Generic name: fluoxetine [ floo-OX-e-teen ]
Brand names: Prozac, Sarafem, Rapiflux, Selfemra
Drug class:Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
What is fluoxetine?
Fluoxetine is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant. Fluoxetine inhibits the uptake of serotonin by a nerve cells (neurons) and helps people with depression, panic, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
Fluoxetine is a prescription medicine used to treat major depressive disorder, bulimia nervosa (an eating disorder), obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).
Fluoxetine is sometimes used together with another medication called olanzapine (Zyprexa) to treat manic depression caused by bipolar disorder. This combination is also used to treat depression after at least 2 other medications have been tried without successful treatment of symptoms.
If you also take olanzapine (Zyprexa), read the Zyprexa medication guide and all patient warnings and instructions provided with that medication.
Warnings
You should not use fluoxetine if you also take pimozide or thioridazine, or if you are being treated with methylene blue injection.
Do not use fluoxetine if you have used an MAO inhibitor in the past 14 days (such as isocarboxazid, rasagiline, selegiline, phenelzine, or transcypromine). Do not use fluoxetine with thioridazine, linezolid, pimozide, or methylene blue injection.
You must wait at least 14 days after stopping an MAO inhibitor before you take fluoxetine. You must wait 5 weeks after stopping fluoxetine before you can take thioridazine or an MAOI.
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