u/NoodleMutt

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I've been in ERP therapy since January and I've made huge improvements in my OCD, anxiety and agoraphobia recovery and was doing super well for a long time. I also started Prozac/Fluoxetine in February first at 10mg, then 20mg for awhile and now I've been on 30mg for six weeks.

For the first three weeks at 30mg it was fantastic! It corrected the things I was hoping to improve upon from 20mg and I had a really nice subtle increase in motivation, executive function, etc. Then around the three week mark it became a roller coaster of good days and bad, overall anxiety higher, intrusive thoughts louder, and then things have just absolutely tanked in the last two weeks. All OCD themes firing on all cylinders, catching myself engaging with the thoughts/ruminating and then shutting it down as soon as I clock it has almost made me hypervigilant about my emotions/thoughts in a way that I haven't been since before I started therapy and medicine.

I am actively choosing to just continue on with daily life as normal as possible and I'm continuing to apply ERP techniques to every situation I possibly can because I am not about to let OCD take over my life again, but it's safe to say I am quickly being worn down by this spike because my overall anxiety baseline is as high as it's been in at least six months. My sleep is broken up, I'm waking up confused and nauseous and having to speed run to the bathroom every morning, needing to nap in the evening, my chronic illness is all flared up and my skin is a hot mess.

I'm certain that it's the medication increase not treating me well, so I met with my Psych yesterday who wants to increase my Prozac/Fluoxetine dose to 40mg and I am admittedly quite scared to do this. I AM NOT LOOKING FOR REASSURANCE - my recovery depends on it. I would like to know though how others have managed the OCD spike caused by medication issues since it seems to add an extra layer of difficulty. I know many of us have tried various medications and dosages and that I am definitely not the only one who's gone through something like this, so I felt safe asking here because I don't want to be reassured, just educated/encouraged.

I use cognitive diffusion a lot (humor mostly) to make it through the tough stuff, and I also acknowledge the anxiety or intrusive thoughts and let them sit in the "backseat" while I "drive" through my day. If I'm too overwhelmed to complete an activity, I wait until I'm a bit calmer and try again. I am contiunuing to do my set exposures every day, and create new ones targeted to specific situations, while also giving myself grace and lots of rest as I navigate this.

Soooo... please give me all the ideas, ERP tricks and exercises, things that worked for you if you were ever in this situation, etc. I also wouldn't mind if anyone shared about their experience with the same medication that I'm on as long as it isn't in the context of reassurance. Good or bad, it will be a good exposure for me.

2.5 weeks at 10mg, 12 weeks at 20mg, and now 5.5 weeks at 30mg, taking it for OCD, PMDD, Panic Disorder, GAD, Agoraphobia. I also have ADHD.

The first two weeks of my bump to 30mg were great! I felt fantastic and was really enjoying life and feeling more myself than I had in awhile. It was a really nice, really subtle improvement on how I was doing at 20mg. Then in week 3 I started having more intrusive thoughts more regularly, broken up sleep, just wanted to stay in bed and do nothing, etc. I got my period in week 4 which made sense as to why my emotions took a dip. For two or three days during my period I was feeling better but then everything I was feeling in week 3 came back and each day now it seems to be getting worse. It almost feels like I'm not taking anything at all?

Yesterday I tried to accompany my husband to church and my panic was so bad we only got halfway there before we had to turn around to come home. He was quite upset but understanding. I took Ativan and laid down for a nap when we got home, and we tried again to go to the evening service which I was able to do, but I was incredibly anxious, hypervigilant of everything and having constant intrusive thoughts the entire time. It has been nearly impossible to apply my ERP therapy techniques through this, which is also very much unlike me.

Today from the moment I got up and started my day, I began having waves of panic and bodily anxiety roll over me, including awful intrusive thoughts again and I can't get out of my own head. I have reached out to my prescriber and am awaiting a response, but has this happened to anyone else? Is this a common week 5 thing during dose adjustments? If this happened to you, did you find your dose was too low, too high, or that this was the wrong medicine for you? What helped?

For context, I am also on a low dose of Buspirone for anxiety and a beta blocker (for a heart condition).

I have GAD, OCD, PMDD, Panic Disorder & Agoraphobia. I started Fluoxetine at the beginning of February this year, at 10mg.

