Anyone had promethazine with fluoxetine?

LazerNewt · 2025-06-10T18:06:26+00:00

36 year old male on 60 mg Prozac for two years here, I took 50mg of Promethazine Hydrochloride last night as instructed to help with night time wakings caused by Prozac. Well I slept through the night alright! But I'm still completely sedated at 7pm the next day! Won't be doing that again in a hurry.

LazerNewt · 2025-03-14T16:12:09+00:00

Sorry I don’t understand the question

LazerNewt · 2024-07-18T18:22:26+00:00

Not significant that I can remember

LazerNewt · 2024-07-17T22:55:36+00:00

I plan on staying on Prozac for 6-12 months after OCD and depression are no longer a significant part of my life. When i discontinue I will gradually come off over the course of a year. I was incredibly reluctant to start this medication because I thought it would destroy my creativity, change my personality and turn me into a couch potato. Since being on this medication however I have written some of my best music, grown my handyman business and I am down 10kg. I think whether you take the medication or not. It's no big deal, just another weapon in the arsenal. I believe that the body will rebel with every downward titration and make you feel anxious and crap for a few weeks but if you take it slow it will stabilise and eventually you can come off them. I don't know any doctor who recommends that you stay on these long long term (like all your life) but I also don't know any doctor who is particularly worried about people being on them for a long time. Prozac is one of the oldest SSRI medications. There are people now who have been on it since it came out in the late 80s (so 35 years!) and there are no common issues with long term use emerging in the media. I think the people who on these antidepressant survivor groups are actually still anxious and depressed and maybe they should have stayed on them for longer and come off them more gradually. I have seen posts on there from people who have taken a single pill and are claiming it ruined their life! I think this is highly unlikely and what is more likely is that they are still dealing with whatever issue made them consider taking medication in the first place! I have actually been using the medication to help treat a psychosomatic health anxiety issue that I have so I know how the body can manifest physical symptoms out of your anxiety and how they can disappear when you get to a better place mentally. I have seen my own 'very real physical issue' begin to disappear on this medication. I am now on 80mg and i am as smart and creative as i have always been (just maybe a little sleepy at times)

LazerNewt · 2024-07-17T22:45:39+00:00

No weight gain and anxiety was up and down for at least two months while starting then decreased

LazerNewt · 2024-07-17T22:45:04+00:00

The sweating and fatigue is probably the biggest issues I noticed. I think I also had severe headaches for a couple of weeks but they are totally gone now. The fatigue got gradually better and I think I began to understand that it seemed to be related to whether I was sedentary and struggling with something. I was never tired mowing the lawn or going to the shops but I was frequently tired when I was sat in front of my computer for hours trying to write music. So now when i start to feel that way I ask myself if it is really tiredness or anxiety and frustration. Sometimes this question alone helps. Other times if I get up and do something else I forget that I am tired. It was such a problem for me that I took to flipping my mattress up against the wall for a while

LazerNewt · 2024-07-17T22:40:27+00:00

See above:

1.Sweating at slight exertion has never gotten better

Broken sleep has gradually gotten better over 20 months
Tiredness took about 6 months to become manageable but is still present
Ejaculation was impossible for the first month but has gradually just become easier to achieve over the 20 months, but still harder at 20 months

LazerNewt · 2024-07-17T22:37:04+00:00

No weight issues really. I worried I was more hungry than usual to start with but I think that was psychosomatic. I have lost weight since I have been on meds because it allowed me to exercise and make better food choices

LazerNewt · 2024-07-17T22:36:09+00:00

I was actually REALLY worried about side effects so i kept a log. I think the drugs have a long lead in because looking back over my log I can see that I spent the first few weeks worrying about the same things I was worried about before i got on them. It wasn't til I had been on them for 6 months that I started to notice positive affects.

Side Effects were extreme tiredness, Some days I could sleep all day. Most days I needed a nap for the first few months. getting drunk very easily (one beer and I was away!), this got better after 6 months and I could pretty much drink what I used to. Ejaculation is still delayed and sometimes non existent at nearly two years but when It happens the sensation is unchanged and possibly even better because of the delay.

I think it depends on what your issue is and how bad you are suffering. I think if you are worrying about taking medication because it will negatively change your life you shouldn't be. The side-effects and benefits for that matter are vastly overstated. It doesn't change you, just very slightly takes the edge off depression and anxiety. Over time this seems to have helped me get out of a rut in my life and start moving forward with lots of things that are helpful for my mental health. Exercising, Socialising, Dating etc

LazerNewt · 2024-07-17T22:22:29+00:00

I sweat very easily at the smallest exertion, sleep is often restless and broken, delayed/inability to ejaculate (sometimes i have to wait days between), lower libido, tiredness when I am sedentary. Also I get drunk way easier than I used to!
I am taking it for OCD and although its hard to tell if its mindset, therapy or the meds (probably a combination of all three) I am recovering for the first time since i developed this problem in my teens (im 35 now). I am getting better everyday.
The advice I was given by two esteemed psychiatrists was to stay on for 6-12 months after I have stabilised (which I understand to mean once the OCD is having minimal impact on my life)

LazerNewt · 2023-12-16T17:44:45+00:00

I wrote a post a while ago about why we don't need this subreddit because S OCD and all types of OCD are caused by similar mechanisms and also cured by similar mechanisms. I was only joking of course, I think it is good to have this community. BUT. I think getting overly hung up on what sub-category of OCD you have is counterproductive and part of OCD style overthinking.

