u/Ill-Big-5735

What’s the actual website and how do I use it? First time user

I’m around 14 weeks into Prozac overall and about 13–14 weeks on 20 mg. I’m curious to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience around this stage.

There have definitely been some positives for me. My anxiety is significantly lower, I barely get headaches anymore, my driving anxiety has improved a lot, and my energy is generally pretty good. I’ve also had some days recently where I’ve felt genuinely good and fairly normal.

The main thing I’m still struggling with is intrusive thoughts. They’re unwanted and usually revolve around death/dying or fears about losing control or something being seriously wrong with me. I don’t have any intention or plan to act on them, but I find myself getting stuck analysing them and worrying about what they mean. When they get worse, my mood tends to drop with them.

I’ve also had periods where I feel “off” or unlike myself, almost like I’m stuck in my head or disconnected from how I normally feel. Then I’ll have a good day and wonder if I’m finally turning a corner, only to have a few heavier days again.

I’m seeing my doctor this week to discuss it, but I’m interested in hearing from people who have been through something similar:
Did your intrusive thoughts continue even after your anxiety improved?
Did they eventually improve later on?
Did your mood continue to improve after the 3-month mark?
Did anyone have a similar “not myself/out of it” feeling that eventually went away?
If Prozac eventually worked well for you, when did you feel like you had properly levelled out?

I’m not necessarily looking to switch medications — especially because I’ve had some clear benefits from Prozac and it worked well for me in the past. I’m mainly interested in hearing whether anyone had a similarly uneven/slow response around the 3–4 month mark.

Thanks!

I’m around 14 weeks into Prozac overall and about 13–14 weeks on 20 mg. I’m curious to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience around this stage.

There have definitely been some positives for me. My anxiety is significantly lower, I barely get headaches anymore, my driving anxiety has improved a lot, and my energy is generally pretty good. I’ve also had some days recently where I’ve felt genuinely good and fairly normal.

The main thing I’m still struggling with is intrusive thoughts. They’re unwanted and usually revolve around death/dying or fears about losing control or something being seriously wrong with me. I don’t have any intention or plan to act on them, but I find myself getting stuck analysing them and worrying about what they mean. When they get worse, my mood tends to drop with them.

I’ve also had periods where I feel “off” or unlike myself, almost like I’m stuck in my head or disconnected from how I normally feel. Then I’ll have a good day and wonder if I’m finally turning a corner, only to have a few heavier days again.

I’m seeing my doctor this week to discuss it, but I’m interested in hearing from people who have been through something similar:
Did your intrusive thoughts continue even after your anxiety improved?
Did they eventually improve later on?
Did your mood continue to improve after the 3-month mark?
Did anyone have a similar “not myself/out of it” feeling that eventually went away?
If Prozac eventually worked well for you, when did you feel like you had properly levelled out?

I’m not necessarily looking to switch medications — especially because I’ve had some clear benefits from Prozac and it worked well for me in the past. I’m mainly interested in hearing whether anyone had a similarly uneven/slow response around the 3–4 month mark.

Thanks!

12 weeks on Prozac (20 mg) - had 2 great weeks then suddenly 4-5 days of depression and intrusive thoughts. Has anyone else experienced this?

I’m looking to hear from people who’ve been through something similar.

I’m currently 12 weeks on 20 m. Around weeks 10-11 I honestly felt like I was finally turning a corner. My mood was consistently around 7-8/10, my anxiety was much lower, and my intrusive thoughts had reduced significantly. I was working, exercising, spending time with my girlfriend, and generally feeling much more like myself.

However, over the last 4-5 days I’ve suddenly hit a rough patch.
I feel depressed and constantly have frequent unwanted thoughts with some SI (I’m completely safe)
Anxiety has been up and down

Sleep is actually still good (around 8-8.5 hours). However,
I tend to wake up once during the night and back to sleep shortly after.

I’m still functioning (working, going to the gym, helping family, etc.), but mentally I feel pretty awful.

The part that’s confusing me is that I was doing so well only a week ago. Now I’m worried that the medication has stopped working, even though it’s only been a few days. I took Prozac years ago and don’t remember having this kind of dip, so it’s making me second-guess everything.

For those who responded well to Prozac:
Did you have a temporary setback around the 10-12 week mark?
Did you bounce back, or was it a sign your treatment needed adjusting?
How long did the dip last?

I’m not looking for medical advice or changes to my medication. I’m just interested in hearing other people’s experiences because it’s hard not to worry when you’ve been feeling better and then suddenly feel like you’ve gone backwards.

Hi all,

Just a bit about my journey. I started Prozac on 5 May on 10mg and upped to 20mg on 15 May. So I’m approaching the 7 week mark. I was originally taking it for anxiety (mostly anticipatory anxiety, about fear of panicking or driving) and mild depressive symptoms (avoiding socialising cause it felt like a chore).

Week 1: uneventful, just felt slightly out of it, like I had 2+ coffees

Week 2: literal hell, couldn’t get out of bed, had minimal motivation, SI, felt like I was high, derealisation and I slept about 1 hour in 3 days - dr prescribed me with Valium to take for one week and upped my dose at day 10

Week 3: slept fine, however, felt super depressed, anxious, copped a cold which didn’t help.

Week 4: stopped Valium, was sleeping fine, anxiety slightly reduced, depression lifting. However, intrusive thoughts intense.

Week 5: felt relief, felt like myself quiet mind, was actually quite board cause my mind didn’t have to solve any problems. My sleep is fragmented I wake up 1-3 times a night.

Week 6-7: felt like my baseline anxiety had returned and I feel like I’m numb, not happy or sad, but not feeling like myself, my intrusive thoughts and SI have returned and my anxiety. Sleep is still fragmented I don’t sleep more than 6 hours, or more than 3 hours before waking up multiple times.

I’m not sure what to do from here, has anyone else experienced this? It seemed like I had some relief and I’ve dipped back into depression and anxiety. I feel like nothing matters, I’m not looking forward to anything and everything seems like a chore again.

Do I continue? Will I get better after week 7?

Looking for someone with experience. I took it back in 2019 and I remember took a while to kick in, but don’t remember feeling this horrible (noting I was travelling the world at the time, so probably didn’t have much time to think)

On top of that I have quit porn due to low libido and haven’t self loved for 3 weeks or so… but there are urges due to the anxiety.

Hi all,

I started Prozac on 5 May at 10mg and upped to 20mg on May 15.

The first 1-2 weeks were tough we no longer energy, motivation, intrusive SI etc. week 3-4 were a little better and now I’m at the end of week 5 and I keep waking up multiple times a night with this sense of dread and intrusive thoughts.

Is this normal? Looking for some hope. It feels like I was starting to feel better and now I’ve regressed. I’m not as bad as week 1-2. I still have my energy but I feel like my anxiety has returned and the depression is bad again.

I’m originally taking it for anxiety, intrusive thoughts and very mild depression.