SarahRinAZ How to taper off Prozac capsules

[SarahRinAZ]

I have been on Prozac for 18 years at various doses, the highest was 40 mph for about 10 years.... 18 months ago I dropped from 40 to 20 with really no issues, just got a smaller dose and did it. I am currently on 20 mg per day of the name brand Prozac... my psychiatrist told me to take 20mg for 2 days then 10 mg for 1 day and then repeat that schedule for 8-10 weeks, then go to 20 mg 1 day and then 10 mg the next day, and same schedule, back and forth, for another 8-10 weeks or more..... then go to 10 mg and after I get to that point I’m to contact him and we can possibly go to a liquid form..... 

I had a very very bad reaction to some generic back in August of last year after they stopped making the Sandoz  brand I had taken for 16 years.....so I was put on the brand name.... I just want off this stuff, I’m so scared they will quit making something I’m taking again and I will go through the nightmare from hell I went through again..... I was suicidal for the first time in my life, all because of meds......Dr said it was likely a very bad reaction to some inert ingredient in the generic form, which came from India..... 

any advise is appreciated, thank you

 

Sarah

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Sarah.

 

You are correct, your psychiatrist's plan is bonkers.

 

Here are our Tips for tapering off Prozac (fluoxetine)

 

If I were you, I'd get a prescription for 10mg Prozac and the prescription liquid. Take part of your dose in capsule form and the rest in liquid, tapering the liquid portion. For example, after you get used to 10mg capsule and 10mg liquid, your first 10% decrease would be 9mg in liquid added to 10mg capsule each day.

[SarahRinAZ]

I am going to go back to therapy while thinking about all of this..... I am so incredibly terrified my brain has been damaged by the drug that I will never be normal again. I was originally put on Prozac back in 2001 after my son was born.... psychiatrist said I had ocd, and said this would take care of it. Not long after being put on it my son was diagnosed with autism, and it flipped our world upside down. At the 2 year mark of the Prozac I went to 40 mg and stayed there until September of 2017 when I asked my GP to go down as I was dizzy constantly and having brain fog.... I just took the 20 mg and was pretty good.... some mild aggitation and a few sleep issues, but nothing bad.... in fact, I felt much better and my teeth grinding issue went away. Fast forward to August 2018.... the brand I had used for all those years was suddenly not available and not manufactured any longer..... I first went to a bright blue colored fluoxetine capsule that I took for about a week because it left me with stabbing pain in my stomach..... then I went to a color free tablet that seemed to work for a week, but then as I was walking into a grocery store, I fell flat on my face for no reason... I didn’t even put my hands out to stop the fall...I hit my face on the right side and was very confused....we still don’t know what happened.... about a week later I started noticing weight just dropping off of me for no reason, and I was really agitated And jumpy. 2 weeks after the first fall, I fell again... this time it was bad.... I was on my bike and it slipped on some sand and I went down hard with my left side of my face and eye slamming into the concrete.... luckily I only broke my thumb, but my face was highly swollen and bruised.. the days to follow were nothing short of a nightmare..... nausea, severe insomnia... suicidal thoughts, and my first bought of anxiety in my 48 years on this earth.... my GP was very very good to me and listened to all of my issues... we decided to use the brand name Prozac and see if there was a difference, and there was..... very very slowly it started to work.... and now, 7 months later, I am feeling that same brain fog, and the teeth grinding has returned and some anxiety, although I do believe it’s somewhat related to our current situation with our now 19 year old son with autism who still lives with us, but I do not do hands on care anymore ( we run our house like a live in group home) and we have 24 hour staff providing all the care for him now.

I had stopped therapy back in January because I felt somewhat normal again and realize now that I need to go back..... I desperately want off this crap, and am so worried I may have damaged my brain while taking this for so many years (  I honestly forgot about how many years I had been on it because they went so fast)

I may not be ready to start weaning right now, but I do feel eventually getting off of this will lead to a clearer mind...( god I pray) my husband said if it’s making you feel ok, why stop taking it..... I don’t agree.... I live a relatively clean life, I don’t smoke, drink, do any type of drugs ( except the Prozac) and have been gluten free for 12 years.... have cut out caffeine, artificial colors, flavors, and working of cutting out dairy 100%.... currently at about 90%. 

I am so glad I found this board.... it gives me hope that I can also recover with a lot of patience and perseverance.

thank you for listening and reading.... Sarah  

[Altostrata]

12 minutes ago, SarahRinAZ said:

and now, 7 months later, I am feeling that same brain fog, and the teeth grinding has returned and some anxiety

 

Very sorry you've had these problems, Sarah. Those symptoms indicate the dosage of Prozac you're taking is too high for you.

