Prozac for anxiety? Help!
Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Morristown, NJ
Posts: 22
The (often frustrating) thing about the SSRIs is that it can take 4-6 weeks at the theraputic dose to see positive results. In other words, we need to be patient with these meds before moving on to something else.
As already mentioned, what works for one person will not work for another, so it is a trial-and-error process. Sometimes people will get lucky with the first med.....sometimes a person will be on the med-go-round for months before finding the right medication/dosage.
Going from 10mgs to 40 does sound like a bit much. I would stick with the Prozac at 20mgs for a few weeks and see how it goes. Of course we can have an adverse effect with these meds (increased anxiety with a medication that is supposed to reduce anxiety), so if it isn't helping after a solid 4-6 week trial, then it is time to give another medication a try.
For what it is worth, Prozac has the longest half-life of all the SSRIs and is therefore the easiest to discontinue. Many doctors are getting in tune with cross-tapering with Prozac to discontinue some of the anti-depressants with frequently harsh discontinuation symptoms (such as Paxil).
Work with your doctor and if he/she isn't responsive to your concerns, then lay it on the line that you will find someone else who is.
There are a lot of websites that proclaim these meds as the work of the devil.....it is best to avoid these as they take a magnifying glass to a small amount of bad outcomes and ignore the millions who have been helped greatly with their use. There are a number of SSRIs that are FDA approved for the treatment of anxiety......if the Prozac fails you, you have other options. Keep your head up and try to be patient.
Best of luck.
As already mentioned, what works for one person will not work for another, so it is a trial-and-error process. Sometimes people will get lucky with the first med.....sometimes a person will be on the med-go-round for months before finding the right medication/dosage.
Going from 10mgs to 40 does sound like a bit much. I would stick with the Prozac at 20mgs for a few weeks and see how it goes. Of course we can have an adverse effect with these meds (increased anxiety with a medication that is supposed to reduce anxiety), so if it isn't helping after a solid 4-6 week trial, then it is time to give another medication a try.
For what it is worth, Prozac has the longest half-life of all the SSRIs and is therefore the easiest to discontinue. Many doctors are getting in tune with cross-tapering with Prozac to discontinue some of the anti-depressants with frequently harsh discontinuation symptoms (such as Paxil).
Work with your doctor and if he/she isn't responsive to your concerns, then lay it on the line that you will find someone else who is.
There are a lot of websites that proclaim these meds as the work of the devil.....it is best to avoid these as they take a magnifying glass to a small amount of bad outcomes and ignore the millions who have been helped greatly with their use. There are a number of SSRIs that are FDA approved for the treatment of anxiety......if the Prozac fails you, you have other options. Keep your head up and try to be patient.
Best of luck.
Member
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 2
Originally Posted by VioletAntigone 
I recently switched from Zoloft to Prozac, and have been taking the Prozac for about twenty days; I started out at 10 mg, and have gradually increased the dosage to 40 mg per day, as prescribed by my psychiatrist....
However, I feel a little freaked out since I started it. I am just full of nervousness, and I go back and forth being irritable and somewhat combative to feeling almost giddy. Initially, I started taking it before bed, but now I take it when I wake up.
I experience moderate but CONSTANT anxiety all day every day, particularly if I have to be around other people. My psychiatrist suggested that I bring it back down to 20 mg over the next week, and see if it improves over the next couple of weeks.
Does anyone here have experience with Prozac and anxiety disorders? Or with OCD, which comes up for me a little now and again?
Any help/suggestions/experience is tremendously appreciated!!
However, I feel a little freaked out since I started it. I am just full of nervousness, and I go back and forth being irritable and somewhat combative to feeling almost giddy. Initially, I started taking it before bed, but now I take it when I wake up.
I experience moderate but CONSTANT anxiety all day every day, particularly if I have to be around other people. My psychiatrist suggested that I bring it back down to 20 mg over the next week, and see if it improves over the next couple of weeks.
