Fluoxetine symptoms and conditions

I have been reading these posts for awhile now and am so glad to have found them.
I am a 25yr female with epilepsy and have been on lamictal for the past 4yrs. I changed from epilim because I was getting married and heard that lamictal was safer in case of pregnancy. Not long after I found myself getting very angry over small things and not being able to sleep. I thought this was just me so I tried to get myself together. It went on for some time before I gave up and got help. I was diagnosed with depression and given fluoxetine. This helped me get back on my feet but I did not want to be on it long term and have been of the fluoxetine 2yrs. I still struggle with my mood but is manageable which I am happy for.
I did not realize that the headaches and the memory loss I had were from the lamictal until I found this forum then it all made sense. I had always thought that I was staying up too late and hence getting headaches. As for the memory I often feel like a blithering idiot. Cant remember words and often the wrong ones come out its so embarrassing. So often I feel like I'm in a daze and life is passing me by.
After all this said I have not heard of any other drug that would be any better. I have found comfort in knowing that I am not alone in this. There are a lot of people that do not understand the effects of medication or take it seriously when I try to explain. If there is anyone out there that is keen to chat about epilepsy or lamictal I would love to talk.

My acne has been HORRIBLE! I never had it as a teenager, and now at 22, it is horrendous. I finally figured out that the acne had its onset about the same time I began Wellbutrin. I am also on Prozac, which I love, but the mix has been really great for my mood and ability to function. Any suggestions for a similar med to Wellbutrin that will eliminate the acne problem? It is comforting to see that I am not the only one with this issue!!!

I had been on fluoxetine for 14 years- I have never heard of fluoxetine *hydrochloride*, but there doesn't seem to be plain fluoxetine on here. I have taken a year off, and the only side effect I am being hit with in hindsight are the DREAMS! On fluoxetine, dreams were a huge part of my life. I remembered so much of them, it was almost hard to tell what was real and what was a dream, and I loved the dream life that I lived at night. It was like I was never asleep! I have only remembered one dream in the year that I have been "drug free."

I am 39 years old and have been on Omeprazole for 6 years. I have had the worst year ever. I was always a healthy and fit guy until 2008. I had chronic headaches and extreme fogginess which led to me having an MRI and seeing a chiro(all negative). I had chronic chest pain which led to EKG's, stress tests, ER visits, and tons of blood work ranging from cardiac, glucose, liver, renal, thyroid, etc...(all negative). Did gastroscopy and found esophagitis and gastritis. Upped the dosage of Omeprazole. Then I started getting tremors, muscle cramping, muscle pain, fatigue, blotchy red skin, and continued fogginess and lightheaded.

Did I mention i still have constant heartburn despite all the Omeprazole. I have done everything...tilt up head of bed, bland diet, no coffee or alcohol, no eating late evening etc....

Doctor put me on Fluoxetine (Prozac) for all my stress and anxiety from these crazy symptoms. After seeing this site and reading all your testimonies I am now thinking it is from the Omeprazole!!! Scary thought to stop since my chest pain and heartburn can be pretty severe and constant. What do I do? Feel like I'm caught between a rock and a hard place here.

I had been treated with Depakote, Lamictal, Lithium, Fluoxetine and more (I do not even remember all of them...).
I have been depressed most of my adult life I guess.
My depression caused me to destroy many relationships, loose friends, making me unable to build a carrier and ruining my marriage too. Wasting years of my life feeling always an unworthy mistake. I have had many suicidal thoughts too.
Then this past August I started to loose A LOT of weight, suddenly and for no apparent reason... I would also be so terribly tired and unreasonably nervous (but you know...being a dark depressed looser... that was usual and "normal"), feeling week and exhausted. Being summer and having always had low blood pressure I did not pay too much attention to all that until I did by chance some blood tests...
I AM HAVING BIG TIME THYROID PROBLEMS!
...I am not crazy! My depression had an actual physiological problem and I have been always treated with medicines that would actually make the thyroid gland worse!
I hated Depakote, it made me sick even while I was sleeping, waking up dizzy and nauseous! And I hated all the rest!! These medicines poisoned my liver, my memory and intelligence!
Check this out... to any of you that my have a thyroid problem instead:
*******
That's my experience and I hope it might help you. If it doesn't... good luck. I do understand the pain of being ALWAYS "under the weather"....
(PS. You'd might like to look at this too if you do not already know M. T.... IT DOES HELP! ****** )

