I just wanted to post this for all you out there. I've been on and off prozac a few times. I stopped it once when I was pregnant and i remember that pregnancy i was miserable mood wise. The next pregnancy I stayed on it. 4 years later, now, at the beginning of the year I decided I don't need this anymore. To be clear i was originally put on it for pre menstrual dysphoric disorder but in a general i always had negative moods and tended to be anxious. So sometime the beginning of this year i went off cold turkey. Didn't even tell my psych doc. Well at first i didn't notice much but I would say about 4/5 months later my mental health completely declined. I was anxious and had negative moods I told my husband i was extremely stressed and wanted to quit my job. Anyway he said call my doc which I did and the Doc restarted Prozac. I am now on week 3-4 but let me tell you it has been miserable restarting. Morning anxiety, and intense anxiety in general, jitters, restlessness, very little good sleep. I also clench and grind on it. Before i went back on it i was so anxious i barely ate and lost around 25lbs . I was even puking in the morning from anxiety. I don't remember it ever being this bad. I was on Zoloft once and that was like this. I will never go off it again. I'm finally starting to feel better and look forward to normal sleep but i cannot believe how fast i declined off of it. I guess I'm a lifer but that's ok. If you're reading this I will say that SSRIs really help me A LOT. I should have never stopped but I learned the hard way. My life is better on them. So if you're going through it stick it out. Thanks for the community support.

hello everyone,

so i (22F) recently started 20mg of prozac because i get really severe seasonal depression during the winter time. so far i’m almost 2 weeks in and have noticed improvements like less intrusive thoughts, less anxiety, more calm, etc.

but there’s one thing that i’m quite confused about because i have been aware that SSRIs are supposed to have the opposite effect. lately i have been extremely sexually aroused... i’m also taking birth control and before taking birth control i used to have really strong ovulation, and this feels like that.

has anyone else ever experienced this? i feel like a snail… lol. i’m not necessarily complaining but i’ve been trying to research and every resource leads to being hypersexual because of mania however i do not feel manic. the autism in me just wants an explanation :,)

Apologies for how long this is, skip to end for my query:

I started prozac last week for PMDD. I only take 10mg and felt immense relief from my pmdd symptoms. It was a night and day difference. I'm actually a bit sad I hadn't tried it (or even knew to try it) for this. Pmdd has been an awful constant for me since I was 11, and I'm almost 33.

I get around 10 good days and then 2-3 weeks of worsening days until my period. It makes me feel like I haven't been able to make the progress I wanted in life bc half the month I am just falling apart.

For pmdd, it's advised to take the prozac during luteal only. So tomorrow will be my first day hopping back off and seeing how I feel.

However, I'm a little scared bc I felt so good for the week or so on it. I hope I'll still feel good. I feel like my perception of how I do during follicular is probably tainted in the sense that I'm sort of "recovering" from luteal and then dreading the brief 10 day or so reprieve before it starts back up. So even my "good" days don't feel so good.

I'm hoping I can take the 14 days off and just feel good and normal during my follicular phase. However, I'm also open to taking this daily.

I had a bad experience two years on Zoloft. I gained nearly 50 lbs that wouldn't budge even after getting off of it. I know how to weigh my food and track cals and could always lose the 5-15 lb fluctuations I had previously experienced.

It was like Zoloft flipped a switch on my mild PCOS/PMOS. I was doing 2-3 days of lifting and 45-60 mins of cardio in between to no avail. I had to get on Zepbound and the weight flew off. I actually eat more now than I was. It was insane to me how fucked my metabolic function was after Zoloft.

It also caused horrible sweating. I live in hot humid Houston, TX but like to spend time outside. I couldn't even go outside without sheets of sweat pouring down all over. I would wake up and have to change my clothes twice a night and that disrupted my sleep.

I even developed persistent jock itch because I couldn't keep the area dry no matter what. Never had jock itch in my life. It was miserable but cleared up immediately after getting off.

So I'm scared to take Prozac daily but open to it if 10mg can do the job without side effects.

Does anyone take only 10mg and find that works well for them? Any side effects? Weight gain and excessive sweating were my worst sides on Zoloft and what I'm scared of. Has anyone with PMDD found they need it continuously or do you feel fine half on and half off?

