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Teenager on prozac

My daughter is transitioning from lexapro to prozac.  She suffers from clinical depression...diagnosed over 1.5 years ago.  She seems worse than ever and will barely get out of bed, listless comes to mind.  Is this to be expected?
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Avatar universal
Eve, thanks for your advice. My daughter is 16 and had been taking escitalopram for about a year (as much as 20mg/day). She was diagnosed by a psychiatrist that she has been seeing for a little over a year.  She was not doing well in school and even getting up each day is a chore.  She also has thoughts of suicide. She sees not future for herself. The psychiatrist thought changing meds might help, so we weened her off the escitalopram going from 20mg - 15 - 10 - 5- to 2.5mg over the coarse of a month. After getting to 2.5mg for a week we went one additional week taking 2.5mg of escitalopram at night and 10mg of Prozac in the morning. The transition was really difficult, but the withdrawal symptoms have gone away.  Today the psychiatrist said to stop the escitalopram entirely and just take 10mg of Prozac each day.
I am hopeful the Prozac will help her feel more energetic and motivated to do things and most importantly get her to stop thinking about suicide.
Thanks
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Avatar universal

Hello there,

I just finished reading your post. How old is your daughter ?
Is your daughter being seen by a psychiatrist ? You said your daughter
was diagnosed with depression about a year and a half ago.
Who diagnosed your daughter ? Was it your family doctor by any chance
and then was your daughter referred to a psychiatrist ?
You said your daughter is transitioning from Lexapro to Prozac. How long
was your daughter taking Lexapro? Does Lexapro go by another name?
I'm hoping your daughter is being monitored carefully as she is making
this transition. What Is the reason your daughter's medication is being
changed to Prozac ? Just wondering. Did the doctor explain why her
medication is being changed. As a parent, I would want to know why.
So as another member asked you, has the Lexapro been completely
stopped ? If so, for how long?  If your daughter has started taking the
Prozac medication, how long has she been on the Prozac ?
Prozac is also called Fluoxetine.  According to a medical book I am
consulting to try and help you, " the full benefits of fluoxetine may not be
felt for 4 weeks or more. "   " The most common adverse effects of this
drug are restlessness, insomnia, and intestinal irregularities.
Other possible common side effects of Prozac are headache, nervousness,
insomnia/anxiety, nausea/diarrhea, weight loss . Rare side effects of
Prozac are drowsiness and rashes.
According to the medical book I am consulting, you should discuss with your  physician in all cases, insomnia/anxiety , nausea/diarrhea, and weight loss. I hope the information I've provided you can be helpful in
some way. I wish you well.  Eve


Helpful - 0
3179512 tn?1344461428
Do you mean your daughter's dosage of Lexapro was completely stopped and a therapeutic dosage of Prozac given to her in its place?  
Helpful - 0
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