R187: suffering zoloft/sertraline 11 weeks and no med

[skpeng]

Dear strawberry, thanks for the information, i didn't start a new thread because after extensive googling , r187 clarification is the closest i can get to describing my symptoms. Although i did find similar post on other forums, they are not as detailed. I don't understand why recovery from peripheral neuropathy or zoloft withdrawal have a similar pattern of waves of getting better and worst and also symptoms coming mostly at evenings. I also wonder if i have some serious illness sometime.

 

Worst symptoms are still, nausea, eye dryness, skin itchiness , and painful pins and needles

[R187]

Hi Sypeng and strawberry, thanks for your replies. Haven't posted in some time as WD is only a small part of my life now. I'm almost 8 months off the zoloft and about 90% recovered from my worst spell which was around 3-6.5 months after tapering too fast. I only have occasional nausea, hip/finger aches every few days and pins and needles and twitching when I'm tired. I'm hoping i won't experience another bad wave but I won;t be completely shocked if I do get one. Symptoms which have now gone are eye pain,numbness(always woke up at night with numb limbs) chest pains, left arm ache, stomach pain, headaches, dizziness, burning, fatigue, insomnia,skin pinching and flu like shaking. SO life has improved so much for me.

In answer to your questions

1) Yes the muscle pains were random

2) I've had nausea on and off for 8 months after stopping zoloft

3) no burning in the mouth/tongue/ no ichiness or ear ringing but these are all completely normal symptoms of WD so don't worry.

4) pins and needles were painful but different to the skin burning sensations which i also had.

If i can be of anymore help just ket me know.

 

If you haven't been off too long and your WD symptoms are terible it might be worth going back on a tiny dose to alleviate some of the symptoms and come off really slowly.

Strawberry, i'm desperate to learn the piano- unfortunately our hallway is too narrow to fit one into our house. The keyboard will have to do!

[skpeng]

Hi R187, thanks a lot for your reply. i did feel different when i first had my neuropathy for first 4-6 weeks, it was very painful like a dagger stabbing into your skin/muscles. I got the neuropathy from prolotheraphy to c1/c2 cervical facet joints. earlier injections to other locations around the neck did not produce this neuropathy. i had an injection to c6/c7 facet and felt weak, dizzy and last 2 fingers on both hands going numb for a month. did not link that to neuropathy.

 

anyway, i am 8+ weeks since the injections and i regret going on zoloft by the neurologist that failed to explain what it was. i went to piyavate hospital bangkok, so please don't go there for your neuro checkup.

 

the worst part of zoloft was the increase from 25mg to 50 mg. i had serotonin shock, which sent me to ER and to my surprise it was a public holiday and the ER doctor at Piyavate ask me to come back tomorrow morning. haha. was jerking whole night, sweating, jaw auto drops, hands and feet numbness and weakness. felt was going to pass out.

 

now i only get these pins and needles that are more painful at nights.

 

bless you all..

[Altostrata]

skpeng, please start a topic for yourself. This is R187's topic where we discuss R187's particular needs. Your situation may be similar but your needs different.

[R187]

Hi all and seasons greetings to all of you lovely people on this site.

 

As an update on my progress, unfortunately I seem to have entered another bad spell. Over the past few days I've had bad stomach pains, back ache, low mood, sensations of numb limbs during the night time. I'm not sure if i've done anything to trigger this or whether it's just my body's recovery schedule. I feel quite low that another wave has hit me at Christmas just when i'd like to be able to enjoy the festivities. I have been feeling much better over the past 3 months or so in general so I just need to keep telling myself this wave will pass and I'll feel even better when it's over. Ok so 9/10 month down the line now. I have made some progress from the start of all of this - i know I have and this wave is necessary for my brain to heal even further.

 

It's so so strange this wd isn't it? I've given up trying to explain to friends or family. Yesterday I said to my Mum that i'f had the worst year of my life health wise and she asked what had been wrong? She had completely forgotton or not been listening when i told her how much pain i'd been in for a good chunk of this year.

 

Anyway, i hope you all have a good christmas- or as good as it can be x

[Skyler]

I hope you feel improved as well. Glad you shared your journey with us here.

Skyler, sending Christmas hugs your way.

