Staindblu: Reinstate on sertaline?

[Staindblu]

April 13- started 5mg/5ml liquid escitaloprám oxalate for 18 days, had bad side effects-constant headache, migraine, panic attacks at night(never had before), leg/body jerks at night, dizziness, sensitive to light and noise, nausea, sore throat, dry eyes, lack of appetite, higher level of anxiety than before. 
Dr switched me to liquid sertaline on April 30 that I was to ramp up on from 20mg/1ml up to 3ml. I decided I wanted to not be on the anti anxiety/anti depressants anymore, Dr said I should just stop cold turkey. So I only took the 20 mg/1ml. Then I called pharmacist for taper instructions. He said to do 1ml every 2 days for a week and then 1ml every 3 days. I did 0.5 ml 2nd to last time and 0.4ml the last time. I've had headaches pretty constantly for over a month now(I usually have for like 4-5 days then it goes away and then comes back), eye floaters on Thursday to now, muscle core pain (could be related to my current back and chest pain-costochondritis), occasionally leg jerks at night, some increased anxiety still. I did an eye appointment today and everything was all good. 
I am taking several supplements trying to also treat my costochondritis:
Turmeric curcumin
Omega 369 flaxseed (I'm allergic to fish)
Magnesium citrate
Vitamin d3 1000iu
Hemp oil gummies
Centrum multivitamin
Probiotic
Melatonin 5mg (started taking after I stopped taking hydroxyzine nightly)
Nuvaring
I'm looking for relief from the headaches or how much longer they will last. So upon finding this site I'm wondering if I should reinstate on the sertaline, but I'm not sure if I just start at the 1ml or if I should go up to the 3ml where I was supposed to go up to since I didn't really taper off the escitaloprám.

I'm so irritated that I ever started these. I didn't want a long term anxiety med, just something to help me get through this Pandemic and my doctor and eap counselor pushed me to do it. 

I do have an appt request for a new therapist since I'm out of eap counseling and hoping they can also shed some light on this. 

Edited June 1, 2020 by Staindblu
Change March to April, had wrong month and added tags

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, Staindblu.

 

You're experiencing withdrawal from your fast taper of sertraline.  The symptoms you describe are typical of withdrawal.

 

What is withdrawal syndrome.

 

Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) 

 

When we take psychiatric medications, the CNS (central nervous system) responds by making changes over the months and years we take the drug(s). When the medication is discontinued, the CNS has to undo all the changes it made. Rebuilding the neurotransmitter production and reactivating the receptor and transporter cells takes time -- during that rebuilding process symptoms occur.  

 

These drugs alter the architecture of the brain, and the time necessary to heal the brain and return to homeostasis is, unfortunately, impossible to predict.  Withdrawal symptoms arise because your body got used to the drug being present and now has to work very hard to accommodate its absence.

 

Reinstatement of a very small dose of your drug, in your case Sertraline, is the only known way to alleviate withdrawal symptoms.  We recommend a dose much smaller than your last dose, because your system is sensitized and too much can overwhelm your system and make you more unstable.

 

Am I correct that 1mL of Sertraline is equivalent to 20mg?  I definitely would not reinstate 3mL and 1mL would also be too much.  If 1mL = 20mg, I would reinstate 1/10 of a mL--no more.  It takes a little over a week for the reinstated dose to reach full strength in your system; you should gradually start feeling better over that time.  Please read:

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms. -- at least the first page of the topic

 

5mg of Melatonin is a high dose for someone in withdrawal.  Too high a dose can have a paradoxical effect and keep you awake.  How is your sleep with the 5mg?

 

This is your Introduction topic, where you can answer my questions, ask your own questions and connect with other members.  We're glad you found your way here.

 

 

 

 

 

[Staindblu]

Thank you for your repsonse. Yes, you are correct that 20mg=1ml. They gave me a liquid concentrate. I can't swallow pills, so everything I take is chewable or liquid. 

