Luvox User Reviews & Ratings (Page 4)
Luvox has an average rating of 6.9 out of 10 from a total of 145 reviews on Drugs.com. 58% of reviewers reported a positive experience, while 21% reported a negative experience.
Reviews for Luvox
- Anonymous
- Taken for 1 to 6 months
- May 31, 2012
For Anxiety and Stress "I was put on Luvox for anxiety and depression. I had never had anxiety before, so this was the first medicine I had tried. After 4 weeks, it gave me very bad anxiety and intense 'racing thoughts.' I was only on 25 mg and then upped to 50 mg. Once I got off, I learned better ways to cope by seeing therapists and working on my problems. Not the medicine for me."
- jbl...
- Taken for 1 to 6 months
- December 21, 2013
For Anxiety and Stress "My psychiatrist prescribed me Luvox 100 mg that I've been on for close to 2 months to help me deal with symptoms of stress and social anxiety. I would say the medication works, but the side effects aren't worth me continuing it, so I'm going to see about something else that is proven to have fewer side effects. Some of the side effects I was experiencing were difficulty staying asleep and waking up with night sweats, dry mouth, and sore throat. I think Zoloft worked better for me."
Frequently asked questions
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- mar...
- July 26, 2017
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "I was prescribed this medication when I was 14 for OCD and panic attacks. During my time on it, I took between 150 and 200 mg and had a very negative reaction. The medicine made me unbearably tired, so much so that I experienced visual hallucinations due to such extreme exhaustion. Also, I now have major gaps in my memory from that time. I think Luvox can be effective, but be careful with it, especially if you're young and/or very small (I was less than 100 pounds at the time, so you can imagine how I'd react to a dose like that). It got rid of many of my anxiety and OCD symptoms, but at what cost? By far the strongest SSRI I have ever taken. Tread carefully."
- OCD...
- Taken for 2 to 5 years
- November 25, 2015
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "I was having major anxiety and depression. I sought therapy for a year, and nothing was helping. I tried amitriptyline, Prozac, Lexapro, and I don't know what else, I can't remember. I found a psychiatrist that immediately diagnosed me as OCD at 30 (!!). Mainly O, with some compulsions that are highly functioning. This drug stopped the depression in weeks at 50 mg. Compulsions were so much more manageable. After two years, it just stopped working. We've gone up to 100 mg, and I started getting blurry vision. At 125 mg, I was highly agitated and depressed. Not sure where to go from here."
Are you taking this medicine?
Your review helps others make informed decisions.- Qte...
- Taken for less than 1 month
- December 15, 2016
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "Use this drug with caution. I am a female in my early 20s. I was prescribed Luvox for severe OCD, and within a week on it, my OCD spiraled out of control and impaired my ability to function. My psychiatrist initiated the weaning process way too quickly, and I am currently experiencing sickening withdrawal symptoms (throwing up, vertigo, hot flashes, quivering). Everyone's body is different, so for some people, it may be of help. Just be honest with your doctor about whether you feel any adverse reactions and make sure you get on the medicine gradually. My psychiatrist put me on a high dose too rapidly. Good luck, guys!"
- din...
- Taken for less than 1 month
- June 19, 2018
For Anxiety and Stress "After many years of depression and anxiety, and many different meds, my psych started me on Luvox. Right away, I had trouble sleeping; I was awake by 2:30 a.m. and then restless the rest of the night. Still, I woke up full of energy and feeling good and was very productive. After a few days, I noticed this energy turned to severe anxiety. I was also, from the start, feeling chilled, almost like I was getting sick. Body aches became more prevalent and feeling totally run down. The last 2 days, chest pain on and off... not sure if anxiety or something worse. It's sad; what started off as promising soon turned out to be another reject."
- Med...
- Taken for 1 to 6 months
- April 27, 2023
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "I developed permanent chronic fatigue/hypersomnia that I did not have before taking SSRIs. It started with Luvox and then Prozac, and even after being off them for 3 years, I still have the same fatigue issues. I was not warned that side effects from these meds can be permanent and detrimental, literally ruining your life even more than the original issue did (depression or anxiety). My heart goes out to the people suffering. I can never recommend a med that ruined my life; I think all SSRIs/SNRIs are horrible and ineffective long-term. While on Luvox, I was a zombie with no desire to live, other than to sleep for 17 hours of the day and lay in bed the rest of the day. Now, three years off, I am not that bad, but I am still suffering and feel like I am lugging around 200 lb weights and need to sleep constantly. Imagine how depressed I am now. Figures that the only thing that helped my severe OCD was ERP therapy anyway!"
- slo...
