Zoloft vs. Prozac anyone?

Hello my friends,

I’m standing in front a hard decision…I’m currently taking 40 mg of Celexa, and it’s “only” making me feel 50% better. I’m decided after seeing Dr. Baloh to try another SSRI to see if that can make me feel closer to at least 80%. This means I have to come of Celexa…which is very scary… :frowning:
Now I have to choose between Prozac or Zoloft. I’m not sure which one to try first…Is Prozac milder in side effects than Zoloft??
Can anyone of you who have experience with these drugs tell me if it has help your dizziness???side effects???

Sincerely,

Emma

Hi Emma,
Did Dr. Baloh not recommend adding another med? Did he think that by switching in the same class of drugs it might make that much of a difference?

In general, zoloft is thought to have fewer side effects than Prozac and that is why it is generally prescribed more frequently by docs than the older drug Prozac. I have never tried either for dizziness or any other reason. For depression, I always prescribe either zoloft or lexapro as patients seem to tolerate these meds very well. I do know that my doc, Dr. Newman, uses Zoloft as first line treatment for MAV.

All the best,
Lisa

Emma,
I was prescribed Zoloft for depression and had a bad side effect, that of a “feeling of unreality.” It was really quite scary for me and I only took one pill. Was also problematic because of the attitude at the doctor’s office when I called about this (doctor never returned my call and the nurse said, “oh that’s normal”). I don’t think it is normal as I only know of one other person who ever had this happen. Prozac, as I remember didn’t give me any side effects except a possible rash and for that reason I stopped. I had no major problems with Lexapro except for insomnia at the start. I started with a low dose and cut back to even lower (I think 2.5 mgs). All this was in my pre-vertigo days so I can’t say what kind of effect it would have had on that.
Book

Hi Book – so did you successfully get onto Lex ok in the end? S

Scott, yes, I was okay w/Lexapro. I increased by 2.5 mgs every week and made it up to 15 mgs without any major problems. I was on 15 for a couple of months and then had to increase to 20 mgs as my depression came back but then cut back to 15 again. I was on it for about 2 - 3 years.

I liked it because it had few side effects and it started to lift my depression w/in a couple weeks. The only side effect I remember having was insomnia but that didn’t last.

I did have to come off it very slow and had lots of brain zaps while doing that.

book

I have had prozac before this daily dizziness started , I did suffer with some dizziness on and off but took the med for depression at the time and I never went dizzy at all while I was on it I had no side effects to speak of and felt the best ive ever felt . I weaned off after 8 months and had no side effects from that either I know different drugs are different in everyone but it was a god send to me I wish I was still on it . I may ask to go on it again.
Good luck

Hey Everyone,

Thank you for responding back to me; sorry for not writing back earlier…
Lisa, Dr. Baloh is not a big fan of mixing different drugs. He thinks it can cause more harm than good…(his opinion).
I’ll let you know when I start taking Zoloft and how it’s going!.. :frowning:
How are you doing by the way? I read somewhere you’re feeling a little bit better on Verapamil?

Emma