Comments | asperger: Fluoxetine (Prozac) for Anxiety: Update

redcalx in asperger

Fluoxetine (Prozac) for Anxiety: Update

Apr 12, 2012 23:46

Thanks for all the responses to my post on fluoxetine/anxiety. I'm nearing the end of week 3 and there is no beneficial affect on my anxiety at all, in fact it may actually be worse than normal. I'm going to give it another week but if there is no beneficial response by then I need to discuss options with my doc. Has anyone here had the same ( Read more... )

anxiety

Comments 12

toomuchfandom April 12 2012, 23:07:40 UTC

I was on Lexapro for a year before my diagnosis to help me with my anxiety. I don't know what you call it in the UK or US but the stuff in it is Escitalopram. It's an SSRI.

I didn't like it, and after a couple of months I couldn't even notice the difference between when I was taking it or had forgotten it.

Mum said that while I was on the meds, my moodswings weren't that obvious and that I was all out happier and more active. I, however, felt like a robot.

I'm not taking anything right now, it's best (for me, anyway) to let things just run its course, since I don't have a job (can't work due to too many people, and no degree) it's easy to go without meds and just communicate to people when I have a really bad day. I don't have a huge social circle outside my family, and they always call ahead to see if I'm up for visitors.

clover_elf_kin April 12 2012, 23:16:47 UTC

Another name for Lexapro is Celexa (brand name vs generic, I think) and it's what I'm currently taking. In my case, it's helped me a lot and the friend who recommended it even more--he has panic attacks, and on this stuff he has them a LOT less. My anxiety is mostly in the form of never being able to forget a harsh word, EVER, and on Celexa things have improved in that regard. I still react badly to things at the time, but not dwelling on them forever is a huge improvement!

If you have to pay for your own medication (not sure how the NHS works in that department), consider getting just a month of new drugs at a time; they let you do it here in the US, at least, if you request it at the pharmacy. Which I never would have known if a GOOD doctor hadn't mentioned it.

kisekileia April 13 2012, 13:39:48 UTC

Lexapro and Celexa are different drugs, albeit closely related. They're both brand names.

redcalx April 13 2012, 19:32:57 UTC

Indeed. To clarify:

Celexa is a marketing name for Citalopram.
Lexapro is a marketing name for Escitalopram.

From wik-p:
"Escitalopram is the (S)-stereoisomer (enantiomer) of the earlier Lundbeck drug citalopram"

Thread 6

amarissia April 13 2012, 01:19:29 UTC

I got little help from Prozac, then tried a bunch of other ones until, thank the gods, I was prescribed Lexapro. It's a good drug, if given the opportunity I would urge you to try it.

wom_bat_sky April 13 2012, 06:36:59 UTC

Can't help you. Prozac affected me more than Zoloft.

Neither made my anxiety go away. They just buffered my tendancy to rapidly cycle through the anxiety events. Now, I use CBT and other thought disciplines to distance myself from reacting to the anxiety that I will always continue to experience.

peskipiksi April 13 2012, 21:03:55 UTC

I ended up having some luck with Zoloft (sertraline), after fluoxetine and a whole mess of other antidepressants were no help at all. Your body may vary, of course. Best of luck.

redcalx April 13 2012, 21:08:03 UTC

Interesting, thanks. Out of curiosity did you ever try Buproprion (Wellbutrin)? This has quite a distinct method of action compared to SSRIs which includes dopamine reuptake inhibition (which sertraline also does to a lesser degree).

hiroshi55 April 14 2012, 04:04:03 UTC

<- i'm on Wellbutrin. 300mg at the moment, may need to raise it to 450mg when i see my dr wednesday, which I hear is the max anyone should take.
Im liking it. Yes I and prob others have those days where everything goes to shit. but for the most part it seems to help me.

:)

lordalfredhenry April 16 2012, 22:34:55 UTC

Add another "didn't do anything for me/maybe made it worse" in your tally. I was on both Prozac and Lexapro and one other SSRI as well as Agomelatine and none of them worked much that I could tell.

Wellbutrin, valium/klonopin and so far...Seroquel have been ok. I know Seroquel is an anti-psychotropic but it's so mild as to be nothing like Abilify as far as I can tell. I think Abilify has the potential to be abused in a bad way with other meds. Wellbutrin has some tendency to cause a little anxiety and insomnia....It can be rough.