So I'm at 8.5 weeks now on 20mg for anxiety and panic. Early on I had some good windows. Felt the worst I've ever felt week 6+7, really bad anxiety and constant jitters. It's calmed down a lot now but my anxiety is still heightened. Am I just wasting time waiting it out or is there still a chance I'll turn a corner?
I feel like I should have had some sign by now, appreciate any advice!
Hi, I am on day 8 on prozac and I got so many side effects my body is exhausted. From anxiety, nausea, shakiness to fever, chills, weight loss and the list could probably go on. Not to forget about insomnia.
Is it worth putting my body through all this? Should all happen like this? I am torn between giving up and continuing. I was and still am in such a low place, all these side effects just make everything worse.
Thanks x
I have been taking fluoxetine (Prozac) for almost a year now. First I was prescribed 20mg for five days and then after discharge 40mg (I had myself admitted to the hospital bc of my severe depression and anxiety. Then I later learned that there was also OCD). After a month my doctor agreed in increasing the dose to 60mg. And it stayed that way for another month or so. Then after I went to the fourth appointment we increased to 80mg. And after another month in a half 100mg. But the 100mg didn’t help and made me feel very anxious and somewhat paranoid feeing. I don’t know how else to describe it. But for almost five month now I’ve been on the 60 mg dose. I went from 100mg to 80mg in a week and then after a month or so 60mg. I did let my doctor know but that was because I’ve noticed that I have been gaining weight. I used to be between 130-135 lbs and now im around 145lbs. And that weight increase has me worried bc I also have a family history of diabetes and im pre diabetic now. I want to take less of the medication but honestly im more worried about my weight than my mental health. Anyone out there with a high dose of Prozac that has had any weight gain issues?
I want to talk about the start. The first two weeks specifically. Because nobody warned me what those would feel like, or if they did the warning was so general I didn't take it seriously, and I genuinely came close to stopping the medication in week one because I thought it was making me worse.
I was on an SSRI for about two years (won't get into which one) and the first thing that happened, within about two days of starting, was that my anxiety went up. Not a little. A lot. I'd start the day feeling jittery in a way I hadn't before. Sleep went weird almost immediately. I'd fall asleep okay and then wake at like 4am with my heart going for no clear reason, and lie there for two hours. My appetite did something strange. I think I lost about three or four pounds in the first ten days, not from any decision, just from not being hungry.
And the thing that's hard to convey is that I was already in a bad place when I started, which is why I was starting. So when the medication's first move was to crank up the anxiety and torch the sleep, I genuinely thought I'd been misdiagnosed or given the wrong thing or that I'd had a bad reaction. I came really close to calling and asking to stop. Like, I had my phone out one evening in the second week and I was scrolling for the number.
What stopped me, honestly, was that I'd read somewhere (I think on this sub actually, or one like it) that the first two to four weeks were sometimes worse before they got better. I didn't fully believe it. I thought maybe that applied to other people, not me. But I had enough doubt that I gave it one more week, and another, and somewhere around the back end of week three things started to settle. The waking-at-4am stopped. The jitter dropped to a background level. By week five I was actually sleeping through the night, which I hadn't done in months even before the medication, and that was the first sign for me that something was actually shifting.
I want to be careful here. I'm not saying everyone who has a rough start should push through. There are bad reactions that are not just startup and that do need to be flagged with a prescriber, and I'm not in a position to tell anyone where their version of this falls. What I will say is that if I'd known the startup turbulence was a real common thing and not a sign the medication was wrong for me, week one would have been less terrifying. That alone would have been worth a lot.
The other thing I'd say in retrospect. I kept a notes app open during that stretch, mostly because my therapist suggested it before I started, and looking back at those first two weeks now is kind of useful. The notes don't say I felt better. They say things like, jittery again this morning, slept till 4. Or, no appetite, ate half a sandwich at like 3pm. They look bleak. But they also have, by about day twelve, a line that just says, less jittery today than yesterday, and that's a real shift in what I was tracking. I couldn't have told you that was the day things turned. Only looking back.
I'm asking because I see people here in week one or two asking is this normal pretty often, and I want to know how other people decided whether to keep going or whether to call. What was the signal for you? Was there a moment, or was it more like mine where you just kept going one more week at a time and eventually it settled?
Hello everyone I have been on Prozac since June of 2023. I was diagnosed with Anxiety, Depression and PTSD. Since about 2-3 months ago I began having issues with my memory. I have had some instances that is freaking me out.
Has anyone else have issues like this while on Prozac?
Did this med help with rumination??