On day 20 I increased to 20mg and that went quite well, allowing me to make excellent progress in ERP therapy and in life overall, but around the 6th week when I would get overstimulated or put in a stressful situation, I would get an adrenaline rushy-sort of hot flash/panic/irritable/tensed up/angry feeling that would wash over me in waves and then ease up after maybe 20-30 mins if I removed myself from the situation and laid down and rested for a bit. It began happening more frequently over time until it was several times a day multiple times a week. My Psych thought I was probably at a sub-therapeutic dose for my needs, and asked me if I'd like to try an increase.

I asked if 30mg was doable, and it was, so after 3 months at 20mg I moved to 30mg. The first two weeks were literally amazing. I felt like a million bucks and was doing so well overall, plus the adrenaline rush hot flash panic things were gone. Then at the end of week 2, my dog/absolute best friend/fur baby boy passed away, my mom's labs came back showing her cancer was not responding to treatmemt, my dad fell and went into the hospital, my husband's new job misfiled one of his certifications which has put a pause on any earnings until it gets sorted out, and my in-laws had an insane amount of money stolen from them which affected some of the financial things we share. Myself and my therapist both thought I was coping relatively well overall even with the noticeable increase in intrusive thoughts and anxiety, and then in week 4 I got my period, which made a ton of sense as to why everything was so loud for the week+ prior. Two days into my period, I finally felt pretty much back to normal.

But now I'm in week 5 of 30mg and the stuff I experienced during week 3 before my period is back and is almost worse now than it was then. I have had two of the adrenaline rush/hot flash/panic attack things, I struggle to get anything done and just want to lay in bed, my back and all my joints ache, I find myself taking the easy way out of challenging tasks that I otherwise enjoy doing, the intrusive thoughts are out of control, my executive function is in the toilet and I can't plan, focus or remember for shit. I get headaches almost every day, I'll randomly feel like crying or feel crushed with guilt over nothing in particular, nightmares and broken sleep all night, it has been super difficult to apply my ERP strategies and I haven't felt like doing hardly any of the therapy exercises I had been so dedicated to for the last several months. At least the sweating has started to ease up a little this week though 😬

Is this something that has happened to others, and did you find that you needed a dose increase, decrease, or medication switch? Any advice for how to deal with this in general? I saw my Psych this week and discussed this but I felt like it was probably just hormonal and situational stress-related and asked to remain on 30mg and revisit in a month, and they felt like that was a good plan also, but today has been especially shitty and I'm second guessing myself.

I was on 10mg for 18 days, then 20mg for 80 days, now I'm about to increase to 30mg and I could use a little pep-talk before I do it. Messing with medication really scares me and I'm terribly afraid that something will go wrong and I'll have to stop taking it, or the dose increase won't help and I'll need to start all over again with another med.

I'm taking it for anxiety, panic disorder w/ agoraphobia, OCD and very mild depression. I have made massive progress in ERP therapy with the help of Fluoxetine and life has really gotten so much better!

Onboarding and my last increase went super well for me, the only lingering side effects I have are random surges of adrenaline/anger/panic that feels kind of like a hot flash, absolutely wild sweating (though this is improving), and occasionally waking up in the morning with racing thoughts. I also have super vivid dreams which I really love. This increase is meant to address those surges of negative emotion - my psych thinks I'm at a subclinical dose and this is how my anxiety is expressing itself with my dose being too low.

Soooo I'll take any positive stories, encouragement, personal experiences with the 20-30mg jump, pep talks, etc. that you can give! Thank you 🫶❤️

I've been on Fluoxetine generic, manufactured by Camber since the beginning of February this year. I started at 10mg and then bumped up to 20mg, all the same manufacturer. There's a note on my account that says not to switch manufacturers on any of my medications due to some sensitivities and allergies I have, but today I had my meds delivered and when I opened the bag, the Fluoxetine was very noticeably not the pretty blue & green capsule I'm used to. The manufacturer of the new ones is Teva, a brand I often see referenced as a favorite of people on this forum. Before I call the pharmacy tomorrow, I was just wondering if anyone here switched from Camber to Teva, and what your thoughts on it are?