Summer and prozac...?

Laurelin

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#1
Have any of you used prozac? Summer was prescribed it for her SA a few days ago. I was very wary of drugs for her SA but nothing else was working and I was assured the prozac wouldn't change her personality or make her less herself just lessen her anxiety.

After a few days on prozac, she's like another dog. She has NO drive, NO energy, just sleeps... She won't even eat her treats she usually goes crazy for. She won't play anymore... It's just awful. The dog that was tearing up the agility course last week now won't even jog across the yard. She stops halfway and walks. I've also noticed she's started doing the stereotypical chihuahua/small dog shaking which she NEVER has done before.

Is it possible it's too big a dose? I'm going to talk to the vet and see what he thinks. I do know lethargy and shaking are sometimes a side effect. On the plus side, she's so mellow she really doesn't seem to care when I leave but it's not worth it if she's not herself. I miss the old Summer. :(

Oh and we have agility class tonight. I'm not sure what I'm going to do- she has no interest in food right now at all.
 

MericoX

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#2
I know with humans you need to give it 6-8 weeks to see an improvement. I believe I had somewhat of the same symptoms on different antidepressants.

What does calm Summer down? I think you should get her another doggie friend to be with when you have to leave her... no wait? Was that outloud? Mwahahahahahaha...
 

corgipower

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#3
It takes about 2 months to see the effects, so it sounds like it's a side effect. I don't know if lowering the dose would help in that case, but there are other meds that can be used for SA.
 

Laurelin

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#4
I know with humans you need to give it 6-8 weeks to see an improvement. I believe I had somewhat of the same symptoms on different antidepressants.

What does calm Summer down? I think you should get her another doggie friend to be with when you have to leave her... no wait? Was that outloud? Mwahahahahahaha...
I've heard the 6-8 weeks thing to, but i don't know if I can take this that long.

I really am planning on getting another doggie friend anyways. I wonder if that'd be enough to really help her out.
 

Laurelin

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#5
It takes about 2 months to see the effects, so it sounds like it's a side effect. I don't know if lowering the dose would help in that case, but there are other meds that can be used for SA.
I know a bit about other meds but for some reason this is the one that the vet wanted to try.

I just don't know what to do about it.... what would you guys do?
 

Izzy's Valkyrie

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#6
Coffee for Summer? I'd probably ask the vet, it doesn't sound like the meds are helping her so much as hurting her at this point. For me, once I was on the right antidepressant, there were no side-effects at all.
 

corgipower

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#7
I know a bit about other meds but for some reason this is the one that the vet wanted to try.

I just don't know what to do about it.... what would you guys do?
I think I'd give it a little more time and see if the side effects decrease. Maybe see if you can try a lower dose.

As for vets...I want to get Tyr on meds for SA, and prozac is my vet's first choice also. I don't even think he knows what all the alternatives are. :rolleyes:
 

Beanie

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#8
If it were me, I'd take her off it and try something else... Maybe in time you would be able to see the beneficial effects, but I think I'd feel just like you, where I didn't know if I could take such a drastic personality change for very long. =/
 

Laurelin

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#9
I'm leaning towards pulling her off and seeing what else we can try. Im gonna talk to the vet first of course.
 

bnwalker2

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#10
When Thunder was younger, my vet put him on Prozac for SA. I only kept him on it for about 2 weeks, he was acting like Summer and he just wasn't himself. It wasn't worth it, IMO, to have him so "out of it". I forget what we put him on after that but he was better on the second meds. He doesn't take anything anymore, he's gotten better as he's gotten older.
 

PoodleMommy

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#11
How is she when you leave her now that your home with all the dogs?

Getting Bella cured Elles SA immediatley 100%.
 

Giny

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#13
Aw, poor sweetie. Maybe seeing how it would work overtime, but I can understand you wanting to pull her off. I have a dog that I groomed that was just put on Prozac, I'm curious how it's working on him. He has sever temperament issues and is one of my most difficult dogs to groom. He'd probably love to eat my hands if he wasn't muzzled, he means business, but he's a darling when I'm not grooming him though.
 

Laurelin

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#14
How is she when you leave her now that your home with all the dogs?

Getting Bella cured Elles SA immediatley 100%.
She's actually probably about 90% better with the other dogs around. I had been told though not to assume that getting another dog would help her SA so I thought maybe to try to treat it before we'd be moving out again. Now I'm not sure if that's the best option.

Have you already tried anything like Rescue Remedy? That doesn't really sound like an acceptable reaction -- too much impact on her quality of life overall!.
I agree that it's too much of an impact on her life. I still want her to be my little crazy girl. I've tried DAP but not RR. DAP didn't do anything at all to help.
 

elegy

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#15
i think i'd talk to the vet about either decreasing her dose +/- increasing it gradually or stopping the prozac and trying something different.

harvey took generic clomicalm for his noise/thunderstorm issues and i never noticed any significant side-effects. we have a dog at work who has anxiety and ocd issues and he was awful on clomicalm and much better on prozac. i think it all depends on the dog.
 

PoodleMommy

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#16
She's actually probably about 90% better with the other dogs around. I had been told though not to assume that getting another dog would help her SA so I thought maybe to try to treat it before we'd be moving out again. Now I'm not sure if that's the best option.
Yes, I agree you can never assume it will work because for some dogs it does not. Thats why people need to be careful not to get a dog ONLY for that reason. I just wondered how it was going with the other ones around.

Hopefully she starts to feel better soon!
Keep us updated.
 

Laurelin

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#17
I am planning to get a dog for a variety of reasons, hopefully it'll help but I have to prepare as if it won't. Based on the way she is here with the other dogs I think it probably will help some.

I have looked at clomicalm and some other med that starts with a c. I really think the vets seem to push prozac though for some reason.
 

PoodleMommy

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#18
the vets seem to push prozac though for some reason.
$$$$ ;)

Regular Doctors are the same way, they push the meds they get the biggest incentives from.

If you push the issue though, they should be more willing to reccomend something different.
 

Laurelin

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#19
$$$$ ;)

Regular Doctors are the same way, they push the meds they get the biggest incentives from.

If you push the issue though, they should be more willing to reccomend something different.
I figured as much. Kind of like the way science diet ID is the magic cure for all stomach problems. :rolleyes:
 

puppydog

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#20
I would take her off immediately. I had a dog on Prozac and it was HORRIBLE!
 

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