Goodbye Prozac, Hello Zoloft: My 'Cure' but Not (And That's Okay)

Loving the entire album. "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo, if you don't know already, is about realizing that the thing you thought would fix everything was never going to be the fix. And that's exactly where I am right now, but with a little green and white capsule instead of a situationship. A generic version of it, since we can't afford the brand name.

I finally had my appointment with my new psychiatrist, and I walked out of there having to accept something I wasn't ready to hear, or just didn't think was going to be what I heard: my Prozac stopped working. Not recently. A while ago. And I genuinely had no idea. I had convinced myself it was still working, and I'm really good at convincing myself about things.

I Thought It Was Still Working

I wasn't actively or consistently panicking. I have been pretty stable the past couple of months. I was getting up and going to my new job every day without that feeling of wanting to cry in the parking lot, without dreading walking in, without that gross pit in my stomach. I was functional. And for a long time, I told myself that being functional was enough. I have very low standards I guess of what I need to be functional, since I have seen myself at my worst, so anything above that is great to me. Ha!

But I know I deserve to be more than "that type of fine." We deserve more than that type of fine. Functional is not the same as well. And apparently, what I was calling stability was actually me white-knuckling it while my medication quietly clocked out. Those menty-b's that were happening that I probably told you all about, or the random crash outs I posted about, the times I didn't want to work on this business? Looking back, I'm wondering if the Prozac's ineffectiveness led to all of that, or at least made me more prone to it. I still had the motivation, the ideas in my head to draw out, but I was not executing.

There's a name for it stopping working on me, by the way. It's called antidepressant tachyphylaxis, or as the internet lovingly calls it, "Prozac poop-out." It's when a medication that once worked for you gradually loses its effectiveness over time, and research shows it happens to a significant number of people on long-term antidepressants.[1] I am not broken. I am not doing it wrong. My brain chemistry just changed the terms of the agreement without telling me. Not cool.

With my previous psychiatrist we went up on my dose, then I suggested bringing it back down, and we both felt that it was helping my anxiety and my PMDD. SSRIs like Prozac are literally a first-line treatment for PMDD,[2] so if it's not touching those symptoms, that's a conversation worth having. We had part of that conversation, but once we went back down on the dose, the anxiety piece got left behind since it didn’t feel like it was as bad as when I was at the higher dose.

I can't say Prozac losing its magic is fully to blame for my lack of posting or my low energy these past couple of months. But I also can't say it's a coincidence. I hope I get some of my spark back, because I still get excited at the ideas I have and the things I want to draw and create products for.

Gracias, Prozac. This Isn't Goodbye Forever.

Here's something my new psychiatrist told me that you might not know, and if you do, consider this your reminder: stepping away from a medication doesn't mean you can never go back. People take breaks from Prozac, from Lexapro, from all of these, and return to them later, and they can work again.[3] For a minute I thought we were going to try Lexapro again, and I might someday. But for now, we're trying Zoloft.

Yes, Zoloft. The little bouncing egg from the commercial that I specifically remember watching on TV. I know it's an antidepressant, but like most mental health medications, they cross-treat. Sertraline is actually FDA-approved for panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, PTSD, and OCD on top of depression, and doctors prescribe it off-label for generalized anxiety all the time.[7] It's also approved for PMDD, same as Prozac was supposed to be doing for me.[8] So this isn't a random swap.

And to Prozac: thank you for the time you gave me. You got me through a lot, more than I'm probably aware of. This is a "see you later," not a funeral.

One thing my new therapist asked me (yes, new therapist too, it's been a whole reset) was whether I wanted to go without medication entirely. I said I would, but I am not in a position where I can just try herbal supplements, or go without stress, or handle my anxiety with coping mechanisms and diet restrictions alone. I know how my anxiety is untreated and it's not fun. For now we'll continue this way, until insurance decides we can try treatments like brain stimulation that reduce the need for medication. But they don't, because they want you to try medications first. Another healthcare and profit fight.

Day One

I want to be honest about the actual switch, because nobody tells you what these first days feel like.

