HopefulToHeal:Off Sertraline and emotionless

[HopefulToHeal]

I am reluctantly writing this as I feel very little hope. Back in 2009 I was diagnosed with GAD for really bad anxiety and panic attacks. I was told this might be permanent and was prescribed Ativan. Over the next year or so my dose was bumped all the way to 7mg of Ativan daily. I was also prescribed Ritalin 80 mg daily at some point with no diagnosis. I told my doctor I had a hard time concentrating after plowing snow for 3 days straight and that was his response. I drank very heavily from 2005 until I finally saw a problem in September of 2015 which is when I sobered up from alcohol. At this time I also entered into therapy. We started realizing that taking 7mg of Ativan daily was keeping me from being able to access and process my old issues. At this point I had no idea I had childhood trauma.
 

At some time in my recovery from alcohol I decided I wanted to get off the Ritalin probably 2016. One day I stopped cold turkey and dealt with some extreme fatigue and exhaustion but was able to power through with will power and the fact that I was in my “prime” at 30. I was also very motivated to be substance free.

 

 Back to the Ativan. I worked very hard from 2017 to 2020 to drop my dose of Ativan with help from my doctor. I made huge progress as she would say and went from 7 mg down to just 0.5mg. Then I got a job working as a County Park Ranger. A free months in I worked a really traumatic car accident and started having PTSD symptoms. I started doing EMDR for this and after 6 months was %90 free of this hell.

 

 During the time I was processing that trauma I met my now ex November 2018. I believe she could sense the distress on me and acted as a savior but has now revealed herself to be quite the opposite. We had a kid together in June of 2021 and I left in June 2022. My son means everything to me and has been the main reason I survived the hell of living with a narcissist for almost 4 years. We are In a custody battle at the moment where she is trying to take full custody and move to Idaho (we currently live in Colorado). 
 

During the time I was with her I was having such bad anxiety that I was having a hard time dropping my Ativan any further. As a result of this my doctor recommended I take Zoloft to help with the anxiety and give me something to lean on while finishing my termination with Ativan. This is where I believe my brain was damaged. From the moment I took my first dose of Zoloft 50 mg the world seemed darker, quieter, and further away. It was like a dark vail was placed over my eyes and ears. Over the next year my doctor bumped my dose all the way to 200mg off Zoloft where I stayed for roughly 2 years. Sometime in there Fall of 2022 I realized my genitals were almost completely numb. I panicked and started doing research. That ultimately led me here. I realized I needed to be in a more stable living situation before getting off the Zoloft so I busted my ass to get back on my feet and into my own place. In May of 2023 I moved into my own place. I started tapping the Zoloft very quickly on my own from 200 to 100mg and held for a month. Then from 100 to 50mg for about a month or two. Then 6/4/23 I stopped taking Zoloft altogether. The first three weeks were no big deal just emotional breakdowns and such. After week 3 the low mood started selling in. It was also at this point I realized that my emotions were quickly leaving me as well. That is the part I’m most concerned about. I feel almost like a robot that has hardly any thoughts in my head or emotions in my soul. The love of my life, my beautiful 2 year old boy, is getting a very different dad now. I struggle to connect with him and I don’t feel the same powerful attachment and love I did with him only a month ago. I don’t know what to do as I am in an extremely difficult situation with work and custody and I feel almost nothing. The terror and outrage of my situation with my ex is now only a blip on the radar. I have no emotions or motivation either way to fight her although deep down inside I know how devastated I would have been previously to lose my son to her and her new fiancé. I don’t know what to do and I want to have hope that this is just temporary. Did my emotions crash temporarily and will eventually return with time? I’m feeling defeated and hollow. Thanks for reading this.

 

[Frogie]

@HopefulToHeal

 

 

Welcome to SA. We are a volunteer ran site helping people taper off psychiatric medications or have tapered off and are now healing.

 

 

 

This is your introduction page where you will receive information, ask questions and meet other members. We ask that you only have one introduction page so we can keep all your information in one place.

