Author: Charles Frank

Fluoxetine: Side effects, dosage, uses, and more

With bulimia, you can have symptoms due to repeated vomiting, such as a constantly sore throat, swollen salivary glands, and acid reflux. Other possible symptoms are sensitive teeth, tooth decay, and dehydration. You may also have other symptoms, such as mood changes, anxiety, or depression. Prozac is prescribed for adults as well as children ages 10 years and older with this type of depression.

Prozac isn’t approved to treat premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) or menopause. However, doctors may prescribe the drug off-label for these uses. Using fluoxetine with other drugs that make you drowsy can worsen this effect. Ask your doctor before using opioid medication, a sleeping pill, a muscle relaxer, or medicine for anxiety or seizures. The amount of medicine that you take depends on the strength of the medicine.

1. Nausea, drowsiness, dizziness, anxiety, trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, tiredness, sweating, or yawning may occur.
2. The drug is for acute and maintenance treatment of bulimia.
3. Rarely, males may have a painful or prolonged erection lasting 4 or more hours.
4. Do not flush medications down the toilet or pour them into a drain unless instructed to do so.

Tell them about all prescription, over-the-counter, and other drugs you take. Also, tell them about any vitamins, herbs, and supplements you take. Sharing this information can help you avoid potential interactions. Stopping Prozac treatment suddenly can cause withdrawal symptoms. For this reason, you should not stop taking Prozac “cold turkey” (abruptly).

You and your doctor should discuss the risks and benefits before taking Prozac during pregnancy. For more information, see the “Prozac and pregnancy” section above. For obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Prozac can take at least 6 to 12 weeks to start working.

Other uses for this medicine

Higher dosages of Prozac may be prescribed as two doses per day. In this case, your doctor may recommend taking one dose in the morning and one dose at noon to avoid sleep problems. Prozac is available in a generic version called fluoxetine.

Some people have reported an increased rate of heart abnormalities in children exposed to Prozac as fetuses. However, it’s not known for sure whether the drug was the cause. The combination of Prozac and olanzapine may help relieve depression symptoms in some people for whom other treatments haven’t worked. The combination is typically taken as long-term treatment. Doctors describe depression as treatment-resistant if you’ve tried two different antidepressant drugs and neither worked well enough to relieve your symptoms. Treatment-resistant depression is sometimes called hard-to-treat depression.

Related treatment guides

Serious side effects from Prozac aren’t common, but they can occur. Call your doctor right away if you have serious side effects. No routine laboratory testing is necessary for healthy individuals. However, in elderly and population-specific patients, they may order blood glucose and liver function tests. In addition, prescribers may order an ECG assessment for those patients with risk factors for QT prolongation and ventricular arrhythmias. Pediatric patients’ height and weight should be monitored periodically when receiving fluoxetine.

Seniors may have a higher risk of side effects from this drug. Because of this risk, your doctor may lower your dose or reduce how often you take the drug. Because of this risk, your doctor may lower your dosage or reduce how often you take the drug. Don’t take this drug again if you’ve ever had an allergic reaction to it. Examples of drugs that can cause interactions with fluoxetine are listed below.

Prozac is FDA-approved for treatment-resistant depression in adults with MDD. Depression is considered treatment-resistant if your depression symptoms haven’t eased after trying two different antidepressants separately. For treatment-resistant depression, Prozac is prescribed with a medication called olanzapine (Zyprexa). The doctor may increase the dosage of Prozac for teens and children with a body weight that’s higher than the average for their age.

You can also ask your pharmacist for information about how to dispose of your medication. You should store Prozac capsules at room temperature in a tightly sealed container away from light. Avoid storing this medication in areas where it could get damp or wet, such as bathrooms.

For this purpose, Prozac is prescribed with a drug called olanzapine (Zyprexa). Your child’s doctor can give you details on what olanzapine dosage is right for your child. If your symptoms haven’t eased after a few weeks of treatment, your doctor may increase your dose. The typical dosage range for OCD is 20 mg to 60 mg per day.

Do doctors prescribe Prozac for PMDD or menopause?

After 2 weeks, the doctor may increase the dosage to 20 mg once per day. If your child’s symptoms haven’t eased after several weeks, their doctor may gradually increase the dosage to a maximum of 60 mg per day. For most people, continuing with a dosage of 20 mg per day helps relieve depression symptoms. If your symptoms don’t ease after a few weeks of treatment, your doctor may increase your dosage. When treating pregnant women during the third trimester with fluoxetine, the prescriber should consider the potential benefits and risks of treatment.

International Patients

For example, suppose one is starting a monoamine oxidase inhibitor for treatment-resistant depression. In that case, fluoxetine should be discontinued five weeks before initiating monoamine oxidase inhibitor therapy to avoid precipitating serotonin syndrome. Non-steroid inflammatory agents (e.g., ibuprofen) may impair the effectiveness of fluoxetine.

Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicines without your doctor’s approval. Antidepressant medications, including Prozac, can increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and actions in certain groups of people. The groups are adults younger than age 25 years and children. The risk is higher in the first few months after starting treatment with an antidepressant and after any dose changes. Prozac is not approved for use in children younger than age 7 years.

Prozac week by week

Some young people have thoughts about suicide when first taking an antidepressant. Your doctor should check your progress at regular visits. Your family or other caregivers should also be alert to changes in your mood or symptoms. Do not use fluoxetine if you have used an MAO inhibitor in the past 14 days (such as isocarboxazid, rasagiline, selegiline, phenelzine, or transcypromine).