Good morning!!
I am 26 turning 27 in September and I have been on prozac (fluoxetine) since I started anti-anxiety medication when I was 18 years old. I turned 18 in 2017 so I either started in 2017 or 2018 meaning I’ve been off and on Prozac since then until last Wednesday 4/22/2026.
I have been plagued with chronic migraines since for the last 2 years. I got into my local neurologist office early last year where I had an MRI done and they found a mild Chiari 1 malformation in my brain as well as intracranial hypertension- which explained a lot of my symptoms but not all of them, leading to a dx of tension migraines with aura. I started daily topiramate and as needed sumatriptan and it has helped a LOT!!
The symptoms unexplained were lightheadedness, blurry vision, etc etc which has gotten dramatically worse over the last 9 months so I finally got in to see the ENT- I had NO idea these symptoms (which felt similar to blood pressure drops and fainting, but I have no cardiac issues and normal BP) were related to my migraines. But now I feel silly not having connected them!! My ENT diagnosed me with vestibular migraines and I feel like I have finally gotten an answer that matches everything. It’s a beautiful feeling!!
That being said, the medication the ENT wanted to prescribe me had a negative reaction to another medication I am currently on which prompted him to switch me off of Prozac and onto Effexor. I took my last Prozac dose the morning of 4/22 and my PCP had me taper off of it cold turkey for 7 days before starting Effexor this morning. I would love to hear from anyone else who made a switch similar to this and any advice you all have for starting this medication. The hope is that it is both effective for my migraines AND anxiety. I took my first dose at 8:40am with breakfast so hoping to keep that schedule going.