 

 

 

Please add a signature.  Include drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements in the last 12-24 months. Also include supplements. This will help us give you the most accurate advice we can. 

• Any drugs and supplements prior to 24 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years. 
• Please use actual dates or approximate dates (mid-June, Late October) rather than relative time frames (last week, 3 months ago) 
• Spell out months, e.g. "October" or "Oct."; 9/1/2016 can be interpreted as Jan. 9, 2016 or Sept. 1, 2016. 
• Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses. 
• A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs. 
• This is a direct link to your signature:  Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

From what I understand, you just stopped Zoloft in June? I'm going to provide you with some links that can help you. Unfortunately most dr's know very little about these drugs and the implications they cause by not tapering properly.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

Dr. Joseph Glenmullen's withdrawal symptom checklist

What is withdrawal syndrome?
 
About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms
 
The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

Tips for tapering off sertraline (Zoloft)

 

 

 

Here is some important information about how these drugs actually work.  This explains why we get symptoms from going off of these medications:

 

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain

 

 

This helps you understand what withdrawal syndrome is: 

 

Video on Recovery from Psych Drugs

 

 

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 a lot of supplements on here as they can be stimulating to the central nervous system (CNS), except 2. If you would like to try one, try a small amount and wait a few days before introducing the other.

 

Magnesium

Omega 3 Fish Oil

 

 

After you have read the links provided, please reach out with any questions you may have.

 

[Frogie]

@HopefulToHeal

 

I just read if I am right, you are still on 1mg Ativan? If you are, please do not stop it. It will help you through this Zoloft situation.

[HopefulToHeal]

Yes, I am on 1 mg of Ativan. I plan on holding for at least 6 months on this dose before doing anything else.

[Frogie]

@HopefulToHeal

 

You don't want to do anything with the Ativan, especially if you are going to reinstate the Zoloft. Benzo's are a brake and help with withdrawal symptoms.

[HopefulToHeal]

Does anyone have any advice on being reinstated on a small dose of the original AD to help with anhedonia symptoms? Or does this tend to prolong withdrawals?

[Frogie]

@HopefulToHeal

 

I gave you information on reinstating the Zoloft in the links I provided and suggested an amount to start out with. 

 

Here are the links once again:

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

Dr. Joseph Glenmullen's withdrawal symptom checklist

What is withdrawal syndrome?
 
About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms
 
The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

Tips for tapering off sertraline (Zoloft)

 

Let us know if you have any questions after reading these.

[HopefulToHeal]

I’m feeling so low today. I feel like these drugs took everything from me. I don’t even have a fear of suicide at the moment. I feel almost so relaxed that I don’t care about anything at all but have no reason to be alive. I have a small child and up until I got off my meds they were my heart and the love of my life. Is there hope to feel again? The PSSD is now set in and I just don’t see a point on hanging on.

[MarliesDutch]

The fact you’re here for advice means you do have some emotions in you.

You still care about your loss of emotions, the love for you son.

Although it might be cognitive only, hold on to that. 
 

I’m not a long time member on this forum, but I read that everyone makes progress. But it might take a long time.

 

So hold on!!

[HopefulToHeal]

Thank you for the positive words! It’s amazing how powerful encouragement from a total stranger can be!!

 

I saw a photo of my son pop up on my phone and found that tiny flame inside me still burning which gave me the motivation to get out of bed and get ready for the day. I have actually been pretty productive since then.

 

The lack of connection to my emotions and the world is so devastating. I’m going to have to do this one day, hour, or minute at a time and try to hold on to hope that healing is coming. 

 

Thank you for this site! And thank you for the words Marlies!

[MarliesDutch]

So happy to hear that you have made it out of bed today and even had a productive day!

Don’t get scared if you have more really bad days. Those come with the package of withdrawal and is actually healing of the brain. It’s okay to get discouraged sometimes, to feel helpless, to feel like living isn’t worth anymore. Take it day by day. 
And remember that tiny flame, that ‘cognitive feeling’, knowing that you are recovering and that it takes time.

 

Sometimes it can be helpfull to write down the things you felt today or did good today.

