Help 15 weeks on prozac and it made things so much worse

[quietly_gone]

I switched from Paxil (Paroxetine) to Prozac (Fluoxetine) since the first one wasn't very helpful for my depression (although it did help calm down my anxiety) and god these 15 weeks are close to being the worst ones of my life.

I lost my appetite and so much weight, I already have stomach problems so being unable to eat and feeling hunger makes it even worse; my insomnia is 100x worse which makes me horribly depressed and fatigued during the day; and I've always felt anhedonia due to depression but had good and bad days but now they're just constantly bad, it's like my brain can't experience pleasure anymore, only stress and sadness. Point is I haven't gotten any good days since I started on Prozac.

Does any of you have had similar experiences on this medication? Is 15 weeks a reasonable period to say it's not working (I've read so much different answers)? I want to quit and I'm pretty sure SSRIs are not for me, but I've also read that doctors try 3 medications from the same class before switching you to another one, so I'm not too hopeful for my next appointment and am expecting another useless (for my case) SSRI prescription

 

[7213882898]

yes. get tf off prozac now. when i can dm you i will with better non-ssri medications available OTC.

 

[quietly_gone]

yes. get tf off prozac now. when i can dm you i will with better non-ssri medications available OTC.

I'm not sure if they'll be available OTC on my country (I'm from Brazil) but yes please dm me

 

[アホペンギン]

I'm also on prozac and although it hasn't been making me experience these things I don't see any positive difference in my anxiety levels. If anything they went up exponentially.. I'm not experiencing insomnia though and I can still feel some joy (from SH and cats) sorry you're experiencing this, antidepressants and meds for anxiety are the worst…

 

[ShadowDancer]

Ssris don't work and are poison.
Survivingantidepressants.org has more info.

 

[7213882898]

I'm not sure if they'll be available OTC on my country (I'm from Brazil) but yes please dm me

if you've got amazon in Brazil it's available. also try to get a quetiapine prescription, circa 100mg. works way better for calming down than any antidepressant. don't be put off by the fact it's an "antipsychotic"

 

[quietly_gone]

I'm also on prozac and although it hasn't been making me experience these things I don't see any positive difference in my anxiety levels. If anything they went up exponentially.. I'm not experiencing insomnia though and I can still feel some joy (from SH and cats) sorry you're experiencing this, antidepressants and meds for anxiety are the worst…

For how long have you been on it? I'm grieving for my two cats that I lost a few months ago, I'm sure they'd bring me a bit of joy if they were still here. Hope yours live a long and healthy life

 

[flowers in the mist]

15 weeks is a long time, you should have felt the full effects of it for many weeks already. So it seems to be the case where it doesn't suit you. I have been on it as well and switched between several others. I don't know about your country but I tried medicines from different classes straight away, so I don't think the "3 from the same class" rule is a thing.

You should get in touch with your doctor and try a different one, I hope you'll find one that suits you! <3

 

[quietly_gone]

if you've got amazon in Brazil it's available. also try to get a quetiapine prescription, circa 100mg. works way better for calming down than any antidepressant. don't be put off by the fact it's an "antipsychotic"

I will try, tysm.

 

[アホペンギン]

For how long have you been on it? I'm grieving for my two cats that I lost a few months ago, I'm sure they'd bring me a bit of joy if they were still here. Hope yours live a long and healthy life

I have been on it for about 4 months. The doctor refused to prescribe me anything else and since my father takes it and it worked for him he gave it to me as well. I tried telling him that it wasn't working at the start but he only increased the dosage. First it was ~15mg because he underestimated how bad my anxiety was and now its 25mg. I even raised the dosage to 70mg without his knowledge and it still did nothing..

Also, they are stray cats but I still really hope they live a long life.

 

[Brown-Jacket Revy]

yes. get tf off prozac now. when i can dm you i will with better non-ssri medications available OTC.

Can you PM me as well that list?

I switched from Paxil (Paroxetine) to Prozac (Fluoxetine) since the first one wasn't very helpful for my depression (although it did help calm down my anxiety) and god these 15 weeks are close to being the worst ones of my life.

