Guest FireHorse Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 We put Luke on Reconcile (fluoxetine...iow, prozac) last week, and now I have some questions. How long did it take you to see results? Luke is sort of dopey, or subdued or something, but no other real changes. Also, what about appetite? Dr C warned me there that there would be some "appetite drop-off" that would resolve with time, but wow. If Luke gets one whole meal in him in 48 hours, it's a good 48 hours. He actually ate all of his dinner when it was given to him last night, which reminded me that I hadn't given him his prozac in the morning. So now I'm wondering, does prozac cause an icky tummy, or just kill his appetite? If it's an icky tummy, can I give him pepto or zantac (prilosec, whichever it is)? Does it help to give it to him at night instead of in the morning? (I was giving it to him after breakfast.) How long should it take for him to get past this stage? Poor guy. He just seems miserable no matter what we do. Strung out when I'm gone, or dopey and not hungry otherwise. Any advice would be appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 My Lulu was on prozac for a couple of months, and it did help, a lot! She developed bloody diarrhea and so I took her off of it, though I am not convinced it was the prozac. It took about 3 weeks to see a difference. Prozac is known to curb the appetite in humans, no upset of the tummy, just less appetite. Some docs have used it for a diet pill due to that side effect. Lulu has horrible HORRIBLE separation anxiety and I drug her with Benedryl, but I'm rarely gone more than 4 hours. If I had to be gone for more than that, I would have to use ACE. When her anxiety gets really bad, her IBD kicks in and she'll have horrible bloody diarrhea, so I do what I can to avoid that. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAJ2010 Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 Sunshine had no side effects. Still ate like a horse and never looked dopey. She has been on 20mg once a day and i'm now starting to wean her off. The only changes I saw were her increased ability to cope and recover from scary events or strangers. And it took about 2-3 weeks to notice a concrete change Quote ------ Jessica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dobiegrey Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 Jack my Doberman is on Prozac for anxiety aggression and it took about 3 weeks or more to see any change, he did get an upset tummy from it but we put him on Zantac 75mg twice a day and he has no more issues with his tummy. He has just settled nicely, it has made a nice difference in him, but not doped him up, but he is very high energy, activity level and if he gets stressed he gets mean with Betty and that is what we wanted to stop and that seems to have come to a stop, but we have also learned how to keep him from escalating to that point so it was more than just the Prozac that has helped but it seems to have helped his very high anxiety. just be careful with any natural stuff in addition talk to your vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 What dosage is he on, and why is he on it? Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ml529 Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 my beagle mix is on generic prozac after having been on reconcile for a year. It has been a lifesaver for her and she'll likely be on it forever. It took about a month to see a real difference. She's much calmer, doesn't endlessly pace, seems to just be enjoying life more. Quote Melanie and Eric with Leminim and Eieio and silly kitty Elsa.See you again someday, my sweet Payton (Flying Payton May 9, 2000-March 18, 2012) Missing my sweet JJ, world's sweetest cat (April 1997-November 30, 2015)Stealing food in heaven, my darling Minnie (2006-April 21, 2016) Reunited with her favorite person in heaven, my Dad, Satin the skittish kitty (2002-May 7, 2016) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FireHorse Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Thanks, all, for the replies. I thought I understood from Dr C that it would kick in faster than that, but apparently that was just me. We'll just bear with it until he gets past this stage. He's on it for separation anxiety, mostly from me. That is, he's fine being in the house by himself, but as long as anyone is home (and it isn't me) he's a strung-out mess; panting, pacing, hiding, not eating, the whole nine yards. I've recently started a new job, which is apparently what has set him off. we've been working our way up to this for awhile, but he's been getting worse not better, so it was time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 I'm not sure what you are paying for his drugs, but prozac is 10$ for 3 months worth at Wallmart and out here in several of the grocery store drug counters as well. Just an FYI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FireHorse Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 I'm not sure what you are paying for his drugs, but prozac is 10$ for 3 months worth at Wallmart and out here in several of the grocery store drug counters as well. Just an FYI. Yeah, I realized that as soon as I figured out it was fluoxetine. Assuming this works, I will definitely ask for a prescription for our Walgreen's the next time around! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 I'm not sure what you are paying for his drugs, but prozac is 10$ for 3 months worth at Wallmart and out here in several of the grocery store drug counters as well. Just an FYI. Yeah, I realized that as soon as I figured out it was fluoxetine. Assuming this works, I will definitely ask for a prescription for our Walgreen's the next time around! You didn't say what dosage you're giving. i asked b/c a veterinary behv I worked wtih told me that vets are generally overprescribing dosage-wise. I believe the recommended amt according to Reconcile is double the amt she recommends starting with. Just thought I'd recommend looking into that if you are concerned about side effects. Also, not all dogs do as well on fluoxitine as they do on Reconcole or actual Prozac and the human dosages are also somewhat different so I would suggest getting to a point where you are happy with the Reconcile and then you can play around with teh generic. If you don't see good results within a month, try amitriptiline or chlomicalm. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NeverSayNever Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 For noise phobic, 3 year old greyhound who was triggered by motors and engines, Prozac did not help, but no side effects. Definitely give it a full 8 weeks though. People usually don't give these types of drugs enough time. We switched to BuSpar and have noticed a big difference in Reagan. Noise phobias seems almost non-existent now. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest krystolla Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 I haven't had any canines on Prozac, but from my own experience taking it I can vouch for the lack of appetite. It was really weird -- I would be sitting around and it would occur to me that I hadn't eaten in a while and then I'd suddenly be starving and ready to chew on my textbooks for nourishment. Or I wouldn't notice I was hungry until I took a bite of something and then my body would remember what food was about. The effect faded after a while, or else I retrained myself to remember to eat. So it might be worth giving him one high-value treat on top of his dinner, something to get him to "remember" eating. The doctors recommended exercise to induce appetite and reduce stress, which did help a bit. I used to take mine in the evening so that the dopey-sleepiness was overnight (mostly). Of course there's no guarentee that he's experiencing anything like what I did, but I figured the info might still be helpful. Welcome to the green & white pill club, Luke! It gets better, don't worry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FireHorse Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 .... So it might be worth giving him one high-value treat on top of his dinner, something to get him to "remember" eating. Thanks for the suggestion-we're now up to a solid meal a day. He's still not eating everything he used to, but a dollop of sardine juice or bacon grease stirred into his kibble seems to be helping. He's still not keen on breakfast but will eat dinner, so I've switched to giving him his pills after that. So far, so good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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