Prozac withdrawl smptoms?

Question

I want to come off prozac- what should I know?

To those who asked- I'm on it for depression. I want to come off because I'm tired of taking drugs and I'm worried about what the long term effects of this drug is, as no one REALLY' knows

Answer 1

I took 40mg of Prozac a day for two years and then I stopped taking it with my psychiatrist's advice. First, I would like to say that I do not support coming off of prescripton medication without the approval of the doc that gave it to you. That being said, when I stopped, it was cold turkey. I was developing a sensitivity to the meds and had to stop right away. I was told I would experience no withdrawal symptoms since Prozac stays in the bloodstream for so long. However, I did have one mild symptom that lasted for about 6 weeks, and is very hard to describe. I would get a buzzing sensation in my head that almost felt like I was being shocked. It was annoying, but I was still able to work, exercise, socialize, etc.

If you decide to come off the meds, you may want to taper off more slowly, which wasn't an option for me. Good luck!

Answer 2

How long have you been taking it? What's your diagnosis? FIRST your doc should tell you whether or not it's time to come off. Second, it it's for depression (you need at least 1-2 years of treatment), going off the drug will make you depressed even more, so stay on it.

My advice (both as an ex-prozac user and as a doctor) is to see your psychiatrist before going off the drug.

If you chose not to go to your doc, tamper it down, reduce first your dosage to 1/2 for a week, then to 1/4 for another week, then you can go off. But again, PLEASE see your doctor!!! Whatever medical condition that lead you to prozac (Depression, OCD, Anxiety, Over weight) may get worse.

Answer 3

I have wanted to come off pschiatric drugs in the past as well and the best advice is to call or see your therapist about how to do that. It is called "titrating off" a medication, you have to go down in increments of the dosage I believe.

P.S. Ask if you can try wellbutrin instead of prozac maybe, just a thought, I have never tried either but I know they are in the same class.

Answer 4

Start taking St. Johns Wart. It's a vitiman suppliment. All nateral prozac. Will help because it's good for you and you want be able to tell you came off. Same effect w/o prozac.

Answer 5

Hi There,
I took Prozac 20 daily for one year, then I've decided to take it off because it was not that effective for me, so I talked to my doctor and he advised me to take only one capsule off a week, for 6 weeks, it went fine then he told me to take off 2 more capsules for 6 weeks (means I was taking Prozac 4 times a week (Ex: Monday, Wednesday Friday & Sunday......after 6 weeks I took twice a week for one month then one for 6 weeks.......and it went ok........Just consult your doctor for the best results...you can do it ...Good Luck!

Answer 6

Have you ever wondered about the reason of our existence? Have you ever wondered why we die, and where we go after death? What will happen to us in the end? Have you ever asked yourself why God made the earth and all that is in it under man’s dominion? Why were the night and the day, and the sun and the moon created? What are we supposed to do during our lifetime? Were we created just to eat, drink, and enjoy ourselves before we die? As one poet put it:
“I do not know whence I have come.
I saw my feet walking on the road.
As they please I go and stop.
What am I doing here?
How did the road find me?
I do not know! I do not know! I do not know! ”

God has emphasized in many verses of the Qur’an that He did not create us without purpose. He said: “What! Do you think that I created you simply in jest? And that you would not be returned to Me?” (23:115) He also said: “What! Does man think that he will be left to roam at his will?” (75:36) In addition, He said: “Do people think that they will be left to say: “We believe,” and they will not be held accountable?” (29:2)
Indeed, God Has created human beings for a purpose and with a purpose: TO WORSHIP HIM ALONE (Monotheism). He said: “I have not created the Jinn and humankind except only to worship Me. I don't require provision or feeding from them. Surely Allah is the All-provider, the Possessor of all strength, the Firm.” (51:56-58) In fact, all prophets told their people to worship God alone (Monotheism) and shun worshipping His creation (Paganism). God said: “I assuredly sent among every people a messenger with the command: Worship Allah and avoid worshipping false gods.” (16:36)
Prophet Abraham, for example, believed in One God, who had no partner. Anyone who holds a different understanding of God than this has contradicted the religion of Abraham and follows falsehood. God says in the Qur’an: “Those who reject the religion of Abraham make fools of themselves.” (2:130)
Prophet Jesus was reported in the Gospels to have said: “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only’.” (Luke 4:8)
Prophet Jacob also said (in the Qur'an) to his people: “Indeed, those which you worship besides Allah are only names that you and your forefathers have established, for which Allah has sent down no authority. The command belongs only to Allah. He has commanded that you worship none but Him. That is the right religion, but most people do not understand.” (12:40)
Read more about the TRUE BELIEVE which supported by the Miracle Holy Quran :
http://www.islam-guide.com/islam-guide.pdf

http://www.harunyahya.com

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Real happiness and peace can be ONLY found in submitting to the commands of the Creator and the Sustainer of this world. God has said in the Qur’an: (Truly, in remembering God do hearts find rest.)
(Qur’an, 13:28)

On the other hand, the one who turns away from the Qur’an will have a life of hardship in this world. God has said:
(But whoever turns away from the Qur’an, he will have a hard life, and We will raise him up blind on the Day of Judgment.) (Qur’an, 20:124)
This may explain why some people commit suicide while they enjoy the material comfort money can buy. For example, look at Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam), formerly a famous pop singer who used to earn sometimes more than $150,000 a night. After he converted to Islam, he found true happiness and peace, which he had not found in material success.
To read the stories of people who have converted to Islam, please visit

http://www.islam-guide.com/stories

At this web page, you can read the thoughts and feelings of these people, who are from different countries and have different backgrounds and levels of education.
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Answer 7

Most of them do have some withdrawal symptoms. You'll need to call a pharmacist and they can tell you exactly. Your physician who ordered it should tell you how to tapper off and for how long.

