Posted by JohnL on April 17, 2001, at 5:39:13
In reply to Are Zoloft and Prozac dangerous?, posted by Buzz Aldrin2 on April 16, 2001, at 12:09:11
The symptoms you describe are side effects that are not uncommon for SSRIs. They are listed in the side effect profiles. All SSRIs can cause sleep problems, and any psychiatric drug can cause anxiety, panic, or palpitations as possible side effects. Dangerous, not often. Bothersome, yes. In my personal trials I have found that the anxiety/panic stuff usually mellows out after a 3 or 4 weeks. If it doesn't, then a switch of meds is probably in order. Also in my own trials, if I have sleep problems early in treatment, they continue longterm. A sleep aid is needed. In my case, Zyprexa is highly effective at counteracting my Prozac insomnia, and at the same time boosts the overall effectiveness of Prozac tremendously. Sometimes two drugs are needed to get a full rich response and to counteract troublesome side effects.
Both Prozac and Zoloft can cause the side effect symptoms you described. If they are overly bothersome to you, you could either stick it out for a few weeks to see if they go away, or switch to something else. If the particular drug was working really well, but still had real bothersome side effects, then it might be better to instead add a second drug to counteract the side effects. I see no sense however in messing around with any drug that isn't showing promising hints of improvement within four weeks. Actually I prefer two weeks as a determination window of whether to continue or not, but 4 weeks is closer to mainstream thinking.
John
poster:JohnL
thread:60075
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010417/msgs/60164.html