Prozac for Anxiety and Stress User Reviews (Page 4)

• valer...
• June 18, 2010

"I have taken Celexa, Effexor XR, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, Remeron and by far Prozac is a miracle drug for me. I would not take anything else. I have been on this prescription for 3 years and it is fantastic!"

• Pog
• July 1, 2021

"I've had anxiety problems my whole life-my hands have always shook, once we all started wearing masks I realized how much I hyperventilate, sleep evaded me for hours while obsessive and nightmarish thoughts ran on a loop in my head, I have ALWAYS been plagued by guilt and the sense I'm never doing enough. It's made me a heck of an overachiever, and I was used to surviving it, but when my doctor recommended it, I decided to try it. I barely noticed any difference on 10 mg, so I thought I could try 20 mg. Holy smoke. I can sleep. Now I sleep too much! My mind is not a Catherine wheel, and I don't toss and turn. I don't get those constant stabs of adrenaline all day, like I'm constantly on the verge of total failure. The only concern I have is that in decades of anxiety, I got used to resting when it let up for a day or so. The urge to rest that I associate with this feeling of relief is making me lazy! I need to learn how to stay on track for reasons other than fear and guilt."

• Wicke...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• February 10, 2014

"I posted my initial experience with Prozac a few months back, and it still is working great! I have lost a few pounds, still eat much less than before, and my anxiety is all but gone. I no longer need Klonopin; I was taking about 5 of those a week prior to Prozac. I am on a low dosage and have not needed to adjust up or down. Bottom line: my anxiety is under control, and I feel great, without any side effects."

• Living...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 19, 2013

"I suffer from chronic anxiety with periodic bouts of mild depression for 20 years. I tried everything...acupuncture, diet, exercise, and 5-HTP. Had a horrible experience with Zoloft and Paxil when I developed depression in college. I tried antidepressants for 2 months but with horrible side effects. As a result, I avoided medications to address my anxiety and/or mild depression through the years. Unfortunately, my anxiety level became unbearable this past year. I tried the following: Lexapro...5-10 mg, absolutely horrible. Made me extremely tired, depressed, and never reduced my anxiety level. Xanax: extremely helpful but still experienced agitation, stress, irritability, and anxiousness. Prozac: 10-20 mg, a life changer. I feel relaxed."

• Anonymous
• March 13, 2009

"Wonderful drug but watch out for medication interactions. Developed Serotonin Syndrome when doctor prescribed Ultram (Tramadol) for pain relief. Caused involuntary muscle spasms, difficulty speaking, walking, etc. It even looked like I had a stroke. I tapered off it shortly after and tried other drugs to help with anxiety, depression, and PMDD. I have since come back to Prozac because it works well for me, as long as I make sure not to take tramadol or other drugs that can interact with it. I experience weight loss with this drug. Have tons of energy and sleep well at night."

• Potty
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 18, 2019

"Dr tried me with Prozac. First 8 days were bad. Severe nausea no appetite and worsened anxiety. After reading everything I could on the net, I stuck to reading just the positives. Made my mind up to stick with it as I think so many give up too soon. Now day 11 and the fog is definitely lifting. My last 3 days have been so much better. Think of it as a journey and rate each day out of 10. Write it down..day 1 I scored 3 so pretty low..day 2-5 scored 2!! Today I’m a 6.2 so please don’t give up on this med. I may score 5 tomorrow but I WILL NOT stop taking it. I believe in it and that gives me a positive attitude towards my recovery. Even if it is a placebo effect, I’ll take that any day over depression and anxiety. I’ll never be a 10 but the high 7’s will do just fine."

• prozac...
• August 26, 2014

"Prozac took my worries away. That is all I wanted. I wasn't depressed. I used to wake up at night having bad dreams and worries that went over and over in my head. I couldn't sleep. After starting Prozac, all of that stopped. It did, unfortunately, give me an 'I don't care' attitude about what other people thought of me. My sister complained about that and said I was difficult to talk to. So, I stopped taking it (gradually). Now, I wake up every night again with terrible anxiety thoughts and dreams (mostly about things happening in my life). I haven't heard anyone else talking about this. Any comments?"

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 21, 2012

"I wanted to share my experience with Prozac for those that are perhaps just starting out, letting them know that it does, in fact, get much better. I have had pretty bad anxiety since childhood and also the symptoms of PMDD for a few years now. To the point that I would schedule events around when I was going to have PMS because it made me so unable to deal with anything at all. I was snapping at people, got easily frustrated with my children, and would feel very down on myself in general. Since going on Prozac approximately 7 weeks ago, I went through a very anxious phase, but the last two weeks have been amazing. I have never felt this happy or calm. I am on 30mg with no plans to stop."

