fletcher: coming off Zoloft

[fletcher]

Hello

 

I just found this site a few days ago. It has already been quite helpful and reassuring to know that others are going through the same things I am. I wish I had found it before I tapered, because I probably went too fast. I have attached an Excel sheet that I used to keep track of my dosages during WD if anyone's interested.

 

Finding the Waves and Windows discussion on here was a huge relief for me; I had never heard WD symptoms described like that, but it's exactly what I've been going through - definitely had a wave hit a couple weeks ago, which is what brought me here.

 

I haven't taken sertraline in 50 days. All in all WD hasn't been horrible thus far; irritability, brain buzzing, mild depression have all been pretty frequent but manageable thus far. The worst part for me is the obsessive hypochondria. It seems like I diagnose myself with a new health issue every day. 

 

One thing I wanted to throw out there: I've had chronic nerve pain in my right arm for about 12 years that came from nerve damage caused by a Chiari malformation. I had surgery to correct the Chiari in 2012 but was left with the pain. I have learned to lived with it over the years, but during the WD period the pain began to seem sharper and like more of an imposition than it did before. Increased hypochondria since WD certainly doesn't help me manage the pain either. Curious to know if anyone out there has similar experience with chronic pain and WD. I'm hoping that the intensity of the pain (and my worries about it) return to baseline levels as my nervous system heals with time.

 

Thanks everyone

Medicine.xlsx

[Altostrata]

Welcome, @fletcher

 

On 5/17/2022 at 9:08 PM, fletcher said:

All in all WD hasn't been horrible thus far; irritability, brain buzzing, mild depression have all been pretty frequent but manageable thus far.

 

How have your withdrawal symptoms changed in the last 2 weeks?

 

Being in a state of withdrawal syndrome seems to enlarge or enhance any existing pain or muscle tension. People often find Epsom salt baths or magnesium oil to be helpful, magnesium is a natural muscle relaxer.

[DataGuy]

@fletcher,

 

Yes, the pain levels and discomfort should return to baseline levels with time. Withdrawal syndrome can best be characterized as nervous system hyperactivity and hypersensitivity, which gradually improves over a long period. So normal levels of pain and discomfort are amplified, and things that don't sound terribly uncomfortable - like constipation or muscle stiffness - can be pretty intolerable. 

 

I see you jumped off from 25mg of sertraline. That is a pretty high dose to quit from. If things get too insufferable you can always try reinstating a small dose. Here is a topic on the subject with some general rules: Reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms. 

[fletcher]

19 hours ago, Altostrata said:

How have your withdrawal symptoms changed in the last 2 weeks?

Around 2 weeks ago my health anxiety, brain buzzing, randomly feeling like I’m losing my balance, muscle aches got a lot worse pretty suddenly. Things honestly hadn’t been that bad since I had quit Zoloft (except for the extra arm pain) until then so I was worried that something other than withdrawal was wrong with me. I’ve still been able to tough it out and function pretty normally thus far. 

 

 

19 hours ago, DataGuy said:

I see you jumped off from 25mg of sertraline. That is a pretty high dose to quit from. If things get too insufferable you can always try reinstating a small dose.

Yeah, I didn’t know what I was doing when tapering. Good to know that reinstatement is an option. 
 

Glad to hear that the pain changes are to be expected. It makes sense; “hypersensitive” is exactly how I feel. 

[Altostrata]

To what extent is your health anxiety affecting your perception of your symptoms?

[fletcher]

@Altostrata

Good question. It’s almost certainly making things seem worse than they actually are. The physical/emotional symptoms are definitely real and they definitely suck but it’s not the nerve pain or the dizziness that make me want to hide from the world, it’s the fear that something worse is coming. 

 

I had a freak-accident stroke at age 19 (4 years ago, before starting Zoloft). No doctor has ever given me reason to expect another, but it has weighed on me ever since. The general weirdness of Zoloft side effects would make me instantly think I was having another stroke and I’d panic, which is why I wanted to get off zoloft. Now, the WD symptoms are often having the same effect on me. 

 

Simply put, if I could only get rid of one symptom, it would be the constant worrying that something other than WD is wrong with me. 

[Altostrata]

You'll need to get your health anxiety in hand to manage your withdrawal. A therapist could help, perhaps with CBT. See 

 

Health anxiety, hypochondria, and obsession with symptoms

 

 

Neuro-emotions

 

Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

 

Easing your way into meditation for a stressed-out nervous system

 

Music for self-care: calms hyperalertness, anxiety, aids relaxation and sleep

 

Ways to cope with daily anxiety

 

Dealing With Emotional Spirals 

 

Shame, guilt, regret, and self-criticism

 

[fletcher]

Just want to add an update to my thread. 

 

Still struggling through it. Symptoms have been more physical than emotional lately. 

 

I’m feeling more patient, not as easily angered as I was a month or so ago. Buzzing head/lightheadedness has improved.

 

I’m still dealing with a lot of pain in my arm. It has hurt for many years, but the pain was largely concentrated in my upper arm around the triceps area. Sometime during my taper I started feeling a lot more pain in the fingers, forearm, elbow, even that side of my neck. But the location and nature of the pain changes all the time; for example, I’ll have a weird feeling in my index finger for a few days, then that will disappear and the side of my neck will burn for a while, then it will move to my elbow. My primary way of coping with the pain is lifting weights. Proving to myself that, despite the pain, can still lift a little more each week assures me that what I’m feeling is largely a perception issue and I’m not actually wasting away physically.

My whole arm, which was already neurologically damaged, just feels like it’s gone haywire since coming off Zoloft. Also feeling some other weird sensations in other parts of the body, like random burning, tingling in small patches of skin, sudden stinging pains. But I have had some good days lately. 

I ordered some magnesium flakes, so we will see if that helps calm my nerves. Just taking it one day at a time and praying that time will be the best medicine for this pain.

[Altostrata]

It sounds like you have seen some improvement in your withdrawal syndrome.

 

Is this the arm that hurts the one you usually use for mousing at the computer?

 

Rather than beating it up with weightlifting, strongly recommend you seek physical therapy or get chiropractic or acupuncture treatment. You may have a body mechanics issue from overuse of that hand, arm, and shoulder, causing pain. Please let us know how you're doing.

[fletcher]

Almost 3 months Zoloft free. I could use some encouragement/reassurance lately though. 
 

About a week ago, I started having small muscle spasms in random places on my body. I’m pretty well hydrated and have been taking magnesium supplements and fish oil daily as recommended in posts on this site. Is it very unusual for someone to experience these spasms when they haven’t happened during taper or for three months after quitting Zoloft completely? They aren’t painful, just unexpected, and I tend to catastrophize things like this, so I’ve been pretty worried about it since this symptom appeared. 
 

I’ve been thinking more about reinstating lately just to see what symptoms are alleviated. Is 3 months too late to try? Im not ready yet, because I really think it would feel like a failure to go back to the meds after making all this progress. 

[DataGuy]

Hmm, @fletcherit can be normal to develop muscle spasms, but it could be from something else. Do you notice anything triggering it? You could try dialing back the magnesium and see if that helps. It is a minor calcium channel blocker.

 

If you have had improvement, you should definitely avoid reinstating. Sometimes reinstatement doesn't actually help and can even make things worse. Slow improvement over a long period is the best many people can expect. Reinstating the drug could put you back to square one.