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Do Antidepressants Cause Fatigue And Lack Of Concentration?

Posted on Thu, 10 Dec 2015

Question: I have tried many antidepressants over the last 20 years. I was on Serzone for approx. 7 years till it stopped working. They tried many others until I got on Wellburtion XL and Effexor which I took for about the same time. I never had any adverse side effects with any of the drugs tried. I decided I wanted off everything and slowly weened my self off the Wellburtion and Effexor. After a couple of months off, I was having trouble making myself go to work each day and having concentration issues at my high pressure management job. Went to PCP and he started me on a Viibryd starter pack. by the sixth day, I thought I was loosing my mind. Could not even go to work. Went back and he gave me some Prozac to try, same thing. I have missed a week of work and think I am going crazy. Very vibid dreams and waking constantly all night make me feel like I mind is being ripped in all directions every morning. None of the other SSSI I have tried in the past ever made em feel like this. Should I stick with the Prozac and hope it gets better or does this mean I am just not a good candidate for Prozac or Viibryd. Please help !

Answered by Dr. Chintan Solanki (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Viibryd can cause vivid dreams, better to restart wellbutrin

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Thanks for writing to us. I can understand your concern.

Viibryd can cause vivid dreams in 4-6% of the patients. Prozac can cause excitation, sleep disturbance and also abnormal dreams. Even after a week if you have such symptoms I recommend stopping the drug.

Considering your history it is better to restart wellbutrin. It will not cause sexual dysfunction also.And if needed Effexor can be added later on.

Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further.
Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Chintan Solanki (1 hour later)

I only took the 10 mg tab of Viibyrd for six days before going back to my Doc and telling him I was going crazy from the lack of sleep, crazy dreams and the way I was feeling. I started on 20 mg tabs of Fluoxetine and only took for two days. But the vivid dreams and insomnia did not get any better and the racing mind and out of control feelings did not change. I had some old expired ( 3 months ) generic Xynax that I took each morning when I woke up feeling so abnormal. That seems to calm me a little. Could the insomnia still be from the Viibyrd?

Answered by Dr. Chintan Solanki (11 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Viibyrd and prozac both can cause insomnia

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thanks for follow up.

Viibyrd can cause insomnia in 4-7% of the patients while prozac in 10-30% of the patients. Prozac should be taken at morning after breakfast.

I recommend low dose benzodiazepine (ativan or klonopin, xanax also can be used but I do not prefer due to high abuse potential) when prozac or viibyrd given initially to prevent anxiety symptoms and insomnia.

Yes benzodiazepine will be useful in your case at present like xanax. But you should take benzo with doctor's prescription and advice only. And please do not take risk of taking expired tablets.

In any case if you want to go with prozac initial benzo support is needed likely.

Feel free to discuss further.

Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar