I am a 22F and I have social anxiety. I was taking a very low dose of Klonopin when I felt panic in social situations, typically at work. I switched doctors recently and my new doctor said that Klonopin increases my chances of Alzheimer’s by 60% so my doctor prescribed me Fluoxetine. 

I’m more of a “take as needed” kind of medication person. I hate taking medication everyday incase I forget or go on vacation and forget to pack my meds, I don’t want to be so reliant on a medication like that. I even went to the doctors aiming to get off my birth control because of this reason, but instead the doctor put me on another pill. 

I’ve been reading the past threads regarding Fluoxetine here and it’s really scary to me. It sounds like it’s going to get better before getting worse and I’m wondering if I should just work with the mental state I have right now. 

My anxiety is not chronic nor debilitating. It is only triggered when there’s a group of people in a room or I’m talking to my manager (people in power intimidate me). In these situations I constantly think about how to escape the situation. My heart rate goes up and I start sweating (triggers my hyperhidrosis). If I manage to escape, I sit in the bathroom and think about how I have to go back to that situation. If I don’t escape, I stand there completely out of it with thoughts racing through my head of what others are probably thinking. That’s when it can get debilitating, but only occasionally. 

I liked Klonopin because it completely quieted the racing thoughts and made me feel like “what’s the worse that could happen right now?” Will Fluoxetine work like this? Does anyone have advice on what I should do?