Posted 12/29/2014 4:08 PM (GMT 0)
I'm a 49 year old male and have been on Zoloft for a major depressive disorder and anxiety since 2005. After I recovered I felt good for those 10 years but as my drinking increased my Zoloft gradually climbed to 100 mg / day during the last year. I also took Klonopin .5 mg / day from 2005 - 2010. The dreams I had while getting off that I would never want to repeat.
For some that might not seem like a large dosage for Zoloft but for me it was since I'm very sensitive to drugs and in fact had to do a stint in the psych ward in 2005 after Lexapro made me suicidal.
Looking back I should have taken a much more active role in my medication. Once I got through the early rough patches I just kind of let things ride on auto pilot for years. I probably didn't need to be on the meds for anything close to the length of time I was on them.
I decided to take the steps to taper off after I quit drinking. I didn't drink a drop for 10 years from 1997 through early 2008. Following that I've basically been on a six year bender until November 10 of this year. I wasn't always drinking huge amounts but enough on just about a daily basis to get more than drunk everytime I drank. I think once my Klonopin crutch wasn't there alcohol increased it's role as my relaxing drug of choice.
As I stopped drinking the alcohol withdrawal symptoms hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn't have DT's thank goodness but had all the other symptoms, plus with my liver finally getting a break the Zoloft was getting metabolized more efficiently and I was having symptoms of serotonin overload! I almost immediately dropped 15 pounds which is scary for me since I'm already pretty trim at 6' 155 lbs.
Once the alcohol withdrawal symptoms subsided I have made a commitment to also get off the Zoloft. My pill dispenser, er...my psychiatrist said I would start the taper at 50 mg and then follow The Road Back schedule for that dosage which I am doing.
Things I can't stress enough in this process:
- Eat a good consistent balanced diet
- Don't hesitate to resort to Benadryl to sleep early in the process
- Absolutely take Omega 3, Vitamin D (and E), lots of B Complex
- Drink lots of water because you'll be sweating a ton
- Take it a day at a time, DO NOT try to jump ahead and go too fast
- Get out as much as you can and socialize, tell people what you're going through
- Get a 10,000 lux light box and use it everyday
- Avoid alcohol as much as possible
- Exercise with variety: walking, weights, yoga
This is a double experience in reality for me. No dullness from the Zoloft and also none from the alcohol. I'm interested to see and feel the person I'll become out of this process. I've really forgotten and maybe never knew what that person is really like.
I started drinking and doing drugs at a pretty early age. I don't think I've ever had an extended period after the age of 15 or so when I wasn't drinking, smoking pot, etc. And from 1997 through 2005 when I wasn't drinking I was so crippled by depression, panic and anxiety I wasn't me either!
I'm just trying to take it a day at a time. Early in the process you'll feel like you wake up a different person every day and will change personalities during the day itself! But just know that band of experience does narrow and you'll begin to see the core of who you are...the real you.
Hang in there.