Question:
What are the common side effects of fluoxetine?
RULE BRITANNIA
2010-04-30 08:47:44 UTC
My daughter is 15 and has been prescribed fluoxetine 20mg per day for depression. I don't really understand the situation and would like to know what side effects she could experience and how likely it is to work.
Five answers:
Mathieu
2010-04-30 09:39:17 UTC
Like ALL drugs Prozac (fluoxetine) does have side effects however in the vast majority of people side effects are mild and tend to go away over a few weeks.



The most common side effects include:

nausea, headache, insomnia, nervousness, anxiety, diarrhea, dizziness, dry mouth, tremor, sweating, constipation, and flu-like syndrome.



Should she experience them they normally go away within 2-4 weeks.



Serious and EXTREMELY RARE reactions include:

Serotonin syndrome (an extremely rare problem almost always due to taking multiple serotonergic drugs), withdrawal syndrome (this occurs in under 50% of LONG TERM users. If the drug is stopped slowly there should not be a problem), mania (may be an indicator of bipolar disorder rather than depression), seizures, hyponatremia (abnormally low level of sodium in the blood; associated with dehydration), hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), serum sickness (allergic type reaction)

anaphylactoid reactions (severe, potentially life threatening allergic reaction), and severe rash.



It is also very important to note that the principal serious side effect to closely monitor for is an increase or development of suicidal ideation and thoughts. People 24 and under have an increased risk in having suicidal thoughts HOWEVER there is no indication that using an antidepressant increases rates of suicide (only thoughts of suicide). Actually suicide rates are lower when people with depression use antidepressants at any age.



I know a lot of the side effects sound scary and your immediate reaction may be to take your daughter off the medication. But please don't let the side effects scare you, your daughters doctor (the expert) feels that taking fluoxetine is appropriate and that the risks are far outweighed by the benefits. And all drugs have very scary and serious side effects, even looking at the official information about paracetamol side effects could scare you.



Also if you don't understand the situation you need to talk with your daughters doctor until you do understand. You should also talk with your doctor and ask her what she thinks and about her depression. You should never feel left in the dark when it comes to your children's health.



As some people who have answered have mentioned therapy is an option and using both medication and therapy has been proven to be the best treatment. However it is NOT rare or unusual for teens to be prescribed antidepressants (in fact The UK government recommends fluoxetine for teens with depression and/or anxiety) . Awareness and destigmatization are the reasons that depression is being evaluated for and treated, if required, in teens. Although therapy alone may be appropriate often it is not. Therapy often takes a significant time to begin to work and many people need to have faster relief.



Below are several links from multiple well respected governments, medical institutions, and companies in The US, The UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa about Fluoxetine.



http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a689006.html



http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100002193.html



http://www.nps.org.au/search_by_medicine_name/cmi/genrx_fluoxetine



http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec23/ch286/ch286c.html?qt=fluoxetine&alt=sh



http://pi.lilly.com/us/prozac.pdf



http://www.lilly.ca/servlets/sfs;jsessionid=00826E2266A0C19525590C5C6737BE72?t=/contentManager/selectCatalog&e=UTF-8&i=1233164768976&l=0&s=iBxTi05ufMKzEEKLZG&ParentID=1246635267998&intro=1&CustomerID=0&startRow=0&active=no



http://www.medicines.org.uk/EMC/medicine/22424/SPC/Fluoxetine+20mg+Capsules/



http://home.intekom.com/pharm/apotex/ap-fluox.html



http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/consumers/cmi/p/prozac.htm
x-MissPiggy-x
2010-04-30 08:54:26 UTC
I have just turned 16 and got prescribed the exact same thing a few weeks ago. It put me off my food quite a bit and I need the toilet all the time but apart from that I haven't had any other side effects. The consultant who prescribed me them that I go to see said hardly any people get side effects but the main one is loss of appetite. For me it slightly worked for the first maybe 2 or 3 weeks after the first 2 weeks of it kicking in but now I seem to be the worst I have ever been. I am sleeping much worse than I did before I got help and I have much much less energy and hardly eat anything at all. This is just my experience though and chances are it will help your daughter but if not then who ever she goes to see will think of another way to help if it does not work well with her.



Good luck to her and I really hope she gets better soon x
shortie
2010-04-30 08:52:37 UTC
All this stuff is normally on the patient information leaflet that comes with the medication. However failing that, I found the info online, apparently it's Prozac. Too many side effects etc to copy and paste so I suggest looking at some of the websites that have the info. A couple of links below to get you started.
2010-04-30 08:52:25 UTC
Your daughter is 15 and on anti-depressants? I would maybe seek a second opinion. Fluxoetine is the pharmacological name for Prozac, and is a very dangerous. It has been linked to suicide and liver damage and should only be used in extreme circumstances.



Why not get your daughter some counselling, because 15 is very young to be prescribed antidepressants.
Chickky
2010-04-30 09:28:55 UTC
That drug is very dangerous for somoene her age.. try getting her a sicoligist... and seek a second opionin


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