Evelynmarie: Struggling very hard. Long covid and Zoloft taper

January 4

I have had long covid for two years. Struggled with neurological issues such as severe racing thoughts with Songs in my head and migraines daily with feeling like I'm concussied all the time visual snow syndrome and tons of visual issues plus much more. started Zoloft in February 2022 to see if it would help with racing thoughts. I tried to push through the initial side effects and give it time because everyone said it takes time.. I started to get tons of symptoms on this drug such as worse ocd and racing thoughts and tics and Anhedonia. I started tapering and tried to cut in half and had a severe reaction. I felt like I was going insane for a week whole body burning I could not stop thinking about it. I've had body burning with long covid but this is much worse like my whole body and mind felt insane and on fire. I finally got the liquid and started coming down. A few times I think I've definitely gone too quickly. I'm now at 7.4mg and struggling so bad I just want this drug out of me. Everytime I go down it's awful and now I'm scared it's forever cause I stopped tapering for a month and still had the symptoms. Tapering symptoms that are the worst consist of anhedonia and feeling like I don't love my cats or daughter even tho I know I do. Insane racing thoughts and ruminating. I think about every action I do like oh the way I talked to that person was weird or the way I'm driving is weird. I also get those days where I almost take myself to the hospital as I feel I wanna jump out of my skin. The ruminating thoughts are so bad and so are the insane feeling. I think about my symptoms 24/7 because they are there constantly. I feel like I'm going psychotic and no doctor will help me or even understands. I think long covid made my nervous system sensitized and I may have done it way worse with Zoloft. Please tell me what I can do to help or if anybody has experienced anything similar. I'm feeling suicidal

Edited January 4 by FireflyFyte
Updated title

January 4

Hi Evelynmarie,

I am sorry that you are struggling with suicidal feelings. We have a list of resources at For those who are feeling desperate or suicidal. Please do not hesitate to reach out for help if needed especially to those close to you.

Can you please summarize your drug history in your signature by following the instructions at How to Summarize Your Drug History in Your Signature. You may need to be on a computer to complete this.

At what time do you take the Zoloft? Do you notice if your symptoms are worse after your dosage?

Thanks,

Firefly

January 5

I take the Zoloft at 11am. I would say on really bad days my symptoms peak about mid day 12-3

January 5

@Evelynmarie

When did you start tapering? What was you starting dose? What has been your taper rate?

Could you please help us out by creating a signature. If you click this link, it will walk you through the process How to Create a Signature

Edited January 5 by LotusRising

January 17

How you doing, @Evelynmarie?

January 20

Doing alright. Struggling with rumination really bad. It's like I think about everything I just said and did or things I did in the past over and over again like severe self awareness. It's so odd

January 24

I've heard of the hyperbolic curve. I guess I just don't quite understand can somebody explain it better? I'm at 7mg Zoloft and finding it harder everytime I go down and only going down by .2. Doctors say this isn't possible but I don't believe them. Please explain somebody. Also. Can I take longer to adjust to going down than a month? I paused for a month and didn't see much improved so I just kept tapering but I find I'm getting worse..

January 24

We have some resources on this topic at -

14 hours ago, Evelynmarie said:

Doctors say this isn't possible but I don't believe them

Sadly, most doctors don't "believe" in withdrawals from these medications.

January 29

The longest I've stopped my taper since August has been a month. Some times I was going down by 10 days or two weeks. Recently I stopped for a month in December but felt I didn't stabilize. Im going down by .2 at a time. I'm so scared if I stop I won't stabilize and waste time I could have been tapering. I already had a bad nervous system before this with long covid.. I'm so scared. I was already super sick and this made things so much worse. I'm scared of not getting back to at least where I was before Zoloft. My mind tells me all the time it won't get better

January 29

Hi @Evelynmarie

I've moved your new post back to your own thread. Please keep everything relating to yourself in one spot. It makes it easier for those trying to assist.

Once you add your drug signature as per the instructions given by FireflyFyte and LotusRising, we will endeavour to assist.

