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weaning off Zoloft

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Posted 3/19/2008 8:26 PM (GMT 0)
 Hi, I'm new to this site. I'm hoping for some helpful info. I have been on Zoloft for 10 yrs. It helped the anxiety but I did not feel " there " Also gained alota weight { 50 pnds } So I quit! I finally had my doc reduce my dose to 25mg, took it for 3 mnths and now as of 3days ago I'm no longer taking them. I want to lose weight !! I'll work on that I know I can. At least that is not as frightening as a panic attack ! So my point is.. has anyone successfully weaned off and not had any really bad side effects due to not taking the meds? :-)
Posted 3/19/2008 11:35 PM (GMT 0)

Flowers2

Welcome to HealingWell and the A & P Forum.  I am so glad you have joined us.
I hope you do well of the Zoloft.  I am on an AD and my Dr. feels I will crash if I go off so I am afraid to try.  I am sure there are members here that will have answers for you.

Again welcome to the best site on the net.
Hugs
Kitt

Posted 3/20/2008 6:30 AM (GMT 0)
Thank-You Kitt. I hope hear from you again as well as others.
~F
Posted 3/20/2008 10:27 AM (GMT 0)
The psych I was seeing at the time took me off200mgs of zoloft after 12yrs in 2 days. If done correctly you should experience only minor problems and your psych can offer you some valium etc for the short term.
Posted 3/20/2008 11:09 AM (GMT 0)

Hey flowers,

Good Morning. I have to ask Aussie, taking you off in 2 days seems extreme in my mind, did you have any side effects.  That is almost going cold turkey off a med you have been on for a long time.

I am like flowers, it is scary for me too.

Thanks for the help.

Kitt

Posted 3/20/2008 12:25 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to you Flowers glad to have you join our family here
Plenty of luv caring and support here
get to know your moderators and members of the family k
Keep posting and stay with us
I would think if done over a period of time it should be okay I am really shocked about Aussie's 2 day cut off..........Luvs........LYN




Like Kitt Aussie 2 days OMG I would have been worried about all kinds of reactions.....you had no ill effects whatsover......and the valium helps does it??

Interested my friend..Luvs......LYN
Posted 3/20/2008 7:18 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Flowers,   First off, welcome to the Healing Well family - you have found a great place to be; we are a family here and you will find the members to be helpful, supportive and judgement free.   Up until about 2 years ago, I was taking Zoloft and when the doc and I decided to take me off it, I was gradually weaned off and didn't have any adverse effects.  about a  year later I started taking another antidepressant because of becoming depressed again.  But during the year that I wasn't on anything, I didn't have any problems.  Hope this helps.   Please keep posting to let us know how you are doing.  Like I said before this is a great place to come for help and support.   Aussie, I have to go along with Kitt and Lyn on this one by saying how shocked I was when I read that your doctor weaned you off the Zoloft in just two days.  Wow!  It seems it went okay for you?  Just curious.   Wen
Posted 3/21/2008 4:24 AM (GMT 0)
 WOW!! I was only on 25mg of Zoloft when I quit and I have been feeling lightheaded at times, I also get a "zappy" feeling behind my eyes. It is tolerable though and I'm sure it will subside. When I was on a higher dose {never more than 100 } If I ran out and missed a few days the zapping and lightheadedness , more severe, was freaky enough to get me to the drugmart. I have been diagnosed or suspected of my anxiety disorder being hereditary. My mom and some other family members also "live" with this issue also. And I have a 16yr old son that with the onset of puberty came his anxiety and panic attacks.They are manageable at this time. All my knowledge and experience has been a big help with how he copes. So I don't know if being off the meds will be long term, but I would like to see how I fair. I grew up with this, it was always a part of me. Not too bad though. The birth of my son 16yrs ago triggered my first bout, so I was treated with paxil, short term. The birth of my daughter brought it all back ten fold. I was put on Zoloft, and it's been 10yrs. I've stayed on for so long out of fear. But I've been thinking maybe just maybe it was all the post partum hormones and what not, that made it so severe. So here I am today giving it a try...I just want to see what it's like, my dose was pretty low so maybe I'll be able to cope off it for awhile. Sorry for rambling, thanks for listening. Hope to hear from you all soon. ~Flowers2
Posted 3/21/2008 11:49 AM (GMT 0)
I was a complete mess Kitt, physically I had seizures, couldn't walk straight, couldn't see. It was meant to be an example of how not to withdraw. Mentally it hit me 3 weeks into it. A slow controlled withdrawal should allow you a relatively free of side effects withdrawal.
Posted 3/21/2008 4:35 PM (GMT 0)
Aussie.. how are things now? how long have you been off? I cold turkeyed the 25mg, It has been close to a week and things seem good. I hope to not get hit with a bang as you did. Why did you go off? Are you atking something else? I hope things are good for you. Talk to you soon.~Flowers
Posted 3/21/2008 11:09 PM (GMT 0)
Flowers
I too believe my anxiety and Panic is from my grandma / and to me
My daughter is already showing signs of severe anxity ......she has gone thru so much watching me be sick her bio dad pass away my mom and now her Poppa si literally dying of cancer.....As well I have been very sick thru her life and this has I am sure contributed