• ddaan...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 14, 2015

"Prozac has been a miracle for my anxiety. My anxiety was always like a constant static in my head. This 'static' has caused me to have social anxiety as well. On Prozac, I feel my anxiety (the static in my head) isn't holding me back anymore, I talk to people, and I can finally be happy and free."

• parli...
• August 28, 2010

"I started taking 20mg daily after losing my job, moving to a new house and town, and my mom was diagnosed with cancer. It has been about 20 days, and I am feeling better already. Placebo effect or not, I am handling the stresses of life much better. I mainly chose to seek help because I was wrecking my relationship with my true love. I lost my appetite for the first 2 weeks, but it is coming back slowly. I have not experienced any side effects. I recommend this medicine, and I have never taken a prescription medicine for stress/anxiety or depression before. For those of you looking for some relief and calm - I say Do It. It is definitely worth trying."

• amazing
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 18, 2023

"Honestly, I can’t say much yet because it’s my first day taking Provac but dude, I’ve NEVER been so productive in my life and felt so good about life. I have cleaned my whole house, and car and cooked three meals for my family. I also felt so good talking to everyone around me and didn’t think about anything stressful. I hope it continues like this but it’s been amazing."

• Optim...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 12, 2019

"I am on day 4. I decided to take this after being antidepressant free for 12 months. The last 6-8 months I have suffered work stress, relationship stress, hormonal PMT up & down as 48yrs. I felt increasingly irritable and the angry at myself - was wanting to be alone as every issue triggered my irritable mood and I didn’t want to effect others. I avoided any help, and tried self help but just got so so hard. Negative thoughts, self doubt. Day 1 - very bad stomach. Day 2- nightmares, stomach cramps. But calmer! Felt relief. Day 3- same stomach issues & self doubt but still a calmness that I haven't felt for ages and patience. Day 4 - extreme migraine but also a feeling of control over my feelings. I’ll stick with it for the month and hope it helps. I feel like I have failed by taking this but that irritability and anxiety was causing me feel like I was a nasty person. Fingers crossed."

• CBEARS
• December 2, 2015

"I've been on and off Prozac for the last few years. I didn't think it was working, but after I started taking mental notes, I realized that I was doing much better on it. I have been dealing with chronic anxiety and PTSD which has, in turn, led me into depression. Based on my experience, I think it's important to note that depression lifting is not like flipping a switch. It takes time for the medicine to work. Now that I've been taking it routinely and not missing a dose, I've noticed that my 'baseline' mood is MUCH better. It happens subtly like a thick fog slowly lifting. I understand that it doesn't work for everyone, but if you're not having side effects and you've only been on it for a short time, be patient and give it a chance."

• cheal...
• August 8, 2011

"I didn't realize how stressed I was until I'd been taking Prozac for 6 weeks and compared myself to what I was like the previous month. I'd been stressed for a really long time. Now, less stressed, I'm more focused and productive at work! I didn't think that was possible. I'm also creative again. I feel I have a chemical imbalance that needed redressed. I always thought having to take antidepressants was a sign of failure, but now I realize it's just a chemical imbalance. Good luck!"

• chrjl
• June 5, 2021

"I have been dealing with anxiety for years, have been able to manage with exercise and other outlets until the pandemic hit. I started to experience panic attacks and anxiety 24/7. My anxiety started to interfere with my sleep. I was prescribed prozac (10mg) but was so fearful of the side effects I put off trying Prozac for over a month, which lead to severe anxiety and depression. I finally gave in and I had a positive reaction initially. For the next 4-5 days I experienced minimal side effects, lack of appetite, irritability, decreased libido, and fatigue. I had increased anxiety in the morning, some days were better than others, day 8 was by far the worst day. Day 9 things started to improve day by day. I'm now on day 12, I'm sleeping better (continues improve), and my anxiety is almost nonexistent. I wish I would have started Prozac sooner. What works or doesn't work for me may not work for you. Because of this, don't put off taking a medication because of someone else's experience."

• Bano
• October 13, 2020

"I had a horrible experience. After losing my job due to the virus, moving out of my parents’ home and dealing with a lot of stress and anxiety, my PCP prescribed me 20mg of Prozac to cope. I was only on the medicine for 4 days before I stopped taking it. Those 4 days were some of the scariest of my life. I had to miss 2 days of work and I told people I thought I was going crazy. My head felt heavy, it ached and at times I just felt “off.” I couldn’t even accurately describe the feeling I was having. I was afraid to sleep for fear I wouldn’t wake up, I cried several times a day, my panic attacks worsened and happened more frequently, my heart rate was 120 while laying on the couch. I slept maybe 11 hours total over a period of 3 days. Finally slept on the 4th night because my body was so exhausted. My mind would race and was full of intrusive, unwanted, horrible thoughts...many times I believed something else was wrong with me. I would be cautious with this medicine."

