![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.
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!
Posted by Lynn on September 27, 1999, at 12:24:51
In reply to Prozac and Headaches, posted by Heidi on September 27, 1999, at 11:02:14
Heidi: A good friend of mine experienced the same thing while taking Prozac. Her p-doc suggested that she switch to Celexa; since then, she has been headache-free. Just a thought.
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. :)
Posted by Bob on September 27, 1999, at 17:30:14
In reply to Prozac and Headaches, posted by Heidi on September 27, 1999, at 11:02:14
Tell your doctor to try those headaches on for size day in and day out, and then see if he feels happy about it. Why should a doctor say you should be happy to feel any sort of pain? Zheesh! (Sorry -- I just have a mean streak a mile wide, and some steel-toed boots to follow up with a swift kick, for insensitive doctors... grrrrrrrrrrrrr)
Once his attitude gets readjusted, you may want to give the prozac a little more time. Do any of the longer acting pain relievers work for you? That might help make it more bearable. My main point is that it takes time for this stuff to work. I wound up switching from med to med quickly at first, sometimes for truly unbearable side effects, other times for stuff I could have held out against. I had an appointment with my pdoc today, and I realized that I've been on the same meds for about nine months now, same dosage levels for the last three or four of that, and things are about as stable for me as my best times off meds. Still not much in terms of positive affect, but I have a good, solid base to do some serious psychological work from. Anyway, convince you doc to take your pains more seriously -- that is his job, afterall -- and maybe he can come up with something that can work with the prozac for the headaches and maybe some AD boost as well.
Good luck,
Bob
Posted by JohnL on September 28, 1999, at 3:23:39
In reply to Re: Prozac and Headaches, posted by JohnL on September 27, 1999, at 17:27:16
Yeah. I agree. Doc should have a little more compassion. Just wanted to follow-up and say that in my previous post of Prozac dosing trickery, those are methods my psychiatrist taught me. They aren't homegrown nonsense. Just wanted you to be aware they are professional techniques actually practiced in the field. They have proven to be very helpful in fine-tuning the Prozac to each patient. I would reiterate taking a serious look at dosing variations. Sometimes a little fine-tuning is all that's needed. Meanwhile, see if the doc wants to take a couple doses of Prozac just to see what it feels like.... :)
Posted by Heidi on September 28, 1999, at 8:48:57
In reply to Re: Prozac and Headaches, posted by JohnL on September 28, 1999, at 3:23:39
> Yeah. I agree. Doc should have a little more compassion. Just wanted to follow-up and say that in my previous post of Prozac dosing trickery, those are methods my psychiatrist taught me. They aren't homegrown nonsense. Just wanted you to be aware they are professional techniques actually practiced in the field. They have proven to be very helpful in fine-tuning the Prozac to each patient. I would reiterate taking a serious look at dosing variations. Sometimes a little fine-tuning is all that's needed. Meanwhile, see if the doc wants to take a couple doses of Prozac just to see what it feels like.... :)
Thanks for the suggestion. I really like this web site, it's one of the most usefull things I've ever seen on the net! I'll definately give it a try, and maybe taking them at night might not be such a bad idea. And yeah! You guys are right about my doc being insensitive. I sometimes get the feeling that I am one of so many people that are going through the same thing that the docs are jaded. In terms of this Prozac working. It's hard to say. I feel more in control and more "levelled" (if that's a term) but I sort of feel a little spaced out sometimes. Like I'm looking at things from a totally wierd perspective. I guess that is the drug working...?
Posted by Bob on September 28, 1999, at 13:54:03
In reply to Re: Prozac and Headaches, posted by Heidi on September 28, 1999, at 8:48:57
> I feel more in control and more "levelled" (if that's a term) but I sort of feel a little spaced out sometimes. Like I'm looking at things from a totally wierd perspective. I guess that is the drug working...?
Could be. My current cocktail has me pretty much in control and stable, but quite emotionally unattached from my immediate environment.
