Twine that was vibrating - Prozac and Supplements
July 31, 2024
I began taking Prozac a year ago, July 2023, because I was feeling extremely low and suicidal. I didn't want to go that route again, I had such a negative experience with medications, but I couldn't shake that horrible suicidal feeling and so my therapist and I decided we would try. I chose Prozac as I had used it many times throughout my twenties and knew I could tolerate it pretty well. Lucky for me, it worked, and I had a pretty good year, still lots of ups and downs, that's to be expected, but all in all, I had a clearer mind.
On July 15, 2024, during therapy session we decided to increase my dose from 20mg to 40mg as I was starting to have suicidal thoughts again, not bad, not active, but still worrisome. When I got home, I took my second 20mg pill and went on about my day. I didn't feel any changes for a few days and thought all was ok. But then my pain levels began to increase, I could hardly walk, my lower back pain was so bad I had to use a cane. My head was going to explode from the migraines. The arthritis in my hands and feet made my fingers and toes feel stiff and on fire. I was having an even more difficult time sleeping, waking with a horrible, nauseous dizzy feeling. The tremors in my hands had worsened and I could feel it in my entire body. Plus, I was much more anxious then normal to the point I couldn't even meditate to calm my mind down.
On the morning of July 23rd I took 40mg and woke on the 24th at around 5:30am with the weirdest sensations; jittery, dizzy, nauseous; sort of like my blood sugar was low but also like I was tripping on some 'crazy party drug'. My vision had gone from its usual mottled weird lines, to shapes of puzzle pieces which moved around like a kaleidoscope making me even more nauseous and dizzy Later in the evening I was standing outside and looked at the twine holding my lights from the beam, the string was vibrating back and forth and I was like "why are you shaking like that?", it wasn't windy, there was nothing around to make it move, yet it just kept vibrating...then I touched it and realized, 'the twine was not moving...it was my eyes', my eyes were making that weird movement...that's how jittery I was, even my eyes were doing the same thing. Man did I feel awful!
... 'This made me worried' ... In my late 20's I had, what years later was told to me to be, Serotonin Syndrome. This is what kept crossing my mind as I tried to figure out what was making me feel so terrible. I checked my blood sugar, it was fine at 5.4. I checked my blood pressure; it too was fine at 109/72 - 81. I googled all I could about too much serotonin. I looked to see if any of my supplements I take would have negative interactions with Prozac, but that didn't seem to be the case. Later in the day I even asked my pharmacist about the interactions, and he couldn't see anything that would cause these feelings either. So, I decided to go back to 20mg of Prozac, and although there apparently was nothing I was taking that would interact negatively with Prozac, I still chose to take a break from them too. By July 28th I was feeling sooooo much better...holy man what a relief it was...everything went back to the way it was. The pain had stepped back from a 9 to a 4...I can walk again, and my headaches are a bit milder! The jitters, which were the worst of it all as I could feel them throughout my entire body making me dizzy and nauseous, had calmed down. No wonder I felt so terrible. But now even those had subsided, and I felt amazing!
I am now only taking 20mg of Prozac and will slowly add my supplements back. If there is any interaction I will find it easily, but I don't expect there to be anything wrong as I had been on them all this time. I am certain my body can only handle so much Prozac and now I know my cutoff point is 20mg ... that's it. I will just have to deal with my mind in other ways...but I feel so great after that terrible little spell that I no longer have suicidal thoughts right now anyway...I am just happy to not be feeling like I had for those several days.
What makes me Happy!!!
"Summer Breeze" Seals & Croft
"Sweet days of summer, the jasmine's in bloom
July is dressed up and playin' her tune"