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M4ch441: Hello everyone.


M4ch44l

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Hi everybody. My name is Michael. I come to SurvivingAntidepressants with an urgent question. I started Prozac eleven days ago. I did 10 mg for 7 days and then bumped up to 20 mg. My body reacted horribly. Huge anxiety, my OCD went nuts, and I couldn’t sleep. I did 20 mg for two days and then went back down to 10 mg for two days because I could not take the 20 mg and could not get a hold of my doctor. So

 

10 mg-7 days

20 mg-2 days

10 mg-2 days

 

I just would like some information about what to do next? Can I just stop taking it? Do I need to taper further. I sent my doctor a message asking how to taper and she basically told me she was out of the office for the next week and to stay on the medicine. I know that the longer my body stays on the medicine the more acclimated it gets to the medication so I obviously don’t want to just wait another week. Can anyone help me? I’m really scared and I hate that I feel like my doctor has deserted me. I called two pharmacists and one said I could just stop taking the Prozac and the other said to just take it every other day for a week so I’m not sure where to go with that either. I regret ever starting this medicine. 

Edited by manymoretodays
name to title

Drug History: 
 

2009-Zoloft

 

October 1, 2020-Gabapentin 900 mg-Slow Taper- November 7, 2020

 

November 4-Trazodone -Slow Taper-

December 19

 

January 9, 2021-Prozac-Cold Turkey-January 20, 2021

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  • manymoretodays changed the title to M4chHello everyone.
  • manymoretodays changed the title to M4ch441: Hello everyone.
  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Michael @M4ch44l and welcome,

 


I'm sorry it took a while for us to get back to you. How are you doing right now?


I definitely don't think you should just stop taking the drug. If you decide to stop taking it, I'd recommend to taper slowly to prevent things from getting worse. We usually recommend to not taper by anymore than 10% of the current dosage.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 


I also do not think you should take it every other day like the pharmacist suggested. If you're considering it I can recommend reading this first:

 

NEVER SKIP DOSES TO TAPER

 


Here is some information about tapering off Prozac:

 

Tips for tapering off Prozac (fluoxetine)

 

 

I would personally hold off on making any changes for now. I have asked the other mods for advice so that me or another mod will get back to you, but wanted to give you a quick welcome for now since you have waited for a while. In the meantime, would you mind adding a quick signature? We ask that all new members do this. Here's how to:

 

How to write a signature

 

 

 

2011-2015: Escitalopram (Cipralex) 20 mg, Voxra 300 mg (quit Voxra in late 2015, no issues)

2016: Started tapering Escitalopram 5 mg at a time, every fourth week

July 24th, 2016: Escitalopram 5 mg

April 2nd, 2017: Quit last dosage (WD worsened a lot)

Ca 6 last months of 2017: Taking Diazepam 15-25 mg irregularly, less than once a month

Ca Dec 2017: Out of Diazepam, i.e free from all prescribed drugs

Now: Still drug free

Supplements: Irregular intake of Omega-3, magnesium, vitamin D.

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Ugh. My doctor responded to me and told me to just stop taking the Prozac. She said that since I had only been on it for eleven days I didn’t need to worry about withdrawal and that it would self taper. I also only have 10 mg capsules so I couldn’t decrease the dose regardless. Three days of no Prozac and I’m having pretty bad insomnia but that was occurring while I was on it as well. What should I look out for now? If I read the Prozac thread correctly I can assume it will be out of my body in 15 days. I do not understand why my doctor would say it was safe to just stop taking it. Also, I’m trying to make a signature but could not find where to do it in my account portal. I will keep trying. 

Drug History: 
 

2009-Zoloft

 

October 1, 2020-Gabapentin 900 mg-Slow Taper- November 7, 2020

 

November 4-Trazodone -Slow Taper-

December 19

 

January 9, 2021-Prozac-Cold Turkey-January 20, 2021

Link to comment

Ugh. My doctor responded to me and told me to just stop taking the Prozac. She said that since I had only been on it for eleven days I didn’t need to worry about withdrawal and that it would self taper. I also only have 10 mg capsules so I couldn’t decrease the dose regardless. Three days of no Prozac and I’m having pretty bad insomnia but that was occurring while I was on it as well. What should I look out for now? If I read the Prozac thread correctly I can assume it will be out of my body in 15 days. I do not understand why my doctor would say it was safe to just stop taking it. Now I am so frustrated and angry that I followed her advice. I wish I never took this medication but I desperately need help with my OCD. 

