For those taking Prozac... - Mental Health Message Board

karihager1982 · 06-16-2006, 06:42 AM

Hi there. I've been seeing a psychologist for over a month now. She referred me to a psychiatrist to see about prescribing meds for me.

My appointment was last week, and after an extensive meeting with the psychiatrist, he has put me on 20 mg Prozac for two weeks - then after the two weeks he wants me to up it to 40 mg. This is mostly for my anxiety, depression, and OCD.

He has also prescribed me 0.05 mg of Xanax to take as needed when I start to experience an anxiety/panic attack.

Well - this morning I started the Prozac. I took one pill and within 20 minutes, I started to experience horrible heart burn. (Unlike anything I've ever experienced before!) After about 5 minutes of heartburn I started to feel hot & nauseated. I immediately went into the bathroom and threw up. Afterwards I felt better, but was still experiencing mild heart burn.

Has anyone experienced anything like this with Prozac? I noticed on the side effect label it states that nausea is a side effect...but it just happened so quick.

Maybe my body has to become adjusted to it?

Any thoughts?
Thanks for taking the time to read!
- Kari

GatsbyLuvr1920 · 06-16-2006, 10:14 AM

No, I never had this. The only side effect I had on Prozac (and with every other SSRI) was extreme fatigue. It was sooo bad that I could barely stay awake. Oh, I have OCD, too, and I take Klonopin for panic attacks- having a panic attack as we speak!

-GatsbyLuvr1920-

Musical_Muse · 07-03-2006, 10:43 PM

I'm sorry to hear that

. Had you eaten anything prior to taking the Prozac? It's suggested by doctors and the labeling to eat something with the medicine in order to reduce tummy troubles.

~Colleen

rootcanalqueen · 07-15-2006, 12:22 PM

I was very nauseated the first two weeks. I didn't want to eat, so I drank Boost to get some kind of nutrients in my body. There was one day that I actually did throw up. I thought it was a virus at the time, but now I'm guessing it was the prozac. After two and half weeks, my appetite came back

and I was able to eat normally again. I don't know how long you've been on it, but everyone's different as to when the side effects will subside.
The bad thing in my situation is that I was taking it for PMDD, so I chose the 15 on 15 off schedule that is sometimes recommended for those with PMDD but no depression. Well, I went through the nausea thing both times and decided that I would take it everyday instead. I didn't want to keep having nausea everytime I went back on the Prozac!!
I don't know HOW this medicine is beneficial to people with Eating Disorders??

missymae · 07-16-2006, 06:52 AM

Hello

I recently started taking 20mg of prozac as my doctor prescribed. It has decreased my appetite and I find myself eating less with no real cravings for food any longer (like I use to). It made my stomach feel funny at first and has curbed my desire to eat a lot of things (example: meat seems unappetizing to me although I have always ate it before) although I have not experienced the same sort of stomach complaints that I typically would with say the flu or a regular tummy upset. My partner is a mental health nurse and has worked in the field many years and I questioned about the heartburn being a side effect since I did not read up on it in the list of symptoms and he told me, that although medication can affect different people in different ways, he has not in his experience come across someone complaining of heartburn to him. He questioned if perhaps it might have been something else such as something you ate that coincidentally coinsided with your start of your medication. Of course though, if the side effects continue it is always something that should be brought directly to your GPs attention. Good luck and I hope it all smooths out for you since I myself have found th prozac to be, although not an instant turn around, a big help.