Patients taking Prozac may also experience rare but serious side effects including suicidal thoughts and behaviors, seizures and bleeding issues. Serious side effects of Prozac include: Suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Activation of mania/hypomania.
The most common Prozac (fluoxetine) side effects include nausea, insomnia, and nervousness. For many people, these tend to improve over time. Sexual side effects can happen with medications like Prozac. And they don't always go away.
The “blunting of emotions” is frequently mentioned by patients taking SSRIs for long periods who report that, although they feel less emotional pain than before, they also experience a restricted range of other emotions that are a normal part of everyday life (Barnhart et al.
Some antidepressants can also cause feelings of agitation, restlessness and detachment. These feelings may resemble symptoms of anxiety and may add to, rather than relieve, feelings of hopelessness and despair. Some people may become suicidal or violent.
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.
Antidepressant medications, including Prozac, can increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and actions in certain groups of people. The groups are adults younger than age 25 years and children. The risk is higher in the first few months after starting treatment with an antidepressant and after any dose changes.
At this time, it's not clear whether taking an antidepressant, like an SSRI, can make you more angry or aggressive. If you're taking an SSRI and feel you're more agitated or angry, consider reaching out to a mental health professional to discuss your concerns.
It may be hard to believe that antidepressants can cause depression, but it could be true. The very reason you take depression medication can sometimes make symptoms worse. Depression is a mood disorder that can cause feelings of sadness and lack of energy, among other symptoms.
Some believe it is unlikely that antidepressants cause any permanent changes to brain chemistry in the long term. The evidence seems to indicate that these medications cause brain changes that only persist while the medication is being taken or in the weeks following withdrawal.
The Evidence for Personality Changes
Study authors suggested that the SSRI may have altered two key personality traits linked to depression—neuroticism and extroversion—independently of their effect on depression symptoms.
The common occurrence of slow-rolling eye movements during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep in patients taking Fluoxetine has led to this finding being referred to as “Prozac Eyes” [1]. The oculomotor movements in patients on Fluoxetine are accompanied by an increase in myoclonic activity[2].
SSRIs release two chemicals in the brain that kick in at different times, causing a period of negative effects on mental health, the authors report. The first chemical is serotonin, which is released very soon after an SSRI is taken but might not lessen depressive symptoms until after a couple of weeks.
Fluoxetine will not change your personality, it will simply help you feel like yourself again. Do not expect to feel better overnight, though. Some people feel worse during the first few weeks of treatment before they begin to feel better.
What Should I Avoid While Taking Fluoxetine? Avoid drinking alcohol or using illegal drugs while you are taking antidepressant medications. They may decrease the benefits (e.g., worsen your condition) and increase adverse effects (e.g., sedation) of the medication.
Psychological: The chronic use of antidepressants like Prozac could lead to a blunted emotional response, changes in mood, and increased experience of agitation, anxiety, insomnia, restlessness, and nervousness, with the highest rates among people taking the highest doses [5].
For people with chronic or severe depression, medication may be needed on a long-term basis. In these cases, antidepressants are often taken indefinitely. That is, in part, because depression is not an illness that can be cured.
In conclusion, our data reveal that chronic fluoxetine exposure causes on the long-term changes in expression of genes involved in myelination, a process that shapes brain connectivity and contributes to symptoms of psychiatric disorders.
Your Mood or Energy Improve Too Much
If you're taking antidepressant medication and you either feel unusually elated, or you become very terse with your loved ones, feel noticeably more irritable, or have an uncharacteristic bout of rage, then it's likely that your antidepressant dose is too high.
Antidepressants can make you feel worse at first
Antidepressants can make you feel tired, cause concentration problems, and lead to changes in sleep and appetite. These side effects can make you feel like your depression is getting worse, instead of getting better.
In rare cases, some people experience suicidal thoughts and a desire to self-harm when they first take antidepressants. Young people under 25 seem particularly at risk. Contact your GP, or go to A&E immediately, if you have thoughts of killing or harming yourself at any time while taking antidepressants.
The researchers found that, once pre-existing risk factors had been taken into account, long-term antidepressant use was associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, and an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease and from any cause.
Fluoxetine increases ventral striatal serotonin (17), stimulating 5-HT3 receptor-mediated dopamine release in the ventral striatal region, which may lead to psychosis (18).
Your Depression Worsens
“If your depression symptoms get worse as soon as you start taking an antidepressant, or they get better and then very suddenly get worse, it's a sign that the depression medication isn't working properly, and you should see your healthcare professional right away,” Hullett says.
Prozac can make you feel more optimistic, improving mood, appetite, sleep, focus and energy levels. It may also decrease anxiety, fear, unwanted thoughts and panic attacks. Uses for Prozac include: Major depressive disorder (MDD)