My sleep has been pretty good now with the melatonin. I have a night routine where I unwind with no TV 1 hr before bed and try to stay off my phone, journal, take the melatonin, take a shower, read and fall asleep. Per my fitbit I usually get 8 hours of sleep, 30 min awake throughout the night, which is where I was before starting any of these meds. I've been falling in where I should be for benchmarks for rem and deep sleep most nights according to fitbit as well. 

[Gridley]

4 minutes ago, Staindblu said:

I've been falling in where I should be for benchmarks for rem and deep sleep most nights according to fitbit as well. 

 

That's great that your sleep is so good.  That will be a big plus for healing.

[Staindblu]

Curious, after I do the 1/10 ml for a month, I'm assuming I go to 9/100 ml since that is 10% less? I tried finding something that measures less than a 0.1ml for syringes and haven't been able to find anything. 

[Staindblu]

@Gridley

My headache was getting a little better, but not much. Last night I had a panic attack and didn't get much sleep and now there are parts of my head that hurt much worse. Does this seem to follow typical withdrawal symptoms or possibly my body re-adjusting to the sertaline? My panic attack was me freaking out that maybe the headache was a blood clot. My sleep was going great until last night. 

[Gridley]

On 6/4/2020 at 8:27 PM, Staindblu said:

Curious, after I do the 1/10 ml for a month, I'm assuming I go to 9/100 ml since that is 10% less?

If the reinstatement is working, you will stay at that dose for several weeks or months until you stabilize.  Only at that point would you begin to taper.

 

32 minutes ago, Staindblu said:

Last night I had a panic attack and didn't get much sleep and now there are parts of my head that hurt much worse.

 

If you are getting worse, not better, with the reinstatement, it is a sign that the reinstatement is not working and should should stop it.

How many days has it been since you reinstated?  

[Staindblu]

@Gridley

Tuesday June 2nd I started. So I've had 5 doses. 

 I take my dosage at night. 

May or may not be relevant, but I had my 1st chiropractic visit on Wed June 3 for my chest and back pain. 

[Gridley]

@Staindblu  Are you better or worse since you reinstated?

 

By the way, when you enter @Gridley you have to click on the little rectangle for me to be notified.

[Staindblu]

@Gridley

It seemed like my headache was getting a little better, but not a ton. I'm still having the worse headache pain that started last night and I took ibuprofen this morning and it's now evening and it still isn't better. This pain I have now (and last night) is reminiscent of the head pain I had on the escitaloprám. 

Should I stop taking the small amount of sertraline? 

[Gridley]

7 minutes ago, Staindblu said:

Should I stop taking the small amount of sertraline? 

That would be my recommendation.

[Staindblu]

@Gridley

I stopped taking the sertraline when you advised. I'm still having a headache most of the time. I've tried taking ibuprofen and it doesn't really help. At night I put a cold pack on. I know there's no way to know when this will end, but should I see a Dr at some point if it continues to stick around? Is there anything else that can help? 

I've been searching for a new regular Dr since I'm annoyed my dr put me on this to begin with without much warning about the horrible side effects and then told me to just stop taking it if I wanted to be off it. I keep having some health anxiety about what if this headache is something else, but I also fear talking to a Dr bc I don't want a barrage of expensive tests. Last fall I was diagnosed with costochondritis and we're still paying off the thousands that we owe from CT scan, xray, ekgs from then. 

Thank you for your help 

[Gridley]

10 hours ago, Staindblu said:

should I see a Dr at some point if it continues to stick around? Is t

That's something I can't advise you on.  Generally we say see a doctor if you think there might be something non-drug related, but that has to be your decision.  I know it's expensive.  I wish I could tell you how long it will last, but if it's caused by the drug, it will go away.

 

 

10 hours ago, Staindblu said:

Is there anything else that can help? 

 

Take a look at this link on dealing with pain.

 

Non-drug techniques for dealing with body pain