# Starting Prozac, What to expect?



## lobot2200 (Mar 20, 2013)

Hey Everyone! I'm brand new on here. I have been having really bad anxiety issues, which caused a lot of stomach problems. I was nauseous and could barely eat anything but saltines and chicken soup and plain bagels for 2-3 weeks, I lost close to 10 pounds. I went to see my doctor, who has put me on 10 mg of Prozac. I started taking it 2 days ago. I'm still struggling between constant hunger and nausea. It's hard to tell between when I'm feeling hungry and when I'm feeling nauseous. I'll start eating something and find it hard to continue finishing my meal. Today, however, I've been starving all day, but a lot of foods don't sound good. I'm also having difficulty getting to sleep as well. I'm on day 3.

Have any of you had similar experiences? How long does it take side effects to go away? I know it takes a while to work, but I am so sick of this hunger/nausea vicious circle! Please nothing that's going to freak me out... my anxiety is bad enough!


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## metamorphosis (Dec 18, 2008)

Prozac is considered one the most stimulating of the SSRI's.o, it is dosed in the morning. If you have insomnia issues, then sleep can be an issue. Many people use trazodone or other hypnotic type meds. for sleep.
The main difference between Prozac and the other SSRI's is it's long half life. It takes a long time to clear the system once it reaches a steady state. This can be a good thing, if you were to discontinue suddenly. You wouldn't experience any physical withdrawals at 20-40mg. Even though you should still reduce it every 4-5 days at 40mg. It also comes in a 10mg capsule. This is a major difference, than with Paxil. Paxil, with it's short half-life, can cause flu like symptoms within days of discontinuation . If someone does not reduce it properly and goes cold turkey.

On the other hand, the flush out period for Prozac is prolonged because of it's long half life. It takes between 20-30 days to leave the system completely. So, if you were to stop it and switch to another serotonergic drug; The wait time is longer than with the other SSRI's. You do not want to get serotonin syndrome, which can be deadly in severe cases. Say, Prozac wasn't working. Your pdoc would have you wait longer before starting an SNRI, Tricyclic, MAOI or any other 5HT drug.

Also, be careful with supplements that effect 5HT. They are also contraindicated. That would be St. Johns Wort, 5-HTP, and tryptophan. Sam-e is usually ok at 200-400mg doses.

Chart on SSRI's and their half-lives, side effects etc.:
http://www.emedexpert.com/compare/ssris.shtml

http://www.preskorn.com/books/ssri_s6.html
http://www.raysahelian.com/prozac.html

This is a good link about tapering off SSRI's and supplements that can be used, B-vits., probiotics. A lot of serotonin is found in the gut, choline- lecithin granules and others.
http://bipolar.about.com/cs/antidep/..._ssridisc2.htm

Here the crazy man, DOCTOROFMIND talking about Prozac:


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## Skitzo (Feb 2, 2013)

can i be on nardil and prozac at same time i wanna try prozac


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## Jawi96 (May 15, 2012)

Skitzo said:


> can i be on nardil and prozac at same time i wanna try prozac


Prozac is an SSRI, you're putting yourself at risk of serotonin syndrome


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## metamorphosis (Dec 18, 2008)

Skitzo said:


> can i be on nardil and prozac at same time i wanna try prozac


Ummmmm, no! That is if you want to live. We had a very intelligent member mix the two a few yrs back, and he almost died. He obviously knew that the combination would give him serotonin syndrome. Still have no idea why he would even try that combo. A momentary lapse of reason, sometimes even the brightest minds can do some stupid things. Especially when you are into psych.pharmacology and you also like to **** around with meds. Plus, he was still young. So, that played a huge part in the equation.


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## MamaT (May 5, 2013)

I just started taking Prozac yesterday, I have some of the same symptoms, but I also feel irritable, cranky and while I feel bored, I also feel lethargic. Hoping these feelings will go away once I've taken the meds a little longer? Anybody?


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