I have posted several times. My 16 year old daughter took singulair for 4.5 years starting 11-17-03 and ending 3-28-08. She was the dancer,cheerleader who starting cutting her legs with razors and completely changed. Lost friends, depressed, withdrawn,anxiey attacks,headaches,stomach aches on and on and on..... I took her to a Psychiatrist who gave her Fluoxetine which did not help. She is doing much better now that she is off Singulair but will never be the same. She found a lump in the back of her neck and a lump in the groin area. I remember Concerned citizen mentioning Lymphoma(cancer) discovered in some of the Singulair Children because of the reduced immune system connection. I have also found some info on this on line. We are going to the Doctor Thursday and I will have tests run. Concerned citizen are you still out there? Have you found out anything else? Sue

I took my 16 year old child off of singulair 6 weeks ago (3-28-2008). She started taking it 11-17-2003. She became dark, depressed, grades dropped, dropped out of dance and cheerleading, started cutting her legs with razors, stomachaches, headaches, anxiety attacks, trips to the emergency room. 6 months of fluoxetine given by her psychiatrist. Nothing helped her be happy again. Sad and Dark young woman. NOW: She smiles a lot, and is eating diner with the family. No headache or stomachache for a month now. She is sleeping better. Before she said that her mind would not stop thinking. She is taking pictures again and even asked me to order her book called "Understanding Exposure" and is talking about taking a class on digital photography at NMSU branch university to start on her college electives now. She is out more and even has a part time job at an ice cream parlor. Just lately I have stopped checking the trash for waded up tissues with blood (from cutting). Chris, I have had all her medical records sent to her primary Doctor and we are very willing to open them up. You have to have a child suffering to understand where we are coming from. The most dangerous place on earth is standing between a mother and her child. Singulair took our children from us and maybe changed them in some way forever.

My 13 yr old daughter was put on Singulair along with Asmanex and Clarinex for her asthma about 6 weeks ago. Everything seemed to be going very well at first and her symptoms were starting to get controlled. I started noticing after about 3 to 4 weeks that her temper and attitude were getting much worse. Anyone with children this age knows what I mean but this was like a 180 degree turn for her. Her actions were becoming totally out of character. Before I knew it she would cry and get highly upset over the least little thing. Week 5 came around and things totally bottomed out. She came home from school and WAS NOT HERSELF. Made comments about how she hated her life and it was not worth living. Later that evening we had a big argument because I was telling her nothing was worth saying that. She went totally out of control and I had to physically restrain her to calm her down. It appeared everything was better so she went to her room. I went down to check on her and she calmly told me that she had taken advil and tylenol pm and things would be better for her forever now. We went to the ER where they made us wait for at least an hour, then finally took her back. She had to drink two cups of charcoal and was poked and prodded repeatedly. They did a catheter to get a urine sample. She was very cooperative but also was in a complete daze so who knows. The poor child couldn't even lift her head up when she started the vomiting to get rid of the drugs. It was very upsetting and sad. Her heart rate and blood pressure went very low and I really thought in the back of my mind that this was it. Finally, after several hours she started coming out of it and they sent us home. The next evening when she was starting to really come around she proceeded to tell me how she had been seeing a man walking around in her bedroom at night and she was afraid to go down there. Breaking down and crying telling me about all of the horrible nightmares she had been having recently and didn't know why. I thought what am I dealing with here? This just isn't her. Three days ago I heard about singulair in the news and looked it up on the internet. OH MY GOD THIS SOUNDED LIKE US!!!!! I immediately had her stop taking it and the next day phoned her asthma specialist who agreed she should stop now. We are going to watch her for two weeks and see if any symptoms return and then decide if she needs something else or will be fine on just the Asmanex. As a side note, she also mentioned being unable to concentrate in school (unable to do even the simplest math problems) and that her brain felt confused or like something was missing. She said this had been bothering her for several weeks. I know it was this drug. They really need to take this off the market NOW and stop flirting with disaster. The only reason I posted this was to let others know they are not alone.