Even the tiniest things matter. Things like: brushed my theeth twice today, got out of bed before 12.00, felt love for my son, was touched by a memory, had a frustrating feeling, asked someone’s time to ventilate, managed to app a friend, walked down the street, awareness of the blue sky and green grass etc etc.

 

And see if you can gather some people around you who can offer time to listen, take you out for a walk, have dinner together etc. 

 

 

[HopefulToHeal]

Thank you Marlies for the support and great tools/suggestions! I’m trying to find people who are willing and able to meet up and listen to me. It’s been a really tricky time for me in that realm and I’m single. Everyone on here seems to be so compassionate and kind! Our world needs so much more of this. In my opinion that would address much of the human suffering and “need” for these powerful drug interventions. 

[HopefulToHeal]

I go back to see my Dr. In 4 days. I’m very concerned with the extreme emotional anesthesia that has quickly set in over the last 3 weeks. I’ve only been off my Sertraline (Zoloft) for 6 weeks and I did a very quick taper from 200mg down to zero in 3 months.

 

 Am I still in the “safe window” to reinstate my Sertraline? If so what dosage would be most recommended? Have we seen anyone actually reverse or at least stabilize the emotional anesthesia and anhedonia with a partial reinstatement? Is there a high rate of some level of emotion returning over time from Sertraline at a dose of 200mg taken  approximately 3 years? I know those are relative terms. I’m hoping for cases of people on here with these specific experiences with this drug if possible. Any information from anyone on this site is welcome. It just helps me set my mind at ease to hear people with very similar situations. I know we are all looking for the same answers and I apologize if I’m being too needy.

 

 As always I’m grateful to everyone on this site and Alto you are a saint for putting all of this together. We all share a common bond in this experience and it is very comforting to know I am not alone. That being said, I wish we were all getting to know each other for very different reasons. Much love and healing to us all ❤️

 

 

[Shep]

@HopefulToHeal Please set up a signature so we have your history. 

 

How to Summarize Your Drug History in Your Signature

 

Are you taking any other drugs besides Ativan? Please list the drug name, dose, and time(s) of day you take any drugs and also include supplements.

 

What dose did you stop the Zoloft at 6 weeks ago? 

[HopefulToHeal]

I will add a signature very soon. I’m on 0.5mg Lorazepam (Ativan) twice daily and 10mg melatonin at night. I also take 2 fish oil tablets daily 500 EPA/250 DHA. 
 

I completed my taper of Sertraline (Zoloft) at 50mg. I was on that dose for maybe a month before stopping.

[Shep]

23 hours ago, HopefulToHeal said:

I completed my taper of Sertraline (Zoloft) at 50mg. I was on that dose for maybe a month before stopping.

 

Thanks for completing your signature. I see you stopped sertraline at 50 mg on June 4th, which is about 6 weeks ago.

 

You may want to reinstate 2 or 3 mg and see how you do. You can always increase. You can read why we suggest such low reinstatement doses here:

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms
 

And the first post in this thread shows how to get to these very low doses: 

Tips for tapering off sertraline (Zoloft)

 

It takes about 4 days for your nervous system to register the reinstatement and then it can a week or more to adjust to it. 

 

Please let us know if you have any questions. 

 

PLEASE NOTE: there is a "moderate" drug interaction between Lorazepam and Sertraline:

 

Drug Interaction Report - lorazepam and sertraline

 

You may want to space these two drugs at least 2 hours apart to help prevent this interaction. Even if you never had problems with this interaction before, because your nervous system is now destabilized, you may be hypersensitive to it now. 

 

23 hours ago, HopefulToHeal said:

10mg melatonin at night.

 

This is a very high dose, but since you've been on it for years (per your signature), you may not want to make a change right now, especially since you're aiming to do a sertraline reinstatement. But I'll leave you this information to read over in case you wish to reduce later:

Melatonin for sleep

 

Please note it's very important not to make more than one change at a time. A change can involve a supplement, a dose change of a drug or supplement, and even abrupt dietary changes. This is a great thread that explains why:

 

The rule of 3KIS: Keep it simple. Keep it slow. Keep it stable.

