Zoloft Withdrawal

Hi ODO,

I am so happy that you are having great sucess with 5htp and other supplements. That is fantastic. Though not all of us can do that, we are still very happy for you.

Keep posting and let us know how you are doing.

Hugs, Karen

Hi Teamsports,

I am a little confused with your post. Are you still taking the provigil and ephinephrin? Or is that why you take the nodoze? Let me know. It sounds like you are doing well other than the fatigue. I hope that this continues. I know how hard it is to be tired. I tried provigil but ended up with adderall.

I hope that you have a nice day.

Hugs, Karen

Hi Vee,

I just wanted to welcome you to the depression forum. We are here to help you and give you the best advice that we can. I will come back to this post. Have to run.

Hugs, Karen

Hi Momofsix,

Welcome to the HealingWell depression forum. I am so glad that you have joined us.

Withdrawals from antidepressants is hard. And some medications are worse than others. Zoloft sounds like it was a harder one to endure. I had bad side effects and couldn't tolerate taking it.

I hope that you have a wonderful day, keep posting. If you would like to start your own thread, feel free. We also have an introduction thread, I will make sure that it is near the top.

Hugs, Karen

momofsix said...
hi everyone...I must say that I have quit cold turkey after 4 months on Zoloft..50 miligrams. While on it, I had all the symptoms you speak of with withdrawal. Brain zaps, nausea,insomnia,terrible night sweats, pressure behind my eyes, crabby, dizzy, unbalanced, fatigued, extremely jittery so much that I started drinking alcohol excessively. I am also on klonipin, and that did absolutely nothing to help my anxiety. (prescribed at same time I started Zoloft) My anxiety increased by about 300% 2 weeks after taking zoloft. I have only been off of it for 3 days. I feel much better and more motivated. Zoloft made me feel more anxious and more depressed. I will take withdrawal...it seems to be the way I was feeling anyway!


thank you for the opportunity to vent

Momofsix, I have noticed the same thing! Granted I take 25mg and have for 10 months. Recently(two months) been feeling ALOT more tired, difficulty focusing(had it before Zoloft too). My sleep currently varies. It can be great and then terrible for a bit. I also noticed zaps at times, but not any the last few months.

I hate that janks! But yeah, I will see a dr on the 10th and then think about cutting down ASAP. Only problem is it will be very hard to deal with withdrawal during finals and graduation.

Thanks so much Karen. The main reason I'm holding back on cutting down is because I think I pretty much have anxiety much more than depression. Last year I freaked out during final, chest pains, more freaking out, and ended up in the ER. tons of body itching on and off before that , etc. which led to taking Zoloft.

I don't think I would go down that track but I don't want to try to get off Zoloft and then suddenly have to jump back on.

Hello, I am new to this forum. It looks like a nice place to be.

I have decided to try and get off zoloft. (I should say that I was prescribed zoloft (actually, the generic - sertraline) for panic disorder.) I've done this without advising my psychiatrist first. It's unfortunate, because I do like talking to him about my problems that led to my anxiety, but when it comes to the medication, he seems to go overboard. For example, he insisted in the beginning that while I may start off slowly, I would probably need to get up to 100-200 mg/day. He wanted me to start at 50, but I insisted on taking it slow because I had a very bad reaction trying to start with Lexapro (which I couldn't handle), and I didn't want to repeat that. I went from 12.5 (and I felt the effects - good and bad - of that almost immediately, even though everybody says it takes 2-3 weeks), to 25, to 50, to 75. I was feeling very bad on 75, and he seemed convinced that it was because I was still undermedicated. I talked to a doctor friend who also takes SSRIs for depression who said it sounds like I'm being overmedicated and suggested going back to 25 and seeing how that felt. I did that, and it worked very well for me (though I just let the doctor think I was taking 50, since he seemed to think that 25 was almost equivalent to placebo, not acknowledging my apparent sensitivity to SSRIs). Plus, when I've asked in the past about getting off eventually, he has said that it's going to be easy - sertraline is not physically addictive - just cut the dose in half for a week, then get off, though there might be some mild discomfort. For obvious reasons, I was very skeptical about that.

I've been on it at 25 mg/day for about 8 months, and I feel pretty good. The panic attacks have long-since subsided, I managed to get off of taking Ativan daily (which I had been doing prior to and for some time while taking the sertraline), I've gotten past the sexual side effects. But still, I don't feel quite like myself, the weight gain (and inability to lose that weight) has become a big issue - literally - even as I exercise more and more and eat better, I'm sleeping way too much and feel generally lethargic when I'm not exercising. I think I got past a pretty bad time, and I feel ready to come off of it.

I started this three days ago going to 12.5 mg/day, and the first day was easy, the second day I had some dizziness, and today I had considerably more dizziness. The only time I felt okay was when I was exercising and for a few hours after and soon after I took my 12.5 mg for the day (I take it at night). I'm thinking this is going to be very tough, but I'm determined to do it now instead of later.

