Luvox, Luv It – My Brain on Fluvoxamine
It’s been a brief period of time I’ve been on Luvox, as I call it so I don’t butcher the spelling and pronunciation of Fluvoxamine, but the benefits have been profound. A little more than a week is how long I’ve been taking this SSRI drug, but my brain fog, neck, and head pain/discomfort have improved dramatically after months of stagnation. Mood and functionality are also better. The proof is in the pudding as I’m writing this blog post right now after weeks of not being able to use my brain as much as I needed and wanted. Writing a blog post without being on Luvox would be a daunting task!
My dosing went as such: started at 12.5mg and worked up to 100mg in a week, paused & reduced dose briefly as I was trying to titrate (this is a drug you generally want to taper off), and am now taking 50mg a day split into two doses, morning and night. The number of things I’ve done that haven’t helped much or at all I can’t count on 20 hands, but Luvox was a game changer and quickly (for me and many other Long Haulers, but not everyone). 100mg seems to be the magic dose, but I am going slow with it because of potential side effects such as: lose of appetite, increased anxiety, heart fluttering/uncomfortableness, fatigue, etc. There are also a number of contraindications with Luvox. If you have brain fog, neck pain/stiffness, and brain nerve pain it may be worth it to ask your doctor about the use of this drug. At this juncture, it’s being fairly widely implemented for Long Haulers (and acute patients as well). It’s in favor with some of the top Long Haul Docs as well.
I’d say “I’m Luvin’ It” about Luvox, but I don’t want to get sued by Mickey Ds, so I’ll simply say, so far … I luv it.
UPDATE – 7/29/23
It’s been more than 2 years now and I’m still taking Fluvoxamine. I’m at 25 mg 2x a day. This dose seems to work quite well for me, while not giving me some of the side effects I was having after months on 100mg a day, namely heart pounding & nervous system related. Ideally, I want to not be taking this drug, but it continues to help my head so much that it’s hard to get off of it. I’ve tried a few times to reduce my dose from 50mg a day, but that did not work out particularly well. My cognitive issues crept back some. When I do finally come off of this drug I’ll have to do so very slowly, but for now, it still seems like a necessity.
2 COMMENTS
Happy for you Devin. Great to hear you’re getting some long hauler’s relief.
I’m interested in learning more about “Luvox,” as you’ve nicknamed it.
How is it on the liver and kidney’s? Does it have immediate action or take weeks to feel it’s full effect as many SSRI’s do?
Have you found any other helpful treatments?
Jane
Hello Jane, thank you. I’m progressing, but it’s still a struggle and still trying various things. I’m using the brand name for Fluvoxamine so I don’t butcher the spelling haha.
Liver and kidneys are handling it fine thus far. I’m also taking Diamox and 600mg of Gabapentin (going to ween off this now) at the moment. Within a few days I noticed a profound benefit from Luvox at a reduced dose (between 12.5mg-25mg). The, what I assumed, nervous system side effects took about 3 weeks to calm down, so I’m glad I went slow with it. Now I’m doing 100mg (50/50) with no problems. It helps my brain, neck, and neuro symptoms (brain fog, etc.). Luvox may wear off some over time or I may have a neuro flares (with reduced symptoms from what I used to get before Luvox), I can’t tell yet. Either way I feel it still helps significantly.
IV Ozone, Diamox, Hyperbaric, Hydroxychloroquine, body work, other IVs, Progurt, Stem Cells, etc. have all helped.
Hope you’re doing well Jane. It might be worth trying Luvox, but some people have too strong of side effects and others like me have some and get through them and everything normalizes.