Three days ago I did what I know I needed to do and made myself an appointment to see my doctor about antidepressants. This is my Prozac side effects diary.
If you’d like to read about my previous experience with Lexapro you can. See: Part 1 and Part 2.
This is a very long post, but I think the people that are looking for this type of information will find exactly what they’re looking for. When I was looking myself, the more info the better. Please read the disclaimer below.
Disclaimer: This is MY Prozac diary. Not to be confused with Prozac Diary, the book. I feel like it’s a good thing to track and be aware of how I respond to the medication. It’s a very personal experience that I’ve decided to share. Please keep in mind that everyone is different and may have an entirely different experience!
I’m choosing to share because I enjoy reading other people’s experiences. Always remember that each person responds differently to any medication.
If you wanna get right to the diary, please keep scrolling. :)
What happened with Lexapro?
I weaned myself off of Lexapro because I hate the sexual side effects. Lexapro really does help with my depression and anxiety, and I will go back on it if I don’t like Prozac, but I wanted to try Prozac to see if the sexual side effects were any milder. The Wellbutrin helps, which is why it’s prescribed to me, and I just want to see how Prozac treats me.
All SSRI’s have possible negative sexual side effects, unfortunately.
I’ve continued to take the Wellbutrin XL all along, but I don’t notice that it really does anything for me on its own. I can feel myself sinking after stopping Lexapro, but I wanted to be off of the Lexapro for a while before starting Prozac. And here we are.
The morning of the appointment for the med change.
This morning I was on my way to work and began to cry a little because I was thinking about how I had an appointment with my doctor this afternoon to try a different antidepressant.
I started to feel sorry for myself at the thought of needing to be on antidepressants. Again. This isn’t new. This is something I have an ongoing battle with. I know how much antidepressants help me and how awful I feel when I’m not on them as of late, but sometimes I just get pissed off about needing them.
Diagnosis and prescriptions.
Clinical Diagnosis: Depression and Anxiety (worsened again after being off Lexapro for several weeks)
Prescription:
- 10 mg Prozac (fluoxetine) capsule taken once daily for the first 7 days.
- 20 mg Prozac after 7 days.
- 300 mg Wellbutrin XL (buproprion) tablet taken once daily in the am.
I got my prescription and also started taking these meds on a Wednesday. Wellbutrin is prescribed to offset potential negative side effects of the Prozac (sexual side effects, lack of energy, etc.). I always take Wellbutrin in the morning, and I’ll be experimenting with when to take Prozac.
My Mental Health Background
Extensive family history of depression; an endless cycle of depression first brought on after being sexually assaulted when I was 15; and then a very rough 2015. Losing one of my parents unexpectedly sent me into a deep, downward spiral. And we had lost our Olde English Bulldogge Diesel (11) just a few months before.
As always, I promise to give Prozac the time it deserves before deciding if it’s right for me or not. Lexapro was hell the first 7 days, and then things got much better — aside from the negative sexual side effects and weight gain. We’ll see what happens with Prozac.
*****
My Prozac Side Effects Diary Week 1
Day 1: 24th Wed/Thurs
- 10 mg taken around 3:30 pm to see how I react to the medication. I’m guessing I’ll want to take this before bed (like I did with Lexapro), but I’m experimenting.
- Symptoms experienced in the first 24 hours: dry mouth within a few hours, and a slight headache before I went to bed around 10. I slept great. I also did day 3 of this workout hybrid (leg day) so I’m sure that helped! No other issues in the first 24 hours.
- I also take 300 mg Wellbutrin XL daily in the am.
Day 2: 25th Thurs
- 10 mg taken at 4 pm. I still haven’t decided when I’m going to take this. Tomorrow I might try to take it in the morning and see how that goes.
- Haven’t noticed anything besides a slight headache again. This side effects diary might be boring. If so, I apologize in advance. But that’d also be great news…if it ends up working for me.
Day 3: 26th Fri
- 10 mg taken at 7:30 am. I figured I’d try to take it in the morning today to see how things went. It’s 6:45 pm now and the only thing I felt was a slight headache about 4 hours after I took it. I think I’ll try taking it in the morning tomorrow again.
Day 4: 27th Sat
- 10 mg taken around 8 am. I decided to take the Prozac this morning with my Wellbutrin and vitamin D — just like yesterday.
- I haven’t noticed any side effects today at all — no headache like the first 3 days. I’ve been able to fall asleep fine, wake up fine, and I’m not feeling any more tired than normal during the day. That’s huge.
Day 5: 28th Sun
- 10 mg taken in the morning.
- Was nauseous all the live long day.
- Not much of an appetite. Blahhhhh.
Day 6: 29th Mon
- 10 mg am.
- Exact same as yesterday: nauseous and not much of an appetite at all.
- Missed today’s workout but will try to get it in tomorrow. (I’m on week 2 of my Transform 20/21 Day Fix Extreme hybrid.)
- I was wide awake at 4:30 this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep, but I’ve been sleeping all night like normal.
Day 7: 30th Tues
- 10 mg am. Today is the last day of 10 mg. Tomorrow I’m bumped up to 20 mg.
- A little nauseous but much better than the last 2 days. I did get my workout in today.
Week 1 is done.
Overall, the first few days were much better than the last few days. I experienced the exact opposite with Lexapro. The first few days of Lexapro were the worst ones. I’m a little nervous to bump up to 20 mg tomorrow.
At this point, the side effects have been milder with Prozac than Lexapro, but I’m still going to monitor because some take longer to notice.
My Prozac Side Effects Diary Week 2
Day 8: 1st Wed
- 20 mg am. First day on 20 mg and so far so good. Not experiencing any side effects at all today, but it took a few days of taking 10 mg before I experienced anything, so I’ll keep updating.
Day 9: 2nd Thurs
- 20 mg am. I didn’t experience any noticeable side effects today.
Days 10, 11, 12: Fri, Sat and Sun (May 3rd, 4th and 5th)
- 20 mg am. I’m almost done with week 2, and I haven’t been experiencing any noticeable side effects to this point. I haven’t had weight gain issues or sexual side effects, but things could change. I hope they don’t!
- I do kind of feel like I have more energy on Prozac than I did on Lexapro and that is a HUGE PLUS.
Day 13: 6th Mon
- Super anxious and wide awake at 5 am. I haven’t felt this much anxiety in a long time, so I’ll keep an eye on this. I assume it’ll pass.
- 20 mg am.
- It’s 5 pm now, and I’m still pretty anxious. I hope I can still sleep tonight.
Day 14: 7th Tues
- 20 mg taken in the am.
- I did not sleep much at all last night.
- My anxiety was elevated today, but it didn’t feel as bad as yesterday. That was the worst! It’s normal for SSRI’s to make anxiety worse in the beginning, so I expected this. It happened with Lexapro too.
- Final day of the first two weeks on the medication.
- Worked from home today and took a short nap early in the afternoon. I keep yawning, and I know I’m tired. I hope to sleep good tonight. I think I’ll take half a sleeping pill just in case because lack of sleep does not help anything!!
Week 2 is done.
Overall thoughts: Side effects have been very minimal for the most part. I can’t speak to the effects of it yet as nothing has changed, and I wouldn’t expect it to so soon.
Hopefully I’ll start to notice differences in my next two-week update. It typically takes up to 6 to 8 weeks for the full effects to be felt so I should definitely know by then if it’s going to work for me or not.
Fingers, toes, eyes, arms and legs crossed.
My Prozac Diary Part 2: Fluoxetine Weeks 3 and 4 Update
xo Mindi
