ask: How long do the side effects last after you stop taking prozac?

Lisa

Thanks so much for your question and welcome to EmpowHer.

I'm very glad to see your son's doctor took him off Prozac, particularly with his talk of suicide and other behaviors (inappropriate urination/sexual acting out) that could actually land him in some legal trouble, even if his illness is what's causing them.

A 13 year old on Prozac is very serious business.

Prozac is Fluoxetine. From our Encyclopedia :

U.S. Brand Names
Prozac®; Prozac® Weekly™; Sarafem®

Canadian Brand Names
Apo-Fluoxetine®; BCI-Fluoxetine; CO Fluoxetine; Dom-Fluoxetine; Fluoxetine; FXT; Gen-Fluoxetine; Novo-Fluoxetine; Nu-Fluoxetine; PHL-Fluoxetine; PMS-Fluoxetine; Prozac®; ratio-Fluoxetine; Rhoxal-Fluoxetine; Riva-Fluoxetine; Sandoz-Fluoxetine

Mexican Brand Names
Symbyax

Pharmacologic Category
Antidepressant, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor

What key warnings should I know about before taking this medicine?
The desire to harm yourself is a serious symptom of depression. It may last until your depression is completely treated. If you are planning on harming yourself, call the emergency department right away.

There is a risk of seratonin syndrome when using a migraine medicine with this medicine. The syndrome is caused by too much serotonin in the body. Signs include: agitation, changes in blood pressure, diarrhea, fast heartbeat, hallucinations, nausea and vomiting, significant change in balance, and significant change in thinking clearly and logically. Talk with healthcare provider.

Please read the medication guide given to you.

Reasons not to take this medicine
• If you have an allergy to fluoxetine or any other part of this medicine.

• Tell healthcare provider if you are allergic to any medicine. Make sure to tell about the allergy and how it affected you. This includes telling about rash; hives; itching; shortness of breath; wheezing; cough; swelling of face, lips, tongue, or throat; or any other symptoms involved.

• If you are taking mesoridazine, pimozide, or thioridazine.

• If you have taken isocarboxazid, phenelzine, or tranylcypromine in the last 14 days. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (eg, isocarboxazid, phenelzine, and tranylcypromine) must be stopped 14 days before this medicine is started. Taking the two together could cause dangerously high blood pressure.

• If you are breast-feeding.

What is this medicine used for?
• This medicine is used to relieve chronic pain conditions.

• This medicine is used to treat addiction disorder.

• This medicine is used to treat anxiety.

• This medicine is used to treat attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity.

• This medicine is used to treat depression.

• This medicine is used to treat eating disorders.

• This medicine is used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder.

• This medicine is used to treat panic attacks.

• This medicine is used to treat premature ejaculation.

• This medicine is used to treat premenstrual mood disorder.

• This medicine is used to treat sleep disorders.

How does it work?
• Fluoxetine increases chemicals in the brain.

• In depression, sleep and appetite may improve quickly. Other depressive symptoms may take up to 4-6 weeks to improve.

How is it best taken?
• To gain the most benefit, do not miss doses.

• Take this medicine in the morning.

• Take this medicine with or without food. Take with food if it causes an upset stomach.

• Take long-acting products once a week.

• Long-acting products: Swallow whole. Do not chew, break, or crush.

• A liquid (solution) is available if you cannot swallow pills.

• Those who have feeding tubes can also use the liquid. Flush the feeding tube before and after medicine is given.

What do I do if I miss a dose? (does not apply to patients in the hospital)
• Take a missed dose as soon as possible.

• If it is almost time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and return to your regular schedule.

• Do not take a double dose or extra doses.

• Do not change dose or stop medicine. Talk with healthcare provider.

What are the precautions when taking this medicine?
• Do not take this medicine with thioridazine. May cause dangerous problems.

• If you are 65 or older, use this medicine with caution. You could have more side effects.

