ceebee: Tapering off Sertraline

[ceebee]

It's hard to know where to begin! 

 

I'm a 36-year-old mother of two living in Western New York. I work as an office manager at our family business a couple of days a week, and the rest of the time I'm home with my boys, ages 5 and 7. I've been on antidepressants for 18 years now. They were first prescribed to me in 2005, when I was 18 years old and starting college for the first time. I was a homebody, very attached to my family, and had never spent a lot of time away from home before. I was also trying to acclimate to college academics, and I was having a hard time with feeling stressed and overwhelmed by my classes. It was recommended to me to try counseling, and the woman I saw suggested that I was dealing with depression and anxiety - the "chemical imbalance." She wrote a letter to my primary care physician at home, suggesting that he prescribe antidepressants for me. I ended up with a prescription for Paxil, and the rest is history. I can see now that I was most likely just dealing with a huge change in my life - I was away from home for the first time, I knew not a single person at my college, I was living with a stranger, and I was trying to do well academically in a situation I had never experienced before. It was a move from one life stage to another, and since I've always been sensitive, it was traumatic. I remember how miserable I felt, and how I desperately longed to feel better, and how I was willing to do anything to make it happen. But now I'm angry that the only option offered to me was a drug. 

 

I can look back now and see that each time I've changed medications or increased dosages, it has been during tough emotional times in my life - times of change or upheaval. So I wonder, did I ever REALLY NEED a psychiatric drug to cope, or did I just need to learn to cope with being human? 

 

So here we are today. I've been on 100mg of sertraline for over 5 years now. I've spoken with my primary care physician, and she supports my decision to taper. Her recommendation, however, is to immediately cut down to 50mg and go from there - which I know is a recipe for disaster. I explained to her that I want to go much slower, and got the impression that she thinks I'm being ridiculous, but she was willing to go with whatever process I want to follow. At my last appointment she gave me a prescription for 50mg tablets and sertraline liquid concentrate, which is 20mg/mL. (She actually told me that she's only prescribed liquid sertraline twice - once for me, and once for a pediatric patient... which is heartbreaking in and of itself.) As of yesterday I've started with my first lowered dose of 90mg - one 50mg tablet and 2mL of the liquid. The liquid is pretty terrible, but taking it in a small glass of Sprite makes it mostly bearable. I've also started supplementing with folate, Vitamin B12, and fish oil, which I saw recommended somewhere here on the forum. 

 

My incredible husband created a spreadsheet for me that calculates dosages, and accounts for the fact that I'm combining tablets with liquid. I worry about being able to be precise enough -  I have no idea how on earth I'm going to be able to measure such tiny, tiny doses of the liquid! I'll attach the spreadsheet here if anyone wants to look at it and maybe give me some advice??

 

If you read all of that, thank you - I'm glad to be here. 

Medication Tapering.ods

[Altostrata]

Welcome, @ceebee

 

You are wise to investigate gradual tapering methods. Please see Tips for tapering off sertraline (Zoloft)
 

We don't download documents, please put your tapering spreadsheet on Google Drive or similar and post a link to it. FYI 

 

How to calculate dosages and dilutions? Spreadsheets and calculators

 

[ceebee]

Thank you, Alto - makes sense. Here's a link to the document on Google drive: ceebee's Medication Taper

[Altostrata]

@ceebee nice spreadsheet showing 10% reductions! Thank you to your husband.

 

You might share it with your doctor -- be sure to tell her how your experiment is going as you taper.

 

The key is to observe for a month to see what happens after a reduction. We advise not to make another reduction if withdrawal symptoms appear, you'll need to wait for them to go away.

 

Please let us know how you're doing.