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

By July 13, 2009 - 11:58am
 
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My 13 year old son, who has high-functioning autism, developed OCD last fall. He was put on Prozac (10mg) for about 3 months. At the end of 3 months, his behavior changed DRASTICALLY. He talked about suicide a lot. He talks about sex a lot and does a things that can only be described as deviant. He urinated on his father and pulled his bathing suit down in the ocean and pretended to masterbate. The doctor took him off of the prozac. She feels that these behaviors are a side effect of the prozac. Is this possible? If so, how long will these behaviors continue?

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(reply to Anonymous)

It is important to receive a diagnosis from a Psychologist or Psychiatrist regarding your symptoms. I am not sure if you are drinking because you are depressed and are using it to "self-medicate", or if you have been diagnosed with alcoholism, or both?

It is important to avoid using alcohol while using other drugs or medications, as harmful drug interactions can occur.

Can you tell us if you have been diagnosed with depression, alcoholism, or other condition that we may help you with?

October 7, 2010 - 12:12pm
(reply to Alison Beaver)

hi again... i haven't told to my doctor that i am drinking that much. he thinks i gave up. this all stuff started becaue of the family i am living with. 3 years ago in our house a thief came. i was at home with my sister in law and mother in law. fortunatelly he left and noone was hurt. after that event we had new windows and everything. the door is good enough and i always lock it. when someone is at home there is no problem but someone is not at home i am affraid to go to sleep. i have been living alone for the last two months and i was drining every night to be able to go to sleep. i hate the feeling from the morning, i even hate myself that i am so weak that i drink it. i swear to God that i am crying and i dont want to drink anymore and i want to stop to be affraid but something in me says me that i cant. i was almost anorexic this summer because i wasnt eating. just drinking. whatever. gin, vodka, beer, wine.. u tell me.. mixing them all together and hate myself every morning when i woke up. asking myself why the hell am i doing this to myselF? thats why i decided to take prozac because i couldnt mix it with alcohol. it has to end somehow. this situation i'm in should stop. it's waste of health, money and time. please help me. tell me what to do.. if any of you had passed through this help. thank you.

October 8, 2010 - 9:32am
Expert HERWriter Guide Blogger (reply to adda2007)

adda2007 - Thanks for sharing the many things you've gone through, you've been dealing with some issues for quite some time, and it sounds like you pretty much feel alone and have tried a number of different forms of what a healthcare professional would call self-medication. You also seem to know that you need help, but you won't find the help you need on a website - you need to get one-on-one support from a professional who has the skills and training to help you - a counselor, a psychologist or a psychiatrist. Unlike friends or strangers, a trained professional isn't there to make judgments, or share stories about what worked for them, but is there to help you understand and resolve the issues you're facing. Continuing to hurt yourself is only going to make things worse and it's time to go from asking why you're doing this to yourself to asking what are YOU now going to do to help yourself. You deserve a happy and healthy life, and you can make that happen.

While we are not able to provide a diagnosis on this site, you may find it helpful to look up our information depression and to also review this article on post traumatic stress disorder. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml If your health plan has a website then find out your coverage for mental health care. If you do not have insurance then check out what services are available to you in your community. Let us know what you learn, or if you need help in finding resources. We wish you the best, and are encouraged by your desire to move forward with your life.
Take care,
Pat

October 8, 2010 - 4:27pm

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!

July 20, 2009 - 1:43pm

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.

July 16, 2009 - 2:30pm

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.

July 15, 2009 - 12:10pm

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

July 15, 2009 - 11:21am

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?

July 15, 2009 - 9:36am

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.

July 15, 2009 - 6:25am
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