• If you have been taking this medicine for several weeks, talk with healthcare provider before stopping. You may want to gradually withdraw this medicine.

• If you have kidney disease, talk with healthcare provider.

• If you have liver disease, talk with healthcare provider.

• If you have seizures or are on seizure medicine, talk with healthcare provider.

• If you have bleeding problems, talk with healthcare provider.

• Check medicines with healthcare provider. This medicine may not mix well with other medicines.

• You may not be alert. Avoid driving, doing other tasks or activities until you see how this medicine affects you.

• Avoid alcohol (includes wine, beer, and liquor) or other medicines and natural products that slow your actions and reactions. These include sedatives, tranquilizers, mood stabilizers, antihistamines, and other pain medicine.

• Talk with healthcare provider before using aspirin, aspirin-containing products, other pain medicines, blood thinners, garlic, ginseng, ginkgo, or vitamin E.

• If you are taking any natural products, talk with healthcare provider.

• You can get sunburned more easily. Avoid sun, sunlamps, and tanning beds. Use sunscreen; wear protective clothing and eyewear.

• Tell healthcare provider if you are pregnant or plan on getting pregnant.

What are some possible side effects of this medicine?
• Feeling lightheaded, sleepy, having blurred vision, or a change in thinking clearly. Avoid driving, doing other tasks or activities that require you to be alert or have clear vision until you see how this medicine affects you.

• Nervous and excitable.

• Headache.

• Nausea or vomiting. Small frequent meals, frequent mouth care, sucking hard, sugar-free candy, or chewing sugar-free gum may help.

• Not hungry.

• Dry mouth. Frequent mouth care, sucking hard, sugar-free candy, or chewing sugar-free gum may help.

• Diarrhea.

• Change in sexual ability or desire. This is usually reversible.

• Inability to sleep.

What should I monitor?
• Change in condition being treated. Is it better, worse, or about the same?

• Dry mouth may cause an increase in cavities. Take good care of your teeth. See a dentist regularly.

• Follow up with healthcare provider.

Reasons to call healthcare provider immediately
• If you suspect an overdose, call your local poison control center or emergency department immediately.

• Signs of a life-threatening reaction. These include wheezing; chest tightness; fever; itching; bad cough; blue skin color; fits; or swelling of face, lips, tongue, or throat.

• If you are planning to harm yourself or the desire to harm yourself increases.

• Significant change in thinking clearly and logically.

• Significant change in balance.

• Agitation, twitching, sweating, or muscle stiffness.

• Very nervous and excitable.

• Fast heartbeat.

• Severe nausea or vomiting.

• Severe diarrhea.

• Unusual bruising or bleeding.

• Any rash.

• No improvement in condition or feeling worse.

How should I store this medicine?
• Store at room temperature.

• Protect liquid (solution) from light.

• Protect capsules and tablets from moisture. Do not store in a bathroom or kitchen.

General statements
• If you have a life-threatening allergy, wear allergy identification at all times.

• Do not share your medicine with others and do not take anyone else's medicine.

• Keep all medicine out of the reach of children and pets.

• Keep a list of all your medicines (prescription, natural products, supplements, vitamins, over-the-counter) with you. Give this list to healthcare provider (doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner, pharmacist, physician assistant).

• Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

• Talk with healthcare provider before starting any new medicine, including over-the-counter, natural products, or vitamins.

Lisa, with regard to his talk about sex, most sexual side effects are a decrease in sexual appetite, not an increase, although since he's a 13 year old boy, he may have newfound sexual interest and the medication allowed him to talk about it more freely than an average 13 year old would.

Side effects vary from individual to individual. Some of his behaviors could be due to Prozac and others could be due to a progression of his other diagnoses. is his withdrawal from Prozac sudden and complete, or gradual? Has his doctor put him on something else instead?

Even though Prozac is used to treat OCD as well as depression, Cognitive Behavioral Techniques also work very well. Have you considered this for your son?

Please give us an update to some of these questions and we'll try to help you further - thank you for looking out for you son's health!