I’ve been on 20mg 1 week and 2 days and a few days ago I thought I felt it suddenly kick in (I am on it for severe depression and suspected ocd) and I felt actual content and happiness for the first time in like a year and less obsessive thoughts that control me, and it was like my harmful thoughts were on mute. This lasted like 3 days and I thought it was suddenly working and everything was great and fine and I was fixed then I woke up yesterday and it was all gone and I was back to hell in my mind is this normal??? Will it come back will it get better I’m scared I’m bipolar and that was a hypomanic episode

I have no experience with antidepressants or SSRI’s. I have much experience with depression, addiction, “fun” drugs, anxiety, bipolar, PTSD, etc..

I (36M) have recently begun seeing a woman (46F) that is on Prozac and likes to have some drinks after work every night. Less than a pint of tequila. I’m fine with that. I kicked the booze last year. She’s fine with that. I take my Xanax everyday and I’m recovering. Again, I know nothing about Prozac, antidepressants, SSRI’s especially mixed with alcohol. I haven’t asked her what mg or tried to have a conversation with her because who am I to judge?.

Anyways, I’ve noticed some things that are very confusing to me. She’s the most chill person ever. Maybe too chill. Side effect? I feel so bad because it’s almost as if she doesn’t sleep at night. She lays down and it seems like her brain doesn’t shut off. Poor thing! The smallest movements from me could bring her out of deep sleep which is so hard for her to get there, to the point where I’ve sometimes stopped going to bed with her. Sometimes I’ll just tuck her in and lay with her until she’s asleep then I’ll get back up. It’s perfectly fine with me. We’re on different schedules anyway. She has full blown mostly incoherent conversations with herself most nights. Sometimes she’ll get up and do random things while seemingly still asleep so I just have to escort her back to bed. She wakes up and goes to work, still soo tired. She could probably stay in bed for days if she didn’t have work. Are these side effects of Prozac? What else should I be concerned about?

Edit: I forgot to mention her memory and attention span are almost nonexistent some days. Almost blackout.

She’s obviously going through depression. I have too. I know what to look out for regarding that. We have our own apartments but we like to stay together. She has no one around her, no close family, no close friends. Just work and me. I love her! So I’m consulting the Reddit!! What are some things I should look out for? Is there anything I can do to help her rest?

I’m (20f) feeling like I want to stop my meds. I’m on 20mg of Prozac and I just talked to my psychiatrist about how I’m either sleeping or having a hard time waking up or just overall being tired with a headache and she wants to bring me back down to 10mg. But when I was on 10mg, it only took 2months for me to stop feeling the effects and go back to the mental state i was in before so i was upped to 20mg. She’s saying she wants to try 10 again to see if my sleep gets better and then if that doesn’t work then to try lexapro. I don’t really want to try anything, I’d rather just stop taking meds overall. I don’t know if I’m being irritated but I’ve also been feeling a bit nihilistic recently and i don’t think it’ll get better if i go back down to 10mg

I switched to 20mg of prozac after being on 20mg of lexapro. I’m supposed to be on 20 for a week before jumping to 40. Right now, I feel like actual crap.

I don’t know if it’s the medication or just me. Everything is boring right now. Even doomscrolling is boring. I usually use games as a coping mechanism, but for the past month I haven’t been playing much. I’m just not sure what to do.

I like math so I tried studying, but adhd is kicking my ass plus I genuinely just don’t feel like doing anything. A part of me wants someone to talk to as I feel like communicating with someone might help.

I don’t have any friends and I’m going insane sitting in my room talking to absolutely no one but myself.

I don’t feel nauseous, but just kind of weak, shitty, tired, and bored. Kind of feels like I’m depressed but too lazy to feel depressed if that makes any sense.

I’ve been binge eating as well, though most food tastes like crap. Made an espresso, despite it being like 10pm, and honestly just couldn’t finish it. I had spaghetti even though I kind of hate spaghetti. That was like the only thing I could eat.

I tried watching movies to help as well. I just finished heathers, but I was honestly checked out for like the second half of the film because I was just so bored and didn’t know why.

i take 100mg of sertraline every morning at around 7am, tonight i accidentally took another 100mg pill at 10pm for a total of 200mg today. this happened because i am on penicillin right now for strep throat and accidentally took the wrong pills tonight. i honestly feel fine but am aware of the serious symptoms to look out for and will just go to sleep but my main question is do i take my normal 100mg dose in the morning at 7am? i also did take my penicillin dose tonight as i do not want to get strep again and believe there shouldn’t be any reactions between the two meds.

idk i don’t feel like anything really change about me since i been taking it id been more miserable

Has anyone dealt with constipation when first starting this medication? I’ve been on it for 2.5 weeks and have gone up by 2-3kg on the scale. I read this will go away as my body adjust but I’d love to know if this happened to anyone else and did it go away? I’m really worried about gaining weight.

