Increased anxiety with Prozac - please help!

Hi my doc told me to have fluoxetine first thing because they can keep you awake if you have them before bed.

Other than that had no issue with sleep on them. You may ask to try propandol if you wake up to see if it's anxiety. I know you don't feel it but it's possible you've just accepted that feeling as normal.

If your body is saying its ok to be awake and you feel fine next day. Go with it. I tend to have a very deep sleep one night then 1-2nights shorter nights for some reason and so on.

Avoid naps in the day. That's when all goes to bad.

Try valerian tablet or hops as sleep aid. Or sleep easy teabags from tesco in purple grey box. It helps you stay asleep. Careful with antihistamines they can make you sleep but they can make you properly drowsy and thinking weird next day. I was getting words mixed up next day and almost took extra meds by accident. While I looking after kids prob not good idea.

Try getting up if you wake. go to loo. Don't check time don't look at any bright light. Sit quietly on edge of bed with eyes closed works for me. I usually can't resist crawling back under sheets and snuggling down.

Think of room or body temp. Are you getting too warm. Try to sleep with less sheets or window open or a light fan on. Or all 3. You usually need a drop in body temp to feel sleepy so I could just be getting warmer.

Thanks dear Deeb :-)

I know it sounds silly, but I had an apple and a few buscuits before bed. In the past, such things could keep me up at night (I guess because of the sugar). Is it possible that such little sugar would keep one awake? Sounds silly, but who knows, maybe now that my sleep is lighter and I am more sensitive. It's difficult with the food, because since taking Flux, my tummy is really sensitive and I get hungry every few hours, and if I eat too early in the evening, I wake up hungry - besides the fact that I go to the bathroom once or twice at night because of stomach and then feel hungry again :-( I do hope these will pass soon. Now on day 17...

Lol I do tend to empty my head just in case someone else reads 😊

A little sugar can stop you sleeping if you don't manage it well perhaps. The fluox may have made that worse like me. I had poor insulin sensitivity which made me hungry really hungry. Try to eat more fibrery and protein foods before bed so keeps tummy full for longer.

Will doc give you anything for reducing loo trips. Loperamide and urostemol can be bought off shelf.

Light sleep shouldn't be only sleep you get...that's just being in standby mode. You need to be turned off.. in deep sleep sometimes too 😊

Give it 10 more days before you see decline in side effects xx

Thanks again, Deeb. It's just that the food gets digested really super fast and then find myself at the loo at 1am and hungry again...plus have to eat every few hours during the day but not gaining weight rather actually losing. I'm vegan so not too many protein, slow digestive foods to eat at night :-) do you mean I should wait another ten days before expecting the side effects to decline? Thanks!

Yes I mean wait 10days.

Ahh Vegan! I couldn't work out the loo trips I get you now

I think you need to visit a dietician. How I wish I had your loo problem! ? I love eating I'd be in that kitchen cooking up a storm! My first meal would be lovely boiled small Charlotte potatoes smothered in loads and loads of extra virgin olive oil and soft roasted garlic and big handful of fresh curly parsley. Big chunk of bread to soak up oil and calories. Plus a warmed carrot courgette cucumber red onion hazelnut salad. For snacks you need peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Trust me you will be a few pounds heavier soon and it'll make you eat so much that'll take ages to shift through. 😊 I'm world expert on gaining weight and having it stay in. Lol

Hi deeb,

So sorry for the delayed response! We were on vacation with the kids and as you can imagine, never a dull moment :-) This is the first time I'm in front of a computer...

Thanks for the excellent culinary tips! In terms of weight gain, actually, I finally lost about 25 pounds after being really overweight, being on Anafranil and Remeron for 7 years so not really looking to gain weight again :-) 

You recommended that I try valerian/hops for sleep (I understand I can even purchae a combination). Sleep is currently the most challenging issue I'm dealing with, even though I'm still taking a (relatively) low dose of Klonopin at night to ease the anxiety (to be honest - not even sure it's working for me anymore...). Do you also have any insight on melatonin? In the past it sometimes helped, sometimes didn't but I read somewhere that Fluoxetine can actually reduce melatonin production, hence perhaps the difficulties of getting a good night sleep. Just to disclose - I have ALWAYS suffered from sleep problems but with the meds it seems to be a bit less stable, wake up every 1-2 hours, go to the bathroom etc'.

Cheers

It got worse the first two weeks but I think it's now getting better. I also started CBT which is helping. The main difficulty is sleep disturbance. Did your doctor tell you it should pass with time?

She didn't say a whole lot to be honest, but she knows my situation and prescribed some xanax as well to help me through. Most reassurance I've got from the Internet actually! Thankful for forums like this otherwise i would have thrown in the towel by now. Hopefully things start looking up by the 4th week. Today has been particularly hard for me. Worst day yet.

I'm sure things will get better soon, Aquin :-) Everyone here keeps emphasizing how we all need to be patient and have lots of perseverence. I'm sure very soon you will feel better. Hang in there and feel free to write anytime :-)

I was on meds for 16 years and they initially took 6 months before I felt well.  I stayed on meds all this time, enjoying a happy life to the full and reducing to the minimal amount I could for maintenance.  

I came off 3 years ago and stayed off for a year, and during that time I took 5-HTP and l-tyrosine because I always need something.  During that year I felt well again.  My son then became ill and sadly I had to return to the meds because the stress began taking its toll on me.  This second time on meds I found it took much longer for the meds to kick in and I had a different experience to the first time - reckon it was about 8-9 months.  This time it just dragged on and on with just a flat for so long - just had nothing inside of me.  I began to wonder if they'd work again, and I had to keep finding more patience ....... what else was there as it'd be the same on any other meds?  Eventually they started working and I felt recovered again.