[peggy]

R187 - thanks for the update - i am sure you will find this is another wave and a window will open soon to let the sunshine back in

[R187]

Thanks for your replies Peggy and Skyler x

 

Skyler I love your little snowman - v cute!

[strawberry17]

R187 sorry to hear you've hit a rough period, I know how that feels, hope tomorrow is a good day for you.

It's frustrating with family/friends isn't it? my parents have taken a long time to understand what it is I've been going through as well.

[R187]

Hi all, it's a been over a year since I last updated my story so I think an update is well overdue! As a recap, I tapered too quickly from sertraline in 2012 after taking it for only 6 months. From March - Dec 2012 I was very ill in WD

 

So... 2013.... was pretty mixed. I started 2013 with persistent withdrawal symptoms. I was probably the most ill I had ever been. I had lots of issues with back pain, rib pain, twitching, burning, aching, exhaustion, nausea and ended up with chest x rays and abdomen scans due to my fears that I had serious medical conditions. Scans came back ok.

 

Something changed for me in July 2013 - I got a lot lot better. I still continued to have waves but they would last for a few days in the month rather than constant persistent illness I felt. This has been the new me since July 2013 - so I've had 7 months now of feeling much more human. Life is almost back to normal for 80% of the time. I feel very grateful for this - I can never forget withdrawal and the journey I've been on. My body is not as strong as before all this and I still tire easily. Today I'm experiencing a wave of stomach burning but hoping this will ease up soon. I'm not completely recovered, 2 months away from my 2nd year off sertraline- but full recovery is hopefully not too far away now.

 

Even though I haven't posted in a long time I still read the site regularly as I'm sure many others still do. Wishing you all a speedy recovery x

[Altostrata]

Thank you so much for letting us know how you're doing, r187. It's so important to see healing take place, and it sounds like you're on your way.

 

Please do stop by and post ever so often.

[Nikki]

Once we can get ourselves out of the pit and begin to resume activities our outlook is so much better.  From what I have been reading, activities like the piano help the brain heal.....

[R187]

Wow, can't believe it's a year since I updated this. I log on quite often but feel too down to post. i was poorlylottie on pp - can't believe it's gone. All that help and advice gone. Anyway, good job SA is here. Thanks again Alto and the team.

Last year I was still experiencing withdrawal - can you believe it?! Almost 3 years of this now. I would never in my wildest dreams have imagined this could go on so long. My withdrawals were mostly physical pains, twitching and numbness. With the numbness i wonder if this was damaged caused when i was on the sertraline as I started experiencing this as soon as i took t he sertraline for the final spell in 2011. With regards to the twitching and pains (stomach, hips, legs, shoulders, neck) these have been consistently coming and going since the withdrawal started in 2012. Kind of got used to it now. I still get very tired and can't do too much in the evening. I'm still working part time and managing to study and look after my 2 young children so quite proud of myself.

Some things have improved, notably I can take any supplement or antibiotic or anything really ( i wouldn't take any other SSRI ever again) without any side effect. Nothing seems to be particularly activating anymore which is GREAT. I lived in fear of having to take any medication but i now i can take fish oil or even an antibiotic with no fear. I do worry about having debtal freezing and avoided having an ingrowing toenail surgery as I'm still concerned about that going wrong and my nerves being even more messed up. With the ingrowing toenail i told the podiatrist to hack out the nail with no injection!

Unfortunately in August i developed vulvodynia following 3 bouts of thrush i have seen multiple gps and finally a gynae who has diagnosed me with this condition. They have advised me to take amitryptiline which of course i will not touch. I explained why to the gynae and obviously he looked at me like i was crazy but hey ho. So i do have this unexplained pain which they say is nerve pain/inflammation. I really hope i get rid of it some how. I feel like I've come so far only to be kicked back down again. Has anyone experienced vulvodynia as part of their withdrawal?

[Altostrata]

Thanks for stopping by, R187. (Would you like to change your screen name now?)

 

You might want to start a topic in Symptoms about vulvodynia.

 

I found acupuncture helpful for pain, is that a possibility? (The way acupuncture works, needles might be placed in locations far removed from the pain to treat pathways contributing to it.)