Prozac (also known as fluoxetine) is an antidepressant medication with a long history. It was first used to treat depression back in the 1980’s. As well as major depression, it is also used to treat various panic disorders as well as OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).
Prozac belongs to the SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) family of antidepressant medication.
Prozac typically will not start working for anywhere between 2 and 12 weeks. When it does start working, you may find yourself feeling more relaxed, less anxious, have an improvement in energy, concentration and focus, have a greater interest in life in general and also improvements to your sleep and to your appetite.
Prozac Side Effects
Unfortunately, most antidepressants come with unwanted side effects. Often these will reduce or disappear over time, but that is not always the case and each individual may have different reactions.
The most common side effects of Prozac are:
Anxiety (which is weird because it is actually used to treat anxiety)
Dizziness
Dry mouth
Sexual disfunction
Fatigue and tiredness
Headaches
Blurred vision
Diarrhea
Nausea
Excessive sweating
Blurred vision
It is important that if you are experiencing any of these or other side effects that you notify your doctor. They are the experts in your treatment plan and will be able to help you manage your side effects or even switch you to a different antidepressant if your side effects are too severe.
Does Prozac Tiredness Wear Off?
It is difficult to answer that accurately as every person is different and will have different reactions. Usually though, the tiredness effect will wear off after a few weeks. This is similar for most other antidepressants where the worst of the side effects reduce after the first few weeks of taking it. If the tiredness from Prozac is causing you significant problems, you can speak to your doctor about it. They may switch you from taking it in the morning to taking it at night, or they may adjust your dosage until the tiredness is under control.
How Long Does It Take For Prozac To Work?
This varies from person to person. Some people start to feel the positive effects of Prozac in as little as 2 – 3 weeks. Others don’t feel its effects for up to 12 weeks. The side effects will often appear in the first few days of taking it, while the positive effects will take longer to start working. As always, it is important to keep your doctor informed about what you are feeling and what side effects you are experiencing while taking Prozac.
Prozac Half Life
The half life of a drug means how long it takes for half of the drug to leave your system. The half life of Prozac is 4 – 6 days. It will take up to 25 days for the drug to completely leave your system.
Prozac Withdrawal Symptoms
If you stop taking Prozac abruptly you are more likely to experience withdrawal symptoms. These can include nausea, dizziness, vomiting, headaches and irritability. It is important that if you are stopping Prozac then you do it under the guidance of your doctor. They may taper you off it gradually so it reduces the withdrawal symptoms, or they may even prescribe you something else which helps with the withdrawal symptoms.
Usually the withdrawal symptoms will begin a couple of days after you stop taking Prozac or reduce the dosage, and those symptoms can last several weeks. Everyone is different so not all people experience the withdrawal symptoms. In saying that, it is fairly common to experience at least mild withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking Prozac.
Some of the common withdrawal symptoms associated with Prozac are:
Increased irritability
Nausea
Vomiting
Headaches
Nightmares
Prickling sensation on the skin
My Experience With Prozac
Prozac is one of the many antidepressants I have personally been on. As I am someone who usually experiences the worst of the initial side effects my doctor started me on a small dose of 20mg. I experienced tiredness and headaches on this dose, but after around 3 or 4 weeks that reduced to a manageable level. We then moved up to 40mg and the side effects did not increase greatly, just general tiredness. We also switched from taking it in the morning to taking it at night to manage the tiredness it was causing. After a while, as I was not feeling any significant improvement from taking Prozac we changed the dose from 40mg at night to 60mg at night. The side effects did not change greatly for me.
Eventually after staying on it for several months it was time to change medication, as Prozac was just not doing enough for me. Under my doctors guidance, we tapered down from 60mg to 40mg to 20mg and then finally to nothing. The withdrawal effects I felt while doing this were fairly minimal, but I did have a consistent but not severe headache for most of the time when we were tapering me off the drug.
How I Became Medication Free After 10 Years
I have been on so many different antidepressant medications that I have lost count. It has been over 10 years of trialling different drugs, different doses and different combinations. During all of this I had to deal with both side effects and withdrawal symptoms, which wasn’t a fun experience. A while ago I came across a system called Destroy Depression. It got my attention when it said it didn’t use any drugs and could end my long battle against depression. To be honest, it all sounded a little far fetched and to claim that the course could end my depression had me thinking it was all a overhyped sales pitch.
The good thing is that it came with a 60 day money back guarantee, so I figured if it did nothing for me then I would just get my money back and that would be the end of it. The price was also cheap, far less than I pay for a months supply of antidepressants. So without great hope but plenty of curiosity, I bought the system. There’s a lot of extra bonuses it comes with but the main system was split into two parts. The first being a 7 step system to get on top of your depression and the second part was mostly about CBT and how to implement it. I have to say, it was the best money I have ever spent. I follow the system daily, and I go back and read the course again every few weeks to keep it fresh in my mind. It has had a tremendous effect on my depression and also on my anxiety. I am feeling the best I have felt since I started fighting depression more than 10 years ago. I encourage everyone to try it, and I mean really try it, don’t just read it and move on. It really works if you put in the effort and it doesn’t actually require a great deal of effort. You can check out the course by using the link below.
Click here to check out Destroy Depression
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