Emonda

February 5

On 1/3/2024 at 8:15 PM, Evelynmarie said:

Hi thank you. I have updated it I didn't have all the exact dates so first part is a little ballpark

February 5

Hi Evelyn, I have the exact same symptoms as you but not from long covid, mine has been from vestibular migraine, but funny you mentioned the songs in your head, I have this too everyday. I wake up to it & go to bed with it too.

Have the doctors ever mentioned what this is? I always thought it could be OCD related, but also seems weirdly neurological. Anyway, I hope you find some relief.

I too took Zoloft for a week. Had extreme insomnia so had to stop.

Like you, my nervous system was already highly sensitised before starting the med so was very sensitive to it's effects.

February 5

Wow. Very interesting. My issues all started with vertigo as well... what kind of doctor would I see for vestibular migraines? The doctors never understand the song thing honestly.

February 6

You would need to see a neurologist but be careful who you choose as not every neurologist is very knowledgeable about vestibular migraine so do your research first. I am in the UK and had to pay privately with a specialist called Dr Surenthiran based in London. Funnily enough the gold standard treatment for this type of chronic dizziness and all the wacky symptoms that come with it are either tricyclic antidepressants such as amitriptyline or sometimes SNRI's such as Venlafaxine. However, you can go the non drug approach as did I and focus on nutrition, exercise and amino acid therapy, but I would be very careful about using amino acids whilst taking antidepressants or going through withdrawal. I would stay away from them until you are completely off of psych meds.

February 10

On 1/23/2024 at 7:15 PM, Evelynmarie said:

I've heard of the hyperbolic curve. I guess I just don't quite understand can somebody explain it better? I'm at 7mg Zoloft and finding it harder everytime I go down and only going down by .2. Doctors say this isn't possible but I don't believe them. Please explain somebody. Also. Can I take longer to adjust to going down than a month? I paused for a month and didn't see much improved so I just kept tapering but I find I'm getting worse..

How are you doing @Evelynmarie?

It sounds like up to January 23, you'd been tapering too fast. In these situations, we usually recommend that people stop tapering, take the drug at a consistent time every day, and let the withdrawal symptoms go away.

February 10

Hi, sorry you're going through all this. I read some comment saying that it could be OCD related. I just wanted to say that OCD, as most psychiatric diagnoses, is not an explanation for these behaviors, it doesn't really explain why they happen (they can not prove its supposed medical causes either), and that OCD therapies and drugs are just for suppressing its "symptoms" (OC behaviors). Said behaviors are not caused by OCD, in this case they could be caused by Zoloft/Sertraline and withdrawal, so they can be just a reaction to this drug.

February 11

Thank you. I'm doing alright taking it day by day today I woke up in a panic attack and had some nightmares . I also get almost super itchy but scratching it Dosent help almost like under my skin. Also I have stopped my taper how long could it take to stabilize?

19 hours ago, Altostrata said:

How are you doing @Evelynmarie?

It sounds like up to January 23, you'd been tapering too fast. In these situations, we usually recommend that people stop tapering, take the drug at a consistent time every day, and let the withdrawal symptoms go away.

February 11

Hi @Evelynmarie,

We can't tell you when you'll stabilize since we're all a little different. You've been holding since January 7, is that correct? How are your symptoms?

On 2/5/2024 at 10:44 AM, Evelynmarie said:

what kind of doctor would I see for vestibular migraines?

Have you ever seen a physiotherapist for this?

February 12

7 hours ago, LotusRising said:

Hi @Evelynmarie,

We can't tell you when you'll stabilize since we're all a little different. You've been holding since January 7, is that correct? How are your symptoms?

Have you ever seen a physiotherapist for this?

Hi. I was doing ok the past couple days but last night had some skin burning and lots of anxiety today My visual snow has been a lot worse lately as well. I'm doing better than I was while tapering tho

April 30

I don't even know what's wrong. I was doing a little better and I haven't gone down in over a month. All the sudden the past few days and I felt like I was going insane at 3am. Mind racing a million miles a minute now I've been feeling absolutely crazy and garbage the past few days. If u read my posts u can see I've been dealing with other issues before I started Zoloft. I don't even know how to get doctors to help me

April 30

Has anything changed in the past few days? Did you have any alcohol? Try a new supplement? Take marijuana? Experienced heightened stress?