I lost my appetite and so much weight, I already have stomach problems so being unable to eat and feeling hunger makes it even worse; my insomnia is 100x worse which makes me horribly depressed and fatigued during the day; and I've always felt anhedonia due to depression but had good and bad days but now they're just constantly bad, it's like my brain can't experience pleasure anymore, only stress and sadness. Point is I haven't gotten any good days since I started on Prozac.

Does any of you have had similar experiences on this medication? Is 15 weeks a reasonable period to say it's not working (I've read so much different answers)? I want to quit and I'm pretty sure SSRIs are not for me, but I've also read that doctors try 3 medications from the same class before switching you to another one, so I'm not too hopeful for my next appointment and am expecting another useless (for my case) SSRI prescription

I was on prozac a long time ago, and it did the same.

Lowered my appetite and helped me lose weight (which I loved, because I have disordered eating issues).

It also did make it difficult to sleep.

I haven't take any kind of medication in 10 years, but desperately feel as though I need something, just don't know what.

 

[S like suicide]

Welcome in the psy drugs world...i personally hate them,i tried them for just a brief period and i am against them...i wish you didn't have to take them.
I am sorry I can't be helpful anyway I hope you will find something that can help you feel better

 

[snowcloud9]

Yep it definitely sounds like Prozac isn't suitable for you. It's one of the only SSRIs known to be weight neutral because while all the others make weight gain easier, Prozac is the only one that causes loss of appetite to counteract that. If you've tried many SSRIs, maybe they are just not suitable for you in general.

There are other anti-depressant medications like SNRIs, SMSs, SARIs, MAOIs... I personally tried Wellbutrin/Buproprion (SNRI) which is really popular for people who don't like SSRI side effects. Can't say much about it because I lost the pill bottle, but my friends love it, and they've all tried 10+ different meds.

 

[not_actually_human]

I'm sorry, you're having to deal with way too much.
If sharing our experience with medication helps - I don't know if this is a thing now, but SSRIs didn't do anything for me either. Only lithium helped reliably, upto a certain point anyway. Other mood stabilizers they prescribe, the atypical anti-psychotics, have awful side effects. Even atomoxetine helped much better than these, it strangely has a very potent mood stabilizing effect.

 

[AshClouds]

as people stated here, let you p-doc know and then have them perscribe you different anti-depressants

 

[Qwertygamma276]

I switched from Paxil (Paroxetine) to Prozac (Fluoxetine) since the first one wasn't very helpful for my depression (although it did help calm down my anxiety) and god these 15 weeks are close to being the worst ones of my life.

I lost my appetite and so much weight, I already have stomach problems so being unable to eat and feeling hunger makes it even worse; my insomnia is 100x worse which makes me horribly depressed and fatigued during the day; and I've always felt anhedonia due to depression but had good and bad days but now they're just constantly bad, it's like my brain can't experience pleasure anymore, only stress and sadness. Point is I haven't gotten any good days since I started on Prozac.

Does any of you have had similar experiences on this medication? Is 15 weeks a reasonable period to say it's not working (I've read so much different answers)? I want to quit and I'm pretty sure SSRIs are not for me, but I've also read that doctors try 3 medications from the same class before switching you to another one, so I'm not too hopeful for my next appointment and am expecting another useless (for my case) SSRI prescription

i'd talk to ur provider about weening off of it and trying something else. SSRIs aren't for everyone, sadly they're treated like some sort of catch all. :/

 

[Andro_USYD]

I was on Prozac (SSRI) and changed to an SNRI (duoloxitine) and the past maybe 5 years of my life have been a blur. SNRI's and SSRI'S are effective at taking the depression away however they leave U zombified without any real ups either. The way I'd describe it is "nothing's good, nothing's bad everything just meh". Since I'm too clinically depressed to come off of antidepressants Ive experimented with other things. I don't abuse but use ADD stimulants but they give a real up side for things. Also Kratom is helpful for me and if I want to just numb everything I take alcohol. It's hard to study at uni being this apathetic about life but these meds saved my life. Without them I start feeling things again including worst the depression and anxiety. U just really have to be constantly doing things to avoid boredom such as uni classes.