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I asked my doctor for advice on coming off fluoxetine…. What he said was unbelievable!!!

Posted , 4 users are following.

james51119
james51119

Hi everyone .

Just wanted to share my mental health experience .

I'm a 44 year old man . Always been healthy etc and never really gave my time or thought to 'mental health' .

In fact i was quite dismissive of it . I'd probably even said the classic ' god pull yourself together' when reading about it .

August 2020 i finally had enough ! I'd been hiding my health anxiety for 5 years and id reached breaking point !

i was convinced i had dementia and had planned on taking my own life .

after breaking down to my wife i started my journey of healing .

What an enlightening journey it has been . I did CBT , counselling and meditation . All a massive help .

My reason for writing is to share how woefully i was treated throughout by my local GP .

They put me on 20mg fluoxetine straight away . no explanation why this medication was chosen .

For weeks my anxiety was worse , the side effects were terrible . When i explained this to the GP their answer ...... increase my dose !!!

Anyway fast forward to now . ( I could go on for hours ranting)

Asked my doctor how i could start to come off the medication . The answer and its content basically proved to me how inadequate they treat mental health issues . They dropped the 'normal bomb '

this i copied from the doctors message

"gradual reduction in dose is not strictly necessary with fluoxetine, but i think it helps. i suggest you take 20mg for 2weeks then 10mg for 2weeks and then 10 mg alternate d ays for 1-2 weeks then stop. many people find their mood and emotions are more variable as they stop, but this is probably just a return to normal emotions.

The line 'return to normal emotions ' just made me so angry .

what are peoples thoughts on what the doctor said ???

0 likes, 2 replies

2 Replies

  • laura21808
    laura21808 james51119

    Posted

    hi so sorry to hear your story.

    I was placed on fluoxtine in 2014 just before I found out I was pregnant due to having serve panic attacks and suffering from anxiety I couldn't leave the house without having an attack.

    I understand these tablets made you worst they affect ppl differently iv been on so many antidepressants and had different side affects. fluoxtine work for me however I am myself weening off them without doc advise. dont agree with what doc is telling you maybe see someone different a specialist in mental health?

  • natalie23195
    natalie23195 james51119

    Posted

    my doctor told me not to go on antidepressant as they can make my manic attacks worse. but I cant trust health professionals after I went to the doctor with chest pains I was seen by a pharmacist who told me I had to be rushed to hospital because I was having g a heart attack (I wasn't all tests were normal) but after I thought why the hell was I getting seen by a pharmacist for chest pain and not a doctor?! this caused me to have health anxiety and I've had it since August

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