How long does it take for Prozac to work?

Question

I just got on it taking 20 mg a day....I am severly depressed and angry all the time...help!

Answer 1

I take prozac, it usually takes a month for it to really kick in. I remember when I first took it my depression and mood swings worsened before they got better. After the first month everything subsided and I started to feel a lot better about myself, both physically and mentally. If you are feeling depressed now, you should tell a family member and/or friends, thats what got me through it all. I can tell you that things will get better, it just takes time for the medicine to kick in and your body to adjust. Good luck and don't ever feel ashamed about it either! : )

Answer 2

What I usually tell patients is that a reasonable trial of a SSRI, like Prozac, is typically 6-8 weeks. This is because the medication works not only by decreasing the amount of reuptake of the neurotransmitter in the synaptic cleft but it downregulates serotonin receptors. The latter is a process that takes time and we think this is why people typically don't feel any difference for a few weeks. Do not lose heart though, it is entirely possible that it may just take a little longer for you to respond. I would give it another two weeks for sure-if no response at all, I would change meds. You mentioned fatigue and that can be a side effect of some antidepressants. If it is the Prozac, you could try moving it to the nighttime. I am concerned about the nosebleeds though. It is true that the SSRIs can cause easy bruising/bleeding due to the fact that they effect serotonin and there are serotonin receptors on platelets but I would expect that a frank bleed would not be spontaneous. For example, if you cut yourself, you may bleed a little longer on the antidepressant (on the order of seconds) but you shouldn't just start bleeding spontaneously. These nosebleeds could be from many things unrelated to the medication such as dry air, nosepicking (sounds like a no brainer but still the most common cause), other meds, or other problems that can effect the body's ability to clot. While the fatigue and nosebleeds could be from the medication, they could also be related to another cause and that part should be ruled out by your doctor.

Answer 3

From experience it takes about 4 to 6 weeks to get the full effect and 20mg is not a very high dose . Don't take a higher dose or anything but let your Dr. know that you still don't fell just right maybe you need an increase.

Answer 4

It will take about four weeks for it to get into your system and start working. You will not feel a kick and all of a sudden it is working you will start feeling better a little at a time. Do not forget to take your meds everyday and don't skip a dose. Remember that it is important for you to remain on the medication even if you start feeling better because if you stop you will more than likely get depressed again.

Answer 5

Prozac is in a group of drugs called SSRI's or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. There are many drugs in this class of drugs. The maximum daily dosage is 80mg a day, so you are well below the maximum amount. Your doctor will probably titrate your dosage up every so often. Prozac is one of the longest acting antidepressants on the market. This means it takes longer to get in your system before you actually feel like a therapeutic effect is working. Prozac can take up to 5 weeks before you actually start feeling better. I would say by that time your dosage will be at or close to the maximum per day. After you have stayed on the drug for a while the doctor might have you switch to the once weekly dosage of 90mg in the time release version. If you are still feeling depressed and angry, call your doctor back and maybe he could either add a anxiolytic to it or switch you to another antidepressant. Best of luck to you!

Answer 6

SSRIs take several weeks to kick in. Take care of yourself in the mean time. Closely monitor yourself, and get others to do the same, just in case side effects show up.

Remember that it can take many tries to find the right antidepressant.

Best of luck to you!

Answer 7

about 2 to four weeks , or about 1 to 5 seconds in a cartoon ,sister i wish life was that easy

Answer 8

Usually medication take seven to ten days to reach a therapeutic level. In the meantime, try some relaxation technique or go to a yoga class. Who prescribed your Prozac? If it was your family doctor and not a psychiatrist, you need to get an appointment with a licenses Psychiatrist who will also provide counseling and techniques to help you deal with the depression and anger.

Answer 9

the doctor told me about a week for max. levels i felt it in a couple of days. I was geeked!!!!!!!!!

Answer 10

I had Flouxetine, which is the generic version. Honestly, Im slightly against medication but if you really feel like you can t handle it using other methods then take it. Flouxetine or however you spell it kicked in an hour after I took it. I felt immediate effects. I suffer from really bad anxiety which causes depression when I can t control it. I felt the anxiety lift off my chest and it felt like I could breathe again and as if I knew the problem still existed, it just didnt feel like that big of a deal anymore and I could tackle it better with the medication.This is for my anxiety though. For the depression it may take longer. Believe it or not, medication will make you feel like crap at first because your body starts to drop its serotonin levels at first because it recognizes it has an abundance compared to normal. Therefore, it takes sometime for your body to adjust and start producing the normal amount again in adjacent to the medication. They normally say it takes two months to fully adjust. I personally couldn t stand to have my mood swings out of touch so bad so I stopped and didn t wait. I realized that the medication is only their to get you over the hump and for you to learn to cope and deal with your issues easily for a short-term which it did with my anxiety. If you change your thought-process, your eating habits, sleeping, and exercise habits along with a change in behavior naturally I bet you anything you can get the depression to go away naturally. All of those things contribute heavily to chemical balances in the brain and when they are out of wack your chemical levels will go up or down. So for those of you on medications or thinking of being put on them try this first or along wiith and you should see an improvement.