Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Prozac is a well-known antidepressant that is used to treat a variety of disorders, including major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder OCD , panic disorders, and some eating disorders.
Prozac fluoxetine belongs to a class of medications known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors SSRIs. These drugs increase the amount of serotonin in your brain, which helps improve your mental health. When you stop taking an SSRI like Prozac, you may experience withdrawal symptoms while your brain adjusts to lower levels of serotonin.
Antidepressants like Prozac are among the most commonly prescribed medications in America. In a given month, more than 40 million people take an antidepressant. As antidepressant use grew over the past two decades, more and more people began to realize how hard it is to quit.
About one in four people on antidepressants have been taking them for ten years or more. One of the reasons long-term antidepressant use is so common is that people are afraid to stop taking them. These concerns center around the potential for relapse of symptoms and possible withdrawal. These fears are not entirely unfounded. SSRI withdrawal is a well-established condition.
It is important to work with your doctor to weigh these risks against the potential risks of continuing Prozac. Prozac has a number of side effects that can have a negative impact on your life. While many of these side effects dissipate over time, the sexual side effects may continue even after you have stopped taking the drug. The longer timeline associated with Prozac withdrawal increases the risk of misdiagnosis.
Because withdrawal symptoms appear later and last longer, it is often mistaken for a relapse. However, withdrawal from Prozac typically lasts longer than it does for drugs with a shorter half-life. Withdrawal symptoms typically occur a few days after a person tapers their dosage.
Common symptoms associated with reducing the dosage of Prozac include :. Typically, antidepressant discontinuation symptoms persist for up to 3 weeks. However, in some cases, symptoms may last for up to 6 weeks , and they can occasionally continue for up to 1 year.
As fluoxetine has a longer half-life than other antidepressants, it may take longer for a person to develop withdrawal symptoms. The symptoms may also last longer, although they do not tend to be severe.
When a person decides that they are ready to discontinue Prozac, a doctor will likely recommend gradually reducing, or tapering, their dosage.
Tapering usually lasts 4 weeks , but a doctor may suggest tapering the medication over 6—8 weeks to reduce the risk or severity of symptoms.
Due to the long half-life of Prozac, some people may not need to taper off and can simply stop taking it. However, a person should only do this under the guidance of a doctor. According to Mind , the following self-care tips may also help a person coming off antidepressant medication:. A doctor may suggest therapy or counseling if the underlying condition remains after stopping the medication.
This treatment approach may help a person understand, manage, and overcome the underlying cause of their mental health condition. Learn more about how to stop antidepressants safely.
Antidepressants, such as Prozac, typically carry a black box warning , as they may worsen symptoms of depression or suicidal ideation and cause unusual changes in behavior in adults less than 24 years of age.
People taking Prozac and their loved ones or caregivers should watch for certain signs and symptoms. These may include :. Prozac may also interact with other medications or supplements and increase the risk of side effects.
Clinicians generally recommend staying on the medication for six to nine months before considering going off antidepressants. If you've had three or more recurrences of depression, make that at least two years.
Talk to your clinician about the benefits and risks of antidepressants in your particular situation, and work with her or him in deciding whether and when to stop using them. Before discontinuing, you should feel confident that you're functioning well, that your life circumstances are stable, and that you can cope with any negative thoughts that might emerge. Don't try to quit while you're under stress or undergoing a significant change in your life, such as a new job or an illness.
Make a plan. Going off an antidepressant usually involves reducing your dose in increments, allowing two to six weeks between dose reductions. Your clinician can instruct you in tapering your dose and prescribe the appropriate dosage pills for making the change. The schedule will depend on which antidepressant you're taking, how long you've been on it, your current dose, and any symptoms you had during previous medication changes.
It's also a good idea to keep a "mood calendar" on which you record your mood on a scale of one to 10 on a daily basis. Consider psychotherapy. In a meta-analysis of controlled studies, investigators at Harvard Medical School and other universities found that people who undergo psychotherapy while discontinuing an antidepressant are less likely to have a relapse. Stay active. Bolster your internal resources with good nutrition, stress-reduction techniques, regular sleep — and especially physical activity.