How are you feeling today BTW

Keep us posted plz.......LYN
Posted 3/22/2008 12:25 AM (GMT 0)
Today I feel good, I don't want to look for signs of anxiety returning cause the more I look, or as I like to explain what I do as over-analyzing every feeling , or emotion , or physical symptom till finally I have myself believing that there is something wrong with me and then the anxiety starts. While I was on Zoloft I was safe. Now I just want to "feel" again without getting caught up in it and scaring myself. I think the meds sorta dulled everything, not just the anxiety, but everything. Thats what caused me to decide to go off the meds. I feel liberated but cautious. I'll keep you all posted. ~Flowers
Posted 3/22/2008 3:02 AM (GMT 0)
I'm actually back on zoloft, they're trying all sorts of augumenting drugs first.
Posted 3/22/2008 4:43 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Lyn, how old is your daughter? Is she on any medication? My doc wanted to prescribe to my son, but I was worried about the side effects [ warnings/suicide ] so I tried my darn hardest to work with him thru the rough patch and things calmed done. Still has days when he "frets" about things but he and I talk about the rationality of what is worrying him at the time and it helps. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the meds. I just know this disorder is always going to be a part of his life. The longer he can use coping mechanisms without the meds the better. ttyl~Flowers :-)
Posted 3/22/2008 1:15 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Flowers,nice to meet you! My anxiety started back in 1996 after the death of my grandmother but i think it has always been there, looking back to when i was a child. My mother also has it so i think mines is heridetery too.I was on zoloft for about 5 years until about a month ago when i started on celexa.My doc took me right off the zoloft and started me directly on the celexa the next day.I was worried about that but i trusted that she knew what she was doing. I really didn't have any side effects and i feel that i'm doing really well on the Celexa.But last week i had an mental emotional break down,i literally fell into a deep dark hole for a few days.Then all of a sudden i started feeling much better again.I dont know if the onset of depression had any thing to do with coming off the Zoloft but i do feel better now.I dont think it did because i've been off the Zoloft for a little over a month now.But i really felt sucidal for a few days! I hope you have good results form coming off your meds.I think if you remain positive everything will work out!
Posted 3/22/2008 3:31 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks...I'm glad you're doing better too. I do my best to stay positive. It's weird though cause I never really considered myself depressed. That doesn't mean that I wasn't, I just think depressed means sad. And I didn't feel sad. Also because I was on zoloft for 10 yrs , I've been panic attack free. So I almost feel that I don't have it anymore. No...don't worry. I'm not that naive. It just feels so distant. And I do expect something will come back. But I'll be here ready to fight! Thanks so much for everyone sharing their stories. I feel a connection to you all and I know what you're all going thru [ some what anyway ] I have to run now, on my way to work. By the way I work at a scrapbook store, it's great. And it's not so much work because i enjoy it so much. Take care you all~Flowers
Posted 12/11/2012 1:51 PM (GMT 0)
I've been completely off Zoloft for 7 days now. After weaning myself off, slower then the Dr. said to. I took it for 3 years, and didn't feel better. Still had depression & anxiety. Nothing has ever worked for me, except Prozac, way back, 15 years ago. But, I took it for so long, it didn't help anymore.