My daughter, a happy, stable 13 year old had been taking Singulair for many years for her allergies. Last summer she suffered deep depression with symptoms including self-mutilation ans suicidal ideation. She had to be hospitalized and is now on anti-depressants and in outpatient treatment. I stopped her Singulair as soon as I read the stories at the end of March.

Hi guys,
I came to this forum after a client at our firm told me to check out whats happening with singular. I am not a lawyer, but I am a secretary for a med mal firm and I can tell you that we have already started taking these cases. I saw a few questions posted about whether you had to wait 9 months for the investigation to finish, but that doesn't stop you from filing suit. If it were my baby boy, I would switch meds, but if you can't--make sure you journal EVERYTHING. Take videos of outbursts, etc. We have one client who's son is self mutilating after using singular. If thats happening to you, try to document the episodes. Like I said, im not a lawyer, but I work for some so I can answer a lot of questions and I would be more than willing to help. I am so disgusted by what I have read. Please email me if you have any legal questions, etc. If i can't answer them, my boss will and if its a medical question, we have a staff nurse so I will give her a call. Again, I am so sorry for what everyone is going through. I pray to god I can help in some way.

I posted last week. My 16 year old has been taking singular for 4.5 years and has been off singulair 8 days now. She was given Fluoxetine by her Psychiatrist 2 years after starting singulair. This did not help her. Her grades had droped, she was depressed all the time, missing school because of stomach pains and headach (she had to be taken to the emergency room and given medicine for this and for anxiety attacks), She had tremors of the hands and feet, so,so sad all the time. Never smiled. It was nothing we talked about to family and friends (just her Doctor, Psychiatrist, and Hospital emergency room). She even started cutting her legs with razors. 3 days off of singulair she came into the livinging room and watched a movie with us. Her little sister said that sissy is getting nicer. I have not mentioned the singulair to her litter sister. 5 days off she came and sat with me in my oversized chair and showed me a very colorful purse (not dark) that she would like to order (which I did). She has not sat beside me in four years or allowed me to touch her willingly for almost that amount of time. She has eaten diner with us the past 5 days and smiles sometimes. I love her so much and am wondering if her life path has been forever altered by this medication or will she be able to recover from all this . TKU

Hi Kim123,

Your story sounds like an exact exact replicate of my own. I stopped Yasmin in May 06, and until now am still suffering from it's effects. The first 4 months off were the absolute worse. I became an exact opposite of my former self. All of sudden, I would get SEVERE panic attacks esp. while eating.... I too lost 14 pounds and went from somebody who couldn't stop thinking about food, too somebody who absolutely detested and feared it.

I went to tons and tons of Doctors. The one thing that they finally found was subclinical hyperthyroidism with a tsh as low as .009. Finally in October of 06, after getting to the point of wanting to end it all, I gave in and took fluoxetine 10mg, every other day. I feared taking any more drugs because of what Yasmin did to me., but at that point it couldn't get any worse. At that point I finally started making slow, but steady progress. The fluoxetine helped a lot with the anxiety and also with my gastrointestinal problems. I researched many hours on the drug type and realized most Dr's prescribe to high of a dose and it is better to take the lowest possible dose to avoid the extra side effects.. Btw, I never had any side effects from the drug.

The first four months, I couldn't eat anything. I had chest pressure, tightness, difficulty swallowing/ sometimes breathing, anxiety, panic attacks, all day nausea, chills.

