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Prozac Experiences

Posted , 4 users are following.

jenny73099
jenny73099

Hey,

I’m wondering if anyone can share your experience with Prozac.  I have been on Paxil CR and Paxil for 11ish years and a year ago when trying to come off I suffered severe anxiety and panic.  Since then, my pdoc and I have been trying to stabilize but with little success.  6 weeks ago he cross tapered me to Prozac and the first few weeks I felt better but the last 2 weeks have been hell. I’ve had intense anxiety and panic, whole days of high acute anxiety where I can’t calm down.  I’ve been on the 40mg for 2.5 weeks and no Paxil for 10 days.  I called my pdoc and he suggested increasing my Prozac but suggested I wait 2 more weeks.  He said that it wasn’t common for anxiety to increase like this 2.5 weeks into the dose.  Anyone else experience an increase in anxiety and panic when starting Prozac? Is it possible to have Paxil withdrawal too?  I don’t know if I should go ahead and increase or wait it out.

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • adrionna45708
    adrionna45708 jenny73099

    Posted

    Hi Jenny,

    Each time the dosage is changed, your body has to adjust, so my advice is to stick with what you’re on now, and after a couple of weeks, reconsider. I know right now you have a lot of increased anxiety, but after your body adjusts, it will go away. If you increase the meds, I think your anxiety may become worse 

    • jenny73099
      jenny73099 adrionna45708

      Posted

      Thanks, I am worried of increasing and becoming worse too.  It just concerned me that my pdoc said it wasn’t normal for the anxiety to increase.  
    • adrionna45708
      adrionna45708 jenny73099

      Posted

      Primary care doctors often have a little bit of knowledge about each illness. You may want your doctor to refer you to a therapist, for anxiety, and also because they will know more about what you are experiencing. I also started a new medication that my pdoc prescribed, and it turns out that my doctor gave me too high of a dose to start with, and could not help me tackle the anxiety. My therapist adjusted my meds and also helped me find natural ways to ease my anxiety.
    • jenny73099
      jenny73099 adrionna45708

      Posted

      Thanks Adrionna,

      I am seeing a psychologist and have been for almost five years.  My psychiatrist is the one that switched me to prozac from paxil.   I have suffered from anxiety since I was 7 but didn't start taking any medication until I got married.  When I started my GP gave me 12.5mg Paxil CR and I was on that until I got pregnant with my second child.  When I was 6 months pregnant I started having horrible panic attacks and anxiety and I went from the lowest dose to the highest dose of Paxil CR before she was born.  Then after she was born I had horrible postpartum anxiety and I started seeing my psychologist and started seeing a psychiatrist.  My original psychiatrist switched me from Paxil CR 62.5 to Paxil 60mg and added Deplin.  I was also taking buspar but we dropped that.  I remember from the time I did that switch until I was really better I would say was around 3 months.  3.5 years ago I lost a child during birth and I managed that horrific time fine with little anxiety, just unbelievable grief.  When I lost my daughter I switched psychiatrists because my original one didn't know why I would bother coming to see him after I lost my daughter and just wanted to prescribe me something.  Anyway, I have an amazing new psychiatrist and we decided to try and stop the paxil, since it is not a favorite of any psychiatrist I have talked with, and it went well but when I was on my last drop to 10 mg, I lost my aunt, I had just changed jobs, and it was my daughters 3 years anniversary.  Needless to say it was horrific.  Since March 2017, we have been trying to get me to stabilize and going back to the 60mg paxil did not help so six weeks ago my psychiatrist thought it would be best to switch to prozac.  My mom takes it and has for over 20 years and done very well on it.  Like I said, I started out great and about three weeks ago felt great, but the anxiety has been really coming and going.  I talked to my psychiatrist and he really wants me to wait another 2 weeks before trying to go up, but it just concerned me when I asked if it was normal for anxiety to spike like it has he said it wasn't really common and he hadn't really seen that in too many patients so now I'm concerned and anxious that it won't work.

  • johnkov
    johnkov jenny73099

    Posted

    Hi,

    Paxil prides itself in being the most difficult SSRI to withdraw, especially after many years of treatment. One of the most successful withdrawal strategies involves a slow substitution of Paxil with Prozac as the later one has a much longer half-life time in human body. This means that the side effects resulting from Prozac withdrawal are not as severe as these resulting from Paxil withdrawal. So… it looks to me that your pdoc knows what she/he is doing.

    The anxiety which you experience right now probably results from stopping Paxil. The things which may help are (a) increasing the dose of Prozac, (b) waiting another 2-3 weeks, or (c) supplementing Prozac with a small amount of a long-lasting benzodiazepine (e.g. diazepam, 5-10 mg per day) for 2 – 3 weeks. I would personally go for option (c), but this is something to discuss with your pdoc.

    • jenny73099
      jenny73099 johnkov

      Posted

      Thanks johnkov, your post gave me some reassurance about maybe sticking it out another couple weeks to see of improvement.  He did give me klonopin which I’m basically using it at night and it helps.
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