- Taken for 1 to 6 months
- February 19, 2014
For Anxiety and Stress "Was prescribed for anxiety/obsessive thoughts. Couldn't make it to max therapeutic dose -- at 200 mg, the medication caused me to lose my voice for over 2 months. As soon as the medication was stopped, my voice came back."
- Bab...
- Taken for 1 to 6 months
- December 9, 2020
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "I've been on Luvox for around five to six months. I'm taking 150 mg, and it is not working at all. Intrusive thoughts and OCD are worse than ever. I really am considering taking myself off this horrible medication."
- Jlr...
- Taken for less than 1 month
- April 23, 2020
For Anxiety and Stress "Horrible experience! I switched from Paxil to Luvox, and it was a terrible experience. I had a panic attack an hour after taking this medication. I felt like I couldn’t breathe and had tingling in my arms and legs. I called my doctor the next day, and she switched me to Lexapro. I feel much better and have no side effects at all."
- Adr...
- Taken for 1 to 6 months
- August 1, 2016
For Anxiety and Stress "I'm a Brazilian boy, 21 years old, and I suffer from mild depression and GAD. Effexor was the holy grail for my HUGE anxiety, unfortunately, it came along with sexual problems. My doc said Luvox had a lower chance of having these kinds of side effects. It's been a month since I switched to it, and I felt nothing but a 70% return in my anxiety using half of the maximum daily dosage. Still can't ejaculate, neither have the same libido as I used to."
- Anonymous
- August 23, 2020
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "My daughter has been on Luvox for 2 years. She started it when she was 11 years old due to extreme OCD symptoms. We didn't see a difference for about 6 to 8 weeks. She is currently on 150 mg. This completely stopped all of her horrible intrusive thoughts, however, she was still dealing with other OCD traits, for example, not letting anyone touch or pat our dog for fear of germs. This would cause severe agitation and anger dysregulation, so she started to take Abilify 5 mg in the morning. This hit the spot perfectly, and her OCD started to fade away, and of course, no agitation or anger bursts. We have just started to reduce the Luvox to try and get down to 100 mg, and so far, no problems, but it is still early days. We did take her off the Abilify for 4 months, but the agitation and OCD symptoms showed up slowly, and we decided to put her back on it. We are hoping to try again soon as, being more mature, she can use the skills she has learned through CBT to manage her thoughts."
- Ren...
- August 16, 2015
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "I immediately noticed my anxiety went down, but I had to stop taking the medication because I would sleep up to 16 hours a day, which was not practical as a law student. I also experienced severe nausea and headaches. I felt extremely frustrated that I was prescribed this medication by my doctor."
- Kis...
- December 8, 2021
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "Was giving this to my daughter of 17 years of age. She struggles with anxiety and intrusive thoughts/OCD. She was on clomipramine 50 mg for 8 months and had a great, normal life, but after 8 months, the horrible side effects returned with heart palpitations and a bad, bad stomachache. We switched her to Luvox 1/2 tablet to start because she is sensitive to meds, and by the 2nd night of a whole tablet dosage, she had extreme rage and sadness. This wasn’t any help for her, it actually made things way worse and woke up her inner demons! She now moved to Lexapro. Fingers crossed. God bless those in search of peace."
- red...
- November 4, 2017
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "After growing up much of my life leaving myself undiagnosed, I decided to start therapy for OCD and anxiety. I later decided to start taking medicine. I'm only 18 years old. They put me on fluvoxamine/Luvox. I'm currently on 200 mg. It's harder to notice a difference since it took forever to kick in, but overall I feel much better, and I'm able to be more social and not stress out. I'm able to let things go. The only side effect I notice is tiredness. However, I'm able to cope."
- azr...
- June 26, 2017
For Anxiety and Stress "I took Luvox after coming off sertraline for bad side effects. My main problems are insomnia, and I can't sleep at night after I had my baby 6 months ago. I started first on 25 mg for about 3 days, and after that, 50 mg for the next 2 weeks. I can feel the difference in my anxiety, but sleep and mood have not improved. My pdoc increased my dose to 75 mg, but it seems to make me even worse. Then, after 2 weeks, my pdoc increased the dose to 100 mg. I can feel the difference, but not in a good way. My moods are still low, and I just don't want to do anything. My sleep also has not improved. I'm struggling every day. I developed new intrusive thoughts too. I can't hold it anymore because this AD does make me worse than before. Bad AD!!"
- RMa...
- Taken for 1 to 6 months
- January 3, 2019
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "Restarted 100 mg Luvox augmented with 20 mg of Memantine while weaning off of 450 mg of Wellbutrin, and I am tired all the time. Hopefully, the tiredness goes away and I don't gain a lot of weight like the last time I used Luvox."