 

The 10mg capsule plus liquid would probably be the best option for gradual reduction.

 

Please let us know how you're doing.

 

To help us out, follow these instructions Please put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature You may need to use a computer to do this.

 

[SarahRinAZ]

Isn’t actual Prozac liquid highly expensive??? I take the brand name now and I am paying 400$  for a 3 month supply.....what insurance won’t pay.

i really don’t understand what happened..... for about 2 months I felt seemingly normal, then bam!! Back with the anxiety, brain fog, a couple crying episodes, teeth grinding, confusion, dizziness.... it’s crazy...... I am also terrified of anything generic now due to what happened to me last fall....

my psychiatrist I see seems good, and believes in the wheat belly theory and no dairy either....... the schedule he gave me to reduce seemed rather  “crazy” to

me as well.

 

sarah

 

[SarahRinAZ]

I often wondered if my dose was too high, even at 20mg.... in the morning for the last 7 months since starting the new brand name Prozac I have gotten what I can only describe at chills down my spine the moment I awaken..... I take my meds at night because I always have and they make me sleepy. When I made the drop in 2017 from 40 to 20 I had also lost about 25 lbs that I had put on 6 years prior..... so the dose of 40mg just made me feel out of it and lightheaded with some confusion and concentrations issues. Now that I am at 20, and 7 months into the brand name after being on a generic for 16+ years..( see story above)  it seems I’m feeling almost the exact same way.... and that nagging jitteryness/chills down the spine has not diminished or gone away. I do tend to feel better throughout the course of the day too. I have 10mg capsules, and since I didn’t really have any issues jumping from 40 to 20, I’m wondering if I could handle another 50% dose drop relatively easily since it’s been over a year and a half since I dropped the last time. I exercise daily, eat relatively smart ( no gluten, no caffeine, really no dairy, minimal sugar) and have lost all the weight I gained when I went though menopause from 2007-2011. 

I have to admit, some of the posts on here terrify me, and knowing that  withdrawal symptoms are very real just gives me anxiety ..... but so does the thought that o may irreparably damage my brain if I don’t get off these things too.

I am in the Phoenix and Minneapolis areas.... so if anyone knows of someone good for helping with this please let me know..... in the mean time, I have gone back to therapy, back to meditation, and added magnesium and fish oil to my daily intake.

 

sarah

Edited May 8, 2019 by SarahRinAZ
Forgot something

[SarahRinAZ]

Time to stop the Prozac after 20 years.

 

I have decided to explore finally going off the Prozac for good. I have much better coping skills than I used to, and am in a MUCH better place than I was 3 years ago.

 

I currently take 20MG every other day, so basically 10 MG a day. I was on 40 for about 10 years, then dropped to 20 in 2017, then 20 mg E/O day in later 2019. I have not had any issue at all when I dropped half the dose, maybe a blip after the 40 to 20, but nothing since. I am going to talk to the Dr about going to 10 mg E/O day, then I think I may have to switch to liquid. I plan on this taking at least 2 years to avoid any withdrawal issues. I've heard after 20 years of being on this stuff your brain is really never the same again, so that's what scares me the most. I have a pretty healthy diet, walk daily, use my Alpha stim machine, and go to therapy weekly. My therapist thinks that after 20 years the Prozac has no more than a placebo effect now, and that I could think about coming off of it, and my  husband agrees. I will do this with the Dr to make sure I don't have any issue, but Id be lying if I said I wasn't scared shitless about this....its been a crutch for me, I have not thought about coming off because I am so terrified about withdrawal, and something going horribly wrong. I could just stay on it for life, but what for? even the things I went on it for originally are still here, I just have better ways of coping with them now, the Prozac really does not do what it did in the beginning.

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by ChessieCat
added Intro topic title before merging with intro topic

[Kiasofia]

Hi @SarahRinAZ

Over time, your nervous system adapts to a psychiatric drug, and it loses whatever beneficial effect it had. Colloquially, this is called "poop-out". So in a way your doctor is probably right that you mainly have a placebo effect from it. However, this does not mean that your body is indifferent to taking it and that you can easily quit. Please read this:

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain 

 

How do you talk to a doctor about tapering and withdrawal?

 

It is very important to take the same dose every day. Since you have been taking 20mg every other day for a while, start taking 10mg every day from now on. And then plan a slow taper from there:

Tips for tapering off fluoxetine (Prozac)

NEVER SKIP DOSES TO TAPER

 

Coming off these drugs can cause many different withdrawal symptoms, often leading to doctors thinking the original condition is returning or that another mental illness has emerged. This is why a slow taper is important.

What is withdrawal syndrome?

Dr. Joseph Glenmullen's withdrawal symptom checklist

 

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