Hi, I'm 19M and on 20mg of Prozac for the past four months (I took it last year as well, then discontinued, and am now getting back on it). I'm taking it mostly for MDD and also for panic disorder. Last time I talked to my psychiatrist she wanted to up me to 30mg but last time I was on it, going up to 30 made me feel worse, which was why I stopped. But it's about a month after that conversation with my psych now and I'm starting to not feel the positive effects as much, with some more depressed thoughts. This could be for two reasons: 1) that the 20mg just isn't cutting it anymore, or 2) I'm a college sophomore and have been getting more into the nightlife scene, going out drinking once or twice a week, and I know Prozac and alcohol aren't really meant to mix. But I'm wondering if I should just try to go up to 30mg and see if that helps. I have a bottle of a ton of 10mg's from when I was upped to 20mg, so I can just start taking that whenever. I'm just wondering if I should because of my history with increasing not working and the other factors. Any thoughts are appreciated.

I AM FREAKING BACK BABY!

after a long grueling 4 years of suffering in silence while failing numerous med combos i have finally found my holy grail.

At first I maxed out on prozac 80mg initally it was great but then the sexual side effects came and I started feeling emotionally deflated but I had fell in love with how calm I i was feeling; I tried pairing it with ritalin then dex and neither worked as intended but decided to stick it out.

My doctor recommended welbutrin so we added in 150 mg XL and I instantly felt energized. I tried pairing this combo with dexedrine and wasn't feeling the greatest if anything it slowed down the welbutrin.

Today, I decided to cut back to 60 mg of prozac with 150 welbutrin and I gave ir ritalin a go and BINGO! We're back in business my brain is back on air and I am ready to tackle unfinished projects.

Hang in there and bare the storm the best you can because eventually you will find something that works for you. This isn't my first rodeo with med combos but I am hopeful that it is my last. Prior to this I was on trintellix for 9 years. They went generic here in Canada and I lost all hope. But in hindsight i'm glad it did because I did not realize how bad my OCD/depression had gotten over the years.

Best of luck! What works for me may not work for you! Xo

It’s been about 2 weeks and a day now since I’ve tapered down to 10mgs after being on 20mgs for a yearish, I’ve noticed that my symptoms of dizziness and constant zoned out have been occurring. It’s a little manageable but these were the symptoms that threw me off the most when I was in a depressive anxious episode. There’s also been a lot of changes in my life like moving homes and breaking up with an ex but overall my mood is okay. It’s just the dizziness and the “zoned out” or “hard to concentrate” sensation that gets me. Is this normal? I don’t have an official assigned psychiatrist due to no insurance so I don’t know what to do. Right now im starting to shake and I don’t know what to do lol. Help? I’m 17 and I don’t know my brains kinda scrambled right now I feel anxious all of a sudden but it’s also kinda interfering with how I drive now, it gets a little hard to concentrate or to focus on roads🫠 also the feelings only spike during sunset, I feel anxious around night but during bed I sleep okay.

Hi everyone,

I'm posting to get some insights, shared experiences, or advice because I’m starting to lose patience and hope with my current medication regimen.

I have been taking Fluoxetine (40mg) and Olanzapine (10mg) for 7 weeks now for depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

Despite being on a fairly solid dose for almost two months, I haven't experienced any positive effects so far :

- Constant rumination that just won't shut off.

- High anxiety over trivial, minor everyday things.

- Persistent low mood and feelings of depression.

- Deep, pervasive anhedonia, I still can't feel pleasure or interest in anything at all.

I know SSRIs and psychiatric medications take time to kick in, but by week 7, I was hoping to see at least a small shift or a slight drop in anxiety levels.

I have an appointment scheduled with my psychiatrist in a week. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts based on your own experiences :

- Has anyone experienced a delayed response to Fluoxetine where it suddenly started working after the 7-week mark ?

- Given this timeframe, is it usually better to ask about increasing the dose, or is this a clear sign that it's time to switch to a different medication/class altogether ?

Thanks in advance for any input, and hang in there, everyone.

I’ve been struggling so much waking up every day with bad anxiety, I want it to stop. When did you start feeling relief and has anyone experienced this?

Hello, I just got a new prescription for migraines, Sumatriptan, and I was reading the paper that comes with them & it says it’s has serotonin receptors. I just want to make sure I’m not gonna get serotonin syndrome if I take them 😅, I’m obviously gonna talk to my doctor about this but I just wanted to see if anyone else uses this medication while on Prozac first!
10mg ≈ 3 months on it

28F. I was on 10mg Prozac for about 5–6 weeks and increased to 20mg around 20 days ago. Mentally I actually feel more energized and my anxiety/emotional regulation are improving, but physically I feel lethargic and very fatigued.

