Is it safe to take Prozac long term?
Is it safe to take it for a long time? For most people, fluoxetine is safe to take for a long time. A few people may get sexual side effects, such as problems getting an erection or a lower relationship drive. In some cases these can continue even after stopping the medicine.
How long should you stay on Prozac?
Psychiatrists suggest staying on the medicine for six months to a year after you feel better. Your response should be checked regularly – at three weeks and then again at three to six monthly intervals. Doctors can sometimes confuse withdrawal symptoms with a return of depression, and restart the medicine.
What are the negative effects of Prozac?
Nausea, drowsiness, dizziness, anxiety, trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, tiredness, sweating, or yawning may occur. If any of these effects persist or worsen, tell your doctor promptly.
Does your brain go back to normal after antidepressants?
The process of healing the brain takes quite a bit longer than recovery from the acute symptoms. In fact, our best estimates are that it takes 6 to 9 months after you are no longer symptomatically depressed for your brain to entirely recover cognitive function and resilience.
Is it bad to be on antidepressants for a long time?
Some recent studies have suggested serious potential risks. People who used antidepressants had a 14% higher risk of heart attacks and strokes and a 33% greater risk of death, according to findings in a meta-analysis of 17 studies that was published in 2017 in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.
Can Prozac damage your brain?
“We now have unequivocal evidence from a wide range of side effects that Prozac-type drugs impair the normal functioning of the brain,” Glenmullen says. SSRIs include Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, Celexa–trade names that invariably include an x or z for drugs that are best known as antidepressants.
Does Prozac change your personality?
People taking Prozac or other anti-depressants may experience personality changes for a range of reasons: The stress of waiting for improvement may worsen their mental state or the anti-depressant may produce symptoms of a different, undiagnosed mental illness. Finally, depressed people often abuse drugs and alcohol.
Is Prozac bad for your heart?
Overall, those taking SSRIs actually saw their heart attack risk go down, when compared with those who took no antidepressants of any kind, the study found. Prozac (fluoxetine) seemed particularly protective, in terms of reducing risk for heart attack and irregular heartbeat, the researchers said.
Can Prozac cause dementia?
According to the study, popular Prozac-like pills known as SSRIs — selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors — and other antidepressants are associated with a twofold increase in the odds of developing some form of dementia, including Alzheimer’s.