I guess I have some questions:

1. is it unusual to get a new psychiatrist strictly for the purpose of getting off an SSRI?
2. what are some supplements that people have had success using in dealing with the side effects of withdrawal (specifically dizziness)? I've seen on this forum things mentioned like fish oils, Vitamin B complex, Vitamin A complex - just wondering what success people have had with these ...
3. what are some other things people do? Aerobic xercise seems to help me, but there's a limit on how much I can do, obviously. Has anybody tried yoga, meditation, anything else?
4. how quickly have people tapered off? I am not in a rush, mind you, but I would like to be past this. I was thinking of something like 12.5/day for about 2 weeks, then 12.5 every other day for about 2 weeks, then every third day for 2 weeks, then off.
5. are there any success stories from people out there who had a lot of trouble but saw it through and are no longer feeling bad from not taking zoloft? It would be nice to hear. I'm really expecting this to be tough, so I would very much appreciate hearing about those.

Sorry for the super-long message. I'll keep them shorter in the future. Thank you very much.

Hey everybody. I'm a 20 year old college student and I just stopped taking zoloft a week ago. I stopped after tapering down to 50 mg. So far I'm having awful side effects, including irritability, nausea, headaches, dizziness, and the little electrical jolts when I move my eyes too quickly. If anyone has advice on how to handle these side effects, please share! Any tips will be greatly appreciated.

I'm usually on the Fibro Forum but just thought I'd add my two cents...No SSRI's ever ever again for me.  I am in week six of Lexapro withdrawal and I'll take the anxiety/depression any day over this nightmarish Hell.  My doctor?  Had no clue about the symptoms I was describing.  Brain zaps..swishing senstions in my head and jolts when I blink my eyes.  His response was that SSRI's are a lifetime committment.  When one stops working, you have to either up the dosage or go on another one.  I decided to go off because ...well...I was an emotionless drone but I guess that's the point.  But the main reason was because my eyes were blurred since the first pill I took.  I haven't been able to read a book or a newspaper for two years.  I kept going to the eye doctor for a new prescription and he finally told me not to come back for new glasses until I had been off this drug for a year...as it can do damage to the muscle that controls focus.

I am very upset that most doctors are clueless when it comes to withdrawals.  "Ten mgs is such a small dosage you shouldn't have any withdrawal symptoms."  That's what I got told.

There is an SSRI withdrawal forum that has 1.5 milliion members.  So any doctor that says withdrawals are rare doesn't know what he/she is talking about.

Of course, this is just my experience and everyone is different and I know these drugs are lifesavers for so many people.  Just get all the info you can before starting them.

Okay...that's my rant for the day...ZAP!

Donna

 

This is a great forum.  I went on vacation about a week ago and forgot to pack my zoloft.  I have been on 100 mgs of zoloft daily for about 10 years.  Instead of calling in to get a carry-over prescription while on vacation, I decided to see what would happen if I just stopped cold turkey -- with the goal of quitting forever.    I have been having eye zaps, a little dizziness, and very vivid dreams.  That's it.  I exercise about 5 days a week, and I feel much better after about 45 minutes of cardio, stretching, and other exercises.  Actually, today is my worst withdrawal day since I last took the zoloft a week ago and I did not exercise yesterday, and have not yet been to the gym today.  I've had quite a few more eye zaps, and I had a very restless night with extremely wild dreams.   Because my mood still seems to be stable, I prefer to stay completely off the med.  How long should I expect to have the zaps, dizziness, and crazy dreams?  Also, does an omega-3 fatty acid fish oil supplement help minimize the withdrawal effects?

Thanks!

Benden 

I too zoloft for 9 years and was tired of taking it, it really didnt work anymore anyway. When i statred taking i really neededi t but not anymore. I feel good since i stopped last july cold turkey. not recommended to anyone. I just want to say for me the first 3 months were horrible headaches , brain zaps, nausea , achey muscles, confusion and slowly it all went away and things have gotten clearer. still though after 9 months i get little a little withdrawal symptoms then it goes away. I t really does , I never thought I could get off of it cause i tried before but I finally got so fed up with it I just stopped. And allI know from it is that it can be done its just very very difficult and not fun at all and I felt like a crazy zombie for a bit of time. but it went away. I was addicted to drugs and alcohol and I swear it was easier to come off then zoloft . I found exercise helped and finding a hobby you need to concentrate on worked too. I just hope everyone who wants to get off it can find the strength to do so and be happy without it , it is a powerful drug and i personally think its a nastty drug and after an extended time in me it did nothing anymore but make me not want to do too much, which was the reason I stated taking it to begin with.I eventually got more depressed and anti socoal on the drug then off. My life is slowly going back to before the drug and everyone else 's can to. good luck to anyone trying ot get off it , patience and strength will help you.,

when i first tried getting off of my 200 mg/day dose of zoloft (after being on it for three years), i'd never felt so AWFUL in my life. i followed internet instructions of dropping my dose by 25 mg every two weeks. obviously, this didn't work. i thought trying to wean myself off was futile, and that i would have to take it for the rest of my life. WRONG! it takes almost TWO YEARS to ween yourself off of a 200 mg/day dose (or at least it did for me). though it's not something that can be done in a matter of months, be encouraged by knowing that it can be done!!! (it just takes longer than you think).

thanks, karen. i just think, after having been through the worst with getting off of zoloft, that it's important to let others know that it can be done. in order for others to not feel discouraged or trapped (like i did), it's important for them to know that even thought it can't be done in weeks or months, it can be done in 1 - 2 years! you will be off of it if you want to be. you're not dependent on it for life, as you may be currently thinking you will be after your first time trying to get off of it. DO IT SLOWLY! it's the easiest way for your body.