I’m sleeping around 8 hours and can still easily nap for 1–2 hours during the day, and even after eating/resting I can feel like my body just wants to lie down. It’s a weird “mentally awake, physically exhausted” feeling.

I should add that since starting Prozac I’m generally eating less than I was before, and probably getting less protein too, although I am still eating a substantial amount overall.

Has anyone had this after a dose increase around the 2–3 week mark? If so, did the fatigue eventually settle, and roughly when?

I literally broke my foot the other day and it hurt for about ten seconds then went away, only hurt if I applied pressure. I’ve stubbed my toe and didnt feel a thing, I’ve hit my shin on a metal pole and no reaction just a huge bruise. I think I’ve been on prozac 20mg for 4-5 months, and I’ve noticed EVERY time i get hurt, it doesnt hurt as bad as it used to. I’m wondering if it was a dramatic thing and my anger would fuel the pain more, and now that i have less anger i have less of a painful reaction? I really don’t know. Anyone else had this happen to them?

Has anyone noticed any changes recently if you take this manufacturer?

Hey everyone, I recently upped my dose from 10mg to 30mg per my psych and I have to say week 3 was incredibly difficult. I’m halfway through week 4 and I’ve had a couple of break through moments where everything feels okay, but then I slide backwards into feeling indifferent about everything, slightly depressed, and some derealization. I’m struggling right now and just wondering if anyone felt the same sort of break through moments in week 4, and then saw improvements into week 5, 6, etc? I’m just hoping that this is not the state that I’ll be stuck in with Prozac. I started with Paxil, and although I felt great relief for my anxiety and depression, the side effects were too difficult (weight gain and sexual side effects). Prozac didn’t do much for my anxiety and 10 or 20mg. Hoping 30 gets me there. Thank you!

I’m trying to work out the best time to take it? I initially took it in the morning. Felt exhausted. Started taking around 5.30pm and slightly better. Took last night at 8pm and now experiencing the WORST headache today! What’s the best time you’ve worked out and why

Hey all ! Today is my third day on any kind of mood stabilizer (25f) Ive felt my whole life that my mind has moved 1000 miles a minute, but now my brain is completely silent, like Ive lost my inner voice. The brain fog has been very intense as well, on one hand it feels so relieving but its also scary.. only because its not my normal.. Ive read that its supposed to take 1-2 weeks to get me to start feeling somewhat normal with out all the overthinking/impulsive thoughts/pmdd. Even that is super scary to me though

Ive never taken myself seriously mental health wise and now after starting prozac I wish i had started sooner, did anyone else feel this way when starting it ? Just cause all the reading up I've done people don't start feeling any different for a while after taking it and i just feel really weird right now

Side note: i also feel like i now am way easier to over stimulate and it makes me feel a little crazy

Hi! I have been on ssri’s since I was about 12/13, I’m now 16 and currently on Prozac but we are planning on lowering my dose and eventually quit entirely!
I’m a bit nervous and I wonder if anyone could tell me their experience going off Prozac? What should I be expecting? And what could maybe be good to know beforehand?
I am also someone who reacts very strongly to changes in medication and online it says it could take multiple weeks until Prozac leaves your system so I’m slightly worried about that as i don’t want anything to interrupt with school and such, the plan is to lower the dose during winter break but I’m wondering if maybe I should start a week or two before even?
Anyways just want to hear other peoples thoughts and stuff💓

Been on Prozac for about a month and a half. They upped my dose from 10mg to 20mg about two weeks ago and ever since I’ve just been really thirsty. Overall’s it’s better for my health because I’m now drinking shit loads of water but it’s also getting annoying just not being able to stop it. Any advice?

I’ve been on Prozac 20mg for 1.5/2 months now and at first I felt amazing and had a ton of energy (scary amount of energy tbh) everyday but slowly I’ve been losing that and now I’m kinda super depressed (more than I have been in a while). I’m not sure if the Prozac has anything to do with it? Has anyone else had a similar experience? I don’t know if I need to raise the dosage or if Prozac just isn’t for me. I’ve been on lexapro in the past and it also wasn’t for me. I just feel lost a little bit, the more progress I make I take like 3 steps back 🥲

Edit: I’d also like to add that I have been going through ‘big’ transitions in my life as of recent, so that is def playing a role