half for a week and now 2 pills and I really hope it works out

    So just hang in there I hope it goes well for u

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    • lauren39599
      lauren39599 nicole430

      Posted

      Aw really that's nice to hear, I'm glad you feel better! Yeah I know I am relaxing as much as I can without having to quit uni. Aw thank you so much I'm sure it will work out for me it just needs time. Hope you continue to get better smile
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