Perri just completed week 3 of fluoxetine. For two weeks Perri was on 10mg per day and starting last Wednesday for the start of our third week I was to increase to 20mg.
We saw our first side effects with the dose increase. For about two days there was nothing. But Saturday and Sunday morning Perri was experiencing "lethargy". Instead of being eager to come along to Molly's agility trial as she always is, always eager to come for car rides anywhere, Perri just went back upstairs and hopped into bed and went back to sleep. That is very abnormal for Perri and it made me feel very sad. I did call up to her "Coming along?" and she did end up coming downstairs and joining me for both days of the trial, but normally there is no need to ask. Perri is usually attached to my body when she sees me doing "agility trial" or "hiking" things. I have never seen her go back to bed like that so I feel she was experiencing lethargy in reaction to the dose increase. She seemed flat to me both days this weekend.
Monday night I took Perri to agility class. It was her first time playing agility with me in nearly two months. She was flat and uninspired, losing engagement and confidence halfway through our first run together. For our second run I could not get her off of the start line. It was humid. She was experiencing medication side effects. For me it really broke my heart and made me feel that Perri would never return to agility with me.
Starting this morning though it seemed like it all went away, I don't know how else to describe it. It was like a spark came back into her! She was very pushy trying to be included in the car ride to Molly's chiropractor visit (and unfortunately I had to leave her at home since it was too hot to leave her in the car.) I am very hopeful that the flatness and lethargy were indeed a transient symptom due to the dose increase and that I can look forwards to Perri feeling more up to her normal energy level.
Finishing the third week, it is likely too soon to say if any relief of anxiety effects are taking place yet. I will say that I have been leaving Perri's water down at night, but she has not been drinking obsessively and she has not had a bed wetting episode. This could be habitual since I was taking Perri's water away, perhaps she has not even checked that she could have any water. Or it could be coincidence. Time will tell. I have also noticed that Perri has not been engaging in her explosive alert barking at night. Oftentimes Perri will explode into barking when Vince comes upstairs to bed, or when Molly comes into the bedroom. She has been steadily sleeping or just waking up and noticing Vince or Molly rather than escalating into barking. Those are the changes I am seeing so far. We will see what the next few weeks bring.
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