Fluoxetine: Drug Uses, Dosage & Side Effects

Although a causal link between the emergence of such symptoms and either the worsening of depression and/or the emergence of suicidal impulses has not been established, there is concern that such symptoms may represent precursors to emerging suicidality. In lower weight children, treatment should be initiated with a dose of 10 mg/day. Additional dose increases may be considered after several more weeks if insufficient clinical improvement is observed. Experience with daily doses greater than 20 mg is very minimal, and there is no experience with doses greater than 60 mg.

Usual Adult Dose for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

  • Fluoxetine should be used with caution in patients with congenital long QT syndrome; a previous history of QT prolongation; a family history of long QT syndrome or sudden cardiac death; and other conditions that predispose to QT prolongation and ventricular arrhythmia.
  • Phospholipids are increased in some tissues of mice, rats, and dogs given fluoxetine chronically.
  • Furthermore, a specific underlying immunologic basis for these reactions has not been identified.
  • In both studies independently, fluoxetine produced a statistically significantly greater mean change on the Childhood Depression Rating Scale-Revised (CDRS-R) total score from baseline to endpoint than did placebo.

Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure the information displayed on this page applies to your personal circumstances. Enter medications to view a detailed interaction report using our Drug Interaction Checker. Using fluoxetine with other drugs that make you drowsy can worsen this effect.

There has been a long-standing concern, however, that antidepressants may have a role in inducing worsening of depression and the emergence of suicidality in certain patients during the early phases of treatment. In US placebo-controlled clinical trials for MDD, 11% of patients treated with fluoxetine and 2% of patients treated with placebo reported anorexia (decreased appetite). Weight loss was reported in 1.4% of patients treated with fluoxetine and in 0.5% of patients treated with placebo. However, only rarely have patients discontinued treatment with fluoxetine because of anorexia or weight loss see USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS (8.4).

5 Potential for Other Drugs to Affect Fluoxetine

fluoxetine: side effects, dosage, uses, and more

In US fluoxetine clinical trials, 0.7% of 10,782 patients reported mania/hypomania see USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS (8.4). Postmarketing cases of QT interval prolongation and ventricular arrhythmia including Torsades de Pointes have been reported in patients treated with fluoxetine. Fluoxetine should be used with caution in patients with congenital long QT syndrome; a previous history of QT prolongation; a family history of long QT syndrome or sudden cardiac death; and other conditions that predispose to QT prolongation and ventricular arrhythmia.

Important information about all medicines

It is unknown whether the suicidality risk extends to longer-term use, i.e., beyond several months. However, there is substantial evidence from placebo-controlled maintenance trials in adults with depression fluoxetine: side effects, dosage, uses, and more that the use of antidepressants can delay the recurrence of depression. Fluoxetine may cause a side effect called QT prolongation, which affects your heart. Your risk of QT prolongation may be higher if you also use certain other medicines for infections, asthma, heart problems, high blood pressure, depression, mental illness, cancer, malaria, or HIV. Do not use Prozac if you have used an MAO inhibitor in the past 14 days (such as isocarboxazid, rasagiline, selegiline, phenelzine, or transcypromine).

12 Use in Patients with Concomitant Illness

Older adults may be more sensitive to the effects of this medication. FLUoxetine (Eqv-PROzac) may also be used for purposes not listed in this medication guide. Browse discussions, ask questions, and share experiences across hundreds of health topics. Take them to your local pharmacy which will dispose of them for you. Never give it to other people even if their condition appears to be the same as yours. Tell your doctor if you feel that you are not getting any better, or if you experience any troublesome side-effects.

fluoxetine: side effects, dosage, uses, and more

1MedDRA dictionary term from integrated database of placebo-controlled trials of 15,870 patients, of which 9,673 received fluoxetine. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies examining sexual dysfunction with fluoxetine treatment. Use of SSRIs, including fluoxetine, may cause symptoms of sexual dysfunction see ADVERSE REACTIONS (6.1). In male patients, SSRI use may result in ejaculatory delay or failure, decreased libido, and erectile dysfunction. In female patients, SSRI use may result in decreased libido and delayed or absent orgasm.

It is important that your doctor check your progress at regular visits, to make sure this medicine is working properly. When using fluoxetine hydrochloride and olanzapine in combination, also refer to the Boxed Warning section of the package insert for fluoxetine hydrochloride/olanzapine. Ask your doctor before taking a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve), celecoxib (Celebrex), diclofenac, indomethacin, meloxicam, and others. Using an NSAID with fluoxetine may cause you to bruise or bleed easily. Do not stop using fluoxetine suddenly, or you could have unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Use the dosing syringe provided, or use a medicine dose-measuring device (not a kitchen spoon).

  • In patients with diabetes, fluoxetine may alter glycemic control.
  • Tell your doctor and pharmacist about all of your drugs (prescription or OTC, natural products, vitamins) and health problems.
  • There was a decrease in bone mineralization and density at both doses, but the overall growth (body weight gain or femur length) was not affected.
  • Although these reactions are rare, they may be serious, involving the lung, kidney, or liver.

Ask your doctor before using opioid medication, a sleeping pill, a muscle relaxer, or medicine for anxiety or seizures. View interaction reports for fluoxetine and the medicines listed below. Remember, keep this and all other medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medication only for the indication prescribed. Using FLUoxetine (Eqv-PROzac) with other drugs that make you drowsy can worsen this effect. Fluoxetine is prescribed for depression, bulimia nervosa, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Depression can develop for no apparent reason, or it can be triggered by a life event such as a relationship problem, a bereavement, or an illness.

Doses greater than 20 mg/day have not been studied in pediatric patients with MDD. Administration of doses with demonstrated efficacy of fluoxetine 10 to 20 mg/day in pediatric MDD requires the use of another formulation. Instruct patients to contact their healthcare provider or report to the emergency room if they experience signs or symptoms of serotonin syndrome see CONTRAINDICATIONS (4.1), WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS (5.2), AND DRUG INTERACTIONS (7.3). Suicide is a known risk of depression and certain other psychiatric disorders, and these disorders themselves are the strongest predictors of suicide.

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