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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by prozac-less on September 29, 2005, at 22:25:41
I've been on 20 mg of prozac once a day for about a year and recently forgot my meds on a 3-day camping trip. Seemed like a good time to quit so I went cold turkey and it's been 10 days now. I started experiencing some dizziness, depression, and general fatigue a few days into it and I'm wondering if anyone can advise me on what to expect. How long will these withdrawl symptoms last? My doctor won't treat me anymore, citing Dr.-Patient trust issues, because I quit without consulting him. My bad, but I never really felt an improvement on the medication anyway.
So, I'm on my own and wondering what's next. I'm reading all the horror stories of cold turkey fools and this fool needs some help. Please reply.
Posted by monserrat on September 29, 2005, at 22:25:42
In reply to cold turkey fool-please help, posted by prozac-less on September 28, 2005, at 23:59:38
Prozac and its metabolites have an extremely long half life. Something in the order of several weeks. This makes prozac the least likely of any ssri to cause withdrawal effects. I personally have never experienced any effects from quitting Prozac.
Still quitting at 20mg is not advisable. If you are experiencing withdrawal, I'd suggest that your take 10mg for a week then quit altogether. This should mitigate the withdrawal.
> I've been on 20 mg of prozac once a day for about a year and recently forgot my meds on a 3-day camping trip. Seemed like a good time to quit so I went cold turkey and it's been 10 days now. I started experiencing some dizziness, depression, and general fatigue a few days into it and I'm wondering if anyone can advise me on what to expect. How long will these withdrawl symptoms last? My doctor won't treat me anymore, citing Dr.-Patient trust issues, because I quit without consulting him. My bad, but I never really felt an improvement on the medication anyway.
> So, I'm on my own and wondering what's next. I'm reading all the horror stories of cold turkey fools and this fool needs some help. Please reply.
Posted by blueberry on September 29, 2005, at 22:25:42
In reply to cold turkey fool-please help, posted by prozac-less on September 28, 2005, at 23:59:38
Do you still have some prozac left? If so, try this. If not, you could probably go to the emergency room and explain the situation and they could prescribe just enough for you to wean.
You will need a glass and some orange juice. Poor a little orange juice into the bottom of the glass. Empty the prozac powder from a capsule into the orange juice. Let it sit for a few minutes (it tends to clump up otherwise). Then fill the glass with orange juice. Stir it up real good. Drink just a 1/2 glass of it (10mg), or even just a 1/4 glass of it (5mg). That should put an end to the withdrawal symptoms or at least diminish them dramatically. Save the oj in the fridge.
Wait until you experience withdrawals again. Might be couple days. Then, grab the oj mix in the fridge, stir it up real good again (the prozac doesn't dissolve and will settle to the bottom) and drink some more...either a 5mg equivalent or less, whatever you think will do it.
Continue doing this without a time frame goal, only taking it when you feel the withdrawals, and each time drink a little bit less than the previous time.
Might take a few weeks, but this will dramatically lessen the withdrawal.
I experienced the same thing with prozac, and the orange juice trick really helped. I could feel the withdrawals fading within hours of my first oj drink.
Posted by Phillipa on September 29, 2005, at 22:25:42
In reply to Re: cold turkey fool-please help, posted by blueberry on September 29, 2005, at 5:25:50
Blueberry what a neat trick! How in the world did you discover this? Fondly, Phillipa
Posted by Maxime on October 4, 2005, at 11:37:29
In reply to cold turkey fool-please help, posted by prozac-less on September 28, 2005, at 23:59:38
It's funny how people react differently. Prozac has a half life of 5 weeks so you shouldn't have started to feel any withdrawal symtoms right away ... but what do I know. I went cold turkey off of 80 mg of Prozac 2 years ago after being on it for 4 years. I didn't have any problems. Guess I was lucky.
Maybe you can get a prescription from your GP and wean yourself off properly.
Sorry, I didn't read the other response in this thread so if I am repeating anything they said I am sorry. :-)
Maxime
> I've been on 20 mg of prozac once a day for about a year and recently forgot my meds on a 3-day camping trip. Seemed like a good time to quit so I went cold turkey and it's been 10 days now. I started experiencing some dizziness, depression, and general fatigue a few days into it and I'm wondering if anyone can advise me on what to expect. How long will these withdrawl symptoms last? My doctor won't treat me anymore, citing Dr.-Patient trust issues, because I quit without consulting him. My bad, but I never really felt an improvement on the medication anyway.
> So, I'm on my own and wondering what's next. I'm reading all the horror stories of cold turkey fools and this fool needs some help. Please reply.
Posted by lynn970 on October 5, 2005, at 0:11:19
In reply to cold turkey fool-please help, posted by prozac-less on September 28, 2005, at 23:59:38
Please be careful. If you stop taking an anti depressant cold turkey, it can be very dangerous.
I am not sure how long it takes for the withdrawal symptoms to go away. Just be careful.
This is the end of the thread.
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