Now at almost a year off, the chest pressure and swallowing problems ceased. The nausea ceased though depending on my cycle I still cannot eat too much and sometimes feel ill after eating. The anxiety is much less and the chills went away. So even after a year off, I still cannot eat as I used to, but I did make progress and so will you.

Kim, it's probably going to be a long hard journey back to health as all of us on these boards now. The one thing that keeps me going is knowing that eventually there will be more good days then bad... and that one day I will have my health back and that I will never ever take for granted again.

Best wishes, and God bless.

Jen

Hello,

I haven't been on lately posting my symptoms because for the first time after 8 months of Post Yasmin Hell, I have started to see real progress.

After taking Yasmin for 7 months, I stopped and have been so so sick, it was unbelievable. Over 50 various Doctor visits and nothing at all could be found. I lost my appetite and 13 pounds, had anxiety and heart palpitations, nauseous all the time and just so so ill. I have never been sick all my life... never...aside from colds of course.

Nothing really helped... vitamins, food... nothing. If you really think about it.. . we ingested a POWERFUL horomone suppressent. How can we think that taking vitamins or herbs will solve the problem? Believe me, it might help a little... a very little but far far from the solution.

I notice that my worst symptoms were cyclic and each month I could be assured that I would get worse and going through this month after month with little improvement was taking a toll and I just wanted to literally give up already. The rate of improvement was ridiculous!! 1 % perhaps... less?

So then I told everybody my absolute last resort was taking an antidepressent because my general Dr. told me that it has been used off label to help PMDD which is a menstrual disorder. My other Dr. also told me it has been PROVEN to help gastrointestinal problems also.

I know most of you are scared and skeptical about taking another drug, just how I was. I kept saying.. I am not depressed, etc etc. I was worried about side effects etc. But after a while it came down to a point of.. I NEED TO TRY SOMETHING ELSE!!!!

So if Prozac has been shown to help with female horomone problems I should give it a shot and see if it will help mine, because believe me, it couldn't really get any worse. How can someone live through or six months of hell??? You long term sufferers know what I am talking about.

So I did a TON of studying on Prozac / Fluoxetine and found that this proven drug is the easiest of all the SSRI's as far as side effects and withdrawal. I also read that taking a low dose is just about as effective as taking a normal dose. For example, would you give the same 20 mg. dose to granny as well as Shaquille O' neal?

To give you the best news already: I have finally turned a corner and am starting to feel so so much better, month by month. Prozac has finally reversed this cyclic monthly hell. I had ABSOLUTELY no side effects because I researched and researched and realized I only needed a small small dose. I started at 10 mg. EVERY OTHER DAY. This dose is very low and yet very effective. The usual dose is 20 mg. daily.. which is too much.

My appetite started to slowly come back, my anxiousness went down. My general sense of well being became better and better. Yes of course, the monthly cycles would sometimes pop up once in a while but this time 75% better than before.

So for all of you who like me made the mistake of taking a powerful horomone altering drug Yasmin and still not getting better, you may need to try Prozac because I am proof that it does work. Don't be afraid of withdrawal or side effects because the low dose you need will cause none of these... ask your Doctor. It is not only used for depression because believe me, I never had any depression issues at all, but Yasmin caused my body CHAOS, and no vitamins can really help that kind of mess. Prozac is helping by pushing my horomone system back to it's normal activity as well as helping my digestive system AND my overall well being.

I was just like all of you, coming back month after month because just when I thought I was getting a little better, the bad cycle hit me again like a truck and I thought I would never get better. I avoided Prozac because I thought it was bad and that how can an antidepressent help me? I was wrong, Prozac has been the ONLY thing that has helped my cycle get back on track. Ladies who are still long term sufferers of Post Yasmin hell, read up on Prozac and it's off label uses of treating Pre menstrual dysphoric symtom, as well as digestive treatment.

