burning/tingling

  I'ma 35yo female.  My dr put me o prozac following the birth of my third child for postpartum depression.  Two weeks after starting prozac (20mg) I began having a burning/tingling pain on the top of my head which often radiates down my shoulders and upper back.  An MRI was clear.  Eight days after stopping the medication (12 days from onset) the pain remains.  No response to painkillers.  My dr feels this is a reaction to prozac.  Should I worry?
Dear Laurie:
Sorry to hear about your depression.  Without examining you it really is impossible to give you an exact diagnosis, so view what I have to say with caution.  One of the side effects of prozac is what you describe.  The half life of prozac is very long and likely you will have these tingling sensations for a few more days, could be up to 3-4 weeks until all the prozac is out of your system.  Since the MRI is normal and the other tests are okay, I would just wait it out.  Pain will also go away and the painkillers will likely not have an effect.  Most of the pain killers do not act on the system that is causing the pain and the ones that would, would take too long before the effect.  We often see patients going cold turkey on prozac suffer from side effects.  I hope things get better soon.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro[P] MD