jenlincat: Introducing myself: veteran of strange symptoms identical to withdrawal, now experiencing withdrawal symptoms for myself

[jenlincat]

Hi everyone,

 

Wanted to introduce myself.

 

I am no stranger to these bizarre symptoms often associated with withdrawal: dizziness, brain fog, hypersensitivity to light & sound, DP/DR etc having suffered with an awful case of chronic vestibular migraine after having my 2nd child 7 years ago, brought on by a case of PPD / anxiety. I had all those symptoms 24/7 for a good 3 years, then started to see upward improvement. Got myself to a very good place through nutrition, 4 days per week of strength training & supplements (including 5-htp) for the past 4 years so aware these neurological symptoms can take time to heal.

 

Then just after Christmas, had another attack of anxiety & severe depression. Interestingly a lot of the symptoms I had before started coming back...dizziness, feeling disconnected from everyone, feeling like I was seeing the world behind glass, brain fog, couldn't organise my thoughts, migraines, no motivation for anything & sleeping a lot. I work full time & with 2 children, I needed to get back to functioning. So went to the GP who prescribed me Sertraline 50mg. I was desperate to feel back to normal again.

 

I stopped taking my 5-htp (was on 80mg before bed at this point) for a coupe of days prior, and Knowing my sensitive nervous system, I started Sertraline by titrating slowly; cutting the 50mg in half to 25mg, then cutting that into quarters. I started by taking a quarter of 25mg, then over the course of 7 days, worked up to 18.75mg. From the first dose & for the whole week I suddenly just could not sleep like before. It was taking me hours to fall asleep & when I finally felt I had drifted off I would be in a very light half sleep, being awoke by the smallest thing. Though the small dose of Sertraline had actually taken away the dizziness & brain fog, the lack of sleep had me feeling like a zombie. It was not a trade off I wanted. So I stopped at 18.75mg cold turkey at day 7. Sleep did not improve. This was 2 weeks ago now.

 

A couple of days after I stopped, I decided to try re-instate a low dose of 5-htp seeing as previously this had always helped me sleep. It did not help & in fact made things worse. I had sweating, racing heart, tremors, awful anxiety, dizziness, brain fog, depression came back but worse. Appetite went, I really don't feel like getting out of bed at all, I force myself to keep working out & it takes an enormous amount of effort, knowing that if I don't work out at all I will feel even worse (not overdoing it but doing something at least).

 

So now I'm back to square one, I feel the same, or maybe slightly worse than when I first got hit with vestibular migraine symptoms 7 years ago. Daily life was an exhausting struggle back then, I couldn't believe how disabled one could feel whilst looking 'normal'. With all the weird derealization symptoms, light & sound sensitivity, brain fog & dizziness & couple of new symptoms this time - insomnia & weakness.

 

Knowing how long it took to feel better last time scares me, but I am also comforted by the knowledge that I did get better, much better & know I can get there again. But this time it feels like there's a lot more on my plate in terms of responsibilities - maintaining a job, 2 kids who need me etc & it does scare me.

 

I'm also struggling to differentiate between what might be a return of my old symptoms & what may be due to any withdrawal symptoms as there are many which are identical.

 

I've just ordered melatonin and planning on taking a low dose of this to see if it helps my disrupted sleep cycle as finding it so hard to function on barely any sleep!

 

Anyway, hello to all who have to walk this rocky path. I will post updates as I go along with anything that I have found that helps.

 

Also looking to connect with anyone in particular who has taken a low dose SSRI for a short period of time...

Edited February 5 by Emonda
Name to title. added spacing to text

[Emonda]

Welcome @jenlincat

 

To ensure I understand, you only took sertraline for 7 days, right? It generally takes 4 weeks to become dependent.

 

You should put 5-HTP and Sertraline into the drug interaction checker: https://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.html

 

So you didn't take the two concurrently, but very close together. You may well still have had traces of the drugs in your system at the same time. According to the drug interaction report, you do not want to mix the two. 

 

I have no personal experience with 5-HTP. You should have read of the following link:

 

Have you read any of these links:

 

Windows and waves pattern of stabilization

 

Emotional Spirals

 

Non-drug coping strategies

 

Melatonin for sleep

 

We don't suggest many supplements, but two that many of us find helpful are magnesium and omega-3 fish oil. Here are the links for info about those. Add one at a time and start with a low dose to see how it affects you. 

Magnesium

 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil)

 

Avoid alcohol. 

 

This is your own Introduction topic.  Each member has only ONE Introduction topic.  Your own Introduction topic is the best place to ask questions and the place to journal your progress.  This keeps your history in one place and means you do not have to repeat your story. 

 

Once again, welcome to S.A.

 

Emonda

[jenlincat]

Thanks for your reply Emonda.

 

Yes, I only took Sertraline for 7 days & at a fairly low dose too. So it takes 4 weeks to become dependant on the drug thus withdrawal symptoms are usually only seen after this amount of time on them?

 

I think maybe the interaction between 5-htp & the remaining drugs in my system may have caused the symptoms I had, that would make sense.

 

I already take magnesium & fish oil & avoid alcohol at all costs 

[brassmonkey]

Four weeks can be enough exposure to cause the symptoms you are experiencing. There is a good explanation here: Are We There Yet? How Long Is Withdrawal Going To Take? - Tapering - Surviving Antidepressants

 

[jenlincat]

Thanks Brassmonkey, however I was only on them for a week, not four weeks.