Abicol: Tapering off sertraline 50mg tablet no liquid form

[Abicol]

Hi everyone, 

 

I have been on antidepressants in total for 8 years as follows:

 - Feb 2014 prescribed 10mg citalopram

 - July- November 2018 tapered off citalopram with insomnia, dizzy, out of body kind of feeling. Off completely in November

- February 2019 - severe anxiety and depression again and prescribed sertraline 50mg. Terrible side effects going on them. Such as worsened anxiety, no sleep. 
- been on 50mg sertraline ever since 

 

I’m worried about tapering off as I have asked my doctor for liquid form but they won’t prescribe it and no pharmacy says they have it (I’m in the UK.)

 

I have seen the recommended 10% taper at a time but I am not sure how to do this accurately with just a pill cutter or knife. All I can think is I try 25% tapers.

 

has anyone had any experience of this? 
 

thank you 

[ChessieCat]

Hi Abicol and welcome to SA,

 

I'm glad that you have found SA.  Fortunately sertraline tablets can be made into a liquid.  Post #1 of this topic explains how to get non standard doses.

 

Tips for tapering off sertraline (Zoloft)

 

When a psychiatric drug is reduced or stopped to quickly it can result in withdrawal symptoms.  It sounds like you tapered the citalopram too quickly.  SA's suggested taper rate is no more than 10% of the current dose followed by a hold of about 4 weeks to allow the brain to adapt to not getting as much of the drug.  This is a guide only and it is important to listen to your body/symptoms and hold for longer if you are not stable.

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

Dr Joseph Glenmullen's WD Symptoms Checklist

 

Non-drug techniques to cope

 

Stability

 

WDnormal

 

And Brassmonkey talks more about it here:

 

tao-of-the-brassmonkey

 

Please create your drug signature following these instructions:

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature

 

This is your own Introduction which is the best place to ask questions about your own situation and where you can journal your progress.  This will keep your history in one place and mean you do not have to repeat your story.

 

Please remember to update your drug signature with the date and the new dose whenever you make a change.

[Blossom71]

Hi @abicol

 

Welcome, I'm also in the UK!  I'm also tapering sertraline and have started making my own liquid. It's really easy and allows me to taper down the exact percentage I want.

I am currently on 37.5mg.   I crush and dissolve a 50mg tablet in 50ml water a couple of hours before my dose. I then take out 12.5ml liquid, then drink the 37.5ml that's left. 

[Abicol]

Thank you both, that’s really helpful.

I’ve actually managed to get hold of 25mg tablets and due to the rush in the morning to get to work turning into liquid form wasn’t working for me. I’ve been cutting one of the tablets into quarters so reduced my dose by 1/8th. Its obviously not as accurate but it’s around that 43.75mg level. It’s been 9 days at this level and so far so good. I think I will stick to this for a couple months as it is a bit bigger than 10%, unless you guys think it might be worth trying to reduce by a further 1/8th? 

[ChessieCat]

Using a liquid is more accurate that the method your are currently using as well as allowing you to get the dose you need to do a taper of no more than 10% of the current dose.

 

Going too fast can bring on withdrawal symptoms.  We have some members of SA who this has happened to and even if they do an updose, they haven't been able to return to the pre-withdrawal state.

 

You can make you liquid and store it in a dark container with a lid and it will keep for 3-4 days.  You might even be able to measure your dose the night before so that you don't have to spend time measuring it, although once you have done it a few times you do get quicker.

 

As requested before:

 

On 3/29/2022 at 1:52 PM, ChessieCat said:

Please create your drug signature following these instructions:

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature

 

[Abicol]

Thank you! What do you use to measure out the liquid?

[ChessieCat]

Please create your drug signature.  This is very important because it allows us to see your drug history at a glance so that we do not have to waste our unpaid time (the staff are volunteers and spend a lot of time reading through posts helping the many members on SA) reading back through your posts to get the information.

 

how-to-make-a-liquid-from-tablets-or-capsules