Surviving Prozac Right Now

Knowledge is power.

This section is designed to help people who are on, or have gone off prozac (especially cold-turkey) recently, and have any/all the adverse reactions listed in the PDR or prozac package insert.

GOOD NEWS! Almost any weirdness you are feeling could be prozac related. The situation is not as black as it may seem, but you may have to take recovering into your own hands, hopefully with loved ones help. This applies especially to delayed withdrawal symptoms as your doctor may be confused as you are about what the problem could be.

The first order of business is to realize you're NOT going insane, but you could feel that way for an unknown amount of time.

There are 3 times when knowledge of prozac's adverse reactions is invaluable.

• While taking it.
• Initial withdrawal.
• Possible delayed withdrawal.

At all 3 stages you have the choice to continue or restart taking prozac or another SSRI drug, or get off of it completely. I chose the latter, because the knowledge of how powerfully it was affecting me (and I had a relatively mild case) nearly scared the life out of me.

[1] While taking it. Having no previous mental illness, I started taking it for stress relief from my job. At 2 weeks I had most of the reactions listed in the package insert. At 3 weeks I quit cold-turkey. As they say, "Don't try this at home." See Dr. Bob's Psychopharmacology Tips link back on my homepage, search prozac, click on Anxiety on fluoxetine (left panel), click on "orange juice bit" in right panel for the recipe for tapering down to 5 mg per dose over a period of weeks/months. The basic idea is to taper off.

[2] Initial withdrawal. Prozac helps many people and they feel terrible immediately if they quit. I have no experience there. Taper off and then Solutions below apply.

[3] Delayed withdrawal. This was the biggie for me. At 12 weeks after quitting, I experienced severe anxiety, agitation, shakes, confusion, insomnia, roller coaster emotions, anger, depression, etc. I went to 3 doctors, none of whom were familiar with delayed withdrawal, but all said there was no antidote or quick way to flush it out of my system. Prozac is tightly protein-bound, which means it hangs around for a while.

I believe God worked a small miracle at this point. With hands shaking so badly I could barely log in, I came across "Prozac: Panacea Or Pandora?" by Dr. Ann Tracy on a web search. After reading a couple of chapters, I immediately felt better in that I knew what was causing me to be crazy. From there it was simply a matter of a chemically induced "bad trip" I had to ride out.

I turned to the chapter on Solutions and followed some of the advice there. (There is more that I didn't try.)

• Rest. Proper sleep is essential.
• Get away from stressors (work, violent tv including the news, any kind of stimulus that produces adrenalin).
• Try a gentle fast. Up to 10 days, using a lemon-maple syrup drink. (1 cup fresh lemon juice, 1 cup pure maple syrup (from health food store) in 1 gallon distilled water daily.)
• Try a standard hypoglycemic diet (carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables.)
• No alcohol, caffeine, nicotine if possible, refined sugar, meat.
• Vitamin C from the health food store (Acerola) and a general vitamin supplement.
• Chamomile tea is a calmative.
• Moderate exercise daily. Work up a sweat; it helps release toxins.
• It's important loved ones know what you're going through and give their support (the book pp. 139, 259-261 helped my wife understand).
• Don't underestimate the power of prayer. I started praying and had my name put on the list of people needing prayer at my church. Some things started falling into place for me (like being able to keep my job despite extended leave)that had previously been seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
• Keep a diary and a calendar. I've had short-term memory problems and this is a common complaint. Don't omit any embarassing reactions. I had/have flashbacks that are discouraging. I found that being able to see that they are coming further apart by looking at the calendar and that they are less intense by looking at the diary is a source of encouragement.
• Finally, BE KIND TO YOURSELF. The insanity will go away when the drug is completely out of your system.

I do have one suggestion: Do not read the book in order. Dr. Tracy has been very thorough in documenting the downside of prozac. A lot of it will produce the kind of stress you're trying to get away from. If you're feeling very bad now, start with the Solutions chapter. Once your nerves are relatively stable read the rest of the book and thank God it wasn't worse...

Once again, rest and be kind to yourself.

24031