She said that it may be 1 or 2 months to completely clear out of his system. My gut tells me that I will see some improvement, but I will never completely get my "old" son back.

Lisa,
I sure hope that's not the case. Hang in there, and I hope you start seeing some improvement in the next week or so. Please come back and update us, and I'll see if we have any psychiatrists on our list of experts who might have experience with young people and Prozac. Give us a few days to see what we can find out, OK?

That would be great. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Lisa, I also have a teenage son who has high-functioning Autism (Asperger's Syndrome). He's 14. I can relate to what you're going through because we've also tried the medication route and it was not good at all. It turned out that my son's various developmental issues got better with time as he's grown and matured. Also we've had him in a lot of occupational therapy over the years to help with his OCD and ADHD-like behavior. He doesn't have OCD or ADHD, but some of his behaviors associated with Asperger's mimicked those disorders. Therapy helped him tremendously, and for us was so much better than putting him on dangerous meds that haven't even been fully tested in kids (like Prozac). I'm wondering how long your son has been on Risperidone. Is he on anything else? Could the Prozac have interacted with the Risperidone? Have you thought about taking him off all meds and seeing how he does completely med-free?

I really feel for you and what you're dealing with and just want you to know that you're not alone.

He's been on the Risperitone for about 3 weeks. He was put on this to help "manage" his "elevated" mood that the Doctors feel is a result of the Prozac. He's been off Prozac for 3 weeks. The two drugs were never taken together. He was, however, on Trileptol while on the Prozac. Have you ever explored or considered hyperbaric therapy for your son? If we ever get his mood stablized, I plan on trying this. I have also been taking him to a DAN Doctor; Dr Neubrander. You should check out his website.

Lisa,
I am a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist practicing in Arizona. Having read all of the comments, my first advice is to not stop "all medications" without a doctor's supervision. It sounds like your psychiatrist is trying reasonable approaches. OCD symptoms seen with Asperger's can be very debilitating for a child and Prozac (fluoxetine) is a reasonable, FDA-approved treatment. Unfortunately, your son had a reaction which can happen to ANY person treated with an antidepressant- this reaction can include suicidal thoughts and "elevated" or "irritable" behavior (sometimes referred to as "manic" behavior). Along with this reaction, a person can have increased interest in sex or inappropriate behaviors- sexual or otherwise). First of all, I recomend sticking with your psychiatrist or another psychiatrist or behavioral pediatrician experienced in treated children with Asperger's. I believe you WILL get your son back. You can expect the Prozac to be out of his system over the next week or so. The changes caused by Prozac may take up to another month to subside. The risperidone is a reasonable medication for now to treat his symptoms and also help some with OCD symptoms. He's on a low dose which is safe. I would only continue having a patient of mine take this medication for long periods if he had significant benefit from the medication- for example improved social interaction, decreased OCD or improved mood stability.
Now, the most important thing I have to say is that, it is quite likely that the Prozac brought out some symptoms that may have occurred to a lesser extent around this time anyway. He is 13- he's starting puberty and his hormones and brain are changing rapidly. A child with autistic-spectrum disorder is at risk of developing behavioral and even mood stability problems at times of change- be that physiologic change or external stresses. I have so much more I could say, but get as much help as you can from local resources- therapists, counselors and educators. I am not against alternative treatments if they don't risk harming your child. There are many more "traditional" therapies to take advantage of as well. Good luck to you!

hi. i used prozaac for about 3 weeks. i was drinking a lot and i needed to stop it. so i was affraid that i will become an addicted. i went to the psycolog and he prescribed prozac for a month. i used it and in the first 2 weeks i didn't drink and i had the feeling that everything is going to be all right. but then i stopped it and started drinking again. today i researched on the internet about prozac and most of the people tell lots of bad things about it. i am very confused and i want to solve this alcohol stuff, depression and i want to live a normal life. if there is anyone that can give some useful advice i will be grateful. thank you.