Side effects of Prozac? Mood swings?

[BlaiseBLATES]

I've been on prozac for around 7 weeks now, for the first two weeks of taking it I experienced really bad suicidal thoughts but they did subside and I was told they would be completely normal. They highered my dose to 10 mg 5 weeks ago and since then I have been experiencing either very high or very low moods in sort of swings. I find them easy to control when I am with friends (the prozac has helped my panic attacks) as I just distract myself but when I am alone in my house I will spend hours kicking and screaming, wanting to hurt myself (I self harmed for 5 years and only recently gave up) only to find that when I come out of it my mood is absoloutely amazing.
I just want to know if anyone else has experienced this and is it something I should talk to my doctor about?

 

[sleepless]

I take Ritalin, Valium, and Prozac.

 

[EasySkanking]

You're on 10mg per day?

I take 20mg. Just wondering because I'm thinking that I might need to take more...

Anyway, the thing that I have noticed with Prozac is that it "forces" you to be happy though your behaviour has more of an effect on your mood than the drug itself. So when you're in a "happy" setting/ocassion, it will allow you to feel "happier" than you would if you weren't taking the medication. However, if you're, say stuck in your room doing nothing and feeling like crap.... you'll only feel worse because it's trying to make your brain feel happy, while your behaviour is doing the exact opposite (the one that rules your mood.) So while, you're supposed to be "happy", acting in manners that make you feel badly, you'll feel worse about it, because you're actually supposed to be feeling happy. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say - you feel ****tier because you're supposed to be a happy person and when you go against that with your behaviour, you only a lot worse.

You should definately talk to your doctor about that though. I had suicidal thoughts too at the beginning (even though I am not suicidal at all ). But I think it's just that effect that I was talking about. Prozac has definately helped me greatly, personally. I think it stops working for you if you keep putting yourself in negative "settings" as it can do nothing to make you happy - it can only help

 

[Kiwong]

I think you should talk about the desire to hurt with someone, a doctor that might have more to offer than just a prescription of pills

Thank you. This information has helped me decide to not go down the medication path. I haven't had a panic attack for three years now.

 

[lonelypothead]

I've been on it for about a month and I haven't noticed any side effects. If anything, I have less mood swings.