tenoh3: Hello

[tenoh3]

Hi friends, 

 

I found this website today. I was on 50mg of zoloft for over a year and I began tapering with my doctors help.

 

I went down to 25 for two weeks. 

Then on Saturday I stopped altogether. 

 

The main symptom is dizziness. It gets worse when I move and it gets bad if I try to exercise. 

 

I know that it will eventually go away, just looking for some support. Anything would help. 

 

Thanks. 

[ChessieCat]

Hi tenoh and welcome to SA,

 

Unfortunately the doctor has given you very bad advice.  You have basically done a cold turkey off your drug.  And it is not surprising because there are very few medical professionals that understand that stopping a psychiatric drug too quickly can cause withdrawal symptoms and very few know about reinstating.  That is the reason why SA exists.

 

The only known way to reduce withdrawal symptoms is to reinstate some of the drug that your brain has adapted to.  And the sooner your reinstate after withdrawal symptoms appear, the better chance there is of the reinstatement being successful.

 

To help you to understand this, when we take a psychiatric drug we add chemicals to the brain and the brain automatically tries to balance things out, return to homeostasis.  After about 1 month after starting a drug the brain has fully adapted to getting the amount of dose of that drug.  When we take the drug away too quickly the brain automatically tries to balance things out and this is what causes withdrawal symptoms, which can be many and varied.  If we take the drug away slowly the brain still has to balance things out but it doesn't have to do as much all at the one time which is why we can still experience withdrawal symptoms whilst doing a slow taper but they generally are only minor.

 

I was in a similar situation which lead me to finding SA.  I was taking 100mg Pristiq and reduced my dose to 50mg.  During the 2 weeks I was on the lower dose I suffered extreme cog fog where even walking took my full concentration.  It was like my head was full of mud.  At the end of the 2 weeks I couldn't type.  Being a professional typist I immediately realised that something was terribly wrong.  I had joined SA a few days before I couldn't type and they had suggested taking more of my drug but I didn't straight away because I was doing a lot of reading trying to understand what was happening.

 

When I couldn't type I decided to take extra Pristiq and after only about 4 HOURS I was able to type again.  Because I had a benchmark I know that it was the drug which had caused it.

 

After stabilising for a few months I then started tapering following SA's recommended taper protocol, reducing the current dose by no more than 10% (some members need to go slower than 10%) and holding on that dose for about 4 weeks, or longer if needed.  During my taper I have only experienced minor withdrawal symptoms and am now down to 0.295mg.

 

My suggestion would be to immediately return to taking 25mg Zoloft.  It takes about 4 days for a dose to get to full strength in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain.  However, you may start to feel some improvement in the first 24 hours.  Please take 25mg every day and take it at about the same time.  Please also try to get your dose as close to 25mg as possible.  You may need to stay on 25mg for about 6 months before you are stabilised enough to taper.  And when you do start to taper my suggestion would be to make a small reduction, perhaps only 2.5%, just to test to see how you respond.  Sometimes we may not feel withdrawal symptoms but the brain might still be busy making adjustments.  It is better to hold for longer than to start reducing too soon.

 

Here are some links that are helpful.

 

Dr Joseph Glenmullen's WD Symptoms Checklist

 

Post #1 of this topic:

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

tips-for-tapering-zoloft-sertraline

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

are-we-there-yet-how-long-is-withdrawal-going-to-take

 

When you get a chance, please create your drug signature and include all previous and current drugs and supplements with dates and doses.  Here are the instructions:

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature

 

This is your own Introduction topic which is the best place for you to ask questions and journal your progress.  That way all your history will be in one place and you will not need to repeat yourself.  Also please remember to update your drug signature whenever you make a change so that we can see your drug history at a glance.  Thank you.

 

There are many existing topics on SA.  The best way to find them is to use a search engine and add site:survivingantidepressants.org to the search term.

[tenoh3]

Thank you for this reply and all the wonderful resources.

 

I immediately took 25mg. My dr said he would prescribe me 25s again if I felt I needed them. I'm hoping that prescription is filled soon, but I do have some 50s i can cut. 

 

After reading through all of that, I'm not surprised i had a reaction. I have CPTSD from a childhood trauma that lasted a long time, and I have medical trauma from less than 2 years ago. I lived with untreated and undiagnosed depression (as a symptom of undiagnosed CPTSD [diag. 2019]. I am a VERY sensitive person and every slight change in any part of my environment has always been a challenge. I was often called a crybaby and too sensitive as a young girl. 

 

I am not surprised going CT has affected me this much. I did want to come of zoloft because I do want to live without it. However it is very effective at minimizing my symptoms. I had some WD symptoms after my initial taper of 50%, but they went away after a few days. This CT is a different ballgame alltogether. 

 

Thank you again for the help! I will update with any changes. 

[getofflex]

Hello.  How are you feeling now that you have reinstated back to 25 mg of the Zoloft?  Hopefully this will help you.  I can relate to being a sensitive person, because I'm one also.  There is a great resource for sensitive people.  I get emails from this site, and it is very helpful to me - perhaps it might help you, too.  

 

Highly Sensitive Refuge

[tenoh3]

@getofflex 

I woke up this morning about 85% better. The dizziness got worse as the day went on, but it is nowhere as bad as it was yesterday. 

 

My doc sent in a script for 25s and wants me cut them and take 12s for a few weeks and dry to get off again. 

 

However, what I've read here makes me really consider this. I think I will take 25mg for at least a month before trying to taper again - not sure if a 50% taper is wise since I've already seen what happened when I went CT. I am still trying to decide what is best. Because I am a transplant patient I give my doctors a lot of power. The last thing I want is to mess anything up. 

 

I will check out that resource - thanks! 

[ChessieCat]

1 hour ago, tenoh3 said:

I woke up this morning about 85% better. The dizziness got worse as the day went on, but it is nowhere as bad as it was yesterday. 

 

That is really great to hear.

 

1 hour ago, tenoh3 said:

I think I will take 25mg for at least a month before trying to taper again

 

Because you had been taking 50mg only about 2 or 3 weeks ago, you will probably need to stay on 25mg for at least 3 months and possibly as long as 6 months.  You will need to listen to your body/symptoms and hold if you still have symptoms.    The aim is to get off with minimal symptoms and disruption to your life.

 

1 hour ago, tenoh3 said:

not sure if a 50% taper is wise

 

No, not a good idea.  Please see this topic:

 

Why taper paper: dose-occupancy curves

 

Please see this topic:

 

how-to-talk-to-a-doctor-about-tapering-and-withdrawal-what-to-expect

 

1 hour ago, tenoh3 said:

Because I am a transplant patient I give my doctors a lot of power.

 

When it comes to antidepressants, please do your own research so that you can make informed decisions.  Doctors get their information about drugs from the pharmaceutical companies, and pharmaceutical companies are businesses with shareholders for whom they need to make money.

 

Remember that you are the customer.  The doctor can offer you a suggestion but you do not have to follow it.  And remember that it is you who is going to be affected, not the doctor.

 

These videos are a real eye opener.  Gwen Olsen was a pharmaceutical representative for 15 years and had personal experience with psychiatric drugs as well as saw the issues that her niece(?) had with psychiatric drugs.

 

Interview:  Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher (51 minutes Gwen Olsen - ex pharmaceutical representative)
 

Video:  Ex-Big Pharma Rep:  We’re Trained To Misinform -The Drugs ARE Dangerous (6 minute video)
 

Video:  Ex-Big Pharma Rep:  Manipulating Doctors to Sell More Drugs (10 minute video)