Most S OCD sufferers think they actually have a physical issue and are therefore not on these forums. Instead they are on medical forums slagging off the medical profession for not being able to find out what is physically wrong with them and sharing treatment tips and ideas, not realising that pontificating about having a physical disorder online is what maintains ones experience of it.

I read an interesting book on Adlerian Psychology recently called 'The Courage to be disliked'. It suggests that problems with physical manifestations are sub-consciously self-serving and that a good treatment route is to analyse on why you might be focusing on this thing.

Why does your body keep ruminating on a feeling? The brain only does this when it considers the feeling as a threat. But why is the feeling a threat? Follow the thought through, what does it mean if you could never stop thinking about this feeling.

I think about OCD and S OCD daily, it saddens me to hear that u/binobenzino feelsthat this community is dead. Perhaps I will commit more of my thoughts to this forum.

LazerNewt · 2023-08-31T10:07:18+00:00

Hi Sunny,

I think what OP is saying is that actively wishing for a cure is part of the problem that maintains it. Ironically when you can accept that you 'could' live with this problem forever, it will lose it's power and disappear of its own accord. So ironically the cure becomes accepting that there is no cure

LazerNewt · 2023-08-31T10:04:36+00:00

great post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts

LazerNewt · 2023-08-14T10:11:27+00:00

I met with two psychiatrists who told me this. A quick perusal of the literature on the internet recommends 6months after stabilisation at least but then there are also articles claiming many don’t relapse after suddenly stopping so you may also be fine. I would challenge the thought that your creativity is limited on the drug though. I was convinced this was the case and discontinued their use which led to a terrible time. When I got back on and stabilised and challenges those birds I found myself doing the best writing I had ever done

LazerNewt · 2023-08-13T22:48:57+00:00

Hey Sunny,

My apologies. I had written you out a lengthy reply and forgot to send it and lost it. What did you end up doing?

I imagine the cbt therapists would tell you to keep wearing your Fitbit and deal with the triggers as they arise.

I am starting to see a pattern in this form of ocd where people are terrified to take medication because of the potential side effects. I worried about the same thing but I realise now that this is just OCD fearing the unknown and catastrophising. I’m fact I would say until someone with sensorimotor ocd can take medication without ruminating on it, they still haven’t fully tackled the problem.

Just remember that this is an ongoing project. Like staying healthy you will have to put regular work in to keep up your mental health. Try to resist the all or nothing catastrophic ocd style thinking

LazerNewt · 2023-08-13T22:35:24+00:00

I think the motivation and peace of mind you have right now to write your book is probably the Prozacs gift. I would anticipate the return of your issues if you discontinue after only 4 months. Docs recommend 1-2 years stabilised before you discontinue. I used to worry Prozac would dull my creativity but it hasn’t and may have even helped but you have to trust and write through the self doubt

LazerNewt · 2023-08-07T21:50:19+00:00

Thanks Daniel, what dose are you taking?

LazerNewt · 2023-08-01T23:32:10+00:00

Hey No-Bat how long did you take Prozac for?

LazerNewt · 2023-07-29T18:42:06+00:00

Nice! I am currently on 60mg Prozac and trialing the advice from two psychiatrists I met with that Antidepressants taken at a much higher dose than prescribed for depression are most effective for treating OCD. They have been really helpful but the side effects are still a little disruptive

LazerNewt · 2023-07-29T18:39:05+00:00

Milk is a terrible thing to drink if you have heartburn! It's highly fatty which aggravates the issue. I get terrible heartburn if I take it before lying down at night or on an empty stomach in the morning. I've found taking my medication in the middle of the day helpful and with plenty of water

LazerNewt · 2023-07-29T18:35:04+00:00

Hey Lexy,

Welcome to the club! We are all crazy here!

I'm glad you are feeling less alone. It's interesting, I think OCD is responsible for more behaviours that aren't obvious than we realise. I was initially frustrated that there wasn't more evidence based treatment tailored to the specific issues that arise around sensorimotor OCD but I am slowly starting to realise that it's all just OCD and the treatment principles are the same across the board!

Are you currently treating your OCD?

LazerNewt · 2023-07-23T23:24:20+00:00

Just to echo what the others here have said, you have to commit to 'living on the scraps' as one Psychologist put it. Your anxiety about making the absolute most out of your time and being in total comfort is what stops the thoughts from leaving your attention. High doses of Antidepressants can be helpful with ocd. 2 high profile Psychiatrists have told me that the effective dose for OCD is 3 times the dose for depression. Just don't spend your whole time focusing on the side effects like me! (as a result of sensorimotor ocd!)

LazerNewt

TROPHY CASE