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[sarahkat]

Hi everyone,

I'm brand new to the board, although admittedly I've been a lurker for a few weeks. I just started on Fluoxetine 20mg five days ago and the first couple of days I felt really fatigued and in a complete daze (which is annoying when you need to be productive). Last night I kept waking up in the middle of the night and thinking about how much I hate myself, how ugly I am, etc. It's as though my self-esteem has taken a bit of a nose dive and my depression has somehow gotten worse. I have a call in to my prescribing physician and anxiously waiting to hear back.

Has anyone else experienced something like this when starting on Fluoxetine? How long did it last? Did things get better for you? I'm just feeling so frustrated because I've tried everything to help myself out of this depression (working on my diet, trying to be more physically active, therapy) and I was so hesitant to go back on meds (have been off Wellbutrin for a year and a half) and now I'm completely miserable.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

[LilyRain]

I was extemely fortunate to only have mild side effects, but there is a post on in this topic titled something like "day 3 of prozac" and it chronicles a person who started on fluoxetine and had increased suicidal thoughts, but they stuck with it and as far as I know about two weeks later felt a lot better. You could skim through those posts.

I know fluoxetine can take up to 4-6 weeks to start working, so if you can it might be worthwhile holding out to see if starts kicking in, it does for most people and then after the initial discomfort they feel a lot better. If it gets to be unbearable definitely ask your doctor about it.

Best of luck and I hope you feel better soon!!

[person33]

I had incredibly severe side effects initially when starting prozac... two weeks of complete hell!!!! I was in bed all day worrying, stressing out, and feeling like giving up on life. These feelings were so severe that I literally contemplated suicide. I had a heavy feeling in my chest and a sinking feeling in my stomach for weeks, which worsened my depression/anxiety.

In the third week things started feeling much better...I decided I needed to persist and stick with prozac because I've been on so many drugs before, and none of them gave me such horrific side effects...I thought maybe this meant that prozac was doing its job (my doc said for some people, you start feeling much worse before feeling better)!... I would talk to your doctor about these side effects
GOOD LUCK!

[Epictetus]

Hi Sarahcat,

I think I've been on most anti-depressants, but never Prozac. Welcome to the Forum though. Hope you will get some good advice today [tonight]. I am on Celexa now. There are people all over the world on the Forum and because of time zones you may have to wait a bit before everyone sees your post. Best to you!!!

[meistersinger]

I had incredibly severe side effects initially when starting prozac... two weeks of complete hell!!!! I was in bed all day worrying, stressing out, and feeling like giving up on life. These feelings were so severe that I literally contemplated suicide. I had a heavy feeling in my chest and a sinking feeling in my stomach for weeks, which worsened my depression/anxiety.

In the third week things started feeling much better...I decided I needed to persist and stick with prozac because I've been on so many drugs before, and none of them gave me such horrific side effects...I thought maybe this meant that prozac was doing its job (my doc said for some people, you start feeling much worse before feeling better)!... I would talk to your doctor about these side effects
GOOD LUCK!

I have had nothing but bad reactions to antidepressants. SSRIs and SNRI do not work well with this diabetic. As a matter of fact, it made my glucose tolerance and insulin resistance even worse.

But the advice given, talk to your doctor, is correct.

[Ginnygips]

I had awful side effects to Fluoxetine, mostly physical. My appetite disappeared completely and I ended up drinking nutritional milk shakes. It never helped my depression. I have talked to other people who have tried it and couldn't praise it highly enough. If it hasn't started to work within a month of starting I would talk to your doctor about it. Everyone is different. I hope it works for you.

G x

[luxluger]

Hi everyone.ive been on the Fluoxetine for about 4 and a half weeks now and not really sure its being effective.Most side-effects lyk dry mouth,sore throat and fatiue are slowly going away now.I also havent experienced any suicidal thoughts since week 3,the negative thoughts too.I just wanted to know what im supposed to be feeling now if prozac is being effective on me

Thanks

[LilyRain]

Hi everyone.ive been on the Fluoxetine for about 4 and a half weeks now and not really sure its being effective.Most side-effects lyk dry mouth,sore throat and fatiue are slowly going away now.I also havent experienced any suicidal thoughts since week 3,the negative thoughts too.I just wanted to know what im supposed to be feeling now if prozac is being effective on me

Thanks

I'm glad your side effects are subsiding!
How I know Prozac works for me is often how I react to things. Before I would ruminate on negative thoughts, which would spiral out of control until I was upset and crying for several days straight and no one could talk me out of it. Now, I still get those negative thoughts, but they're localized- they don't spiral out of control. I can be calmed down, and I can disengage from a negative situation when I couldn't before. In short, I can handle situations more like a "normal" person would. It's also easier for me to be rational and see the positive side of things.

Of course it's different for everyone, but for me personally this was the most pronounced change.