Loucath: hello

[Loucath]

I first started taking an antidpressant, prozac,  20 years ago when I was 42,  but I had a terrible reaction to it after taking it for only 3 days. It caused me to have terrible panic attacks in the middle of the night and I became too scared to sleep.  I had never experienced these panic attacks before. The reason I first started on an antidepressant was because I could not cope with my husband's gambling problem and was having anxiety and a lot of tension related muscle pain. I now wish my GP had referred me for some counselling rather than using medication.  My GP then prescribed me Nortriptyline  and although the side affects were dreadful I persisted and it did help me. I started tapering off it 5 years later and stayed for years on a low dose until I tapered right off. I felt fine for months until I started experiencing anxiety again due to another stress in my life. My new GP prescribed  Sertraline and referred me to a psychologist whose method involved mindfullness and I found him extremely helpful in dealing with stressful situations in my life and I still practice mindfullness and meditation to this day. I came off Sertraline a year ago by slowly tapering in agreement with my GP and was fine again for about 4 months until I had an accident and was in pain for quite a while. This caused me to become really anxious and I went back on Sertraline but only at 50mg a day, whereas before I was on 100mg. I would like to come off it again and hope to gain some insight into the best way to do this from this forum.

[ChessieCat]

Hi Loucath and welcome to SA,

 

It's really good that you have found SA. 

 

Q:  Is sertraline the only drug you are currently taking? 

 

Please create your drug signature so we can see your drug history at a glance.  We need details for the last 2 years and summary for anything older.  We especially need to know the dates and doses of how you tapered off sertraline last year and when you started back on it.

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

Once we have the timeline for your drugs we will be better able to suggest whether it is okay to commence tapering or if holding might be in order.  Please don't start tapering until after we have your drug signature and you have answered my questions. 

 

I'll give you some links to check out so that you can prepare yourself.

 

Q:  How are you currently feeling?

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Dr Joseph Glenmullen's WD Symptoms Checklist

 

Tips for tapering off sertraline (Zoloft)

 

This is your own Introduction topic where you can ask questions about your own situation, journal your progress and be supported by the SA community.