Exercise has a powerful antidepressant effect. It's been shown that people are far less likely to relapse after recovering from depression if they exercise three times a week or more. Exercise makes serotonin more available for binding to receptor sites on nerve cells, so it can compensate for changes in serotonin levels as you taper off SRIs and other medications that target the serotonin system. Seek support.
Stay in touch with your clinician as you go through the process. Let her or him know about any physical or emotional symptoms that could be related to discontinuation. If the symptoms are mild, you'll probably be reassured that they're just temporary, the result of the medication clearing your system. A short course of a non-antidepressant medication such as an antihistamine, anti-anxiety medication, or sleeping aid can sometimes ease these symptoms.
If symptoms are severe, you might need to go back to a previous dose and reduce the levels more slowly. If you're taking an SRI with a short half-life, switching to a longer-acting drug like fluoxetine may help. You may want to involve a relative or close friend in your planning. If people around you realize that you're discontinuing antidepressants and may occasionally be irritable or tearful, they'll be less likely to take it personally.
Speak to your doctor if you're concerned. For women, there's no firm evidence to suggest that taking fluoxetine will reduce your fertility. However, speak to a pharmacist or your doctor if you're trying to get pregnant.
They may want to review your treatment. The good effects of fluoxetine may, after a while, improve your sex life as your mood lifts and you become interested in life and relationships again. Sexual side effects usually pass after the first couple of weeks.
However, very rarely, they can be long lasting and may not get better even after stopping the medicine. If these happen and are a problem for you, go back to your doctor to see if there's another treatment you can try. Fluoxetine can make you feel less hungry than usual, so you may lose weight when you start taking it. If you start to have problems with your weight while taking fluoxetine, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
Some people can't concentrate properly while they're taking fluoxetine. It might be best to stop driving and cycling for the first few days of treatment until you know how this medicine makes you feel. You can drink alcohol while taking fluoxetine but it may make you feel sleepy.
It might be best to stop drinking alcohol for the first few days of treatment until you see how the medicine affects you. Antidepressants, including fluoxetine, are just one of several approaches to treating depression. Other potential treatments include:. Cannabis with fluoxetine can give you a fast heartbeat. Cannabis can also make drowsiness worse with fluoxetine, especially in people who have just started taking it. Methadone can increase the risk of side effects in people taking fluoxetine.
It can be potentially dangerous to take fluoxetine with:. Fluoxetine hasn't been properly tested with recreational drugs. Talk to your doctor if you think you might use recreational drugs while taking fluoxetine.
Page last reviewed: 10 December Next review due: 10 December Fluoxetine including Prozac On this page About fluoxetine Key facts Who can and can't take fluoxetine How and when to take it Side effects How to cope with side effects Pregnancy and breastfeeding Cautions with other medicines Common questions.
About fluoxetine Fluoxetine is a type of antidepressant known as an SSRI selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Help us improve our website Can you answer a quick question about your visit today?
It usually takes 4 to 6 weeks for fluoxetine to work. Common side effects include feeling sick nausea , headaches and trouble sleeping. They are usually mild and go away after a couple of weeks. If you and your doctor decide to take you off fluoxetine, your doctor will probably recommend reducing your dose gradually to help prevent extra side effects. Fluoxetine is called by the brand name Prozac.
Fluoxetine can be taken by children aged 8 years or older for depression. Check with your doctor before starting to take fluoxetine if you: have had an allergic reaction to fluoxetine or any other medicines in the past have a heart problem, as fluoxetine can speed up or change your heartbeat have ever taken any other medicines for depression. Some rarely used antidepressants can interact with fluoxetine to cause very high blood pressure even when they have been stopped for a few weeks.
Take fluoxetine once a day. You can take it with or without food. How much to take The usual dose of fluoxetine is 20mg a day in adults. What if I forget to take it? What if I take too much? Urgent advice: Call a doctor straight away if:.
Common side effects These side effects happen in more than 1 in people.
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