Is Prozac enough to control anxiety?

[somemonkey]

Most of the time, the 10mg of Prozac I take each day is enough to handle my anxiety. There are other times when I have trouble calming myself though. What can I do about this?

[Ariom63]

I personally have never tried Prozac.  I posted this before..however I have watched my mom take it for a very long time until it stopped doing it's ting, and my moms doctor switched her to Lexapro. However she suffered from really bad depression and the prozac worked for her in that area but it didn't do as much for her panic attacks..so he prescribed a benzo along with it..at the time he gave her xanax.  She took that combo for 10 years.  When she switched over to Lexapro he took her off of xanax slowly and while taking the Lexapro he gives her Ativan for the anxiety/panic attacks.  That is her experience.  

But I would certainly talk to your doctor about it what you can do.  It is different for all.  Also if you check other posts they are some regarding what others do while they were on Prozac!  

Hope you get to feeling better!

[mjbrown]

I had a very similar experience to Ariom63's mother. I was on Prozac for two years. It did pretty well for the depression, but I needed Xanax to control the anxiety / panic. I went off the Prozac and switched over to Lexapro. This has helped a lot with my general anxiety, and my psychiatrist has given me klonopin to help with the occasional panic that pops up. Prozac is approved to treat panic disorder, but it tends to have an "uppity" effect compared other antidepressants - and this can exacerbate anxiety.

[somemonkey]

Thank you very much! Could drugs like Xanax or Klonopin be taken on the as needed bases? For example, a couple of times each month?

[mjbrown]

Yes. Both of those meds can be used as needed. I've been on both, and I would recommend klonopin over xanax. Klonopin takes a little longer to kick in (30-45 mins compared to xanax's 10-15 mins), but its effects lasts longer (10-12 hours compared to xanax's 5-6 hours) so there is less of a risk for dependence and tolerance. Speak to your doctor to see which benzo (there are others) would be best for you.

[somemonkey]

Great! Thank you so much for the advice! I think I will ask my doctor about Klonopin.