Answer 8

try lexapro if u want.

Answer 9

Rapid elimination of some antidepressant medication, e.g. venlafaxine, can introduce feelings of being unwell some of which can be quite severe and lead to the reintroduction of the medication, not necessarily because of the need for the drug to treat the illness but because of a crisis precipitated by its dependency.

For venlafaxine these are flu like symptoms which pass after a week or two in a severe case. Both this and the rate of recovery will be dependent on:

- the size of the reduction in terms of both the actual amount (mg) and in percentage terms,
- the usage/decay rate of the drug in the body,
- how long the drug has been taken.

The rate of reduction must be slow to avoid any withdrawal symptoms or relapse.

To do this effectively it is necessary to understand how long the drug remains in the body after being taken. The important factor is not the amount being taken but the level in the body at any one time. This is particularly important if different forms of the same drug are available.

Anti-depressant half-life

The length of time it takes a drug to be consumed or dissipated in the body is characterised by the half-life. If we assume that the drug is rapidly absorbed into the blood, the level will then start to fall over a period of time. When the amount has fallen to half the initial level achieved, this is referred to as the half-life usually measured in hours or days. Some drugs have a short half-life because the body rapidly assimilates them. This is like a sugar lump effect when it is dissolved in the mouth relatively quickly.

Taking a short half life tablet twice per day will lead to little accumulation in the body. Some drugs have a longer half-life and may remain in the body at significant concentrations for several days. This results in an accumulation of the drug in the body. Understanding this is particularly important where a medication like venlafaxine has more than one form. Changing from one form to another at the same dosage level can lead to major changes in body concentration and withdrawal problems.

Drug levels in the body

There is a standard tablet form of venlafaxine which has half-life of 8 to 10 hours. These figures are taken from the manufacturer’s web site. In practice the actual rate will depend on whether it is taken with food and the individual’s own metabolic rate but this is not critical to the process. Taken twice per day, a drug with a half-life of 9 hours will build to a level of 1.64 times the dosage assuming an exponential decay rate. Therefore a dosage of 75 mg twice per day roughly gives 123 mg in the body. This is made up of:

- the dose of the new tablet 1.00
- the remaining dose from 12 hours before 0.39
- the remaining dose from 1 day before 0.16
- the remaining dose from 1.5 days before 0.06
- the remaining dose from 2.0 days before 0.02
- the remaining dose from 2.5 days before 0.01

Total 1.64 x 75 mg = 123 mg.
The elimination of a tablet with a short half-life will have a more rapid reduction in the amount of the drug in the body than when a same sized (mg) longer half-life capsule is eliminated as described below.

There is also a venlafaxine XL capsule whose half-life is given as 22 to 24 hours. Assuming the same decay mechanism for the capsule as for the tablet, a half-life of 23 hours would build to a level of 3.27 times the dosage. Therefore a dosage of 75 mg twice per day roughly gives 246 mg in the body. This is made up of:

- the dose of the new capsule 1.00
- the remaining dose from 12 hours before 0.71
- the remaining dose from 1 day before 0.49
- the remaining dose from 1.5 days before 0.35
- the remaining dose from 2.0 days before 0.24
- the remaining dose from 2.5 days before 0.16
- the remaining dose from 3.0 days before 0.11
- the remaining dose from 3.5 days before 0.08
- the remaining dose from 4.0 days before 0.06
- the remaining dose from 4.5 days before 0.04
- the remaining dose from 5.0 days before 0.02
- the remaining dose from 5.5 days before 0.01

Total 3.27 x 75 mg = 245 mg.

The above numbers are not exact because of different metabolisation characteristics of the differing drug forms and the fact that the initial dose is not absorbed instantly. However, if they had the same release mechanism in principle the XL capsule variety would give roughly double the body concentration of the tablet for the same dose taken. In practice the modified release mechanism for the XL capsule results in the ratio being lower at more like 1.7 instead of 2.0. This means that the maximum dose for the drug is different depending on whether the patient is taking the capsule or the tablet form. In fact, in the drug handbook in the UK, MIMS (Monthly Index Of Medical Specialities) this difference in maximum levels is stipulated clearly showing the tablet maximum to be 375 mg and the capsule maximum to be 225 mg. This confirms the mechanism for the modified release capsule is not exponential. However the principle remains valid: the amount of drug in the body when taking the capsule is very significantly greater than when taking tablet form.

This was discovered by us after a consultant psychiatrist had arbitrarily changed the dose from 150 mg twice per day of XL capsule (way over the maximum) to 150 mg twice per day of tablet giving horrendous withdrawal problems over 2 weeks followed 3 months later by extreme nausea when he arbitrarily switched back to the XL variety at the same dose.

Using Prozac for withdrawal due to its longer half-life

There are web sites claiming that substituting Prozac for venlafaxine in the final stages provides a rate of reduction of antidepressant which gives the patient no withdrawal problems. This is because of the long half-life on Prozac (4 days and 8 days for its intermediary – see the note in Section 5). Therefore the level of the drug in the body falls slowly at a rate to which the body can adjust when a capsule is eliminated from the dose taken. Therefore this Prozac decay rate was used initially as a model to calculate how quickly to reduce the venlafaxine medication levels. The option of changing over to Prozac was considered but this would have introduced a new drug and a new learning curve. The Prozac web site states 7% of patients cannot metabolise the drug in which case the body concentration quickly grows. This was seen as potentially being exposed to an unnecessary risk if the reduction could be done safely in another way.