I was told I could just stop the Prozac, no taper, so I did. That ended up being two days before the Zoloft was actually dispensed. I wasn't feeling particularly stressed at the time, so I wasn't worried about the gap, and it turns out the gap doesn't matter much anyway, because Prozac does not just leave when you stop taking it. Fluoxetine has one of the longest half-lives of any SSRI, and between it and its active metabolite (norfluoxetine), the drug can linger in your system for roughly five to six weeks after your last dose.[9] So I knew there would be overlap between the Prozac still hanging around and the new Zoloft coming in. My psychiatrist was not too worried about it, and that reassurance mattered.

Still, my body didn't love it. I had a headache at night, right before my first dose of Zoloft, so before I had even taken a single pill, and it parked itself there all night. Then day one arrived with the nausea. I ate breakfast, but the feeling was less "stomach pain" and more like a low, dull cramp, honestly a lot like the ache you get with your menstrual cycle, if that makes sense. It came and went all day. At one point I had to lie down and take a nap.

Today? So much better. If there's any nausea at all, it's way milder. I generally tolerate medications well, so it should be good from here on out. We hope. And to be clear, I'm doing every bit of this with my new psychiatrist's guidance.

I Insisted on a Latina Psychiatrist, and It Paid Off

I want to talk about this part because it matters. I did my research and I specifically requested a Latina psychiatrist. I usually let my doctors know what I need, but this time I went in with the ask already made, and let me tell you: she was great.

I felt listened to. I felt cared for. I felt like I could come back. She asked me a few questions, we reassessed, and she was genuinely happy that I came in instead of continuing to push through. That feeling is not in my head, by the way. Research shows that when patients and providers share racial or ethnic backgrounds, communication and patient experience improve.[4] For us, for our comunidad, being able to sit across from someone who gets it without explanation is not a luxury. It's care.

She also told me something that apparently a lot of people don't do, and I truly do not understand why: if the new medication isn't working, call the office. Don't wait for your next appointment. If it's making you feel worse, if it's making you more depressed, if something feels off, call. She will adjust the dosage. You should not have to suffer until next month because that's when your appointment is.[5]

I hear this all the time: "I don't see my doctor until next month, so I guess I'll just deal." No. That has never stopped me from reaching out to my provider, and it shouldn't stop you either. They work for you. Advocate for yourself like you'd advocate for your best friend, your sister, your mom.

Does This Stuff Even Work Differently for Us?

Of course I went looking for whether there's a medication that works better on women, on men, on Latinas specifically.

There is a decent amount of research suggesting women may respond a little better to SSRIs (the family Prozac and Zoloft belong to), while men have historically responded better to older antidepressants called tricyclics.[10] Some studies point to sertraline in particular showing strong results for women, especially younger, premenopausal women, possibly because our hormones interact with how these medications work.[11] It's not a hard rule, and plenty of studies find no difference at all,[12] so nobody can promise you anything based on your gender. But it did make me feel a little less random about landing on Zoloft.

Now for the part that frustrated me. When I looked for research on how antidepressants work specifically for Latinas, or Latinos in general? There's not much. A 2025 systematic review found that the studies used to build these medications, and the fancy new genetic tools meant to personalize them, massively overrepresent White and Asian participants and substantially underrepresent Black, Hispanic, and Latino people.[13] We are the largest minority in this country and we are barely in the data.

That matters because our bodies can process these medications differently, and there's real research showing many of us carry worries and stigma about antidepressants that go unaddressed by providers who don't share our background.[14] Which is exactly why I fought for a Latina psychiatrist in the first place. When the science hasn't shown up for you, the person sitting across from you matters that much more.

There Is No Cure, and We Actually Need Anxiety

Here's my honest truth: I don't take medication as a cure. I wish there was one. There isn't. Anxiety is not a glitch to be deleted. It's part of being human. It evolved to protect us, to keep us alert, to get us out of danger.[6] The goal was never to erase it. The goal is to turn the volume down enough that it stops running my life.

For the longest time, I really did think Prozac was kind of my cure, or the closest thing to it, and I have genuine appreciation for it. It wasn't. Nothing is. And weirdly, accepting that feels like its own kind of healing.