And for your doc, if he doesn't adjust his attitude tell him there's this mentally unbalanced guy on the net who calls himself the "Ghost of Patients Past, Present, and Future" whose steel-toed boots have an appointment with his behind.
grrrrrrrrr
Bob(Well, okay, so maybe I'm not so unattached from my anger -- that'd be a 180 flip from how I've lived the rest of my life to date ;^)
Posted by Heidi on September 28, 1999, at 15:06:47
In reply to Re: Prozac and Headaches, posted by Bob on September 28, 1999, at 13:54:03
> And for your doc, if he doesn't adjust his attitude tell him there's this mentally unbalanced guy on the net who calls himself the "Ghost of Patients Past, Present, and Future" whose steel-toed boots have an appointment with his behind.Thanks for being so protective. I'm reading all these other posts and i'm just wondering why it is only people in the net who can openly discuss depression. Since it's pretty new for me to be going through this, I've told a few freinds and although they try, they really don't have any idea about what's going on. Thankfully my Dad and sister are both on AD's and are really supportive. But it would be nice to have a friend who understands. I tried to describe to my best friend some of the things I would be thinking, and he could only suggest that I relax and maybe listen to some kind of relaxing music and just "chill out". Another friend just told me how "proud" she was that I was "dealing with things". This frustrated me for some reason. I'm not looking for recognition. I just wish I could be in thier head for a bit, you know, looking at it from the outside and not understanding it. I've lived with depression and had it in my family most of my life, and I would love to be innocent and ignorant. Whatever. I guess it's something that I'll have to get used to so there's no sense complaining.
Thanks for listening. Heidi
Posted by dj on September 28, 1999, at 19:43:41
In reply to Re: Prozac and Headaches, posted by JohnL on September 27, 1999, at 17:27:16
> . You can dissolve Prozac in water or juice
I've heard that grapefruit juice can boost the impact of different medications so you may want to avoid that if you go for the juice.. Anybody else know anything about this effect??
Posted by chy on September 30, 1999, at 6:54:42
In reply to Re: SSRIs & grapefruit juice?, posted by dj on September 28, 1999, at 19:43:41
I was told that if you had a previous major head trauma Prozac can cause micro-seizures on the scar site and thus cause migraines. If these headache respond to tylenol that probably not you case -- but something to think about.
chy
Posted by dove on September 30, 1999, at 8:52:21
In reply to Re: Prozac and headaches, posted by chy on September 30, 1999, at 6:54:42
I take amitriptyline for migraines and will be starting Prozac shortly. Does anyone know the percentage of migraine suffers who take Prozac and have a return of headaches?
Also, What kind of head trauma is considered Major? (i.e. concussion?) And, if these are micro-seizures, could they be controlled with an anti-convulsant? (new or old)
Curious.
~dove> I was told that if you had a previous major head trauma Prozac can cause micro-seizures on the scar site and thus cause migraines. If these headache respond to tylenol that probably not you case -- but something to think about.
>
> chy
Posted by chy on October 1, 1999, at 13:46:33
In reply to Re: Prozac and headaches, posted by dove on September 30, 1999, at 8:52:21
I had a severe head trauma w/ a plate and all. Had cycling migraines and reacurring situational deppression. Went on prozac and woke up in the hospital. Tried St. John's to the same affect. Have a family history of bipolar and a lousy childhood so Dr and self agreed to try Tegretal. Migraines went away for first time in life! Got the rash. Migraines came back within weeks of discontinuing.
Went to see a nuerologist who said any seretonin enhancer can trigger micro-siezures and flash-triggered siezures. My scar goes to the stem -- its not from something as simple as a concusion.
Went on a Depacote micro dose. No migraines, still have a crappy childhood. 2 years on dep -- weaned off -- no migraines. Still prone to mood cycling and depression. Still PTSD with a well developed flinch reflex. Migraines are rare now ;>
chy
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.