long term effects of prozac

[hellokitty989]

my father has been taking prozac for 20 years. he has been having chest pain and asthma like symptoms for about 5 years and is undiagnosed. for the last two weeks he has been having headaches and bodyaches so bad he can hardly move. is this from prozac and are there any known longterm effects of this drug?

[Jaquta]

I don't know if this is helpful but occasionally I've had reflux (which does sometimes cause chest pain) which has affected my breathing.
My reflux can be triggered by stress and also binge eating.

Headaches and body aches could be anything.  They could be a manifestation of stress/ anxiety or even the flu.

I don't know, and I am definitely no expert, but I would expect some other underlying cause (be it physical or mental).

I hope you find your answers soon.  The symptoms you describe sound like they're causing a lot of distress for both you and your father.

J

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

There is no good body of knowledge about the long term effects....if  he were just starting the medication, I would think it  might be  a side effect, but if he has been using for twenty years, then probably not, but can't say that for sure...the way to find out is ask the doctor to take him off of prozac and see if his symptoms subside...should be done carefully and slowly over a 5 week period.......

[hellokitty989]

he has. they say nothing is wrong. he has had quite a few tests. they cant find anything. thats why i was asking about the prozac.

[Rob2008]

Probably not,  he needs to see his primary care doctor ASAP...this could be something very serious.