Posted by JohnL on September 27, 1999, at 17:27:16
In reply to Prozac and Headaches, posted by Heidi on September 27, 1999, at 11:02:14
> I've been on Prozac for 2 months now and I can't get rid of these headaches. Everyday from about noon on, I have to take a couple of tylenols. My doctors say I should be happy that that is all the side effects I'm experiencing. (I'm tired all the time too, but I don't know if that is the drug causing that). Anyone have any suggestions? I don't want to keep taking tylenol!
Darn those SSRI headaches! Except for the headaches, is Prozac working for you? If so, there are ways to experiment to see if the side effects can be managed. These methods might not work, but they might. It's worth a try before considering a total switch to something else. They're easy.
I don't know what your dose is. But let me for example assume it is 20mg a day. Get the 10mg pills and stagger them during the day rather than 20mg all at once. You can dissolve Prozac in water or juice and drink half a glass at a time to accomplish the same thing. Just dump the contents of the pill into a glass and stir. Splitting the dose might help. This method would apply to whatever daily dose you are at. Dose once in AM and once in PM, or three times during the day, or whatever works. Stir and gulp, as little or as much as you want at a time. No taste.
Another trick is to dose at a different time of day than you currently do. Some people who find Prozac makes them tired take it at dinner or evening and then feel great the next day. If you're dosing in the morning, try the evening. Vica versa. Play around with the time of day. I've heard this simple trick all by itself makes a huge difference with some people. Just changing what time of day you dose can make all the difference sometimes.
Another juggling act with Prozac is to stagger the doses every other day, instead of daily. For example, if you are on 20mg a day, take 40mg every other day. I have a hunch though that this might cause a worsened headache on the day you dose.
These are easy tricks to try that just might work. Definitely worth a try. Easy. Nothing to lose. If they don't and the side effects are intolerable, a switch might be considered. SSRIs are famous for headaches though, so if you go that route, you might want to look at something else like a Wellbutrin maybe. I hope playing around with dosing trickery will be all you need. :)
poster:JohnL
thread:12123
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991001/msgs/12142.html