 

 

 

[HopefulToHeal]

I want to check-in. I saw my doctor yesterday Monday7/17/23. It was good in the sense that he listened to me and gave me a much needed person to just listen to me. It was also very difficult to list off my symptoms and hear myself describe what I'm actually going through right now which is just mind blowing. To see how much I am suffering and how I was doing alright only 6 weeks ago is shocking to say the least. The only side effects I realized I was having which caused me to get off my Sertraline (Zoloft) recently were:

- Genital Numbness

- No sensation when urinating or voiding bowels

- Lack of temperature sensitivity all over my body

 

Side effects I am now having on top of the existing symptoms are as follows:

- Time drags on and on

- Anhedonia 

- Brain Fog

- Feeling disconnected from people

- Emotional anesthesia

- Headaches

- PSSD

- Lack of hunger signals

- No appetite most of the time

- Lack of tiredness

- Physical sensations throughout my insides like emotional turmoil or dread

 

I was in shock a few weeks ago when I started this account. I am still in shock but am starting to accept where I am at and embrace this hell I'm going through. Things I am doing to cope and give myself a chance to heal are:

- Eating healthy

- Door Dashing on the days I don't have my 2 year old so I can try and keep up with my  bills

- Calling and texting trusted people which is hard (nobody can relate to what I'm going through)

- Going on walks with a trusted friend in the evening

- Sleeping as much as I can manage to stay asleep (varies greatly)

- Practice mindfulness when I am able to focus on it

- Remain hopeful of good days to come in the future with my son

- Allow myself to think that someday I might be able to have a relationship with a loving partner

 

Everyday feels like the movie Groundhog Day and is so extremely tough! I am eternally grateful for this community and I love all of the success stories and reading people's posts encouraging each other. We are incredibly strong people and I believe our miracle is coming as @Pug said. May we experience internal peace and serenity even for only a brief moment!

[HopefulToHeal]

My doctor basically said he wouldn't prescribe me a dose of Zoloft that isn't "indicated" to treat depression meaning large enough of a dose. He said a micro-dose would be a placebo effect. He says I'm extremely depressed which I believe is true. I am experiencing so much loss and have over the past year. I also now understand that many of my symptoms are absolutely withdrawal. I am terrified to re-instate even a relatively small dose (compared to my  200mg dose) of Zoloft such as 50 or 25 mg which I could get my dr. to prescribe me as "indicated" to treat depression. I am also leery of reinstating at even 3 or 5 mg. I wonder if I will be kicking myself in 6 months for not re-instating a small dose of 3 or 5 mg though. Do symptoms tend to continue to ramp up for the first year for most? I've seen a lot of reports of that. I know I'm probably in a window of safe micro re-instatement and want to make the best decision as possible before it's too late. Is it better to just keep moving with my extremely quick taper or try and stabilize with a micro-dose? I absolutely hate this *******  drug and have a hard time thinking of putting it back into my body but I also understand it might be the best thing for me long term.

[HopefulToHeal]

Ok a couple more things that came to me just now while doing my magnesium bath. I am starting to have periods of elevated heart rate. I haven’t cut out caffeine yet but I might be there as most are during this process. I will taper my caffeine soon if the heart rate spikes keep coming. Also on that note I really don’t get much from the caffeine like I used to. Is that an indicator of anything? I have some Propranolol 10mg tablets prescribed as needed which I have taken twice when dealing with these spikes so that I could get some sleep. I took 20mg in both cases. Didn’t seem to do too much but is that a pretty benign drug for most in this process since it’s a Beta Blocker? Lastly and most importantly, I could easily get my doctor to prescribe me the 25mg tablets of Zoloft and reinstate my breaking them in half and taking 12.5mg daily. If that stabilized me I’d feel ok with a relatively low dose for now. I was remembering how much is riding on this next month for me with my custody case coming up and thought maybe it would be best to try and stabilize rather than white knuckle and risk not being able to function and losing my son aka my heart. Thanks for the patience and understanding along with the heartfelt help!

