On fluoxetine. Loss of appetite and constant buzzing in my ears aside, my anxiety has subsided and breathing is bearable. I am supposed to take these meds for 2 weeks after which I’ll go back to see my therapist to assess my condition. What’s your experience with fluoxetine??…. That’s my sad depressed face.
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This probably isn’t helpful, but I had the same effects with all the meds I tried (including fluoxetine). For a couple of weeks I got terrible mood swings, more panic attacks than usual and very strong suicidal thoughts… and then it wore down into nothing. I hope you have better luck. Your anxiety subsiding sounds like a good start. 🙂
Oh that must have really been a nasty experience. I’ll prepare for the worst while I hope for positive results. Thanks for sharing Trix.
My mom was on fluoxetine, seemed to help her. Didn’t discuss secondary effects with me, but i’m guessing she would have said if there was any serious one. Make sure to go back in 2 weeks tho, that’s what it usually takes for the meds to really kick in (2 weeks – a month). A pretty bad experience with paroxetine taught me that, lol.
Forgot to mention it, loss of appetite is normal with fluoxetine. In fact some people around here use it as diet pills if they can get them without a prescription (which i find idiotic but… heh, whatever).
OMG MAN I THOUGHT YOU WERE BALD!
Fluoxetine worked like a charm on me, but it was my first exposure to SSRIs and that was 1994. It’s kinda old skool now. My go-to drug now is Paroxetine aka Paxil. I’d prefer Sertraline aka Zoloft but I have this weird side effect where I want to sneeze all the time.
Make sure you check your blood pressure regularly. Give it a few to several weeks. Your appetite should come back. Keep track of your sleeping habits and if you have sustained sleeplessness for more than two weeks ask to be switched to something else.
Give yourself a pat on the back for moving in a positive direction. Accepting help and following through when you are given help is a BIG DEAL.
Paroxetine works for you? any side effects? i always wonder about that one. My mom was on it for a while and worked wonders for her, but i was on it for a couple of months and turned me into such an objective person that i ended up attempting out of rational thought alone.
ANY SSRI alone is not the solution. Add therapy to the mix and you can really get somewhere. That being said…
I’ve been bribing med students to write me scripts for a variety of SSRIs for about 15ish years… and NOT seeking therapy. So ultimately I’ve been screwing myself. On the other hand I’m still here. Paxil helped keep the weight of depression off my back without a doubt but now I need hope. No drug supplies that.
Periods of sleeplessness came and went. Social anxiety was completely gone – in fact I got pretty close to that sparkling manic edge so I was hillarious at parties. Appetite took a hit but never for long. Some sexual dysfunction was pretty much always present, but I turned that to my advantage. (Don’t ask.)
But no hope. I’m actively taking steps to try some of the newer drugs. That will probably reduce the frequency of my suicidal thoughts, but I need something like CBT so I can teach myself to actively embrace positive, forward looking thoughts.
Fun, i did experience some of those. I was in therapy at the time too, i’m guessing that my shrink assumed that since paroxetine worked fine on my mom, it would work on me too. As it turns out, three meds that she used either did nothing on my case, or turned me into an even insane-er person (zopiclone, paroxetine, can’t remember the third one).
Have to mention tho (you did say don’t ask, but wth, it made me lol back then), the sexual dysfunction thing… i do remember reading that on the side effects list of paroxetine, and… yup, anorgasmia is a thing, and can work in your advantage, if only for bragging rights, lol. Thank god it isn’t a permanent condition.
Yep anorgasmia. The looks of adoration were priceless. I know it’s a shallow thing, but when you feel like your world is crap you take any positive strokes you can get. Wink wink nudge nudge.
I was single at the time (my ex was a pretty big part of needing meds, lol) so i didn’t get any adoration looks, but i did make a note on my “to-do” list. It reads: “if you ever have a relationship again, get paroxetine ASAP”. Wink nudge right back at you 😀 haha.