Does anyone here have experience with Prozac and anxiety disorders? Or with OCD, which comes up for me a little now and again?
Any help/suggestions/experience is tremendously appreciated!!
Last edited by historyteach; 05-24-2008 at 07:39 AM. Reason: deleted email address
Starting over
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 17
Effexor seems to be the one that is rough to taper down from. In my case I had to reduce my schedule from 300mg per day to 150MG per day because something has changed with the medicine. I started getting hallucinations and feelings of doom and not being able to escape. As I tapered down this medicine gradually those symptoms subsided. I have been on Effexor for years and then a week or so after getting a new refill I start getting side effects.
How I did the tapering: I went for the first 3 weeks every 18 hours instead of 12 then the next 2 weeks every 24 hours then 1 week every 36 hours until I felt as if the pills were leaving me then I went back to every 24 hours and now I'm stabilized. These pills are red so I was originally taking half of what I was before which is the same exact dose as the pinks ones so this wasn't an issue of overdosing with the new pill refills, same dosage and schedule. A new mandate from the Gov says that nobody can have more than 60 pills per month.
All of this leads me to believe something has changed with the medication and I notified the doctor and nurses about this and it looks like my therapist and doctor are sort of confused about the situation themselves. They aren't sure why the effects I had experienced just started happening. I've been on Effexor for years.
Pills are a balancing act.
How I did the tapering: I went for the first 3 weeks every 18 hours instead of 12 then the next 2 weeks every 24 hours then 1 week every 36 hours until I felt as if the pills were leaving me then I went back to every 24 hours and now I'm stabilized. These pills are red so I was originally taking half of what I was before which is the same exact dose as the pinks ones so this wasn't an issue of overdosing with the new pill refills, same dosage and schedule. A new mandate from the Gov says that nobody can have more than 60 pills per month.
All of this leads me to believe something has changed with the medication and I notified the doctor and nurses about this and it looks like my therapist and doctor are sort of confused about the situation themselves. They aren't sure why the effects I had experienced just started happening. I've been on Effexor for years.
Pills are a balancing act.
I choose to live
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Antwerp (Belgium)
Posts: 390
Don't know if the prozac over there is the same as here in Belgium..(I don't even think they still give it here)But what I know is that everyone reacts different on prozac..My grandma took it to and had to stop it becos of the bad effect..Another girlfriend became so abnormal horny of it that she had to stop it too..I myself have never tried it and I never will..Love from Stefanie
Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NJ
Posts: 30
Originally Posted by VioletAntigone
I recently switched from Zoloft to Prozac, and have been taking the Prozac for about twenty days; I started out at 10 mg, and have gradually increased the dosage to 40 mg per day, as prescribed by my psychiatrist....
However, I feel a little freaked out since I started it. I am just full of nervousness, and I go back and forth being irritable and somewhat combative to feeling almost giddy. Initially, I started taking it before bed, but now I take it when I wake up.
I experience moderate but CONSTANT anxiety all day every day, particularly if I have to be around other people. My psychiatrist suggested that I bring it back down to 20 mg over the next week, and see if it improves over the next couple of weeks.
Does anyone here have experience with Prozac and anxiety disorders? Or with OCD, which comes up for me a little now and again?
Any help/suggestions/experience is tremendously appreciated!!
However, I feel a little freaked out since I started it. I am just full of nervousness, and I go back and forth being irritable and somewhat combative to feeling almost giddy. Initially, I started taking it before bed, but now I take it when I wake up.
I experience moderate but CONSTANT anxiety all day every day, particularly if I have to be around other people. My psychiatrist suggested that I bring it back down to 20 mg over the next week, and see if it improves over the next couple of weeks.
Does anyone here have experience with Prozac and anxiety disorders? Or with OCD, which comes up for me a little now and again?
Any help/suggestions/experience is tremendously appreciated!!
Never give up!
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Pleasanton, CA
Posts: 17
Hi there!