[thambi]

Hi HopefulToHeal,

Being an ex-coffee addict, I also don't get much benefit (focus, motivation, etc.) from caffeine now like I used to...until now, I still haven't found an explanation/reason for this, but I suppose the re-wiring of our brains is to blame. 

It's strange not craving coffee anymore, which I don't mind, but I do miss the mental boost it provided...I've just started drinking instant decaf and bought some decaffeinated black tea...

All the best to you.

[HopefulToHeal]

Thanks for the response Thambi. Maybe this is something we can enjoy again down the road once we are healed. Pug said he is able to enjoy coffee again. 
 

It reminds me though how my pattern since childhood is to always want to change my state. Addiction has been a big part of my story and having to let go of everything I still used to medicate or change states up until now is going to be part of my growth. 
 

A good benign tea could be a good substitute for now though as you mentioned.

[Shep]

6 hours ago, HopefulToHeal said:

I have some Propranolol 10mg tablets prescribed as needed which I have taken twice when dealing with these spikes so that I could get some sleep. I took 20mg in both cases. Didn’t seem to do too much but is that a pretty benign drug for most in this process since it’s a Beta Blocker?

 

No, Propranolol is not a benign drug. If you take it enough to become dependent, it will need to be tapered. For more on this drug, please see:

 

Tips for tapering off propranolol

 

Please add the propranolol to your signature, along with the dates and dose you took it. Your signature is here:

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

6 hours ago, HopefulToHeal said:

Lastly and most importantly, I could easily get my doctor to prescribe me the 25mg tablets of Zoloft and reinstate my breaking them in half and taking 12.5mg daily.

 

This likely is too high a dose to reinstate. I would start much lower, as noted earlier in your thread: 

 

On 7/15/2023 at 6:27 AM, Shep said:

You may want to reinstate 2 or 3 mg and see how you do. You can always increase. You can read why we suggest such low reinstatement doses here:

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms
 

And the first post in this thread shows how to get to these very low doses: 

Tips for tapering off sertraline (Zoloft)

 

It takes about 4 days for your nervous system to register the reinstatement and then it can a week or more to adjust to it. 

 

 

[HopefulToHeal]

Today 7/21/23 I experienced my first true window. It’s been through faith in this group, acceptance practice, and many many painful hours of wanting to end all of this that I’ve made it here. I’ve read so many posts about windows and now I know they are real! I know I’m only 7 weeks into this journey but I’d be willing to bet the first window is one of the hardest to reach. Until I had this beautiful day today, there was no way to know for sure that I wasn’t totally broken and damaged. Again, the stories and posts from everyone here were all I had to go on up until now and I am so grateful for everyone who has made this community possible. I get my little boy tomorrow and I am so hopeful that this window stays open for the weekend. Much love to all of you and thank you to all who have preceded us in this insane journey!

[Shep]

2 hours ago, HopefulToHeal said:

Today 7/21/23 I experienced my first true window. It’s been through faith in this group, acceptance practice, and many many painful hours of wanting to end all of this that I’ve made it here. I’ve read so many posts about windows and now I know they are real! I know I’m only 7 weeks into this journey but I’d be willing to bet the first window is one of the hardest to reach. Until I had this beautiful day today, there was no way to know for sure that I wasn’t totally broken and damaged. Again, the stories and posts from everyone here were all I had to go on up until now and I am so grateful for everyone who has made this community possible. I get my little boy tomorrow and I am so hopeful that this window stays open for the weekend. Much love to all of you and thank you to all who have preceded us in this insane journey!

 

You may want to print out this post or bookmark it or copy and paste it somewhere you'll have easy access to it. It's very helpful to refer back to these kinds of posts when you're in waves because it's the best sign of resiliency we have. Knowing your mind/body is able to feel good again is a powerful thing when we hit waves and start to lose faith. 

 

Congratulations on getting to that first true window. That's what healing looks like. 

[Frogie]

@HopefulToHeal

 

You made it! Your first window. That is great news! There will be more to come.

