Anxiety: New to medication & a bit worried!

[atourthroats]

Hello!

TLDR: Recently started our pup on fluoxetine for SA, after ~6 months of specializesd training. Worried about the changes (sleeping more, generally more chill, “more submissive?” Loss of appetite, change in his poop schedule) is it the meds, side effects, or just me being hyper-anxious after dealing w his SA & monitoring him so closely? When do I check w vet?

New to posting here but long time lurker & have learned a lot from this community!

Long story short, our dog (5yr goldendoodle, ~45lbs) developed SA after we moved & after us being home a lot during the pandemic. He is otherwise a super healthy, happy, friendly, goofy & eager to please dood. He is my whole heart, and I want to do everything I can for him for have the best life. We have been working w a CSAT trainer rigorously for 6 months, and are continueing with prescribed training. Went from him escalating & panicing if we touched keys or did other departure cues, & fully suspending absences to being able to be left alone fof ~2-3/3.5 hrs. For longer absences he would not be super settled, would be hyper alert, and sometimes fixate on the door at the end of it and be very, very excited when we got home. Vet recommended trying low dose Fluoxetine (20mg 1x capsule per day.) I was super nervous at first, but did research, talked to trainer, talked to friends, and decided to give it a try. We started him on it 2 weeks ago. He has had zero “major” side effects but last week was pickier / skips a few meals, which we expected. Coercing him to eat w mealtoppers he loves. He also has a history of soemtimes being picky, so this wasnt super alarming. What is worrying me are changes I’ve noticed this week: he takes longer to poop/ seems pickier about when and where, poops less in general, when he used to be a “first thing in the AM massive dump shitter.” He also seems more subdued, or submissive-like head lowered, less “big” tail wagging, less “HIGH ON LIFE” energy when it’s tome for a run or walk. He also dawdles a bit more on walks now. However, the amazing thing: we have done multiple 4-4.5hr absences this week & he chose to go get cozy on our bed, in his crate, or on the couch; and slept the whole time, or would sniff around door / look out window and go back to sleep. He doesnt even let out barks when he hears us get home, just happy squeals.

I am trying not to worry or overanalyze, but I am worried about this new “slowed down version” of our dog. Looking for others’ experiences, what to expect, and fully understand the meds have another 6weeks to fully “load”. Thanks for listening!

 

[mlprice]

@atourthroats It is not uncommon to see temporary sedation, reduced appetite, and bowel movement changes in the first few weeks (for my dog it has always lasted four weeks and starts over if you have to do a dosage increase). These side effects usually go away, although some dogs keep having low appetite. If the inappetance is enough to become an issue, sometimes a different medication can be a better fit. You could also see increased anxiety in the first few weeks, that might be the being more submissive you are seeing.

 

[atourthroats]

@mlprice Thank you, good to know it’s normal! In general he isn’t displaying super anxious behaviour, but its like his normally goofy super excitable energy has muted / calmed down more. Maybe a good thing? Our trainer did mention that his super energetic personality could also be his anxiety/ being easily stimulated.

 

[ciccio]

@atourthroats Id say eating less and not pooping as much/as urgently are probably directly related and not separate symptoms. my dog had the appetite and slight sedation symptoms for the first week or so on fluoxetine and they eventually completely went away! psychotropic medications pretty much all require you get up to a certain stable level in your blood before your body adjusts and you start seeing results, and for most of them that takes 4-6 weeks. I’d give it more time, but if you’re past the six week mark and still concerned, check back in with the vet. There’s other anxiety meds you can try and it’s possible this just isn’t the perfect one for him, but in my experience with a dog on fluoxetine this is just the adjustment phase!

 

[bushido8000]

@atourthroats My dog experienced some temporary sedation in the first couple of weeks of being on fluoxetine, which resolved, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Also, with your pup eating less, a change in his bowel habits would not be unexpected.

The other thing to keep in mind is what the fluoxetine is doing (if/when it's working), which is reducing anxiety. In your case, it may still be too early for this to be part of the equation (it can take 6-8 weeks to see an effect from fluoxetine), but it is possible to mistake a reduction in anxiety for the medication having unwanted effects like sedating or subduing the dog. I say this because this is exactly what happened to me. I was concerned that the fluoxetine was causing my dog to be "down." But after some time I came to realize that wasn't it - he just wasn't as anxious anymore. He was no longer always checking out his surroundings and always on alert. He was actually feeling some peace. He still loved and had the same level of enthusiasm for the things he enjoyed doing like going swimming, going to nose work class, etc., but as far as day to day life was concerned, he was much calmer and more peaceful. I had gotten so used to him being a giant ball of anxiety and always on alert, etc. that in my mind that was what I regarded as "normal." So when he shifted away from that, I thought he was "down." It took me a while to reorient my viewpoint and understand that the meds actually got him closer to "normal," whereas before that his behavior was a product of high anxiety. After I realized what was really happening, I could see that while there was some temporary sedation early on, what followed was the meds doing exactly what they were meant to do. And at this point, there is no way I'd want to go back to that old version of him - and I'm quite certain he doesn't want that either.

Anxiety manifests in different ways in different dogs, so each dog may show different changes. What you saw as him being "high on life" or whatnot, may simply have been (in part) an outward display of anxiety, and once you take that anxiety away, he is more comfortable to just simply have a nice leisurely ("dawdling") walk. I'm not saying that is what is happening here, just that it is a possibility.

 

[atourthroats]

@bushido8000 This! Thank you!!! I feel like I got so used to being hyper-aware of him / all his idiosyncracies because the nature of SA training (and any anxiety or reactivity training really) requires such a high level of attention from the handler, so I feel like it almost triggers my own anxieties about him being okay / normal, and makes it harder reorient my view. Our trainer said this exact thing today too, and its so nice to hear others experience it as well. He is just more relaxed when we do his absence training now, behaves like other, non-SA dogs I’ve had in the past.