So here's to new chapters, little bouncing eggs, Latina psychiatrists who listen, and knowing the difference between surviving and living.

Healing, but make it cute. 💊🎀

P.S. In addition to my medication, I take a few supplements. In the reel I'm drinking a vitamin C drink from Trader Joe's, recommended by @thegutbabe_ in her "power of vitamin C" post. Her focus is on anxiety and using food to manage it, and she stresses it's not medical advice, that it's just what works for her. Same here. I'm trying it out and seeing if it does anything for my anxiety.

I also added creatine powder to my juice, hence the spoon, because it's gritty and kind of gross in plain water. I'm using it to help maintain muscle while I work out. Quick context on creatine since I looked it up: women store only about 70 to 80 percent of the creatine men do and tend to eat less of it in food, which is part of why it gets recommended for us.[15] Creatine monohydrate is the most researched form and has a decades-long safety record.[16] The evidence is strongest for muscle maintenance when you're also doing resistance training, though results in women are more mixed than in men.[17] Also apparently you should give it about two months before deciding if it's doing anything.[16] Ask your doctor. This is just what I'm trying, and I don't even know if I'll stick with it.

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This post is my personal experience, not medical advice. If you're thinking about starting, stopping, or changing a medication, please talk to your provider first. Never stop a psychiatric medication without medical guidance.

Sources

1. Targum, S. D. (2014). Identification and treatment of antidepressant tachyphylaxis. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 11(3–4), 24–28.

2. Marjoribanks, J., Brown, J., O'Brien, P. M. S., & Wyatt, K. (2013). Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for premenstrual syndrome. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 6.

3. Amsterdam, J. D., & Shults, J. (2009). Does tachyphylaxis occur after repeated antidepressant exposure in patients with Major Depressive Disorder? Journal of Affective Disorders, 113(3), 191–199.

4. Shen, M. J., Peterson, E. B., Costas-Muñiz, R., et al. (2018). The effects of race and racial concordance on patient-physician communication: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 5(1), 117–140.

5. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Managing your mental health medications: Communicating with your prescriber about side effects and effectiveness.

6. Nesse, R. M. (2019). Good Reasons for Bad Feelings: Insights from the Frontier of Evolutionary Psychiatry. Dutton.

7. Pfizer. Zoloft (sertraline hydrochloride) prescribing information, Indications and Usage. U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

8. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Sertraline approved indications, including premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

9. Eli Lilly and Company. Prozac (fluoxetine) prescribing information, Clinical Pharmacology: Accumulation and slow elimination. U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

10. Sramek, J. J., Murphy, M. F., & Cutler, N. R. (2016). Sex differences in the psychopharmacological treatment of depression. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 18(4), 447–457.

11. Kornstein, S. G., Schatzberg, A. F., Thase, M. E., et al. (2000). Gender differences in treatment response to sertraline versus imipramine in chronic depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(9), 1445–1452.

12. Thiels, C., Linden, M., Grieger, F., & Leonard, J. (2005). Gender differences in routine treatment of depressed outpatients with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor sertraline. International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 20(1), 1–7.

13. Jackson, D., et al. (2025). Quantifying sample representation in global pharmacogenomic studies of major depressive disorder: A systematic review. Clinical and Translational Science, 18(7).

14. Cabassa, L. J., Molina, G. B., & Baron, M. (2012). Depression fotonovela and Hispanic patient engagement in treatment. See also Unger, J. B., et al. (2013) on antidepressant stigma and early discontinuation among Latino patients.

15. Smith-Ryan, A. E., Cabre, H. E., Eckerson, J. M., & Candow, D. G. (2021). Creatine supplementation in women's health: A lifespan perspective. Nutrients, 13(3), 877.

16. Kreider, R. B., Kalman, D. S., Antonio, J., et al. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: Safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14, 18.

17. Candow, D. G., Chilibeck, P. D., & Forbes, S. C. (2019). Creatine supplementation and aging musculoskeletal health. Endocrine, 63(3), 431–441.