[HopefulToHeal]

So I’m coming up on 2 months off Zoloft. I did an extremely fast taper and am really struggling with depression, anhedonia, emotional anesthesia, lack of emotional resonance, PSSD, and extreme brain fog. My question is have we seen people recover some of their emotions and alleviate anhedonia with reinstatement or is reinstatement mostly to address the physical symptoms? I’m at a big crossroads right now trying to survive a “high conflict” custody battle and caring for a 2 year old on the weekends. I’m really scared to reinstate but I don’t know if I can get through this time period as I am. Thanks in advance.

[Shep]

On 7/15/2023 at 6:27 AM, Shep said:

You may want to reinstate 2 or 3 mg and see how you do. You can always increase. You can read why we suggest such low reinstatement doses here:

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms
 

And the first post in this thread shows how to get to these very low doses: 

Tips for tapering off sertraline (Zoloft)

 

It takes about 4 days for your nervous system to register the reinstatement and then it can a week or more to adjust to it. 

 

Please let us know if you have any questions. 

 

PLEASE NOTE: there is a "moderate" drug interaction between Lorazepam and Sertraline:

 

Drug Interaction Report - lorazepam and sertraline

 

You may want to space these two drugs at least 2 hours apart to help prevent this interaction. Even if you never had problems with this interaction before, because your nervous system is now destabilized, you may be hypersensitive to it now. 

 

@HopefulToHeal The above is what I wrote last month about reinstating the Zoloft. Since it's been a few more weeks, you may want to target a lower reinstatement amount, perhaps just 1 mg to see how you do. The farther out you are from stopping, the more your brain has adjusted to the lack of the drug, so you'll want to keep that dose really low. You can always increase. 

 

Are you still taking lorazepam? Has your dose or timing changed? 

[Blossom71]

Hi @HopefulToHeal

 

Just wanted to stop by and say Hi. I'm tapering off sertraline too so I know how awful it can be.

 

One thing that jumped out when I was reading through your thread was that while your doctor won't prescribe a lower dose, he will prescribe 25mg.  There is absolutely nothing to stop you getting your prescription for 25mg and re-instating say 1mg. You just don't tell him!

My doctor thinks I'm on 50mg. I haven't told him about my taper as I cant be bothered trying to educate him about withdrawals - as given his advice about coming off them before he clearly has no idea how difficult it is.

[HopefulToHeal]

I have added 0.25mg of Ativan daily. I am taking smaller doses spread out more evenly which has helped a bit with the panic spikes throughout the day. Otherwise I haven’t made any significant changes. 
 

My concern is that a reinstatement could make things worse. Does the final outcome look the same whether I reinstate or not as far as recovering my emotions eventually? I don’t want to damage my limbic system anymore than it already is. I know nobody really knows how these drugs effect our brains. Is my brain already trying to repair that system and reinstating could throw it off even further, or is it more likely that my fast taper did more damage and reinstatement could mitigate some of that even 2 months out? I hope I’m making sense.

[Shep]

18 hours ago, HopefulToHeal said:

I have added 0.25mg of Ativan daily.

 

Is this in addition to what you have in your signature: "Daily taking 0.25 mg Lorazepam in the morning 0.25 mg at noon 0.25 mg in the afternoon and 0.5 mg at bedtime"? 

 

What you have in your signature is a total of 1.25 mg. When did you go from 1 mg (listed in your signature for 2021) up to 1.25 mg? 

 

Please update your signature to give the dates of your benzo changes. 

 

 

[HopefulToHeal]

I updated my signature yesterday and it is correct and current. I am on 1.25mg of Ativan daily.

[HopefulToHeal]

I’m going to reinstate my Zoloft and I have the 25 mg tablets. I am really having a hard time doing anything much less math. What do I need to measure and dose a micro dose of 1 mg with these tablets? Things have gotten really bad over the past three days and I’m not in a good place. I have no support from family and almost no friends. I know people have posted links above but I’ve not been able to find the one that would help me accomplish this reinstatement at this dose with this medication. Thank you in advance! 

