Blue Fluoxetine Causes Heartburn (Page 3)

Recently my pharmacy began giving me a new version of fluoxetine, which I have taken for MANY years with no problems.... however the blue fluoxetine gives me horrible heart burn. I use to take them at night before bed, but couldn't sleep, so decided to start taking them in the morning and still get the heartburn. I don't take them with any other meds. I tried an empty stomach, and after eating, but the results are still the same. I also get a bad headache (I think from the heartburn.) Has anyone figured out how to avoid this problem?

REPLY

REPORT

Rose, my doctor told me that Prozac is a non habit forming pill so you can just stop taking them. I stopped taking mine about two weeks ago because I couldn't handle the pain anymore. It made me feel like I was having a heart attack my chest would hurt so bad. Its not worth the pain. to me anyways. Hope this helped. best of luck.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

I wouldn't be willing to go as far as saying it should be banned, Tim. The emotional relief this medicine gives me is worth having to take precautions to prevent the heartburn.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 2

Hi I posted a comment here awhile back.. I'm still taking the medicine as it works best for me. I've been avoiding heart burn by taking my medicine with a meal..jus thought id share!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 3

Megan, did you just quit cold turkey? I've been on a lot of different depression meds and that brain zap sick feeling is horrible! I started weening myself the other night, taking just one 40mg instead of the 2. Was going to alternate, but if I can just quit than hooray!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Rose, fluoxetine has a very long Half-Life, making it easier to wean off compared to other SSRIs. Still, it's better to gradually decrease your dose and how often you take it in order to decrease the brain zaps and other undesirable withdrawal symptoms.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Rose, yes I did just quit cold turkey. I'm not going to go through unbearable symptoms for a stupid pill. I'm glad I'm not alone in this situation though! And I agree with Tim because if this is gonna put people through hell then it is definitely not worth it. And I haven't had withdrawals. I'm fine. I feel like I do everyday.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Mars92, I've tried everything with the stupid pill and nothing helps. Glad you found some relief though!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

After seeing your message last night, I decided to report to the FDA. I just did this. Below was my report. Anyone reading this, please go to this link and report your problems so we can get to the bottom of this issue, whatever it is. I have been on fluoxetine for 5 years and it works, except when I don't take it. This problem keeps me from takign it like I should.
accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/consumer.reporting

Here was my post: On 01/31/14 and 02/04/14 I took 2 x 20 mg capusules of Fluoxetine by Pliva. On both occasions, I began to feel this pressure, tingling or burning sensation in my throat. I produced lots of saliva. I burped and I could taste the fluoxetine. I gagged and had chills from the intensity of the particles of the medication travelign through my nose. It was awfully bitter. Then, I felt more pressure in my chest. On the first occasion, I had intense painful pressure after drinking hot tea, thinking that would dislodge the pill(s) if they were stuck in my throat. On the second occasion, I also tried drinking a warmer water and three big gulps after getting the same symptoms, hoping it would flush any pill taht was stuck. I don't know if a pill is actually getting stuck, but it feels like it. What occurred after both instances is painful heartburn, burping, pressure, and then my esophagus or organ that closes over my stomach feels damaged, like it was burnt. Right now, after last nights episode, this location burns slightly and hurts a little more when I eat, when the food passes that area. Also, its the same area where I feel like the pill got stuck. Finally, I chose to report this because these two occurences were not isolated. I have been taking 20mg Fluoxetine capsules since 2009. I began getting the heartburn on occasion about two months after taking Fluoxetine. I would estimate I have had around 15-20 instances where I have gotten this unbearable heartburn that always felt like a pill was stuck in my throat. I have tried different things to avoid this, such as making sure that I drink plenty of lukewame (not cold water) when I take the pills, not taking on a full or empty stomach, taking at different times of the day. It seems that it is not associated with any of these things except maybe cold water. It seems taking it with cold water definitely is not a good idea. I usually get the white capsule with the green stripe made by Pliva, but I have had others on occasion. I never found a correlation over the years between what generic brand I was taking and getting this heartburn. Also, I do not get heartburn for any other reason. I have had heartburn less than five times in my life before taking fluoxetine. I am a female, Caucasian, age 30. I do not take any other prescriptions at this time. Besides the cold water, I suspect two other thigns that could cause this. On both of the dates I listed, I took the fluoxetine with orange gatorade. In the past, I ate a lot of pumpkin bread for breakfast. I would eat a large slice of pumpkin bread and then take my meds, which at the time was fluoxetine and Ritalin. I would get heartburn every time with the pumpkin bread, so I stop taking that with my pills. As of today, I am calling my doctor to see if I can be switched to a non-capsule pill.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Jen, I know exactly how you feel. I stopped taking them completely because of the pain. I'm glad you reported it. I will do the same. Thank you for the response. I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one with the hell heartburn.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

