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[mmni416]

I'm on day 6 of Prozac right now and the last 3 days I have woken up feeling anxious. It's not a full blown panic attack, but I feel nervous and scared for no apparent reason, kinda dizzy and disoriented, and just not really up to doing anything. This feeling generally persists throughout the day. I know it's only day 6 and I have to give it time, I was just wondering if anybody else had experienced something similar?

~ Mike

[MaddieLouise]

Hi Mike,

You will find that many people experience this when first starting an SSRI, and it's pretty common with Prozac. I would call your Dr. and tell him how it's making you feel and see if he has an suggestions. He might change the medication or add something to help through this stage.

Hope you start to feel better soon!

Sincerely,

MaddieLouise

[Steve P]

Hi Mike - I started Paxil about a month ago, and it did me the same way. It got better till my doc went up on my dose. I'm going to give it a few more weeks and hope it gets better. Hope you feel better soon.

[mmni416]

I also just found out that the strange feeling in my chest can also be caused by prozac. Lovely right? It's not really a painful feeling, just a little discomfort and it comes and goes, but it's kind of a restricted feeling, like I'm short of breath except I can breath just fine. It has been better today than it was yesterday so I guess that's a plus. It does make me panic a little bit but hopefully now that I know it's a side effect I can sleep a little easier.

[MaddieLouise]

I used to get heart palpitations when I first started on Cymbalta, and although a different medication, many times you will have similar start up side effects. I'd keep your Dr. posted, and I do hope you feel better soon!

MaddieLouise

[mmni416]

Well the discomfort in my chest seems to be pretty random. I felt alright for most of yesterday, it wasn't until later at night that I started to feel it. It's like a burning sensation in my sternum. It's definitely annoying. I called my doctor and I'm waiting for a call back right now. Hopefully he will have some suggestions about how to ease the discomfort because right now it keeps me awake and it causes a panic attack because it won't seem to go away when I want to sleep. I've been sensitive to medications before and always started off on a really low dose. Other than that, the loss of appetite seems to be lessening. I still have no desire to eat anything, but at least I can feel hungry even if nothing sounds good. The morning anxiety was a little bit less today which gives me hope, but at the same time, the chest tightness/burning thing has brought some of that anxiety back. I know that it's a known side effect, but it still causes me to freak out because I don't really know when it's going to go away.

~ Mike

[Sheepwoman]

If your panic attacks are starting to lessen that is one of the properties of Prozac starting to work. Your chest tightness should start easing up the longer you are on Prozac. Mine went away after a week. My doc thought it could be a mild GI problem and gave me a sample bottle of Molox to take just after dinner or when the burning sensation started. It did help some so maybe he was right. Try to eat something and see if that helps with the pain. When you go for long periods of time without eating, your stomach is still churning out digestion acids which can cause heartburn. If you're not hungry at least eat some toast or crackers to "sop up" those digestive juices. Also, avoid caffiene and carbonated drinks. Do not drink alcohol as it totally negates the effect of Prozac.Keep your doc informed how you're doing on this med. He/she will need info from you to see if this is the right med for you. If you can get through the side effects (usually they last about 2 weeks), give it 6-8 weeks to become fully effective.
Sheepwoman

[mmni416]

I don't think that I should have been started out on 20mg. I've always been pretty sensitive to these meds so my previous doctor had been starting me off on the smallest dose of any new drug and then we would increase it if need be. I left messages with both the old doc and the new one today but haven't heard back from either of them yet. Just eating right now is a challenge. My stomach feels empty, and I know it is because I know how little I've had to eat. Just had a glass of chocolate milk so at least there's a little nutrition, and hopefully that will help me get over the not wanting to eat thing.