Fluoxetine wrecked my self-discipline/ motivation???

I’m so confused what’s wrong with me. I’m happier on fluoxetine and most things are better, but I’m a terrible student now. I don’t have the same drive to work hard and do well as I always used to. I dont know if it’s something to do with fluoxetine affecting my dopamine in some kind of way. I’ve got no idea. Just guessing things. It’s hard to get stuff done and I’m scared I’m gonna fail uni, but I wouldn’t be able to be here if it wasn’t for the fluoxetine in the first place. I dont know what to do. I don’t want to try a different medication because I’m scared of the withdrawal from this, side effects from other stuff, and I’m afraid nothing will ever work again.

I just don’t get why my motivation went away. I don’t feel like doing anything but I don’t feel low, I just feel… kind of alright.

Is this normal?

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Comments

Redemption

Hey @AnonymousToe I'm not too clued up on this stuff but did a bit of research but it seems, what you’re describing can be normal for some people on fluoxetine. It helps lift the heavy lows, but sometimes that emotional “flattening” can also affect motivation and drive. You’re not lazy or broken your brain chemistry is just adjusting. It’s good that you’re feeling more stable emotionally, but it’s also okay to bring this up with your doctor. They might help tweak your treatment or add support without changing the medication entirely. You’re not alone in this, and it’s okay to ask for help figuring it out. We're all here for you.

independent_

@AnonymousToe I was on fluoxetine for nearly 2 years and I know exactly the feeling you are referring to. In my experience fluoxetine caused general fatigue, which certainly didn't help.

I'm not sure if it's normal, i couldn't really say. A lot of people find that when they start taking meds their motivation is improved because it helps with mental health, which can lower motivation in itself. But I found when I was on them for a while they just made me feel strange.

I don't take them anymore and haven't for 2 years, so it's quite a distant memory for me now, but you definitely aren't alone.

shannon_164

hey @AnonymousToe 🙂

i’ve been on fluoxetine in the past and honestly, it completely wrecked me - it was definitely the worst experience i had in relation to medication to the point i ended up in a&e with the side affects!

i think it’s important to recognise that the feeling of being stuck in between “doing better” and “not quite yourself” is so confusing, and it totally makes sense that you’d be frustrated and scared.

it sounds like fluoxetine has helped you survive and feel more emotionally stable, which is huge. that is not something to overlook or take lightly, but i also get how frustrating it must be to feel like you’ve lost your drive or sense of direction, even if things feel “alright,” the absence of motivation can still feel like something important is missing.

you’re not imagining things. some people do notice changes in energy, focus, or drive on ssri’s like fluoxetine. it’s not always easy to pinpoint, and everyone reacts differently. it could be related to dopamine or brain chemistry shifts, or even just the change from surviving to stabilising, it’s like your brain is recalibrating, and it hasn’t quite figured out what “normal” looks like yet.

you’re not failing, you are adapting, and that’s a process, not a switch you flick.

i totally understand the fear around switching meds or trying something new. that is so valid, but you don’t have to make any huge decisions on your own, you deserve to talk this through with a professional who gets it. maybe talking to a professional would allow you to have help to figure out whether it’s the meds, burnout, or something else going on, and if there are adjustments or support tools that could help without undoing all the progress you’ve made?

you’re not broken. you are doing your best, and you’re not alone in this. we are all here for you and we believe in you, even when motivation feels out of reach - i’m proud of you

Nathan

Fluoxetine was awful for me too. I took a short course of it at 13 cause i was being bullied in school, and i lost all sexual feeling at the point of - well, you know - after a week or two of it. 10 years later, I still haven't gotten any sensation back, not once. GP's say there's no referral pathway on the NHS to sort it so that's that. It's called PSSD. But that point aside, it's a very rare side effect what i had even after i stopped taking it.
You're experiencing the most common side effect right now i think. It might just be an adjustment period for you with this is all i can say, or it might just be a case of burnout which you can still get even when on Fluoxetine.

independent_

DonnerKebab wrote: »

Fluoxetine was awful for me too. I took a short course of it at 13 cause i was being bullied in school, and i lost all sexual feeling at the point of - well, you know - after a week or two of it. 10 years later, I still haven't gotten any sensation back, not once. GP's say there's no referral pathway on the NHS to sort it so that's that. It's called PSSD. But that point aside, it's a very rare side effect what i had even after i stopped taking it.
You're experiencing the most common side effect right now i think. It might just be an adjustment period for you with this is all i can say, or it might just be a case of burnout which you can still get even when on Fluoxetine.

@DonnerKebab I have heard of this. Lets be real here they can all have effects while we're taking them (sertraline was worst for me) but SSRIs do something to some people and it never comes back. I always wondered if there was a treatment for it.

AnonymousToe

Interesting to read people’s perspectives, I’ll try to reply better when I have more energy.

I’ve been taking it for 2.5 years for context

independent_

Did you find it’s always been the case that you feel less motivated @AnonymousToe or is it new? I ask because I got a few weird side effects starting about 18 months in that I didn’t even recognise as side effects because they didn’t start at the beginning. No one really talks about the long term side effects of these meds.

Nathan

@independent_ It's erm, well, it's hit and miss. You won't get any help from the NHS. They'll say there's no referral pathways for you and that's that. I never got it back or recovered, even today. Zero sensation sexually at the point of shall we say pleasure, and i haven't had it for ten years. I was to embarrassed to talk about it for years, and when i finally did speak to my gp, there was nothing they could do nor were they interested in taking it further. There's a few reddit groups of people talking about it, offering advice about how they regained some sensation, but not much beyond that. It's about 10% success stories, and 90% people venting there frustrations. In terms of reversal, some suggested certain things to boost dopamine levels, like taking supplements, but there's nothing solid or medically approved. As you can imagine, going to a therapist after losing this all last time i sought help is hard, but maybe they can offer advice as apparently some people improved after seeing a therapist or psychiatrist, but outside of that, there's nothing really. SSRI's, i have to always advice anything but them after my case, but my case is very rare. Though a lot of people start to get better after they stop taking it from what i've seen as well, but for those who don't, there isn't much.

independent_

@DonnerKebab I’m sorry there’s no help out there. It’s one of those things that people don’t like talking about in general but even less so when there’s no help.

It’s one of those things - SSRIs can have benefits but they also have such a long list of side effects (some of them serious, or long term like yours).

The tiredness was by far the worst for me on fluoxetine, and that in itself made my mood worse and motivation terrible.

AnonymousToe

independent_ wrote: »

Did you find it’s always been the case that you feel less motivated @AnonymousToe or is it new? I ask because I got a few weird side effects starting about 18 months in that I didn’t even recognise as side effects because they didn’t start at the beginning. No one really talks about the long term side effects of these meds.

@independent_ Im not entirely sure because I took a gap year, but I had my dosage increased about a year after I first started taking it. I only noticed it when I started uni (a year after that) so I thought it was because of the dose change because I didn’t experience this when I did my A levels (6 months after starting it). I dont know. It’s hard to pinpoint when there are so many changes in your life at once

independent_

@AnonymousToe definitely, it’s so hard to figure out if it’s the meds causing it or just life being life.

It is worth having a chat with your GP about it, because it could well be related to the dose change. I was on the max dose at one point and it defo caused more problems for me at a higher dose.