I've been taking the dark
Blue capsules and getting the same awful heartburn that others have described. It feels like the pill is stuck in my deep throat, lots of pressure, reflux and nothing helps. I tried milk, water, tums, breathing, alkaseltzr, nothing seems to help this pain! It's ridiculous. I can't sleep because of the pain.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Emilycols, you're not alone. Trust me. It's hell. Like I've said in previous posts I have quit taking the medicine because of the heartburn. I hate that you're going through this.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

I feel your PAIN. The only difference is the white with a green strip give me heartburn so bad sometimes that my ears itch. Sometimes it's so bad that I feel as though I've actually been burnt. Please help! The pharmacist(costco) says this is not a known side effect.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

My mother talked about this and she toldme she was getting heartburn but didn't correlate it with her capsule fluoxetine. She has been taking Prilosec and pepcid every so ce her doctor changed her from fluoxetine tablets to capsules. She went to her doctor and he put her on viibryd. He says he has had better results with it and a big positive....it doesn't mess with your libido. I'm completeley off my fluoxetine now because since I last posted I could not take the capsules without getting heartburn. I got it so bad last week that I vomited. I'm currently exercising every day and making sure I get that work out high. Spring sunshine helps too....I absolutely dont recommend going cold turkey off fluoxetine. I got a prescrip for the tablets and am slowly trying to week myself off.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Megan, I have gone off my meds several times and would not be able get out of bed. I was on 40 and 60 mg daily at that time. If you had no withdrawal symptoms, it makes me suspicious of whether the pills were even working or if you couldn't take it bc of the heartburn, you had probably already weaned yourself off. Every body is different though.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Lindsay, The medicine was working. But not the way it was supposed to. I was put on Prozac for anxiety. Which was stupid to begin with. After a month or so I had no emotions and my mind was so cloudy I couldn't remember anything. I'm the type of person that can remember things from 10 years ago and not forget a single detail about it. I had started passing out cold from the anxiety and my doctor put me on Prozac, which was a ridiculous thing to do. For ME in general. Not saying its ridiculous for anyone else. After having the hellacious heart burn every night I stopped completely. I couldn't take it anymore. I had no with drawl symptoms. I finally started feeling like myself again. I still live with the anxiety. A doctor shouldn't retreat to putting someone on a pill for every thing that is wrong. You either have a good life or a hard life. A pill is not going to fix that. Just saying. I know so many people that get put on depression medicine because they have it "hard". That's life. I myself am not going to be put on something that's just going to numb the hardness in my life. Yeah, my anxiety is awful. But id rather live with it than live with no emotions at all. I'm just speaking for myself here. No one else. I am not talking bad about anyone that has to be put on depression for real problems because depression is an awful thing to deal with. I'm just saying that there are SO many people who abuse the fact that they have it "hard" and want to be put on meds. I didn't need to be put on Prozac. it was a waste of my time. My doctor also tried to put me on viibryd an I wouldn't take it.. Good luck to everyone that has the hellacious heartburn. its awful and I hope you find some relief. And I am sorry for the rant.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Megan, I was takeng fluoxetine because I felt the positives of it far out weighed the negatives and will probably pusue a prescription for something else to replace it with like Viibryd, not because I need it now but because I know I will need it in the future when I get in stressful times with work or life just throws it's punches. Here is the deal, I have a mild form of dyslexia that was never diagnosed as a child because I am atypical. I have excellent verbal skills where my brother struggled to read and write. As adults with dyslexia, we bothstruggle with work life balance and maintaining healthy relationships, like my dad.. Check out the symptoms of adults with dyslexia. When one cannot hold down a job and the work life balance begins to be such a struggle that relationships and just tnctioning become a problem, then I think taking a pill is wise, just like a diabetic taking insulin treatment because depression, anxiety, and ice disorders are all related to brain chemical imbalances just as diabetes is an imbalance in insulin levels. Anxiety that makes you lose a day sounds pretty serious. I hope you will continue to seek out answers to your problem in this area. A mind, body, spirit apoach is good. I just want to encourage you to not throw out the possibility that along with other good habits or counseling to help you that taking a pill may have enough pros that outweigh cons to help you get a leg up out of whatever challenge you are dealingg with in life and your health and could be a part of the foundation of you building a healthy life, even if it means only for a little while. For me, fluoxetne helped me not obsess about making decisions. It was as if I could think without being in a hazy cloud. It made my emotional hghs less high but the best part, my lows were not so low so I could get out of bed and be a functional person on the really low days, which may not happen very often now that I am in a healthy job situation and also not under the stresses of studying. Good luck to you.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Lindsay, did you take what I said personal? Because it wasn't aimed towards you. I mean, I don't even know you. But I understand you have a reason for taking medication. Yes, I have anxiety. It's terrible. But taking pills is not for me, it didn't help. So good luck to you.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

