How Long Should I Wait Before Ditching Prozac?

[redoctober]

Question for everyone...I've been taking a low dose of Prozac for 4 weeks, and the past week has been horrible -- hot/cold flashes, alternating sweating/chills, joint/muscle pain, HR way up, GI upset, exercise fatigue...you name it. Honestly, the first 2 weeks were okay, but recently it has been just awful...so I'm wondering if this is simply how my body responds to Prozac now that it has built-up in my system.

Is 4 weeks enough time to gauge how well it works? On Lexapro...my resting HR might be 50's/60's. On Prozac...it's more like 70's/80's. I've asked my Dr. about it...he wants me to continue for another week, but I'm not so sure. I think it may be time to bail.

Thoughts?

[micheller]

I won't touch Prozac ever again! I took it for about 3 weeks and my symptoms were awful. Besides the pots symptoms, it made be into a crazy, emotional, ****** (sorry) mess. I felt like I wanted to jump out of my skin at everything.

They say it can take weeks before it starts kicking in and in some people the side effects start decreasing then. I couldn't continue but if you feel you need to stop, then I would.

[MomtoGiuliana]

Prozac worked well for me but the first 2-3 weeks of symptoms were awful and I did not see a benefit for probably 2 months. My doctor also urged me to stick it out. I was glad I did but it was hard for me. I feel for you right now!

[Lemons2lemonade]

Prozac made me crazy, literally! I prefer the celexa I take now.

[ramakentesh]

serotonin is good stuff if you can work out how to get it

[redoctober]

So....last night I discover that I'm running a fever of 102. Not sure what it is, but probably explains why I'm feeling so incredibly crappy. My HR is definitely way up...not sure if fever can cause this or not. At least I feel a little better knowing that Prozac isn't entirely to blame.

[corina]

Even on bb's my hr went way up when I had a fever. Be well soon!

[Hope]

How low of a dose do you take if you don't mind my asking? I have a low-dose 10mg here next to my bed that I have been trying to decide to try for like 3 months, but I can't get myself to take for fear of side effects.

[redoctober]

I was only taking 5mg...as anything more made me feel awful. I'm pretty sensitive to meds, though. Still considering dumping it, although I'm taking a hiatus until I get rid of this bug.

[Anoj]

Prozac has a longer half-life than most SSRIs, so you should feel the effects/benefits a little later than with other SSRIs. The good thing is this one should be easier to wean from when you're ready.