missmoodypants Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 (edited) Hello, I’m new here and to the concept of tapering off AD and finding alternative options to cope with my lifelong anxiety and depression. I’ve often questioned whether the meds I’ve been taking are helping me at all, and for many years I didn’t know that the night sweats I suffered from were associated with sertraline ( the worst part is that my psychiatrist denied that the sweating could be related to the meds he kept increasing for me ). I began looking into side effects 2 years ago when my Zoloft and Wellbutrin were increased due to a difficult bout of depression and anxiety that followed my first attempt at eliminating Zoloft ( and a life event that really triggered me ). I think the increase in meds made me even more anxious and I was completely not functional until noontime every day. I bruised very easily, and did I mention the night sweats? When my psychiatrist left the practice about a year ago I was transferred to a PA to monitor my meds. I’ve been working with her since then to decrease my dosages. She added a blood pressure med last year that she hoped would help me with sweating, but it didn’t help. We started to talk about other meds I could try, and I had a consult for TMS where I learned my insurance won’t cover it until I’ve tried 4 ADs and failed. Ive only tried 3 ( I took Prozac for a few short months in HS ). So I planned to taper off zoloft and start Effexor. I never started the Effexor, but I did successfully taper off completely from Zoloft. Took 2 years to go from 100mg down to 25mg. Took my final dose around 10/15/21. It took about 4 weeks for my dizzy spells to end. Good news is that the night sweats are completely gone. I don’t wake up sopping wet and I’m no longer doing mountains of laundry. At the same time, I increased Wellbutrin from 100mg to 150 to avoid depression, but a few weeks ago I began feeling a lot of tension in my jaw with low grade headaches. When I saw my provider last week, we decided to decrease my dose from 150mg to 75mg. She asked me to hold off on starting the Effexor for 2 weeks so we’ll know if the Wellbutrin is the source of my tension. I had recently started doing some reading online and learned that Effexor is even harder to stop taking than Zoloft. My sister has been trying to convince me to take supplements like vitamin B and D and Magnesium for a long time and I always poo-pooed her, but I ordered myself some on Amazon and started taking them a few weeks back as I’ve been feeling really down and blah since late August. I’ve also cut back significantly on my Alcohol consumption and MMJ use - both had significantly increased since the Covid pandemic started and I was home all the time. So, after finding this website last night I’ve now concluded that I absolutely must stop taking the ADs. My depression and anxiety were never really bad until after I was on the ADs. I started on Wellbutrin because I was overly frustrated at work and I sought help and they immediately suggested AD. When I became pregnant it was not advised and I felt great so I stopped taking it. 12 months later I was hit hard by major separation anxiety as I prepared to return to work. I was having violent visions and it must have been some form of Post-Partum. I was nursing so they recommended Zoloft - that was 11 years ago. I suffered through nightly sweat baths that gradually worsened since then. Anyway, here I am, halving my dose of Wellbutrin tomorrow and not intending to start the Effexor. Wish me luck! I’ll need all the support I can get. I’m glad the days are getting longer and I have warm weather and sunshine to look forward to in a couple short months. I’m still bracing for a relapse since kicking Zoloft 2 months ago. Im afraid I might crash completely by Feb, but I’ve got to get thru it. I have been meditating regularly and practicing yoga once a week. I get out every day to walk my dog and I’m forcing myself to take a pottery class that starts in a couple of weeks. Im still feeling pretty blah, agoraphobic, not interested in doing anything, etc., but I was feeling that way in August when I was still taking both meds. Im not any worse than I was. The success stories here are giving me a lot of hope. Thanks for taking the time to read my post and in advance for the support I’m sure I’ll get from this amazing community. 😊 Happy New Year !! Edited December 30, 2021 by ChessieCat added spacing Fall 2018 sought help from psychiatrist to stop Zoloft and go back on Wellbutrin due to night sweats. Started me on Wellbutrin. Feb 2019 stopped Zoloft after 2 month taper. June 2019 depression kicked in and worsened. Restarted Zoloft 100 mg and ramped up Wellbutrin to 150 mg. By Aug 2021 reduced Zoloft down to 25 mg due to development of excessive sweating. Oct 2021 stopped Zoloft. Dec 30 2021 Wellbutrin 150 to 125mg to begin taper. Current supplements - vitamin D, Fish Oil, magnesium. Reduced alcohol and MMJ use by 50% Link to comment
Moderator Onmyway Posted December 30, 2021 Moderator Share Posted December 30, 2021 Hi @missmoodypants, welcome to SA. Please don't halve your Wellbutrin dosage. That is a very high drop and we recommend not tapering by more than 10% of your previous dosage a month. You are fresh from your taper of Zoloft and still having some symptoms. Your signature says 2019 but I think you mean 2021 for the more recent changes? Can you pls confirm that? It can take a long time to recover from drastic changes in your drugs and we advise strongly against that. I will post a few links for you to read why that is the case. A 10% reduction every 4 weeks can be more gentle on your system. You can learn from the mistakes of numerous people on these boards. Why taper by 10% of my dosage? - Tapering - Surviving Antidepressants Why taper? SERT transporter occupancy studies show importance of gradual change in plasma concentration - Tapering - Surviving Antidepressants The Brassmonkey Slide Method of Micro-tapering - Tapering - Surviving Antidepressants Also, you are taking a very high dose of vitamin D - it can be activating and cause edginess/anxiety - I would recommend not taking more than 2000 IU (less might be better). The same can be true for some B vitamins (which are not hard to get from your diet if you are not vegetarian). Similarly alcohol and pot or any other psychoactive substances can make withdrawal more difficult. Please take care of yourself, OMW "Nothing so small as a moment is insurmountable, and moments are all that we have. You have survived every trial and tribulation that life has thrown at you up until this very instant. When future troubles come—and they will come—a version of you will be born into that moment that can conquer them, too." - Kevin Koenig I am not a doctor and this should not be considered medical advice. You can use the information and recommendations provided in whatever way you want and all decisions on your treatment are yours. In the next few weeks I do not have a lot of capacity to respond to questions. If you need a quick answer pls tag or ask other moderators who may want to be tagged. Aug 2000 - July 2003 (ct, 4-6 wk wd) , citalopram 20 mg, xanax prn, wellbutrin for a few months, trazodone prn Dec 2004 - July 2018 citalopram 20 mg, xanax prn (rarely used) Aug 2018 - citalopram 40 mg (self titrated up) September 2018 - January 2019 tapered citalopram - 40/30/20/10/5 no issues until a week after reaching 0 Feb 2019 0.25 xanax - 0.5/day (3 weeks) over to klonopin 0.25 once a day to manage severe wd March 6, reinstated citalopram 2.5 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 mg for sleep 2-3 times a week Apr 1st citalopram 2.0 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 once a week (off by 4/14/19- no tapering) citalopram (liquid) 4/14/19 -1.8 mg, 5/8/19 - 1.6 mg, 7/27/19 -1.5 mg, 8/15/19 - 1.35, 2/21/21 - 1.1 (smaller drops in between), 6/20/21 - 1.03 mg, 8/7/21- 1.025, 8/11/21 - 1.02, 8/15/21 - 1.015, 9/3/21 - 0.925 (fingers crossed!), 10/8/21 - 0.9, 10/18/21 - 0.875, 12/31/21 - 0.85, 1/7/22 - 0.825, 1/14/22 - 0.8, 1/22/22 - 0.785, 8/18/22 - 0.59, 12/15/2022 - 0.48, 2/15/22 - 0.43, 25/07/23 - 0.25 (mistake), 6/08/23 - 0.33mg Supplements: magnesium citrate and bi-glycinate Link to comment
missmoodypants Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 Thank you for responding and for your advice. I’m going to slow down on the D and B supplements like you’ve advised and will split up some of the pills from my new script so I can reduce from 150-125mg for a few weeks before decreasing to 100. I’ll plan to stabilize at 100mg for a few months before making any additional decreases. I increased to 150mg only 2 months ago as I stopped taking Zoloft. My previous dose was at 100mg for many months. Fall 2018 sought help from psychiatrist to stop Zoloft and go back on Wellbutrin due to night sweats. Started me on Wellbutrin. Feb 2019 stopped Zoloft after 2 month taper. June 2019 depression kicked in and worsened. Restarted Zoloft 100 mg and ramped up Wellbutrin to 150 mg. By Aug 2021 reduced Zoloft down to 25 mg due to development of excessive sweating. Oct 2021 stopped Zoloft. Dec 30 2021 Wellbutrin 150 to 125mg to begin taper. Current supplements - vitamin D, Fish Oil, magnesium. Reduced alcohol and MMJ use by 50% Link to comment
Moderator Onmyway Posted January 1, 2022 Moderator Share Posted January 1, 2022 Hi @missmoodypants, do read carefully the tapering links I posted - We generally suggest dropping down from 150 to 135. If after 4 weeks you feel fine, then you can drop another 10% (to 121.5) if you feel fine after that, you may wish to drop by 10% every 3 weeks and if that is tolerable, every 2 weeks. It may also be a good idea to invest in a precise scale to measure your drug, or choose to dissolve it or get a compounding pharmacy to create smaller doses for you. This thread has some information on specifically tapering Wellbutrin. Do let us know how the taper of wellbutrin goes. We also advise keeping track of your symptoms. Recording drug schedule and symptoms to track patterns and progress - Tapering - Surviving Antidepressants "Nothing so small as a moment is insurmountable, and moments are all that we have. You have survived every trial and tribulation that life has thrown at you up until this very instant. When future troubles come—and they will come—a version of you will be born into that moment that can conquer them, too." - Kevin Koenig I am not a doctor and this should not be considered medical advice. You can use the information and recommendations provided in whatever way you want and all decisions on your treatment are yours. In the next few weeks I do not have a lot of capacity to respond to questions. If you need a quick answer pls tag or ask other moderators who may want to be tagged. Aug 2000 - July 2003 (ct, 4-6 wk wd) , citalopram 20 mg, xanax prn, wellbutrin for a few months, trazodone prn Dec 2004 - July 2018 citalopram 20 mg, xanax prn (rarely used) Aug 2018 - citalopram 40 mg (self titrated up) September 2018 - January 2019 tapered citalopram - 40/30/20/10/5 no issues until a week after reaching 0 Feb 2019 0.25 xanax - 0.5/day (3 weeks) over to klonopin 0.25 once a day to manage severe wd March 6, reinstated citalopram 2.5 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 mg for sleep 2-3 times a week Apr 1st citalopram 2.0 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 once a week (off by 4/14/19- no tapering) citalopram (liquid) 4/14/19 -1.8 mg, 5/8/19 - 1.6 mg, 7/27/19 -1.5 mg, 8/15/19 - 1.35, 2/21/21 - 1.1 (smaller drops in between), 6/20/21 - 1.03 mg, 8/7/21- 1.025, 8/11/21 - 1.02, 8/15/21 - 1.015, 9/3/21 - 0.925 (fingers crossed!), 10/8/21 - 0.9, 10/18/21 - 0.875, 12/31/21 - 0.85, 1/7/22 - 0.825, 1/14/22 - 0.8, 1/22/22 - 0.785, 8/18/22 - 0.59, 12/15/2022 - 0.48, 2/15/22 - 0.43, 25/07/23 - 0.25 (mistake), 6/08/23 - 0.33mg Supplements: magnesium citrate and bi-glycinate Link to comment
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