Liatris Posted August 10, 2023 Posted August 10, 2023 (edited) Hi. I am on this site looking for tips for staying steady while gradually tapering off Zoloft. I'm so grateful for all the info here. I have been on it for 16 years, and although it improved my life a million per cent, I want to see how things are without it. I am in my mid-50s and my life is more stable and healthy than it has ever been. Maybe I can live without the SSRIs. If I can't, it's OK, I will stay on them. But I want to try to go off. Edited August 13, 2023 by Shep removed real name from post Sertraline (Zoloft) - 75mg 2007-2020 - 100mg 2020-2021 - 50 mg 2021-2023 - currently 45mg hoping to go down to zero by 10% a month Oops I thought I was at 45 since July 19 but actually I was at 80 because I mixed up my bottles -- instead of tapering I inadvertently increased.
Administrator Altostrata Posted August 12, 2023 Administrator Posted August 12, 2023 (edited) Welcome. When did you make your last reduction in Zoloft? Did you get any odd symptoms afterward? Edited August 13, 2023 by Shep removed member's old username from post This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein All postings © copyrighted.
Liatris Posted August 12, 2023 Author Posted August 12, 2023 Thanks for the welcome. I reduced from 50 to 45 on July 19, so 24 days ago. About a week or ten days ago, so about two weeks after the reduction, I started having pretty intense anxiety. I also started sweating much more than usual. The sweating is continuing, but thankfully the anxiety has diminished. A few days ago I started taking B12, B6 and Omega 3, and so far don't feel that the B vitamins are causing activation or anxiety. So I would say overall it's OK. When I reduced by 25mg last year it was OK, but I've been reading on this forum that the reductions at the lower end can be tougher. I want to reduce the drugs and see if I can be OK without them. I want this in spite of the fact that before I went on Zoloft I was often anxious to the point of not functioning. I really credit Zoloft with allowing me to build healthy relationships and a career. It never seemed to have any bad side effects once the initial side effects went away. But I have this urge to see what it's like to live without this drug in my body. Surely therapy and yoga and stability and being 16 years older might make a difference? Sertraline (Zoloft) - 75mg 2007-2020 - 100mg 2020-2021 - 50 mg 2021-2023 - currently 45mg hoping to go down to zero by 10% a month Oops I thought I was at 45 since July 19 but actually I was at 80 because I mixed up my bottles -- instead of tapering I inadvertently increased.
Administrator Altostrata Posted August 14, 2023 Administrator Posted August 14, 2023 How has your symptom pattern change in the last 2 weeks? How's your sleep? Since you got those withdrawal symptoms by reducing from 50mg to 45mg, if I were you, I'd reduce by 5% rather than 10% next time. Don't reduce again until your withdrawal symptoms go away completely. See Tips for tapering off sertraline (Zoloft) Please let us know how you're doing. This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein All postings © copyrighted.
Liatris Posted August 14, 2023 Author Posted August 14, 2023 Thank you so much! That sounds good -- slowing down the tapering. So far it seems like my GP is open to prescribing a taper, and the compounding pharmacy will fill it. I am also a teacher, and like the idea of keeping things as stable as possible for start of term. The past couple days have been symptom free, and my sleep is overall good. I'm slowly working my way through the Tips for tapering off sertraline and other topics on the site and again, super appreciate all this wisdom. 1 Sertraline (Zoloft) - 75mg 2007-2020 - 100mg 2020-2021 - 50 mg 2021-2023 - currently 45mg hoping to go down to zero by 10% a month Oops I thought I was at 45 since July 19 but actually I was at 80 because I mixed up my bottles -- instead of tapering I inadvertently increased.
Administrator Altostrata Posted August 16, 2023 Administrator Posted August 16, 2023 On 8/14/2023 at 10:51 AM, Liatris said: The past couple days have been symptom free, and my sleep is overall good. This is good. If your sleep is steady, I would wait a couple of weeks before making that 5% decrease. This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein All postings © copyrighted.
Liatris Posted August 17, 2023 Author Posted August 17, 2023 Hi again. Last night I realized I made a mistake in my dosage. When I decided to reduce, I got two different capsules from the compounding pharmacy: a bottle of 35mg and a bottle of 5mg. I was supposed to be taking 1 x 35mg plus 2 x 5mg for a total of 45. But I mixed up the bottles, so for the last month I've been taking 2 x 35 and 1 x 5 for a total of 80. Instead of reducing, I increased from 50 to 80! So now my question is -- do I now need to reduce down from 80 in 10% increments? Or, given that it's just been a month, maybe I can go back down to 50, where I've been for about the past two years. Last year I went down from 75 to 50 with only minor effects. Thank you for reading!! Sertraline (Zoloft) - 75mg 2007-2020 - 100mg 2020-2021 - 50 mg 2021-2023 - currently 45mg hoping to go down to zero by 10% a month Oops I thought I was at 45 since July 19 but actually I was at 80 because I mixed up my bottles -- instead of tapering I inadvertently increased.
Administrator Altostrata Posted August 18, 2023 Administrator Posted August 18, 2023 How do you feel after this mixup? Stabilize first on your usual 45mg dose before tapering. This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein All postings © copyrighted.
Liatris Posted August 18, 2023 Author Posted August 18, 2023 Oh, I should clarify. I've actually never been at 45. I thought, one month ago, that I was reducing from 50 to 45, i.e. starting my taper. But actually for the past month I've been taking 80, because I mixed up the bottles. So my question now is, do I need to taper gradually down from 80, or could I quickly drop down from 80 to 50 since it's only been a month, and before that month I was on 50 for two years. Does that make sense? I've been doing fine aside from the side effects (sweating and transitory anxiety) that I described above, thinking I was talking about the effects of reducing to 45 when actually it was increasing to 80. (Or maybe it was just a family visit and hot flashes?) Sertraline (Zoloft) - 75mg 2007-2020 - 100mg 2020-2021 - 50 mg 2021-2023 - currently 45mg hoping to go down to zero by 10% a month Oops I thought I was at 45 since July 19 but actually I was at 80 because I mixed up my bottles -- instead of tapering I inadvertently increased.
Administrator Altostrata Posted August 19, 2023 Administrator Posted August 19, 2023 How do you feel after taking 80mg since July 19? This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein All postings © copyrighted.
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