how long it would take for fluoxetine to kick in ?

Thank you Bambithegirl for you reply. it has given me a hope.

Did you feel any better before 12th week or it just happened after that ? I was expecting it would improve some of my symptoms until now but it has not. 

To be honest the first weeks of Fluoxetine was absolutely awful for me. I had so many side effects and new ones kept appearing every week. But that's apparently how it goes. Loss and appetite, sleep disturbances and a severe increase and anxiety and depression were my worst problems but again, not sure if that was the disease or the meds!

I had some good moments and good days from about week 8 but it really takes ages because it felt like my brain was being rewired completely. I am now only feeling a sense of normality, but its different for everybody.

Keep your Doctor informed of your progress and see him/her regularly until the medication settles.

my side effects are awful too. loss of appetite, poor sleep, waking up early(only could manage to sleep for 3-4 hrs only), also increased my anxiety for sure. Sleep started improving in last couple of days.

I have been going to gym regularly, eating healthy too. trying as hard as i can to get rid of this anxiety.

i am going to stick with the medication for the time being. hopefully i will get better soon. god can't be cruel.

thank you so much your message. Gave me so much hope in this journey. 

are you cured now ?

Well I am starting to feel normal again! I dont think there is such a thing a 'cured' with depression and anxiety. And we cannot place all our hope in the medication. As you said, exercise and eating well is very important, and I also do CBT twice a month.

At the start I didnt want to accept what all the other people on here were saying to me, that recovery is a journey with ups and downs. I wanted to just wake up one day and feel fixed. But it doesnt work like that. Some days will be good and some days will be bad. Just try not to overthink it and try and still do stuff, it will pass.

You have given me hope. Im into my 6 th week. Also this is my 3rd time on fluoxetine in 20 years and the side effects are much worse, also it seems to be taking a lot more time to work x

Bambi thank you for that ???? 

I'm on day 68. Almost 10 weeks in and still not anywhere near where I want to be. Like you, after 8 weeks I started having some good days, but overall not great. Same things bug me as well, sleep disturbances (mostly early waking), and anxiety and depression. Which is funny because I never really dealt with depression until I started on the fluox! What you posted just gave me so much hope though, that things will get better with time. Thank you for that!!

Hi Su78213,

You said this is your 3 rd time 20 year. Has it worked in the past ? How long until you started finding improvement ?

Hi Laura,

I am feeling amazing after 7th week. it's has changed my life completely. I don't Freak out being around with people, more outgoing, feel like interacting with people. i am not 100 % alright. but last 2 week it has been decreased significantly. i started laughing, started enjoying little things in life. The only problem with me is i still have shaky hand for some reason. I went to doctor yesterday and talked to her. She asked me to do blood test. i did it this morning. Thyroid might also caused shaky hand. so, hopefully i will have that fix in next week. Apart from that i am doing absolutly amazing. I have so much hope now.

I also go to gym everyday, do weight and running and try to eat healthy. this helped me also i think.

For some user, Prozac kicked in early and others it take awhile. everyone is different. I have read a review o a lady, where prozac started kicking in the system after 4-5 months. I know it is hard to hang in there without any improvements. I believed you will feel better for sure. at the same time talk to your doctor also.

how are you doing ? If you need help, you can contact me through this forum anytime. 

God bless you,