This blog post will answer the question, “Can prozac stop working after 2 months?”. Prozac is an antidepressant which is used to treat a variety of mental health conditions.

This antidepressant is generally well tolerated and does produce significant changes in your depression symptoms, but prozac has a history that it can stop working after a few months.

This blog will cover why prozac acts this way and what options do you have to fix this problem.

Can prozac stop working after 2 months?

Prozac may stop working after 2 or more months and may not produce the same beneficial effects as it did when it first started to kick in. Prozac is usually well tolerated and is a good choice of antidepressant, but it may stop making changes in your mental health condition.

Experts believe that the possible explanation of prozac behaving this way is some other factor that might counteract the effects of your antidepressant.

What are the possible causes of prozac inefficiency?

Prozac may become inefficient after 2 or more months because of one or more of the following reasons:

Addition of another medication

An addition of another medication can cause your prozac to stop working. Drug interaction is an actual problem but it is often neglected. Two drugs don’t just produce unwanted side effects when they interact together.

Some drugs interact pharmacokinetically, which means that drugs can interfere with each other’s absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion, abbreviated as ADME. There are plenty of drugs that can inhibit the proper absorption of your prozac.

You can’t expect your med to work if it doesn’t absorb in your blood properly which serves as a vehicle and takes the med to its respective binding receptors. Antibiotics are well known for making your prozac and many other antidepressants ineffective.

Steroids can also play a huge role and not just that, they can even make your depression worse. The heightened symptoms of your mental health illness makes the current dose of your antidepressant inefficient.

The escalation in dose may help to gain that effectiveness back, but if Steroids are continued with it, there’s a chance of the same thing happening again. Make sure you don’t take any medication along with your antidepressant that can interact with it and make it inefficient.

Excessive use of alcohol and cigarettes smoking

Experts have indicated that excessive use of alcohol can really make your antidepressant inefficient. Not just this, but the combined use of alcohol and prozac can make your symptoms much worse.

Studies suggest that alcohol numns down your brain and trigger an episode of depression and may also induce suicidal behavior. Alcohol can also mess with the absorption of your prozac and as stated earlier, your med doesn’t work if it’s not absorbed properly.

Cigarette smoking produces the same effect. Not just this, it also interacts with your symptoms while your prozac still works. It can enhance the side effects of your antidepressant like insomnia and loss of appetite.

Both cigarette smoking and alcohol can interfere with the metabolism of prozac and may result in toxicity because so many toxins become difficult for your liver to metabolise and it may start malfunctioning.

It is advised to not drink alcohol while you’re on prozac, especially if you’re taking this antidepressant for major depressive disorder (MDD).

Other health condition

Other health related problems may also contribute to the inefficiency of your prozac. Studies suggest that people who have other chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes or some respiratory illness may experience antidepressant inefficiency.

This is because these conditions can reduce the quality of your life and may trigger episodes of depression that may become difficult for your prozac to control. The appropriate dose of your antidepressant is determined carefully in order to match your symptoms.

like having 2 bullets to shoot 2 targets. When you have more targets, your 2 bullets won’t suffice. This is exactly the case with depression. If your depression becomes worse but you’re on the same dose, you will definitely experience inefficiency at some point of your treatment.

Dose escalation may help but the treatment of your pre-existing health condition is crucial for the long term management of your depression.

An increase in stress levels

An increase in your stress levels can worsen the symptoms of your depression and anxiety and can decrease the effectiveness of your antidepressant. It’s extremely difficult to avoid stress because of the lifestyle we lead.

People suffer from work problems, family issues, financial issues and many more. These problems keep your stress levels high and a person who’s already diagnosed with depression is affected badly.

Make sure you add stress relieving activities in your routine to release all the built-up pressure and negative energy from your system.

Aging

Aging could be another factor leading to the decreased effects of your antidepressant. As you grow old, the physiological functions of your body start to slow down. This includes drug metabolism as well, because the liver doesn’t work as efficiently as it once did.

This effect is more pronounced in people who have been suffering from chronic illnesses. Aging also slows down the process of drug digestion and absorption, which may also be a reason for less beneficial effects of your prozac.

An underlying bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder is associated with a sudden change in mood and personality. If a person suffers from this condition and it is undiagnosed, there’s a chance that you won’t see your prozac working effectively.

This is because the sudden changes in mood and personality are so pronounced that they can easily counteract your antidepressant and you feel agitated, angry, depressed and you generally feel uncomfortable.

Make sure you talk to your mental healthcare professional and rule out an undiagnosed, underlying bipolar disorder or any other mental health condition.

Prozac tolerance

Prozac intolerance occurs when your body gets used to your current dose of the antidepressant and stops responding to it. This problem is not that common with prozac but it can still occur in some individuals.

Experts suggest that this problem can be overcome by increasing the dose but if the process keeps repeating, your condition will reach a point where dose escalation will no longer be possible.

This indicates that prozac tolerance eventually leads to the inefficiency of your treatment. If not today then after a couple of months you’ll start complaining about your prozac not working the way you want it to.

