Can you get high on fluoxetine?

Fluoxetine (Prozac), has no abuse potential according to the FDA - although there are some cases in which patients have experienced withdrawal effects when stopping taking this drug. Fluoxetine is an SSRI and acts to inhibit (slow) the consumption of serotonin, giving way for higher levels of serotonin to accumulate between the synapse.


According to Peter Breggin in his 1991 book Toxic Psychiatry, people who take Fluoxetine exhibit symptoms that show Fluoxetine's stimulant activity in the brain. From my personal experience with this drug, I agree that in high doses, Fluoxetine is a powerful stimulant.


Many psychiatrists will testify that SSRI drugs perform with no risk for abuse. Though it must be indicated: how is abuse defined? In the usual test trails, the behavior of rats given Fluoxetine are monitored against controls to determine if the dopaminergic reward system is sufficiently activated for the drug to be deemed 'reinforcing' or carrying a risk factor for dependence.


Don't let anyone tell you that just because a drug doesn't increase levels of dopamine that it has a low abuse potential. Psilocybin and dimethyltryptamine do not increase dopamine levels in a rats brain, they increase serotonin, yet these two drugs can get you very high. However they do not produce dopaminergic reinforcement or psychological dependence.


So, though a drug may not be addictive, it might still have abuse potential.


I define abuse potential as the factor by which a drug can be used for recreational purposes.


If you slow the consumption of serotonin without slowing the production of serotonin you are effectively increasing the levels of serotonin in your brain. Serotonin works in your brain to regulate your sensory perception and emotional interpretation of events. This is why doctors prescribe it: if you take it, you will be happier because theoretically the levels of serotonin have artificially risen to a level that your brain (or your doctor) considers 'healthy'.


In regularly prescribed doses, Fluoxetine has a very slight mood altering effect that is hardly noticed. This effect is different for all people because nobody's brain chemistry is identical. Your brain produces and consumes serotonin very differently from your neighbor.


If we define 'high' as "an alteration of mood or perception", then by definition, Fluoxetine gets you high.


In addition, in anecdotal reports: recreationally high doses of Fluoxetine (approximating 300-600mg per day for one week) induces a vivid, euphoric mania. This 'high' was not immediate, but took several days for the drug to build up in the blood stream. It caused noticeable pupil dilation, tremors, nausea, insomnia, and in very high doses euphoria/dysphoria , mania, and even temporary psychosis.


You might feel good. You might feel bad. You probably won't do it again. Yet, I would have to say yes to your question: Fluoxetine gets you high.