Please help 6 weeks on fluoxetine
Posted , 5 users are following.
I really need some help. I started fluoextine for panic disorder, severe anxiety and depression 6 weeks ago. I did feel some fairly quick relief and was starting to do better. The past few weeks have been really hard and now I feel like I am getting worse. I am so scared as I dont know what to think. Today has been horrific, started with morning anxiety then a crying episode followed by panic, fear and anxiety. I am so exhausted. I really hope this is normal and I am going to get better as I cant take much more. I was previously on zoloft for 5 years which worked well but i came off for 18 months then my mental health went down hill so I started it again but it brought on the panic disorder. So here I am 6 weeks on fluoxetine and feeling dreadful and so scared of it not working. please help
0 likes, 27 replies
phil18965 annie43052
Posted
Just another thought after I read your post again. Is Zoloft the same thing as fluoxetine? It's very different getting back on to these meds if you've on them before, just takes longer in many cases, but still works. I'm going to do another post myself about how we can all move forward, but have to run it past the Moderator first. Hope you have a restful evening Annie, let it go, you've been hurt enough.
Hayley2003 annie43052
Posted
Hi Annie,
I've been on fluoxetine for a few years now at 60mg. I weaned down to 40mg in September and I've now hit a really bad time in my mental health just now and had to be put up to 60mg 8 days ago. I am really struggling but I hope I start to see some improvement soon. be kind to yourself and reach out for help x
annie43052
Edited
hi everyone, sorry for the late reply. I have come down with a virus to top things off!
Anyway, I dont like speaking to soon or getting excited but I kind of feel like a switch was flicked in my brain and its starting to work. I know this doesnt mean I am out of the woods with my journey by far but at least I have found some trust. I felt like I had the worst night so far on Wednesday and ended up in a really bad place having to take a propananol @ 5am. I then cried in dispair thinking after pretty much no sleep that my day was going to be unbearable. That's when the switch went and I suddenly had energy and just felt more positive to face things. Since then I have had good and bad moments again but seemed to have a cooler attitude of yes I am feeling panic and fear wash over me, but thats all it is and its not true that I am going crazy, even if i feel like it in the moment. Hopefully this is a turning point but I am sure I'm not off the rollercoaster yet!
Zoloft is sertraline so another ssri. I have also read once having taken the meds its harder or different when getting back on. Maybe that is still slightly the case if you have been on any ssri despite it not be
Ailidh annie43052
Posted
That is great news! And you've nailed it - the rollercoaster is a pain in the b@m but you've got a hint that something has changed and something is moving. You've got your glimmer!
annie43052 Ailidh
Posted
wow its so hard when you go back down again, I shouldnt have spoken so soon. Its very easy to let those negative thoughts creep back in again, like maybe I'm not getting better. When you feel like its working you cant imagine loosing positivity again. Feeling rubbish today as last night my body was in some sort of battle between needing to go to sleep but needing to wake itself up in a panic, it was very odd. I felt sligtly delerious and for some reason I thought I could be dying! I later had extremely intense and vivid dreams which were distressing. Today I have felt negative, agitation, panic and fear. It is one extreme to the other
annie43052
Edited
did anyone else have a very low mood, depression and negative thoughts before they felt better ?
nataliya.k annie43052
Posted
yes, a lot of them, negative thoughts, fear, low mood, lost of interest, depression and etc. Its just temporary, it will go away.
For me everything changed after increase from 20 to 40. But a was on 20 9 months hoping it will settle and then went for increase. Just give enough time for first dose to settle - i am not saying to wait 9 month like i did - but at least 12 weeks.
Because increase will bring temporary side effects, usually not that severe like from first dose.
Just give some time and than you can discuss increase with your GP
phil18965 annie43052
Edited
Hi again Annie! I was away for the weekend. Classic side effects you're going through there, but it's starting to work. What you described is pretty much exactly what I had!! I'm still having the vivid bizarre dreams, like stuff from the past mixed with new things, but really disorientating and stay with me in the day. And the night sweats omg! I had the washing machine on pretty much every day but changing the bedding was at least a bit of exercise. They're almost gone now, but the dreaming is still a pita although not as shockingly bad. i tried to imagine it like a computer reset and update, where the brain is dumping old files like bad memories, and reviewing them before hence the dreams. The point your at now when these ups and downs happen and there's a flat feeling really are disappointing because of the uncertainty whether it's working, but it's definitely a phase before they working effectively and constantly, please believe they are still working in the background. There's still a bit further to go, but sounds like you're responding well and soon. Yeah the negative and intrusive thoughts were always there, but gradually do go. It's a form of OCD thinking apparently like when you keep thinking of a song for days! If you do feel in any danger phone 999 ambulance, even if you don't need to go to hospital the paramedics will sit with you and reassure you. I actually did that 4 times! They were brilliant, and quite a few know exactly what's going on as you find out so many of them are on these meds as well, such a hard job. You'll get there Annie x
Ailidh annie43052
Posted
You're right, it is really hard to get a good bit followed by a rough bit again. At first it feels even worse than just feeling uniformly rotten, because you got your hopes up. After a few of these peaks and troughs, you do begin to be less bothered by the troughs. Don't get me wrong, they still feel awful, but it does become a bit easier to remember that the brighter bits will be back. Eventually the brighter bits begin to last a bit longer, and once you become a bit more confident that they'll be back, you can relax a bit and the Anxiety begins to wane.
Do you journal at all? For nearly 3 months I made notes every evening. Just in Word on my laptop, not screeds just key points of the day. I found that helped, I suppose it gave me a sense of control? Like I was able, briefly, to stand outside my symptoms and describe them, rather than be immersed in them.
Hang in and hang on. {{Hug}}
gemma65858 annie43052
Edited
Hi Annie ive been reading through your posts and i want to let you no i was exactly where you are now 6 weeks ago... & 6 weeks on im so glad i read the forum and rode through the storm the side effects are horrible i thought i was loosing my mind i was desperate to feel better like the tablets would work like a pain killer ie straight away
push through it im living proof that you will come out the other side i promise you
my only side effect is insomnia but i will take that over the doom like feeling, being scared like im at gunpoint all day and intrusive thoughts
ride the storm hun your thro the worst already youve done the hard bit xx