MS1225: tapering off sertraline

[MS1225]

Hi everyone,

My story is this...I began taking SSRI's in 2016 as a college student who didn't know any better. In 2019, I tried for the first time to "taper" off and was met with protracted withdrawal symptoms of horrible anxiety and constant panic attacks. Thinking it was just my own mental health, I went back on sertraline. In 2021, I spoke to my doctor AGAIN about tapering off and tapered off in under a month. This was a horrible idea. I had severe withdrawal symptoms. Living my daily life was unbearable. (I should mention this was a bad time to do this, my mother had recently passed). I had to go back to the sertraline. Now, after years of therapy, I want to try again. My doctor recommended the jump from 75 to 50. While my day to day anxiety isn't unbearable, I have started having multiple panic attacks a day and my heart is beating out of my chest 24/7. I've had 3 EKG's this week. It's terrifying but it gets written off as "anxiety." Even when I tell them I am not anxious when it begins. Has anyone else ever had these symptoms? I have been reading and tomorrow am going to call my doctor about the 10% decrease. 

 

I've heard that switching to Prozac will make the taper easier. Anyone have any experience with this?

[ChessieCat]

Hi MS1225 and welcome to SA,

 

I am really pleased that you have found SA.  But before we can give you more tailored suggestions we need to know more about your drug history.  Please create your drug signature following these instructions.  Please include ALL current and previous drugs, even if only taken as needed:

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature

 

I will give you some general information.

 

There is no guarantee that a Prozac Bridge/Switch will work.  We have members here who have had no issues doing it and others who even 18 months to 2 years after the switch are having issues.

 

Please see:

 

the-prozac-switch-or-bridging-with-fluoxetine

 

One thing that is very important to understand that the effect of psychiatric drugs is cumulative . There are SA members who have been on/off drugs and up/down in dose multiple times with no issues, then one day they do the same thing that worked before and their nervous system cannot cope with it.

 

SA's tapering rate is to reduce the current dose (not the starting dose) by no more than 10% and hold on that dose for about 4 weeks to allow the brain to adapt to not getting as much of the drug.  The idea is to keep withdrawal symptoms to a minimum.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

Dr Joseph Glenmullen's WD Symptoms Checklist

 

Post #1 of this topic explains how to get non standard doses:

 

Tips for tapering off sertraline (Zoloft)

 

This topic has links to helpful topics on SA:

 

Important topics in the Tapering forum and FAQ

 

This is your own Introduction topic and is where you ask questions about your own situation and journal your progress.  This keeps your history in one place and means you don't have to repeat your story.