problems after zoloft withdrawal

 hi all, i need a little help. i stopped zoloft on the 28th of august, only taking 25 mg for 4 months, so i thouhgt it would be a breeze. well ait was no breeze and i thought i was out of the woods, but i have svertigo a bit and am feeling very exhausted and aching all over, has anyone got any info if this is normal? i am a bit concerned. i feel like i am 80 years old. do i just need to get back on the stuff so i can feel better?  anyone out there relate?  thanks, dreamy

Hi Dreamy,

Big hugs to you -- this sounds very *not nice*. Also sounds like what I've heard people say about withdrawal symptoms from this stuff. With so many possible meds out there, it always amazes me that docs go for meds that have a history of bad withdrawal and other side effects before trying different routes. Humpf! Have you talked to your doc about this? There may be something he/she can put you on that will help with withdrawal short term. I've read someone posting about a drug that helped hugely and was non-addictive ... but, darn it, I forgot to make a note of the name ... Anyone out there remember?

Rosie x

I have been told that you should not take SSRI's every other day because of the half life. Don't get me wrong I am no doctor and it is only hear-say info I have gotten off another forum for people trying to wean from SSRI's I am 5yrs on Paxil and have failed at weaning 3x. I wish my doc had suggested Prozac to help wean with it being a less strong SSRI, I bet it does work. Thanks for the info Jan.

Hi Mamasad,

Welcome to HW! -- I hope you find lots of help here, as I have done.

I'm so sorry you feel this bad. I don't know how long you'd been on the zoloft, but if you'd left it more than a month and the feelings you were having were still bad, I'd say maybe this was not the right med for you. I hope you *will* think about trying a different one: as you say, the feelings you are having at present and your attempts to smile and pretend are wearing you out -- IMO you need to find something to help.

It sounds like, with this being linked I'm guessing to your daughter's death, you could really do with some therapy to help you. I would also say that the shock of what happened may have changed your bodies chemicals a bit to trigger the depression. That's where anti-depressants can really help: when they are the right ones *for you*, they don't take away your humanness or change *you*, but they do help correct that chemical imbalance that is present. At the moment you're looking at it as you don't want to have to take a pill to feel happy: the other way of looking at it is that the shock and depression you are suffering from are *stopping* you from being happy, or indeed experiencing any other real emotion -- except lethargy and sadness. To me, it's *depression* that takes away "us", rather than the meds (they help restore "us" to ourselves). It's also a good idea to be on anti-depressants if you're starting therapy because *a lot* of stuff will have to come to the surface and be dealt with: you need your personal coping ability to be as normal as possible for that. -- Again, a-ds rebalance us and get us coping normally again, rather than in a kind of constant panic mode that comes with depression and a-p.

Taking a-ds is not cheating, I believe: it's taking responsibility and taking control -- rather than letting the depression and a-p control you.

I am so sorry about your daughter's death Mamasad. That's a terrible thing for you to have gone through. I do believe, though, that your daughter would not want you to be so removed from life and the myriad of emotions that are rightfully yours. Finding a way to move out of the depression is not betraying her memory. Indeed, her death makes so much less sense than it already does if we don't connect with the life that we have. If we don't and all we want is to pass from it, then in a sense there's no reason to mourn her anymore because we're saying that things are better if people die. Depression brings with it a mass of contradictions...

Big hugs to you (((Mamasad)))

Rosie x

Dreamgirl hoping you are doing Better
Lyn

Hi.

With these types of drugs there's likely to be a drug withdrawal thing haoppening there.The symptoms will vary from one person to the next.There are support groups on yahoogroups so consider joining a few.There are forums too just google it.Its important to know what the symptoms are so if you experience any you can be reassured its withdrawal and not a new disorder.

i was on zoloft for around 3years. it saved my sanity in a time when my life was totally insane. I decided to go off of it because life was getting back to normal and i felt i didn't need it. Also, I wasn't really feeling any normal emotional responses to anything. I went off it on my own, had major panic attacks, never had one before. I went to my doctor and he gave a good talking to, for doing it cold turkey. He reduced my dose gradually and weaned me off. I don't know about everyone else, but for me that was the answer to the problem of stopping zoloft.