Dear world,
Today I am writing this (or started writing this) while on hold/talking to one of the leading medicaid providers in my state about how they will not provide mental health services for one of my patients. It is not going well.
(See also: extreme irony, crushing disillusionment, American healthcare crisis, etc, etc).
In the meantime, did anyone know that the following are possible side effects of fluoxetine use in dogs??
- Anxiety. (Read: unrelenting panic.)
- Irritability.
- Insomnia.
- Loss of appetite.
- Gastrointestinal distress.
- Excessive panting.
No?? Me neither. Guess what??
Tiny dog experienced all of these. Here is the picture on the internet of a dog on Prozac:
Here is a picture of the Tiny Dog on Prozac:
It was a good try. And everyone was very optimistic that it would work. Unfortunately, Tiny Dog is one of the very few dogs for whom Prozac had a paradoxical effect and he had exactly the OPPOSITE response as what the drug was actually supposed to do.
Right around day 4 or 5 of giving the pill, Tiny Dog started to seriously distrust us. He was very suspicious of his nightly cheese snack. He probably bugged our phones. He also took to crying ALL. NIGHT. LONG. One night, when he was in our bed, there was a gust of wind outside. That was it for Bed. Bed can never be forgiven. Tiny Dog will no longer enter the bedroom. Instead, he paced and cried and barked all night long for 4 days.
Initially, Wife was like, “I told you so.” and I was like, “This is normal. It will get better.”
By day 10 of the pill, no one had slept in days, Tiny Dog had entirely stopped eating, and I was home with him by myself trying to do work. It was impossible. Not only did Tiny Dog want to spend his entire day and night in the dirty clothes hamper in the bathroom closet, he also wanted everyone else to do so as well.
The vet cautiously suggested that, maybe, just maybe, Tiny Dog was having an adverse reaction to THE VERY THING THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HELP HIM.
10:45 AM: It will get better, they said. Give it a few days, they said.
12 PM: Cue Tiny Dog, strapped to my body in a tiny sling, shivering, gags and vomits.
12:45 PM: (at vet’s office.) Maybe we should take him off the prozac.
Moral of the story: perhaps we should all just love each other for who we are. HA- just kidding. You better believe we’re (read: I’M) trying a new anxiety medication as soon as he gets detoxed from this one.
…or maybe we’re just happy to have Tiny Dog back, for now…
Love,
Emily
P.S. Managed Care Organizations can SUCK IT.
Some Supervision Required. 