Zoloft

I want to get off Zoloft because I have gained so much weight but I'm afraid of the side effects. Has anyone ever tried to quit cold turkey?

no to cold turkey!!!!!!!!!!! zoloft was the first anti-dep i was put on.........many moons ago. it is one that is difficult to wean off. yes has some nasty s/e for some, me incl. i had to wean of it very slowly. it was the first that i have weaned of, and since then i have weaned of quite a few. it rates highly as a difficult wean (for me) thus i recommend you talk to your dr. about doing it safely. all the best, keep safe, jamie.

I remember when I started on Zoloft. The effect of the medication are not really noticeable until you are on it for at least one month. It made me clench my teeth a lot and it made me feel a little hazy and forgetful. I believe the benefits out way the cons. Good luck!

In 2008, I was diagnosed with an undefined "mood disorder" at age 24, and as a result, I was run through a slough of medications within the first year of treatment. I've since been treated as if I have "bipolar 2", and I've been stablilized with lamotrogine, topiramate, and clonazepam (as needed with clonazepam). I'm recently divorced, dealing with a bankruptcy, engaged to be married in 2012 (which is exciting!), but I'm dealing with some harassment issues at work because (I think) I'm the youngest person there (by at least 12 years at a minimum), so we felt it was a good idea to treat me for depression. Knowing how drugs have affected me in the past, I wanted to get some feedback anyway, so I'm not as concerned about weight GAIN as weight LOSS because weight GAIN seems to be a side effect in only 1% of those treated with the drug, where weight loss was common in 7% of those treated with Zoloft. Topiramate casued me to lose 50 pounds - that was fabulous. But, I intend to become a certified personal trainer and Jazzercise instructor within the coming months. :) I see MANY troubling complaints of weight issues on this forum, and therefore I have some definite concerns with this. Many of you have struggled and complained about wanting to "wean" off of Zoloft as well, and trying to come down from the medication has been difficult. Other input?

Post Edited (kayosphir) : 4/9/2011 12:55:58 PM (GMT-6)

I have been on Zoloft for nearly 3 months now and I cannot begin to explain the freedom I finally feel. Although I was a complete mess and felt worse than I had ever felt when I first started taking Zoloft, it was well worth it. I have not felt this way ever since I can remember first remembering. I struggled with severe anxiety my whole life that went undiagnosed until this year. My anxiety consisted mainly of obsessive thoughts I could not control, as hard as I tried. One thing I could not ever hide from were my thoughts. My main obsessions were things that bothered me; they would continuously run through my head, I couldn’t make them stop. It could be something as little as talking to a stranger and afterward feeling that maybe I came off rude or didn’t get my point across, I would think about why I said what I said and what I could have said differently. And that would run through my head all day, which made me more anxious, it was a vicious cycle. Or a fear of losing my family, friends, or boyfriend. I easily became jealous if I found something out about my boyfriends past, and that information would just run through my head obsessively. I know it sounds so silly, but this has been a lifelong struggle. It really took a toll on me this year when I finally crashed, mentally and physically, the obsessive thoughts became so severe that they destroyed my daily functioning; I stopped going to lecture, work, and quit leaving the house for any other reason, I became depressed. The thoughts shifted to guilt, it tore me into pieces, I thought I was going to lose it. When I began Zoloft I felt the lowest of the lowest, that I had ever felt, and trust me, I’ve had pretty bad anxiety. Not until the third or fourth week did I start feeling better, once my doctor increased my dosage and added a mood stabilizer. I also switched from xanax to klonopin because the xanax made me more depressed (which is common). I’m not promoting my combination of prescriptions, it is different for everybody. I just want to spread my story so that people don’t give up. We are blessed to live this day in age where have accessibility to medication so that we no longer have to suffer. Please don’t give up. I wanted to give up every day, I thought Zoloft was making me crazy, but I had a wonderful support system that kept reminding me of the light at the end of the dark tunnel. Today I still have thoughts, of course, but they are no longer fixations or obsessive, I can make myself stop, which is such a wonderful feeling. And I am no longer hypersensitive. I’m not anxiety free, but I finally feel at ease…something I never knew even existed.

mood stabilisers are helping me, well at least 1 is. jamie.

Thanks Lorgirl for your post with your experiences on zoloft. I lost wieght, but it gave me severe diahrrea. I can't spell that word for the life of me.

Take care, keep posting,

Hugs, Karen