Long story short, I was on Prozac for 3 years for anxiety and came off of it January 2026. I was very lucky I had zero side effects coming on or off the medication. Decided to go back on it on May 7th, regretting it ever since, and had the most debilitating experience to the point where I called out of work for an entire week, had to call the suicide hotline & essentially became a shell of who I was. My psychiatrist told me let’s get you off, this isn’t normal or good for you. I was on 20 mg for 7 days, 10 mg for 3 days and now today is my 4th day not taking the medication. I’m beating myself up because I should have never tried to go back on it, I didn’t need to. Now I feel more fucked up than ever. Spoke with a psychiatrist today and she said she’s never seen this before (someone be on a medication for 3 years, go off and then go back on and completely not tolerate it at all) and basically told me she didn’t know what to tell me and that hopefully I feel better soon. I feel defeated. I’m trying to tell myself I can’t possibly expect to feel 100% like myself again only 4 days after being off the medication. I’m trying to remind myself I WILL get back to my baseline, I WILL feel happy again and excited about life and friendships and family and events. But yeah I feel defeated. Could really use some validation and reassurance that I’m only days away from being back to me. And curious, has anyone had my experience before? Has anyone been on and off and back on again but couldn’t tolerate it? Thanks everyone 🤍
Hi! I started on Prozac about a month and a half ago. My cycles have always been very regular, but today I started having typical period symptoms and started bleeding 15 days early. Very odd for me - anyone else go through this?
Hi everyone. I’ve been on Effexor (37.5mg) for 8 years, but it hasn’t touched my anxiety. My doctor recently prescribed Prozac, but I’ve been hesitant to start because I’m so nervous about Effexor withdrawal.
I’m currently using the bead counting method to taper and it’s been really difficult. I’ve seen people approach the switch differently and I’m not sure which is better:
If anyone switched from Effexor to Prozac can you tell me which approach worked best for you?
Hi everyone! I've had anxiety my whole life, and recently started having panic attacks. The newfound panic has encouraged me to reconfigure my entire lifestyle, I exercise daily, quit smoking weed (smoker for 10 years) and see my therapist 2x a week. I do have two questions:
Is 20mg too much of a starter dose for people experiencing panic disorders? I made the mistake of reading some horror stories.
I don't drink often but I do enjoy a glass of wine here and there with friends. I'm throwing a bridal shower this weekend, and am wondering if having one glass of wine would be too much since I'm just starting Prozac today. I have no issues not drinking this weekend, but I'm wondering if I need to wait a few weeks until I give it a try.
Any tips are appreciated!
Thank you!!
Hey everyone!
I’m looking for insights from anyone who has an extremely demanding daily grind and needs to maintain peak cognitive performance and energy all day long.
To give you some context, I’m currently in my medical internship (internato), so my routine requires a massive amount of brainpower and endurance. Right now, my daily stack looks like this: Vyvanse 50mg in the morning and Agomelatine at night to help me catch some sleep.
I'm also currently tapering off Ativan (Lorazepam) because, let's be honest, I really don't want to end up looking like Langdon from The Pitt (Fallout 3) during my hospital rotations lol.
Since I'm adjusting my medications, I wanted to hear from people with high-stress, high-demand schedules: How do you feel on Prozac (Fluoxetine)? Does it cause any brain fog or fatigue, or does it help you power through the day, especially if you also take a stimulant?
Would love to hear your experiences. Thanks!
I have my second meeting with my psych tomorrow and we’ll discuss if I should stay at 20mg or move up to 40mg—the dosage I used to be on when I was on Prozac back in 2019/20.
I wanted to get some input from anyone who has gone up in dosages: are the commonly-experienced side-effects detrimental to your day-to-day for the first few weeks? I’m currently undergoing a promotion at work and I’m in my training period, so I’m wary to move up in my dosage until after I’m settled into the role. But would it be better to start now so I’ll be a bit more acquainted with the higher dose by the time I’m actually working in my new role?
I was feeling pretty good on 20mg, but as of the last couple of weeks (weeks 6-8), I’ve felt some of my anxiety and panic symptoms returning. They’re not at the same level they were at the start, but I think going up to 40mg will be better for me down the road.
I’m going to discuss this all with the psych, but I also want to know what everyone else’s experiences with moving up has been so I can get a better idea of what to anticipate.
Thanks in advance!
Hello.
TLDR: did well on Lexapro but gained too much weight. Developed severe insomnia after stopping Lex. Tried Buspirone, didn't help. Now on Prozac and can only sleep about 4 hours. Does this ever pass???? Longer post below.