Worsening of depression

Several studies have revealed that prozac may not work well for some people and may not provide adequate relief from the symptoms associated with their depression.

When your treatment doesn’t work and makes no changes in your mental health condition, it starts making your symptoms worse. When depression starts to become more pronounced, it gets even more resistant to your current treatment with prozac.

Make sure you report to your healthcare professional if you continue to take your antidepressant properly but still experience signs and symptoms of depression. This is not a good sign and it clearly indicates therapeutic failure.

What other options do you have if your prozac stops working?

There are several other options which may help to get rid of your depression or anxiety if your prozac stops working. These include:

Other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

There are other SSRIs which may help to reduce your symptoms. These meds work by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin by blocking serotonin transporters (SERT).

Serotonin is an excitatory neurotransmitter responsible for modulating mood, cognition, reward pathway and other physiological functions. The excess amount of serotonin can significantly decrease your depression symptoms. Examples of SSRIs other than prozac include:

Zoloft (Sertraline)
Lexapro (Escitalopram)
Celexa (Citalopram)
Paxil (Paroxetine)

Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)

SNRIs are another class of antidepressants which can also be used for several other mental health illnesses. These meds work by inhibiting not only the reuptake of serotonin, but they also inhibit the reuptake of norepinephrine, which is another excitatory neurotransmitter.

Examples include:

Effexor (Venlafaxine)
Pristiq (Desvenlafaxine)
Ixel (Milnacipran)
Fetzima (levomilnacipran)

Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs)

Tricyclic antidepressants are also used to control depression and anxiety. These agents were once used as the first line of treatment for depression, but later they were switched because of more side effects and were replaced by newer SSRIs which were proven to be much safer.

However, TCAs are still a good option for people with depression which is resistant to the treatment with SSRIs. Examples include:

Elavil (Amitriptyline)
Pamelor (Nortriptyline)
Tofranil (Imipramine)

Monoaminoxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)

MAOIs are also used to help relieve the symptoms of depression. These agents work by inhibiting the enzyme monoaminoxidase which is responsible for the breakdown and metabolism of serotonin and norepinephrine.

This results in increased amounts of these excitatory neurotransmitters which counteract the symptoms of depression. Examples include:

Nardil (Phenelzine)
Marplan (Isocarboxazid)
Emsam (Selegiline)
Parnate (Tranylcypromine)

Conclusion

In this blog post, we have discussed the possibility of your prozac to stop working after 2 or more months. Prozac may stop working after 2 or more months and may not produce the same beneficial effects as it did when it first started to kick in.

Experts believe that the possible explanation of prozac behaving this way is some other factor that might counteract the effects of your antidepressant. We have discussed all the possible causes of prozac inefficiency.

Make sure you reach out to your healthcare provider. If prozac does not work well for you, your doctor may start to taper you off this antidepressant gradually and prescribe another one, aiming for better therapeutic outcomes.

FAQs: prozac stopped working after 2 months

Is it normal for antidepressants to stop working after a few months?

Antidepressants may stop working after a couple of months and may not produce the same beneficial effects as it did when it first started to kick in. Experts believe that the possible explanation of prozac behaving this way is some other factor that might counteract the effects of your antidepressant.

Is it possible for Prozac to stop working?

Yes, prozac may stop working because of one or more of the following reasons:

Addition of another medication
Excessive use of alcohol and cigarettes smoking
Other health condition
An increase in stress levels
Aging
An underlying bipolar disorder
Prozac tolerance
Worsening of depression

How do you know if your Prozac stopped working?

When your prozac stops working, you stop seeing any progress in your antidepressant treatment. Instead, you start feeling annoyed and agitated. It might make you feel good one day, but again makes you feel anxious. If this persists, even after the proper continuation of your treatment, this indicates that your antidepressant is not working.

Can an antidepressant that stopped working work again?

Your antidepressant may start working again on higher doses. However, this is a big what if and you might not gain any benefit, especially if the cause of your antidepressant efficiency was tolerance.

What does Prozac feel like when it starts working?

When prozac starts working, you begin to feel that the symptoms associated with your mental health condition are fading away. However, this process does not happen overnight.

One should bear in mind that prozac can not produce a satisfactory antidepressant effect in a short span of time. These meds make changes in the amount of excitatory neurotransmitter ‘Serotonin’ in your brain and this process takes a while.

Can antidepressants take 3 months to work?

The time taken by antidepressants to work can vary from person to person. Some people may begin to see significant changes in just a few weeks, while some people may require up to 2-3 months to see noticeable effects.

References

Why Aren’t My Antidepressants Working? https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/why-arent-my-antidepressants-working?amp=true
Antidepressants: Can they stop working? https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/expert-answers/antidepressants/faq-20057938
Depression: Signs Your Medication Isn’t Working https://www.webmd.com/depression/depression-medication-working

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Can Prozac stop working after 2 months? (5+ causes of Prozac inefficiency)