I was diagnosed with postpartum depression after the birth of my second child in April 2010 (baby was born December 2009). I was started and then maintained on a low Zoloft/sertraline dosage of 50mg/day that, during hormonal times of the month, was increased to 100mg for short bursts. That, coupled with psychotherapy and the relief of sleep deprivation as the baby matured, helped normalize my anxiety and depression. I finally got the okay to wean off of it at my last visit 8 days ago, and I thought…heck, this is a low dose. And, she’s only dropping my dosage by little bits (I’m on 37.5mg for now). I’ll be FINE!
Oof. And ouch.
I feel like I have the flu–my muscles ache, my joints throb, and the fatigue is practically painful. Other than that, I don’t have symptoms of being sick. I’ve tried calling the doctor’s office to verify if this is withdrawal (and what I can do for some relief), but they are closed today. So, I rest as much as one can with a husband, toddler, and preschooler in the house.
Anyone feel/felt this pain? What relief is there? Am I going to endure this for the entire time I’m weaned off this stuff?? It’s going to take at least 6 weeks total using her suggested method (cut dosage back 12.5mg every 2 weeks) to be completely sertraline-free. I would prefer NOT to feel like I’ve been beaten with a bag of oranges all that time.
It could be SSRI withdrawal. I tend to find that there’s a pounding headache and a feeling of irritability, as well as dizziness and “brain zaps”.
It may vary from person to person, but usually within a week I feel like the major symptoms are gone and it definitely gets easier. But check in with the doctor and see what they think, it could still be the flu or a virus hitting you at just the right moment.
I’m a week into sertraline withdrawal and I’m still getting brain-zaps on a regular basis. It’s all kinds of fun, because mine is accompanied by vertigo at random intervals as well.
I’ve been on the sertraline for over a year and a half, and this is the first time I’ve tried to come off it, so I don’t know how long the side effects will last. But everything I’ve read points out that the withdrawal effects are the worst for the first week or so, because sertraline has a very short half-life in the body (12 hours), so once you’re tailed down after that first week, things should get better.
If it goes longer than a couple weeks, I actually recommend going back on, stabilizing, and going at a slower pace.
Also, if the anxiety hits you hard, and you are not also withdrawing from benzodiazepines, get yourself some Valerian, which has actually been tested to have benzo-level effects but at a lower and less addictive level. (I will, after my experience, never recommend someone actually go on benzos).
Not Zoloft, but I was on a relatively low dose of citalopram for a couple of months and stopped taking it cold-turkey because I didn’t like the way it made me feel. I got the zaps every time I moved my eyes laterally (but not vertically, very VERY strange and it made working on a computer very difficult) and had strong dissociation episodes. I definitely don’t recommend it
I went off Paxil a year ago. I started the dosage tapering in January and stopped completely in April. For me, it usually took about a week to get used to a lower dosage.
My doctor was really, really supportive of going slow. He also gave me a script for Xanax which helped with the withdrawal symptoms and allowed me to sleep when the withdrawal was particularly bad.
I see half-life for Zoloft is between 14 and 45 hrs. Some doctors will add an equivalent dose of Prozac which has a longer half-life to help ease withdrawal symptoms. My doctor gave me this option, but I didn’t use it.
It does get better, but it is a real pain in the ass. My GP also recommended that my going off the Paxil would be better supervised by a psychiatrist than by her. She sent me to a guy who was great and was so totally receptive and supportive during the process.
Edited to add:
I found that during the process and for a few months afterwords, I had killer PMS. This too, did go away.
Oof. The withdrawal effects sound pretty heinous–I had no idea when I was started on it that getting off would, in short, blow. I haven’t experienced any of the “zaps” thankfully.
And in the “could be oddly good news” department, I appear to be running a low-grade fever, hovering around 100 degrees. Hopefully I’m just sick. I have been losing my voice, but thought it was due to the dry weather and talking somuch in my job as a teacher. Maybe it’s a laryngitis instead of withdrawal.
I don’t normally feel this shitty for this long when sick, though, so that’s what’s throwing me off. I woke up at 5am today, and it felt like my muscles were just vibrating pain. Movement was not a priority. Lying down to rest this afternoon, I had that feeling where if a $1000 bill were hovering 5’ in front of me, I’d think, “Meh, too much work to get that.”
Oof. Please let this end soon. My sons and hubby need a functional mommy.
