I am not seeking medical advice, but personal experiences
So I decided a few weeks ago to wean off Zoloft (Sertraline) and did so under my doctor’s direction. I had taken it for depression for a little over two years and it felt like time to try life without it. A few days ago I took my last dose.
I feel a little foggy in the mental department, but not depressed,e tc. However, I feel really crappy physically: flu-like malaise; headache; tiredness; and my freakin’ joints are killing me, especially my knees and ankles. Motrin/Aleve ain’t helping much, either.
Awhile back, my doctor let me try to cut my dose in half. I had no physical symptoms, but after a few weeks both my family and co-workers told me I had drifted back into my old dark mood. I didn’t notice anything different, but everyone around me did.
I tried Zoloft and the entire time I was on it, I felt as if I had just been hit in the face with a shovel. I was in a constant state of stun. And one memorable night, I accidentally took a double dose and woke up during the night to discover that the entire world had turned a vibrant shade of bright yellow. Very cheerful.
I had no difficulty coming off of Zoloft. I quit cold turkey and never had any side effects. However, when I started Zoloft, I had the most unpleasant fever-dreams. For example, I dreamed that I was hovering over my own sleeping face and spent the entire night slowly dropping down to land on my face and then lifting off again, like a hesitant lunar lander.
So in answer to your question, no, I had no unpleasant effects when quitting.
Wean slower. I know somebody who weaned off a different antidepressant over two weeks and a week later commented that she had gone off of it, after complaining about feeling totally crappy. And her doc had told her to do it over two weeks. She ended up back on it for unrelated reasons but but was happy to figure out why she’d felt like crap. Apparently the doc, who is otherwise good, had gotten her info straight from the drug company. :rolleyes:
I took something like at least a month to get off of Lexapro and had no real problems with it, though I did notice afterwards how much it had muted both my highs and lows (note, not bipolar ones, just regular emotional ones) – which had been quite helpful at the time but seems a bit weird now. But I’ve been fine since, and had no problems with withdrawal.
I’ve tried to wean myself off of it several times, but my wife claims I act like a complete prick, so I always come back.
The only odd withdrawl symtom I’ve ever experienced was this weird, intermittant, vertigo-like thing; everytime I’d close my eyes for a second or two, I’d get this sensation like I was being tipped over backward in my chair.
Another one chiming in for weaning slower. I was on Zoloft for two years and then weaned myself off it during four weeks, and that was horrible. I felt confused, my head was fuzzy and I had constant vertigo. During a previous treatment with Zoloft the weaning period was eight weeks, and I had barely any withdrawal symptoms at all.
Four weeks is a very short time to wean yourself off something you’ve been taking for so long. The brain needs time to adjust. Consider how long it takes before the Zoloft starts working in the first place - for me that was a month or two.
Zoloft is notorious for side effects. There are more modern antidepressants like cipralex which have far fewer reported side effects. Unfortunately, now that you’ve read our Zoloft horror stories, you are much, much more likely to have them. See: nocebo.
Easy there. Side effects during usage and effects from starting and/or quitting are individual. I know people who haven’t had any side effects at all. And, in my own experience, I only ever had side effects when I went off it too abruptly.
Antidepressants have side effects, just like many many other drugs. What you’ll have to decide is if what you gain is worth more than the side effects. Being able to get out of bed was, in my opinion, worth a little vertigo.
'Kay, then, I am so not reading up on Zoloft side effects.
I’ve been taking Zoloft since I was about ten or so. I’m up to 250 mg a day. I can’t think of any side effects I’ve noticed. On the other hand, when I don’t take it I’m a screaming psychotic wreck. So I guess YMMV.
Oh I understand the side effects. I’ve been enjoying those night sweats and nausea.
But I’m so freakin happy not to be anxious all the time and panicked several times a day I can deal with that no problem. Three weeks I’ve taken it and two weeks since my last panic attack is just amazing to me. I have had them since I was ten and I’m almost forty now.
I’m just hearing this and getting nervous about when I decide I don’t need it anymore.
Nervous but not panicked!
A few years ago I had to go cold-turkey with the Zoloft after I left the country and forgot to bring mine. It was a rough, rough 4 or 5 days for an assortment of my organs, but I was fine after a week: I wouldn’t expect severe withdrawal effects to last longer than a week for you either. If, however, the effects seem to get much worse over the next day or two, you might want to take a teeny tiny dose and wean yourself from that. But take it from me, if it’s any comfort: Zoloft withdrawal is positively enjoyable compared to weaning off of Effexor.
A few years back, I posted here asking for help with withdrawal from Effexor, and someone recommended that I read this book. It was extremely helpful to me. I’ve never taken Zoloft, but I see that the book also discusses that.
Obviously, continue to work with your doctor on this, but I found this book to be a total lifesaver.
I’ve never had any issues coming off any antidepressant - including Zoloft - with the very notable exception of Effexor. And the symptoms of Effexor withdrawal were similar to what you describe. Headache, stomachache, malaise, slight disorientation, slight dizzy feeling, and this sort of wave that would run through me every so often that was very weird. But more importantly there was this awful ineffable yuck feeling. No joint pain that I remember though.
I handled Effexor withdrawal by waiting until I was really bothered by symptoms and then taking just enough of a dose that I could cope again. That way I ended up taking three small doses after I stopped. The first was a half dose on the fourth day. The second was a third of a dose a couple of days after that and then a couple of days after that was maybe like a fourth. After the third dose I never got to the point where I felt I had to take more. But I didn’t feel “well” for about two weeks. And I wouldn’t say I was totally asymptomatic until a month or two later. On the other hand I didn’t feel really bad either.
Edit: btw I said I never had any problem with Zoloft withdrawal, and I was on a high dose for several years - so definitely withdrawal is an individual thing.
Yes, Zoloft withdrawal for me was very unpleasant. Usually I would be a procrastinator and forget to make the appointment to get a refill and be without it for several days, and by the 3rd day I’d start feeling dizzy, tired, jittery, and an overall feeling of vertigo. It’s really hard to explain the weird periodic “electrical” feeling I would get in my head, but it was extremely unpleasant.
Recently, after years of Zoloft and it seeming to have little effect anymore, my doctor switched me to Prozac, which hasn’t been doing much for me either, and he has increased the dose 3 times already. I wonder what he’ll try next?
This is what I translated into vertigo, because I couldn’t describe it any other way. It was like having an electrode inserted into my brain, and when I moved my head too quickly it went “zap”. Yes?
Side effects during usage and effects from starting and/or quitting are individual. I know people who haven’t had any side effects at all. And, in my own experience, I only ever had side effects when I went off it too abruptly.