- jul...
- Taken for less than 1 month
- January 5, 2016
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "Luvox was the second medication I tried for OCD. I was only on the lowest dose of this medication for 4 days because the side effects were unbearable. About 4 hours after taking this medication, I became incredibly sedated and out of it. The drowsiness was so pronounced that I did not wish to continue this med. Since I had nowhere near reached the therapeutic dose of this medication, I hope that my rating doesn't discourage one from trying it. All SSRIs are notorious for having some initial side effects before you see their benefit; I just couldn't make it to that stage."
- Koo...
- Taken for 6 months to 1 year
- October 15, 2017
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "I once had a horrible experience in my life losing a friend, but then I got over it, but met another friend. BUT my mind was making me think I would lose my new friend, like my old friend who stopped being my friend without telling me. Anyways, I found out I had OCD, and I started Luvox. It did take a few extra weeks than expected, but over the last month, I've begun to really not worry and have the compulsive, consistent, non-stop worries! I've definitely come a long way. Especially that my friend assured me if he would stop being my friend, he would let me know."
- Ivy...
- Taken for 1 to 6 months
- August 11, 2021
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "I was on Luvox for OCD, MDD, anxiety, and dermatillomania. Zoloft didn't work, so I tried Luvox. At first, I felt a slight uplift in my mood, but then I started crying every day and became anorexic. I lost weight to the point where I began to look sickly. I've never had any eating disorder prior to my experience on Luvox. It felt like I relapsed and got worse symptoms from my OCD. I'm sure this drug helps others, but it just wasn't the right one for me."
- raf...
- Taken for 1 to 6 months
- February 11, 2024
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "I have been on Luvox for a bit more than three months by now. Started with 50 mg and went up to 150 mg by indication of my doctor. At first, it was horrible, my anxiety increased, and I got a pretty bad case of insomnia. However, after about three weeks and a few days, everything got a lot better and more manageable. Also, I started taking 25 to 50 mg of Lyrica to help with the insomnia. I have to say that Luvox has helped me a lot. After a whole life dealing with OCD and smoking and drinking to get by with the symptoms and the fears, Luvox has helped me a lot to deal with everything and has improved my quality of life a lot. I have even been able to stop smoking completely since I began the treatment. Overall, my experience has been really good, though I cannot say that all my symptoms have gone away. But it has helped a lot. I think that I have to put my best effort to help with the amount of the illness that persists. I wanted to share this experience to help other people."
- Mic...
- Taken for less than 1 month
- April 24, 2015
For Anxiety and Stress "After being diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (2012), I began experiencing anxiety and depression, accepting this life change and handling the symptoms. My doctor prescribed me Lexapro 20 mg daily, which helped with mild anxiety and overall day-to-day stress. However, I still experienced heavy anxiety while traveling and taking on new projects/assignments at work. I explained that I felt that the Lexapro was great but not working in all situations. My doctor then switched me to Luvox 200 mg daily. I've been taking Luvox for less than a week now and am already experiencing dry mouth, lack of motivation, diarrhea, nausea, lightheadedness/faint, and being more emotional and irritable. Obviously not for me. Life overall was better with Lexapro."
- whi...
- Taken for less than 1 month
- April 15, 2014
For Anxiety and Stress "Started taking Luvox after I told my doctor that Effexor, which is very effective and a lifesaver for me, was a bit of a libido killer. Said to try Luvox. I had a bad reaction even after tapering off Effexor properly. I had very bad headaches, which codeine couldn't shift, and diarrhea, also stomach cramps and bad nausea. Not for me obviously, so I am starting back on the Effexor, which keeps me sane."
- Hey...
- January 7, 2016
For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "I've been on Luvox for 6 months now at 200 mg/day. I switched from Prozac because of libido problems, but it actually didn't make any difference. I completely lost interest in sex and gained weight really fast. My OCD is controlled, but I feel depressed, sleeping a lot during the day and nothing during the night. Haha, it's horrible... Also, I compulsively scratch my head until it bleeds (trichotillomania?) and Prozac had helped me stop it. Now on Luvox, the problem is back. I'm switching back to Prozac or giving a try to Zoloft."
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Your review helps others make informed decisions.More about Luvox (fluvoxamine)
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For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder "I was prescribed Zoloft for anxiety and panic attacks, and soon my OCD was out of control. I was switched to Luvox and have improved greatly. However, I'm always tired and yet still can't sleep. I've heard that some side effects can improve over time-hoping this happens for me."