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During the pandemic I went on Lexapro because I had bad anxiety. It helped me a lot but three years into taking it i realized I was gaining too much weight. As soon as I stopped taking it i stopped gaining weight. But even though I tapered off slowly, once I stopped taking lex, I also couldn't sleep anymore. So bizarre. I've always been a troubled sleeper but after stopping, I got insomnia so bad it would often take 5 or 6 hours to finally fall asleep (I got muscle twitches every time I was about to fall asleep). This started in September 2024 and never got better. I could only sleep with a sleeping pill (Lunesta, Xanax, or CBN/THC) but I'm not supposed to take them every night.
Finally in Dec 2025 I started Buspirone. It didn't work. Heart was racing, insomnia didn't improve.
Now I'm on fluoxetine. I just started a week ago on 5 mg. So far my anxiety is not better. If anything it's worse and I'm irritable. I do feel pretty hungry which concerns me about weight gain. But the worst thing is that now I can fall asleep right away when I go to bed at night, but every single night I wake up 4 or 5 hours later and absolutely cannot go back to sleep. I feel very fatigued. Very hopeless. I know you have to give SSRIs time so I'll try to be patient but it's been years since I've slept more than six hours. My immune system is shot. I can tell because it takes me forever to heal from injuries and illness. I just want to sleep and stop gaining weight and not be anxious and be healthy.
I don't really like my psychiatrist but am not sure if I can switch right now due to insurance. He kind of blows off my questions and doesn't give me any kind of plan about medications or dosages. Basically just asks me which meds I wanna try and how much I wanna take. 😢 So I didn't have guidance on that which is why I'm reaching out here. Thank you.
Anyone else noticed that they don't feel relaxed/euphoric/more talkative when drinking? I just feel the physical effects of alcohol, like weakness in limbs, slow reaction speed, slight dizziness, but no positive emotional effects like I used to. I suppose that's a good sign? I was curious if anyone else experienced this.
for context: 11 weeks on 20 mg fluoxetine. I generally feel much better than I used to, my mood is mostly neutral-positive, so the medication is definitely helping. I started taking fluoxetine as treatment for depression; i also take 50 mg tofisopam (a mild anti-anxiety benzo)
Hi!
Who else has weird dreams/constant dreaming on Prozac? I feel like I dont have deep sleep enough, I dream constantly and wake up tired 😵💫 It's basically the only bad side effect I have and it really bothers me, because I'm also perimenopausal which makes me tired enough 😅
I know this is probably a silly question… but I’m at 60mg and want to go up to 80 to see if it helps my social anxiety. Prozac has been helping every problem except I’m still having some social anxiety. I don’t see my psychiatrist until sometime in June and I worry he would react negatively if I did it without asking but I really want to. What do you think?
Hello all, I’ve recently got back on Prozac after taking it a couple years ago, it worked then but since getting back on it, I’m around 6 weeks into it and haven’t recently seen much effect.
My physical symptoms have basically fully gone, but mood is still the same as it was, I’m treating GAD and panic disorder with Prozac,
I was on 20mg before, and started on 20mg this time and so far feel like I’ve hit a wall, is it worth waiting? Maybe an increase in dosage? Different meds?
Open to hearing anything, thank you all for reading.
Hi guys! I just started Prozac two days ago! My doctor told me to start with 10mg for two weeks to help with the side effects and then go up to 20 mg after that. I take it in the morning and I’ve noticed I have a huge crash in the afternoon, like I have to take a nap and I have such a hard time getting up from my nap. I’ve been pretty restless at night too. I used to be able to go straight to bed but I’ve been tossing and turning and taking forever to fall asleep (like over an hour and half of struggling) which then leads me to oversleeping in the morning. I know I need to give my body time to adjust but did anyone else struggle with this in the beginning and it got better? I’m worried about going to 20 if this is how my afternoons are like being in 10mg. I struggled with this on Zoloft too in the past if that helps.
Can I please have more insight about this topic? Did it increase? Did it decrease? did it go back to normal? Did it stay dead? I’m just curious not that I care. My girlfriend was curious yesterday she doesn’t care either. The only time we had sex consecutively two days in a row was yesterday and today apart from that it was once in two weeks.
Share with me your stories and insights please thank you
Hi -
10 days ago I increased my dose from 20 to 30 - the first few days I couldn’t sleep well but then I was kind of feeling normal again. However, the last 2 days I have had a spike in anxiety and rumination. Is this normal? I’m scared it’s not working any more even though I really have been feeling better since I started at 10mg in April.