April 30

No. I had a fight with my boyfriend on Monday and stayed at my moms for a night. That's the night I started feeling kinda sick then a few night later is when hell broke loose at night but I'm home now and nothing has changed I switched my omega 3 supplement but it's one I've taken in the past without issues. I also believe my period may be starting and I'm postpartum so haven't had it in a long time.

April 30

Hi @Evelynmarie- it's nice to see another long covid sufferer here... it sure does complicate things with tapering, since there's so many symptoms that overlap. I can only imagine how being postpartum is contributing to your difficulties as well. Just wanted to say hello, and send you some virtual support! ❤️‍🩹

May 2

On 4/30/2024 at 10:55 AM, Evelynmarie said:

No. I had a fight with my boyfriend on Monday and stayed at my moms for a night. That's the night I started feeling kinda sick then a few night later is when hell broke loose at night

The stress from the fight may have contributed and withdrawal symptoms can increase with the menstrual cycle.

How are you feeling today?

May 16

Having severe symptoms especially severe inner restlessness and I haven't gone down in a month and a half. I have no idea how it could be impacting me this bad.. I only went down by .2mg. I'm suffering severely and almost starting to convince myself I have a mental illness instead of withdrawal. Any clue what supplements or new drug I can start that Dosent have super high risks, doctor wants me to try GABAPENTIN but very scared

May 17

I'm seriously struggling with SI and have no idea what to do. I believe I'm experiencing internal akathisia. I'm scared if I go into the psych they will try to give me more meds. Please somebody give me advice on things to try. Nothing calms me down currently

Edited May 17 by Emonda

May 17

I'm sorry to read you are not in a good place at the moment, Evelynmarie.

I encourage you to reach out to friends/family at this time if possible so you are not on your own. If this is not an option, there are crisis lines available 24/7.

Reading back over your post, I see that two weeks ago, you experienced some stress, which can flare up WD symptoms.

How you are feeling right now is temporary. There are better days ahead.

Keep fighting

June 5

I went down over two months ago and have not stabilized Having really bad anxiety thoughts and akathisia forever now. Should I taper back up? I hate to make things worse or go back on my progress:(

June 5

Hi @Evelynmarie

I've moved your post back here again. Please keep updating this thread rather than starting a new one.

When things are unbearable, some choose a small increase (<10%) to see if that brings relief.

I'm sorry you're struggling at the moment...things will improve.

June 6

1 hour ago, Evelynmarie said:

I went down over two months ago and have not stabilized Having really bad anxiety thoughts and akathisia forever now. Should I taper back up? I hate to make things worse or go back on my progress:(

Hi, I was reading all of your story. And it so hard to see how we struggled with this, just know that all though seems like it’s impossible many of the things you’re experiencing can be from the drug. You’re not waisting time you are just surviving this horrible experience.

I was stuck for 4 months with horrible anxiety and maybe as I’m still tapering it could come back. But it will get better.

keep you in my thoughts.

July 17

I'm still struggling so bad. I have severe racing thoughts and restlessness that has not gone away. I have the option to try propranolol, cbd, or ldn. Which one should I try first? Any recommendations?

July 18

20 hours ago, Evelynmarie said:

I have the option to try propranolol, cbd, or ldn. Which one should I try first? Any recommendations?

We do not recommend additional medications or CBD to help ease withdrawal symptoms. If this is the route that you want to take, we would encourage you to speak to your doctor about the options.

Did you ever try a small increase (less than <10%) of Zoloft to see if that helped?

July 23

On 7/18/2024 at 8:27 AM, FireflyFyte said:

We do not recommend additional medications or CBD to help ease withdrawal symptoms. If this is the route that you want to take, we would encourage you to speak to your doctor about the options.

Did you ever try a small increase (less than <10%) of Zoloft to see if that helped?

I may go back up to 6.8 instead of 6.6. I have lots of other issues such as brain inflammation from long Covid so trying other meds may be the only way I won't commit suicide.

July 23

10 hours ago, Evelynmarie said:

I have lots of other issues such as brain inflammation from long Covid so trying other meds may be the only way I won't commit suicide.

You need to do what you feel is best so if you want to try other medications, would encourage you to have conversations with your doctor.

Evelynmarie: Struggling very hard. Long covid and Zoloft taper

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