No, Megan, I didn't take it personal. I just wanted to encourage you or anyone reading this thread to not throw out some sort of drug therapy just because of the awful heartburn experience with fluoxetine. Also, there is a lot of stigma in our culture about mental health illness, just like the fact that our culture seems to want to medicate everything, as you stated. I guess I wanted to throw out my experience to say that its not so much about covering up pain by taking a pill as it is being wise and maintaining a healthy, balanced life. If anyone is reading this, please dont forget to report your heartburn issues with the FDA!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

I have been taking the 40mg Generic Fluoxetine pills, which I get at Walmart, for years now. They are blue/orange with Teva 7198 written on them. Recently, my last refill I starting getting heartburn after I would take my meds. Now I take Prilosec everyday so for me to get heartburn there is a serious problem. Over the course of a few days, and by taking my meds at different times I have narrowed it down to the Fluoxetine. Unfortunately, 100% of generics in the US are procured from out of the country. They are like a box of chocolates, if you dig?

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Cvs has Pliva

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Recently my pharmacy began giving me a new version of fluoxetine, which I have taken for MANY years with no problems.......

1 REPLY

After three highly painful acid in the throat episodes, including a trip to the emergency room, I found this site and re...

5 REPLIES

This is the first time Costco mail order pharmacy has sent me these pills, the previous ones I have been taking for five...

41 REPLIES

I was on methamphetamine for like 10 years I have been clean now 9 months but still have depression I'm starting Pro...

1 REPLY

I need to know what the pill Fluoxetine looks like 10 mg and 20 mg? Please send a picture. ## What does the pill fluoxet...

11 REPLIES

Where can I find this generic fluoxetine? Where I live, every Pharmacy around has quit carrying this drug for depression...

9 REPLIES

I have been on fluoxetine for eight months. I am on 40 mg/day. I've always been prone to sinus infections, but my si...

8 REPLIES

I have taken Prozac generic fluoxetine for two years. I rec'd new prescription from Northside. Since I started takin...

6 REPLIES

I just took six is that all right ## Hi Todd, The dosing information for Fluoxetine is as follows: Initial dose: 20 mg o...

4 REPLIES

Can this medication cause severe heartburn. I've taken it for about a week, with no problems. And now i just took on...

4 REPLIES