Anyway, I was afraid to go off the Zoloft. Afraid of the withdrawal. I feel 100% awful! Besides the dang brain tremors, headaches, shakiness, brain zaps, & other physical junk. I feel so angry, irritable, & sad, all at the same time! I have *itched & swore, more in the past few days, then I have in a year! Everything irritates me to the highest degree! (Even typing this, I keep getting very mad, when I misspell a word, & have to correct it!) I have started crying over little things, also. Things that I normally wouldn't feel affected by.
I even posted on FB, about how I'm feeling coming off this "medication". And, that I have chronic depression/anxiety. My secret is out. But, I feel like I don't care what they all think! (Not like me, at all). I'm also going through pre-menopause. So, between the two things, I feel like I'm going crazy! I don't know which symptom, is from what?!
What really ticks me off...is how Dr's want to just keep pushing "drugs". They don't tell you how bad it'll be coming off. Mine insisted there wouldn't be much for withdrawals. Which I disagreed with, to her. She didn't understand why I would want to be drug free, for the first time in 20 years. Well, like I told her. How will I know how I really feel as a human being, if I don't get off the stuff, & actually see how I am, for real?!? I have been prescribed a lot of different ones through the years. I do my own research. If it didn't look like a good fit for me. I wouldn't fill it. Dr's, WAY too often, push things onto people, w/o really caring who you are, & what health issues you may have, that the medication may worsen. I have tachycardia, & IBS...among other things. And, have been prescribed drugs that have a high risk of causing those things. They (Drug Doctors) treat people like a number... not a individual human being.
My particular drug Dr., never even asked, or cared about my personal life. In 3 years, she never asked why I was so depressed! Not even after I told her, I have a very high stress life, because of the people (family) in it. Not one, word form her, as to why?!? This is not okay. Drugs, or medication... as some call it. Should be taken (figuratively/literally) very seriously. Not handed out like candy! And, the why's to a persons anxiety/depression...be it hormonal, genetics, or environmental...or all. Should be considered a great deal, in my opinion.

Thanks for having a place to vent about this issue. ~ Conbo
Posted 12/11/2012 4:07 PM (GMT 0)
I sure am hoping this Forum can help me find the peace of mind I need.  I have been on Zoloft for over 10 years, and am realizing I think I would rather be off of it and know that I am the one in charge of my life.  Too many times I have expressed the feeling that I am not 100% in charge of my life and my emotions.  Any input on how to begin the process of getting off 100mg a day is going to be invaluable to me!!  Substitute foods, how to get a certain mindset, anything will be appreciated!

Thanks for caring, Nej

Posted 12/11/2012 4:51 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Conbo and Nej and welcome!

I am glad that you have joined us here.:) I am sure that you will find the support and caring that you are seeking, among the wonderful members that we have in this community!

This is a good place for information, sharing...or yes, just venting and getting some feelings out in the open.:)

You have tagged onto an old thread...so if I may suggest that you start a new thread of your own (Post New Topic icon to the left) then more people can recognize you as new and welcome you.

Nej...here is a link that is helpful in giving direction regarding the weaning process of A/D medications. I hope that this is helpful.

http://www.theroadback.org/

Keep posting with us:)

Scaredy Cat

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