NathanR Posted October 22, 2022 Posted October 22, 2022 Hello, I have suffered from anxiety, depression and OCD my entire life. I've been on Sertraline for about 15 years. Recently, due to side effects and working to manage my mental health, I've had the desire to taper. Not necessarily all the way right now, but reduce it. I've been on 150mg for about four or five years. A couple of months ago I reduced from 150 to 125 (I have capsules of 25mg, not pills). This was really painful but I persevered. Had headaches, a significant spike in anxiety, and feelings of brain fog or a kind of mental lethargy. Two and a half weeks ago I went from 125 to 100. I've had no headaches but my OCD and anxiety has intensified, and my brain feels foggy, like I'm not as smart as I should be. Just have this feeling of general unease or feeling crappy. It's tough, I sometimes have the urge to go back to 125 but I want to tough it out. I'm scared that I will feel crappy forever to be honest. Nathan. 2006-07 - started on 50mg of zoloft for major depression and OCD. 2007-2018 - stayed between 50 and 75mg zoloft. Minimal side effects. 2018 - major OCD incidents, psychiatrist suggests upping dosage to 200mg. I stop at 150mg. Side effects become bothersome at this dose, although manageable. Fall 2023 - taper from 150 to 125. August 17th, 2024 - 115. September 10th, 2024 - 105. No looking back. Goal - 100mg, then pause, then down to 75mg. Long-term goal is to reduce to 50mg or maybe off completely.
Moderator Emeritus getofflex Posted October 28, 2022 Moderator Emeritus Posted October 28, 2022 (edited) Hello, and welcome to SA. We are a volunteer-run community of people who have been or are getting off of psychiatric drugs. It sounds to me like you are having symptoms of withdrawal from tapering too fast. We here on SA have a harm reduction approach, and we advocate an extremely slow and conservative taper. Can you please give us specific information in your signature about your drug history for all drugs and supplements you are on and have been on, especially for the past 18-24 months? It would be especially helpful to have the details of your drugs in a concise vertical list (no symptoms), only specific dates, include the day (as best you can say for example early March if you don't recall the day), drug names, and dosages of each medication decrease or increase. Please read the link below for instructions. This will allow us to give you the best guidance. How to List Your Drug History in Your Signature Here is some important information about how these drugs actually work. This explains why we get symptoms from going off of these medications, and why it's so important to taper slowly and carefully, and be very cautious about changing our doses: How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain This helps you understand what withdrawal syndrome is: Video on Recovery from Psych Drugs Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization Tapering is best done extremely slowly, and we generally taper by 10% of the current dose no more than once every 4 weeks, so that the reduction becomes exponentially smaller. Why Taper by 10% of my Dosage Tips for Tapering Sertraline Here is a link with checklists of common WD symptoms: Dr Joseph Glenmullen Withdrawal Symptom Checklists Here are some techniques to cope with symptoms: Non Drug Ways to Cope with Withdrawal Symptoms Stability is really important when we are tapering off psych meds. Please read the link about stability: Keep It Simple, Slow, and Stable We don't suggest many supplements, but 2 that many of us find helpful are magnesium and omega-3 fish oil. Here are the links for info about those. It is suggested to add one at a time, and start with a low dose to see how it affects you. Magnesium Omega 3 Fish Oil Finally, going back on a small dose of your drug, or increasing your dose, which we call reinstatement, is best done very carefully. This is temporary, and after stabilizing you would then taper gradually off of this. There is some risk involved, and we need more specifics about your drug history before we can suggest a good dose at which to updose. Here is some information about reinstatement. About Reinstating and Stabilizing to Reduce Withdrawal Symptoms I've given you quite a bit of information here. Please read through it, and mull it over, and we will take it from there. In the meantime, take care of yourself, and take heart. We in this forum have been through this, and we understand first hand the pain and discomfort you are going through. Please know that the brain is amazing in it's healing abilities. It takes time, but healing can and will happen. Edited November 18, 2022 by getofflex Please do not private message me. Only tag me for urgent questions about tapering and reinstating - thank you. ***Please note this is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a doctor who understands psych meds and how to withdraw from them, if you can find one. Lexapro Started Apr 15 2010 - 10 mg; started taper August 2017, recent taper info: Apr 2 '20 0.18 mg; Jul 16 0.17 mg, Aug 23 0.16 mg, Oct 7 0.15 mg, Nov 8 - 0.14, Jan 16 '21 - 0.13, Feb 7 - 0.12, Feb 22 - 0.11, Mar 26 - 0.10, May 21 - 0.09, June 15 - 0.08 Aug 16 - 0.07, Oct 6 - 0.06, Nov 21 0.05, Dec. 17 0.04, Jan 14 '22 0.03, Feb 19 0.02, Apr 18 0.01, May 15 0.005, Jul 8, 0.00. Psych Drug Free as of July 8, 2022!! Woohoo!!! other meds: Levothyroxine 75 mg magnesium in small amounts at 4 AM, before bed suppl AM: fish oil, flax oil, vit C, vit E, multivitamin, zinc suppl 8 PM: magnesium 350 mg, extended release vitamin C, melatonin 2 mg Paxil 2002 - 2010, switched to Lexapro 2010 Trazodone 50 mg. 2002 - 2019, fast tapered in 2019 Xanax 0.5 mg as needed 2002 - 2019, up to 3x weekly
s0lit4ry Posted November 17, 2022 Posted November 17, 2022 Hey, best of luck to you, in time you will start to feel better. The tapering guides on here are really good. April 27, 2022 - THC overdose and subsequent trauma/panic disorder May 4 - May 10: ER visit for panic attacks, given Ativan 1mg and Buspirone 10mg (I tried Buspirone once in 2020 for 3 months) both didn't work, quit both CT May 10 - May 20: Lexapro 5mg for 10 days, extreme adverse reaction, quit CT May 20 - June 30: Zoloft 25mg for 2wk, extreme adverse reaction, fast taper over 3wk June 30: Seroquel 12.5mg with 6.2mg dose increase every 2 weeks Oct 1: Seroquel 25mg at this point symptoms vast and unbearable October 1 - Nov 1: Seroquel fast taper, 4.2mg every 6-7 days, Ativan .25-.5mg every 2,3,4th day for panic Nov 1, 2022 - 0mg seroquel, 0mg Ativan
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