I thought I would speak about my experience. I am on Prozac, 20 mg a day and I suffer from severe anxiety and it has helped me immensily! I must say, it was a bit strange (jittery and surreal) at first, but I must emphasis you MUST give it at least 3 weeks before judging weather or not it is working for you. It takes a while to get in your system and a while before it regulates and assists you. If you make changes again and again immediatly after you don't feel good on a certain medication, you will never find the right one. Don't get me wrong, you know yourself better than anybody, even your doctor so you must listen to your body, but it is important to give the medication a chance, weather it be Prozac or anything else to get in your system and do it's thing! Anyhow, I have been on Prozac now for 3 years, 1 of which I was pregnant for and my son is 100% beautiful, healthy, smart, and amazing! He is a very happy baby. Perhaps the Prozac helped. ha ha. Seriously though, I agree with everyone on this post, everyone is different, but I wanted you to know that Prozac has helped me with my anxiety completely and the side effects I experienced such as the jitters and lack of sex drive have completly pasted and did so after about a month or so. Good luck to you!
I thought I would speak about my experience. I am on Prozac, 20 mg a day and I suffer from severe anxiety and it has helped me immensily! I must say, it was a bit strange (jittery and surreal) at first, but I must emphasis you MUST give it at least 3 weeks before judging weather or not it is working for you. It takes a while to get in your system and a while before it regulates and assists you. If you make changes again and again immediatly after you don't feel good on a certain medication, you will never find the right one. Don't get me wrong, you know yourself better than anybody, even your doctor so you must listen to your body, but it is important to give the medication a chance, weather it be Prozac or anything else to get in your system and do it's thing! Anyhow, I have been on Prozac now for 3 years, 1 of which I was pregnant for and my son is 100% beautiful, healthy, smart, and amazing! He is a very happy baby. Perhaps the Prozac helped. ha ha. Seriously though, I agree with everyone on this post, everyone is different, but I wanted you to know that Prozac has helped me with my anxiety completely and the side effects I experienced such as the jitters and lack of sex drive have completly pasted and did so after about a month or so. Good luck to you!
Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: NY
Posts: 23
I was on Zoloft for a good year, and it didn't help at all. I still wasn't leaving my house & couldn't bear to be around anyone. My doctor put me on xanax, I take one 2 milg throughout the day (I break it into quarters and take one every 5 hours or so)... So I actually take less than 2 milg actually. This is what works for ME, not everyone is the same, I think it depends on how bad your panic disorder is. I was seriously at the point where I wouldn't go out, period. That's when you know it's bad.. With the xanax, I'm fine. I don't have panic attacks at all & I'm able to go out now.
Again I say not everyone is the same! What works for one person, may not work for another person. I personally find that physciatrists are often too quick now to put the person on an anti-depresent medication, that may help (often it doesn't as it turns out I've heard from a lot of people)... I went to see someone else & they wanted me to switch from the xantax too prozac, and I didn't. I don't ever want to feel the way I did, NEVER again! So I choose to listen to my body & knowing what's best for me. Another prime example is my heart rate, which is normally 60-70 beats, without my medication it was up closer to the 100 mark, NOT good!
I understand their reservation to put one on a benzo, their extreamly addictive.. So I respect why they throw people on the anti-depresents.
Good luck~
LC
Again I say not everyone is the same! What works for one person, may not work for another person. I personally find that physciatrists are often too quick now to put the person on an anti-depresent medication, that may help (often it doesn't as it turns out I've heard from a lot of people)... I went to see someone else & they wanted me to switch from the xantax too prozac, and I didn't. I don't ever want to feel the way I did, NEVER again! So I choose to listen to my body & knowing what's best for me. Another prime example is my heart rate, which is normally 60-70 beats, without my medication it was up closer to the 100 mark, NOT good!
I understand their reservation to put one on a benzo, their extreamly addictive.. So I respect why they throw people on the anti-depresents.
Good luck~
LC
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