That is a very good question for your doc. From people Ive known ,10
years is more than most get out of any AD before they have to change
[or increase the dose which you've already done].

I have been on prozac for over 20 years and I have decreased my dosage because I feel I can get by on a lower dose and I was right. I also take Klonopin and at the beginning I was taking one at night and one in the morning. I am now just taking one at night. I have been taking klonopin for over 20 years also. All I can say is that these medications work wonderful for me. I notice they hardly ever prescribe prozac anymore and I think it is because they like to introduce new medication for the money. To your question prozac has always worked for me no side effects so that is what I am staying with.

This happens quite often with medications, especially pain meds. But in time, many people can restart the prescription and get the good affects back. I hope that will work for you. Hugs

Impylaurie,
Are you taking Proxac and Klonopin to control your anxiety or depression?? And what dosages are you on?? Lexapro had been working wonderfully for me as well. My psychiatrist only changed my prescription once the Lexapro stopped working. I don't think he was doing it for the money, at least I hope so. I have been suffering from anxiety for almost 34 years and I know Prozac has been around a long time but it has never been prescribed for me. I started on Paxil, my PCP doctor, not my psychiatrist switched me to Lexapro which as I said worked great for 10 years, and suddenly stopped working. Since then I've tried Brintellix and Fetzima which are relatively new ADs, there not even generic yet. Brintellix was a complete failure after 5 weeks. And Fetzima hasn't been much better, although WebMD says that Fetzima could take up to several months to be fully effective.

Hi this happen to me, I was on Celexa ( maximum dosage) for around 5 plus years and because of a Health scare, I started to have panic attacks and my anxiety was out of control. Answering your question with my experience, I started to take Zoloft 50mg and so far it working like I hasn't take any antidepressant before; the panic attacks are gone and my anxiety has gone down dramatically. :)

I was given klonopin for anxiety and I take now just 1mg at night. I use to take 1 in the morning and 1 at night. I was given the prozac for OCD I was a obsessive worrier when I was younger and they started me on 20mg and I went up to 60mg. Now I am taking just 40mg and I feel fine. There are just so many new medications every time I watch TV there is a new one coming out. I have to laugh at the commercial that says if your anti-depressant does not work to ask your doctor to add the one they are advertising. Well if mine did not work I would just take another one not add to what is not working.

I have been on zoloft for several years. For me, it does not take long before I need to take it again after I stop it. I have a friend who takes her medication for up to a year before weaning off it and she goes back on it every few years.

You may find it works after taking the break, and that would be great since it worked so well before.

I do know that my dosage is enough to keep me from going immediately into panic mode, however, the raised anxiety still happens (just not as fast, and I'm learning how to bring it down naturally), and the worst symptom was the one that brought me to a screeching halt, so I'm satisfied with the level of compromise I have reached.

Best wishes finding what will help you!

Yes, I have had the same experience. I have taken two different antidepressants. After a while they don't work as well. I have been off for awhile, now I will be taking again. The important thing is that you are always in contact with your specialist.

It's not a tolerance, your brain physically mutates to counteract the lexapro and normalise again. So you just create a new normal state just like the previous one, but this one requires lexapro.

So if you stop taking the pill suddenly, your brain can't work properly. Even if you taper off, your brain has to regrow, if it can, back to how it was before. if you've been taking it for a long time then these changes can be permanent. And during that time when you haven't regrown the fingery shaped things on your brain nodules (can't remember what they're called) you are incapable of firing those neurons properly.

Google it. I'm not making this up.

For me I have had to learn that an anxiety attack usually will last 3 days. And if I can wait that out, without doing all the things I want to do to 'fix' the situation, I generally discover after 3 days that there was no problem, and no action was necessary. If i succumb to the urge to 'fix' things, I discover that I have made them worse and create the next anxiety attack.

So it's all about de-escalation.

And every anxiety attack I go through is one less I have in front of me: because the world is finite, so experience are finite, and you can't get the same level of shock from the same thing twice.

Hi bridgie101,
I never stopped taking the Lexapro. I had the panic/anxiety attack because I started a new job. I was on 30mg of Lexapro and after the attack my doctor raised the dosage to 40mg, however it wasn't able to get my anxiety under control. That's when the doctor suggested that I may have in hos words "plateaued" on Lexapro. I had been taking it for so long over 10 years that my body built up an immunity to the drug. So now we are searching for a replacement and have not been able to find one that worked as well as Lexapro.