[HopefulToHeal]

The other option I have is getting on Buspar rather than reinstating Zoloft. I got off the Zoloft originally because of genital anesthesia and the doctor recommended Buspar as an alternative. I really don’t want to go back on Zoloft because it can’t be doing anything good for my PSSD. If I do want to go on Buspar instead how would I go about taking it without getting on too high of a dose? Does anyone have experience with those type of meds switch after withdrawals have set it? This is so scary!

[HopefulToHeal]

I apologize for so many posts and questions. I was able to find the link explaining how to make a suspension with tablets. I am going to reinstate with Zoloft. I stopped by a compounding pharmacy and the pharmacist really helped me with the process and gave me the tools I will need to reinstate at a micro dose. I was going to start back on 2.5 mg to start. Does they seem too high? And is it best to take these meds in the am or pm? I can’t remember what my old schedule was. What should I look for as far as symptoms to know if the reinstatement is not going to work? Thank you for all the help!

[HopefulToHeal]

This evening I sank into a low so low that I decided to take half of a 25mg tablet of Zoloft after returning home from work. Prior to taking the med it felt as if someone had split my brain in two from the top and the deep dark place inside my mind seemed darker and deeper than I’ve ever experienced. I have been experiencing this darkness as dead, hopelessness, and despair that has been building the past 3 days. I will report back tomorrow and share my symptoms. As of right now only 45 minutes into taking the dose I feel a slight rush of energy and my mood has greatly lifted. I also must note that I just picked up my 2 year old son and got some much needed snuggles and kisses. I am hopeful that this is drug induced as that would lead me to believe that I could reinstate at a low dose and hold for a bit until my custody case is settled. Then I could taper properly which I definitely did not do from my original dose of 200 mg. Any feedback right now would be greatly appreciated!

[Shep]

18 hours ago, HopefulToHeal said:

The other option I have is getting on Buspar rather than reinstating Zoloft. I got off the Zoloft originally because of genital anesthesia and the doctor recommended Buspar as an alternative. I really don’t want to go back on Zoloft because it can’t be doing anything good for my PSSD. If I do want to go on Buspar instead how would I go about taking it without getting on too high of a dose? Does anyone have experience with those type of meds switch after withdrawals have set it? This is so scary!

 

We don't recommend adding in other drugs. We aren't doctors here so we can't give you advice on this. Other drugs, including Buspar, come with their own problems and do require tapering. 

 

Tips for tapering off buspirone (Buspar)

 

8 hours ago, HopefulToHeal said:

Any feedback right now would be greatly appreciated!

 

 As you unfortunately found out, half a 25 mg tablet was too much.

 

At this point, I wouldn't reinstate more than 1 mg Zoloft. Please note what was already posted in your thread about reinstating, especially how you should target lower doses the farther out you are.

 

Again, I wouldn't reinstate more than 1 mg Zoloft at this point. 

 

On 7/15/2023 at 6:27 AM, Shep said:

I see you stopped sertraline at 50 mg on June 4th, which is about 6 weeks ago.

 

You may want to reinstate 2 or 3 mg and see how you do. You can always increase. You can read why we suggest such low reinstatement doses here:

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms
 

And the first post in this thread shows how to get to these very low doses: 

Tips for tapering off sertraline (Zoloft)

 

It takes about 4 days for your nervous system to register the reinstatement and then it can a week or more to adjust to it. 

 

Please let us know if you have any questions. 

 

PLEASE NOTE: there is a "moderate" drug interaction between Lorazepam and Sertraline:

 

Drug Interaction Report - lorazepam and sertraline

 

You may want to space these two drugs at least 2 hours apart to help prevent this interaction. Even if you never had problems with this interaction before, because your nervous system is now destabilized, you may be hypersensitive to it now. 

 

On 8/3/2023 at 7:41 AM, Shep said:

The above is what I wrote last month about reinstating the Zoloft. Since it's been a few more weeks, you may want to target a lower reinstatement amount, perhaps just 1 mg to see how you do. The farther out you are from stopping, the more your brain has adjusted to the lack of the drug, so you'll want to keep that dose really low. You can always increase.