Also, although SSRI's are all in the same class, they can have very different effects on individuals. For example just because Zoloft didn't agree with you, that doesn't mean Prozac will do the same thing. The ignorant DR. probably gave you too high of a dose as most Doctors do.

The best way of finding out is starting on a low dose. You should see no side effects at all. Well the one side effect that was welcomed was a sense of calm and sleepiness. So much better than the panic attacks...

FYI. I have realized that Yasmin has hit me XTRA hard because Yasmin has a high dose of ESTROGEN, and my body before Yasmin was the opposite... testosterone high! I am ultra fit, love working out and don't possess the typical estrogenic female body, meaning I don't have big breasts or typical softer female features. So being on Yasmin really changed the dynamics of my body.

Again, if any of you have similar symptoms of me and is a classified long term sufferer (6 mos. or more), my sincere advice is to talk to your Doctor about Prozac and give it a shot at a low dose. There should not, I repeat should not be any side effects and you should start to get better month by month.. and this time at a much faster pace.

I suffer from the same symptoms as your daughter. I get ill in cycles starting right after my period for about 10 days.

My DR. suggested that I try going on a different BCP for a while to calm my body down. Then when it's time to stop, it should be much easier than getting off Yasmin which is pure poison and has interferred with our own hormone production system as well as other important functions such as thyroid production and digestion.

He recommend I try Desogen. Talk to your daughters DR. about that suggestion and see what he says. Also check her thyroid levels if you haven't already done so.

Our symptoms are so severe that herbs and natural remedies will not help. It will help a little but not too much...

I have never been sick for 28 years of my life until immediately after coming off of Yasmin. This is a lethal drug that needs to be avoided at all costs.

If she is trying anti depressents it will take about a month for any difference to be noticed if she does respond the particular anti depressent. If lexapro doesn't work, I would suggest fluoxetine as that is commonly prescribed for PMDD... which is similar to what we are suffering from.

my po put me on 2rd floor 4 cutting myself i don't wish 2 die i guess its just my way of claining myself down they put me on Fluoxetine 20mg n it really just makes me feel funny i can't sleep @ all n my back hurts so bad n i sumthimes can't see right its not really helpin!!!

I have taken Fluoxetine for Depression/Panic Disorder for approximately 4 years, prior to that I had taken Paxil with terrifing results. On Paxil, I had terrible nightmares, sleeplessness and irratability. However, since changing to Fluoxetine I have been doing great. I still have occasional sleepless nights or difficulty staying asleep. I will start in the middle of the night to wake, I can usually go back to sleep within a few moments, but to do this continually through the night can defeat a good nights rest.

Also, since I am a female I have noticed that Fluoxetine has helped with PMDD, (Premenstral problems) however if I skip a dose accidentally or not, then I'm an emotional basket case. And these emotional distruptions can last up to a week or more. Just thought other women would like the info.

A great pill for bipolar disorder is flux (fluoxetine hydrochloride)

I've been on 20 mg of Fluoxetine for the past 3 and a half weeks to treat clinical depression accompanied by a very moody temperament. I feel completely zoned out and light headed. Waking up has become more difficult. I've gone to my psychiatrist and pediatrician with concern about the above but they told me its just part of my body adjusting to the new meds.

I was prescribed Fluoxetine for my PMS. I started at 20 mgs and I had horrible stomache aches and couldn't sleep. Then, they put me on 10 mgs, and the stomache ache stopped but I have absolutely no sex drive and I'm tired all the time. I have gained steadily in spite of doing aerobics every day and eating small meals. I can't seem to lose weight. I was 118 lbs when I started taking Fluoxetine, now I'm 131 lbs! I'm quitting today to see if it makes a difference. When I get my period, I'm still nervous and can't sleep, so I don't think it's doing it's job in helping me. I also have a lot of trouble concentraiting and am forgetting important appointments for my daughter. I feel like I have alzheimers and I'm only 40!