• Eunic...
• August 5, 2013

"I started Prozac 20 mg 11 days ago, the first week I was feeling very anxious, dry mouth, numbness in my face, but that was only the first week! Now I feel so much better I can say on the 9 day I started to feel more focus, my fears went away, and today is my 11 day and I feel good just great, thanks to God and Prozac."

• Vicky
• January 19, 2016

"I started taking Prozac 4 weeks ago. For symptoms of menopause... I can't take HRT as I've had cancerous cells in my cervix, which is why I had a hysterectomy. Anyway, I was having palpitations, panic attacks, stress, and anxiety, forgetting words, very emotionally up and down. I also suffer from PTSD from a violent childhood. I have to say I've been so much happier and settled in my mind, this is definitely working for me."

• Relie...
• February 1, 2015

"I honestly feel that this medication saved my sanity and my life. After going through an extreme amount of stress in a short time, and then having a miscarriage, I started having extreme panic attacks out of the blue. I was having them almost every day; one night I was laying on the couch for four hours shaking uncontrollably and thinking I was going to die. Finally saw a psychiatrist who put me on 20 mg of Prozac per day. At first, it made me dizzy and gave me headaches, and I couldn't sleep. I was ready to give up and try something else, but finally after about 6-7 full weeks, I started to feel better and the panic attacks stopped. Haven't had an attack in over 3 months and I feel like myself again. I am also taking 0.5 mg of Klonopin to sleep."

• OCD...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 19, 2017

"This medication was a game-changer for me. I've suffered from anxiety/OCD/depression my whole life, and for the first time it feels like I can handle what life throws at me. My anxious/intrusive thoughts still come, but they no longer ruin days/weeks/months. I was very nervous to start this medication because of reviews about side-effects, but I honesty believe that most people who come on these sites to write reviews are the exceptions who have bad reactions. The worst side effect I had was losing a little weight, while the best thing it did for me was probably saving my life."

• Slipp...
• November 6, 2013

"I'm a teenager and I have had pretty severe anxiety for about 3 to 4 years. It stopped me from doing normal high school things, like going to dances, making friends, and going to parties because those kinds of things terrify me. I went to a psychiatrist, and since my anxiety has been negatively affecting my life, she prescribed me 20 ml of Prozac once a day. This has seriously changed my life. I've tried all the natural medications and techniques that claim to work, but nothing had worked for me. It took a while to kick in, but once it did, I became a whole new person. I've been so happy and can do things without worrying!"

• Tammy
• April 9, 2017

"I should have been on this sooner. I'm a 26 year old recent law school graduate enduring the bar exam- unfortunately twice. My first round of studying I was crying daily, couldn't sleep, was irritable, extremely depressed, anxious- I am normally these things, but it was heightened by the bar exam. My first time taking the exam, I didn't come close to finishing the exam on the second day. I was crying and couldn't control my panic attacks. Second round of studying for the test, I decided to see a psychiatrist who gave me Prozac. I love it. I feel like a normal person. A better version of who I was. I feel even, I don't have panic attacks, don't cry, I feel great."

• wicke...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 8, 2013

"I had been on Celexa for 2 years, which caused weight gain, low motivation, sleepiness, and my anxiety came back full strength. Now, 1 week on Prozac and I feel like myself again. High energy, good appetite, alert, no anxiety - basically I feel great! I was drinking 5 alcoholic beverages a day, now I am not interested in drinking more than 2 a day. I am over 45, and my vision was beginning to slip when reading items close up. Ever since I started Prozac, my vision has improved and I can see things less than 6 inches from my face. Not sure why that happened, but it did. Give it a try - you will get your life back."

• Anonymous
• April 8, 2012

"Was always stressed and depressed and blew up on people I love, gave Prozac 6 weeks, it changed my life. I've been on Lexapro and Cymbalta. On 40mg Prozac, couldn't imagine life without it, everything just goes my way now and I'm super happy, and can think clearly, but somehow am still myself, and with no side effects. It's amazing."

• Speed...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• February 25, 2021

"The first few weeks were awful. My anxiety increased, my sleep was non existent. However because I knew to expect these common side effects it made them easier. I have been on it for 2 years and have been stable and feeling I am living life."