I've since been coming off meds again this last year and am down to a teensy amount now and still feel really well.

If the meds have worked for you before, they will work again for you, but it does seem it may take a little longer.

K x

Hi Violet,

Although im really new to fluoxetine as well, i have done endless googling (lol) and your experience sounds like very normal progress. I'm not sure why your pdoc said not to expect side effects with the dose uppage because it seems more common to experience side effects with dose increase rather than no side effects. It sounds like he's moved you up in dosage really fast.. im not surprised the anxiety is a bit much

Im moving myself really slowly up to the 20mg pill at the moment. Im currently only on 10mg and have side effects galore. I am taking fluoxetine for *severe* housebound anxiety though so im extremely sensitive at the moment and know i need to go slow.

You could ask your psychiatrist to let you stable out on this current dose before messing around with dosage again or possibly even reduce it for a while. I really think you should stick to it.. you've come so far! Give it a few more weeks. Xx

Thanks so much, Kate. As always, you are very helpful and supportive :-) I'm changing my mindset and not expecting any significant change for at least a few more weeks. My main difficulty now is insomnia. I was never a good sleeper but feel that with Flux my sleep is even worse and the daytime fatigue is killing me. Trying to work on it with CBT as a lot of the sleep problems are due to anxiety and obsessive behavior. The psychiatrist suggested Lorazepam to help with sleep but I'm trying to avoid it if possible.

Thanks a lot, Aquin, for the information and reassurance that what I'm experiencing is normal. I was actually supposed to go faster and then switched doctors and he slowed things down. I'm not going up anymore for the time being. How are you feeling? Any improvement?

Yes sleep makes all the difference doesn't it.  Even now, if I don't get an adequate amount of sleep I start feeling agitated and antsy.  Its not that suffer from insomnia, just that I don't get myself to bed as early as I should.

The insomnia I had briefly when I started the meds disappeared, and now I could sleep anytime, anywhere   Yes Fluoxetine exaggerates things temporarily, so maybe if you had sleep problems anyway it just made it a bit worse for now.  Hopefully it'll sort itself out for you eventually too.

K x

Glad to hear you're going to settle into your dosage for now

I've had 2 acceptable days in a row! Mornings are always hard for me with increased anxiety and annoying thoughts but even that has become slightly better. Afternoons are a lot calmer and the past 2 days I've felt almost normal of an afternoon and evening. I've been through hell and back these past 2 months and i feel slightly traumatized by it. It's going to take a while to no longer dwell on the experience and feel scared but i know I'll get there eventually. I'm only 3.5 weeks on fluoxetine.

Hey Aquin

That's how I recovered.  Mornings were my worst and were the last symptom to disappear.  My afternoons were slightly better and evenings even better still.  Some days I felt good all day, and other days didn't want to get out of bed.  Slowly my the good feeling I had in the evenings crept into good afternoons and eventually my mornings started being good to.  Then ..... I started waking up anxiety / depression free!!!

I had annoying thoughts too - but they're just another symptom of this illness.  Its because your mind is tired and thoughts stick to a tired mind and bounce around - all manner of weird thoughts.  If you had these thoughts when feeling well and normal, they wouldn't stick and wouldn't bother you.  They're just thoughts.  When I finally recovered the thoughts didn't bother me any more.

Its a slow recovery process - recovery crept up on me so slowly.  It sounds like you're well on your way already.

K x

 

Thanks :-)

Glad things are starting to improve, Aquin! Hope it continues on and on! Hang in there, you'll feel much better soon!

Thank you Katecogs. I appreciate you writing that to me. I have had the most bizarre thoughts recently.. Makes me question my sanity at times! I look forward to getting a break once the meds kick in.

Oh I had bizarre thoughts too - most would scare me too.  I couldn't believe you could be scared of your own thoughts.  I questioned my sanity too, many times ... but I knew I was normal underneath 

Your mind goes into overdrive when you're not well and because you're already suffering with over anxious nerves anyway, these thoughts trigger more anxiety - and because you get anxious about the thoughts, the thoughts stick.  

Yes they will go in time.  When I recovered, as the anxiety lessened, so did my thoughts and the depression.

K x

You are so encouraging. I have been on 20 mg Prozac for two weeks now and my anxiety is out the roof. My depression is better. But so anxious .. I am

Moving out of state in two days and I have two

Small kids and trying to make it all smooth and comfortable for my family. I just wonder when the anxiety will lessen. Just packed ten boxes while my hands were shaking. I wrote to you since you are always so encouraging ..

Awww bless you xx.

Yes the meds do raise your anxiety levels to start with so it can feel uncomfortable for a while.  Its often a path full of ups and downs too, so expect some highs and lows.  It does ease in time though - but give it lots of time.  

Yes I was ill when my children were little too and remember how tough it was.  Don't be in a hurry for the anxiety to go and don't try and rid yourself of it, as you can't ..... not yet anyway.  Its best to let it be, however bad it feels, but know that it will ease as time passes ...... it could be weeks or months ..... but it will go.

K x

Kate,

Thanks for your encouragement. I have moved and now settled in new home. Seeing some normal moments since the last few days also where I've actually felt like myself but then when the lows and anxiety hits it's just sooo hard my god. 4 weeks tomorrow on 20mg... Just being patient but I miss my old self.

That's good you've seen some normal moments ..... these can be brief, but they're starting.  Yes when the anxiety hits, it always feels like you're back at the beginning.  Those normal moments will come back though and over time they'll get stronger and longer.

Your old self will come back.

K x