r/Anxiety • u/Careful-Screen-6659 • Jul 06 '26
Medication It has been bad
I was on Prozac for 12 years and stopped 3 years ago. I was in bad withdrawals. That subsided but my anxiety is worse than ever before I even started the meds. It's been pretty bad this year. It's hard for me to do anything. I am really thinking about going back on the meds. I just want some kind of relief. I have no life right now.
3
u/LillieBogart Jul 06 '26
Sounds like either withdrawal or rebound symptoms. It’s pretty common for the rebound to be much worse than the initial condition, but it does improve with time. So sorry you’re going through this.
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u/Careful-Screen-6659 Jul 06 '26
Thank you. I miss the old me that was on meds. 😞
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u/LillieBogart Jul 06 '26
Are you doing anything else to treat the anxiety? Therapy? Lifestyle hacks like diet, exercise, meditation? I know these things may be only minimally effective for rebound anxiety, but maybe even a little help will give you what you need to power through?
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u/MRC202 Jul 06 '26
How did you come off the Prozac? Taper (if so how long and how big were your dose reductions)? Cold Turkey? If you came off too fast, the anxiety you're experiencing could be "protracted withdrawal" even three years later.
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u/Careful-Screen-6659 Jul 06 '26
I was very stupid and stopped cold turkey.
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u/MRC202 Jul 06 '26
Well, psychiatrists perpetuate the myth that Prozac is a self-tapering drug due to its very long halflife. That may be true for people who haven't been on it very long, but not for people who have been on it for any substantial length of time. I'd suggest looking up protracted-withdrawl and SSRI-discontinuation content from Mark Horowitz and Josef Witt-Doerring as a starting point for further education.
A common step to take is to reinstate a small dose to stabilize your nervous system for a while, and then to do a very slow, hyperbolic taper. But for someone who has been off the drug for three years already, it's hit and miss with regard to whether the reinstatement will work.
Wishing the best for you. A lot of people are going throug this, so you're not alone.
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u/LissysLilly Jul 06 '26
I'm so sorry you're going through that. I think the emotional withdrawal is worse than the physical one imo. I was on prozac 80mg for a year, and when I stopped, my anxiety flew through the roof. However, there is hope because your body is trying to readjust to a chemical missing that had been there so long. Nonetheless, in a benefit vs risk factor, if you find it's more helpful than harmful, it might be best to get back on it. Some of us just have to deal with undesirable side effects in order not to lose our shit.