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How long do you take antidepressants from when you start feeling better? Prozac (fluoxetine) 20mg?

Discussion in 'Off-topic Discussion' started by auzzy_mikey, Jun 10, 2019.

  1. auzzy_mikey

    auzzy_mikey Fapstronaut

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    Hey guys. I am taking Prozac (fluoxetine) 20mg now for 2 months.

    I feel better now and was wondering for how much longer I still have to taking antidepressants? I am seeing my psychiatrist and she says that I need to at least keep taking them for 1 year.

    Thing is I'm not sure if my psychiatrist is just saying that so I keep coming to her and provide her with income or whether she's saying that for my health and benefit. That's why I'm asking how long do you guys generally take antidepressants for from when you start feeling better. I only started taking antidepressants because my anxiety was horrible and I was having panic attacks and agoraphobia.
     
  2. Hi, I take fluoxetine, and I work for a psych. Trust your doctor unless they give you a reason not to. They have more to lose than you do. That sounds about right.
     
    Ecoman likes this.
  3. auzzy_mikey

    auzzy_mikey Fapstronaut

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    Okay. How long have you been taking fluoxetine for?
     
  4. a few months and it killed my hyper sex drive
     
  5. Wayne Kest

    Wayne Kest Fapstronaut

    I felt much better once I stopped taking that specific one. I feel like big pharma only wants to make a profit off of meds, but that's how I feel. Meanwhile, there's more success with natural supplements like ashwaghanda, l-theanine, tumeric curcumin and essential oils
     
  6. The Wrestler

    The Wrestler Fapstronaut

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    Antidepressants need to be taken for at least two weeks before you notice any effects (and often you may notice side effects before you notice positive effects - but where there are side effects, there is the drug working!). Similarly, the half-life of fluoxetine in the system is about two weeks, which is why tapering the medication down is necessary and a cold-turkey approach can be quite jarring or damaging.

    I think the reason your psychiatrist is recommending taking it for a year might be twofold: 1) It gives more conclusive proof that it is the medication working, and not merely seasonal shifting of moods (summers tend to be happier, but when fall/winter hits, life goes to sh*t). And 2) taking medication during a prolonged period buys you the time to deal with some of the thought patterns, behaviours, or core beliefs that are causing the extreme anxiety, panic attacks, and agoraphobia.

    Anxiety and depression is the long game - it's not a one pill and it's over kind of thing. I've had depression (with a creamy anxiety nougat centre!) for over 17 years. Granted, dysthymia is the chronic version, but even the DSM categorises depression as 2 weeks to 2 years, and generalised anxiety disorder as 6+ months. So...we're in the long fight, my friend. The neural pathways that led you to being unable to go outside need to be unlearned and retrained - that takes time!

    Side effects for fluoxetine tend to be on the milder side - it is one of the best meds we have because we have a much longer history with it and we know how it works. If the side effects are truly untenable, you may ask to switch to something else. Be aware, it'll take 2-4 weeks to taper down the fluoxetine, then 2-4 weeks to ramp up the next thing, which may have its own side effects (the worst I've experienced was not pooping for a week!). You may also decide to lean into the med - it would be a conscious decision to, if it's going to negatively affect your sex drive, really throw yourself into the treatment and psychotherapy with the intention that at the end of a year you will try to taper it down (and you can then happily doink your way across whichever landscape in which you live...with protection, of course). But for any of this, you gotta ask yourself: how's the anxiety working for you? What are you going to do about it?
     
    Mr. McMarty likes this.
  7. auzzy_mikey

    auzzy_mikey Fapstronaut

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    The good thing is that fluoxetine is very cheap. It isn't expensive at all. The meds you talk about.... do they cause any good benefits for you?
     
  8. 19m

    19m Fapstronaut

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    i’ve been taking fluxetine for a while now ! and i guess it hasn’t helped at all !
     
  9. aston20

    aston20 Fapstronaut

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    I'm taking sertraline, but i started to feel really better when i changed my diet to a healthy diet. You should do research about healthy lifestyle, for example Dr Berg on youtube. Then, if you notice changes with a healthy lifestyle, you won't need to take antidepressants.
     
  10. Spriritofawarrior

    Spriritofawarrior Fapstronaut

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    you should have just rode out the storm. Now you're not solving the problem, but using a remedy that isn't going to cure your addiction. If you take it for a year, i guarantee you'll get worse withdrawals from the presciption drugs than PMO
     
    Deleted Account likes this.
  11. It won't fix your problems it's an easy out not to deal with them. It's like putting your feelings on pause. But there is a price to pay for that it will do more damage than good.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 12, 2019
    Spriritofawarrior likes this.
  12. Spriritofawarrior

    Spriritofawarrior Fapstronaut

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    For real. He needs to check the withdrawal symptoms from
    That prescription drug loool
     
  13. auzzy_mikey

    auzzy_mikey Fapstronaut

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    It started working 14 days after I took it. My anxiety was beyond bearable and I couldn't go in public. Now its okay and getting better day by day.
     
  14. auzzy_mikey

    auzzy_mikey Fapstronaut

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    I am focusing on everything from meditation, to water, to diet and everything best I can do. I only took antidepressants as a last resort cause my anxiety was so bad and horrible.
     
  15. auzzy_mikey

    auzzy_mikey Fapstronaut

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    That's a very good point you raise. But honestly man I took the antidepressants cause my anxiety was so bad. It felt like hell... I tried to ride out the bad mental symptoms for 3 months before I just reached breaking point.

    But yeah good point you raise about getting withdrawals from the medication when I stop using them. There's 2 risks involved. My psychiatrist said if I stop using the medication too soon, there's a chance that I might get back into the depression and withdrawals. But then if I stop using them like a year after like you said, I might get worse withdrawals. Hmmm.... leaves me in a very difficult situation.
     
  16. auzzy_mikey

    auzzy_mikey Fapstronaut

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    The good thing the antidepressants I am taking have a long half-life and therefore the withdrawals symptoms are the lowest and least in intensity compared to other antidepressants. ANd its also a low dosage of 20mg. But yeah I'll certainly bring this point up with my psychiatrist. I am seeing her on 17th june
     
  17. aston20

    aston20 Fapstronaut

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    Exactly, antidepressants are the last resort. I started taking them when i had my first panic attack and was really depressed. One of the main reasons i started taking antidepressants was that i had got a chronic pain and it didn't heal until i start a healthy lifestyle. Seriously, being healthy was the best thing i did in years to stay pain free.
     
  18. auzzy_mikey

    auzzy_mikey Fapstronaut

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    Hey man, well said. Exactly same as me. I started having panic attacks and horrible anxiety in public to the point where I didn't want to be in public. That is when I took antidepressants. What are the main things you do to maintain a healthy lifestyle? Like what foods, diet, activities do you do?
     
  19. 3nigma

    3nigma Fapstronaut

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    It's a common pitfall that people fall into: taking their meds until they feel better and then stopping. Meds cause side effects so people wanna get off their meds as soon as possible. The problem is that when you stop taking your meds like that your symptoms will come back full force and probably worse than before because of the rebound effect.

    I've tried quitting my meds a bunch of times in the past, mainly because I was in denial that I needed them in the first place. The results are never pretty. Consider yourself lucky that you're only on one relatively mild psych drug and only for a year. I'm on 5 psych drugs and I'll be on them for the rest of my life. So, yeah, it could be way worse.
     
  20. Its been 2 weeks for me....not prozac but
    Ive noticed i let small stuff go now instead of focusing on it.

    My wife said she notices lots of little differences so I am good with it mostly.

    A couple of the side effects I could certainly live without
     

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