Drug History: 
 

2009-Zoloft

 

October 1, 2020-Gabapentin 900 mg-Slow Taper- November 7, 2020

 

November 4-Trazodone -Slow Taper-

December 19

 

January 9, 2021-Prozac-Cold Turkey-January 20, 2021

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  • Administrator

Welcome, Michael.

 

Yes, just stop taking it. You've had a serious adverse reaction. It may take some time for your nervous system to settle down. Your sleep should gradually come back. This may take some weeks. Please be patient and let us know how you're doing.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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I’m so frustrated. I feel like my doctor isn’t being honest about the fluoxetine. She’s trying to say that my insomnia is probably from something else and was not caused by the fluoxetine. I was literally sleeping 7-8 hours a night and the day I upped to 20 mg I couldn’t even fall asleep till after 5am. I called a pharmacist and they said it’s the fluoxetine and I just need to wait the 10-15 days till it is out of my body. And yet my doctor insists she doesn’t think eleven days of fluoxetine would effect my sleep so much. I just feel like she either doesn’t know what she’s talking about or she’s being dishonest and trying to cover up for the medication. I don’t understand this and I hate that I don’t trust my doctor. I think I’m going to find a new primary care physician. 

Drug History: 
 

2009-Zoloft

 

October 1, 2020-Gabapentin 900 mg-Slow Taper- November 7, 2020

 

November 4-Trazodone -Slow Taper-

December 19

 

January 9, 2021-Prozac-Cold Turkey-January 20, 2021

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Hello everybody. I’ve been off prozac now for eleven days. The past two days I’ve been having a bit of anxiety. Could this be due to coming off the Prozac after eleven days?? 

Drug History: 
 

2009-Zoloft

 

October 1, 2020-Gabapentin 900 mg-Slow Taper- November 7, 2020

 

November 4-Trazodone -Slow Taper-

December 19

 

January 9, 2021-Prozac-Cold Turkey-January 20, 2021

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello everyone. So I would like some advice and any of your thoughts. I have always had OCD but it has been incredibly benign. It never really affected my day to day life at all. However it has been completely different over the past four months.

 

I was prescribed 900 mg of gabapentin. The doctor’s order was 900 mg for three weeks, 600 mg for one week, and 300 mg for one week. I went to go from 900 to 600 and had a horrible reaction so the doctor told me to go back up to 900. She then prescribed me two months worth of gabapentin and told me to just “taper at my own speed.” I was shocked that she didn’t give me a taper schedule. I even called her up and she laughed saying I knew my body best and to keep minimizing the dose whenever I felt comfortable. I tapered over a week period to 600 mg and suddenly had horrible anxiety and panic attacks. I just had this horrible fear of panic that lasted all day for three weeks. I went to the doctor and she said this was all in my head and that I was freaking myself out. She prescribed me lexapro and trazodone. I stopped the lexapro after two days and only took the trazodone for a month. At this point my ocd went into overdrive. It became larger than life. As I was coming off the trazodone for the next month I suffered dibilitating anxiety. Just all day long I had fear in my stomach and was uncomfortable. I thought it might still be from the gabapentin or perhaps due to coming off the trazodone.....my doctor said it was neither and that I simply had an anxiety disorder. Well, in the last month the anxiety has dissipated but my ocd is still out of control. It is ruining my life. My doctor tried to get me to go on Prozac but it caused extreme insomnia and anxiety so I stopped taking it a little under a month ago. Now I’m having strong depression (something I’ve never had before) mixed in with the anxiety and ocd. 
 

I decided to ditch my doctor and went to a therapist who believes my ocd was triggered by the traumatic gabapentin event. She thinks I should go on Luvox (fluvoxamine) for the ocd. I don’t know what to do. I hate medications and they scare me to death BUT this ocd is awful. I have constant obsessions and compulsions going on in my head. Something that has never happened before. My days are miserable and I feel I am stuck in a prison in my mind. Why I’m typing this is I’m curious if this at all sounds like it could perhaps be protracted withdrawal from either the gabapentin or trazadone, or maybe even the two weeks on prozac? I’m holding out hope that perhaps it is withdrawal and maybe the ocd will diminish eventually. I really don’t want to go on another drug but I can’t live like this forever. My mind is constantly going and I’m terrified of what it will do next. I just wanted to see if any of this sounds similiar to other people’s experiences? Thank you for help in advance. I just feel so lost and hopeless. 

Drug History: 
 

2009-Zoloft

 

October 1, 2020-Gabapentin 900 mg-Slow Taper- November 7, 2020

 

November 4-Trazodone -Slow Taper-

December 19

 

January 9, 2021-Prozac-Cold Turkey-January 20, 2021

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