Nathan - my history and my desire to taper.

[NathanR]

Hi Everyone,

 

I've been on Zoloft for about 17 years. I have OCD and depression, and for about ten or twelve years I was on 50-75mg. About 2018 I was having serious OCD episodes and my doctor advised me to up my dosage. I went up to 150mg. I was at that dosage until last year, when I tapered to 125 (some mild withdrawl for a couple weeks but nothing terrible). I do not like some of the sexual side effects of the drug at this dose which, although not as bad for me as for many, are irritating. I was not given any information about side effects when I was initially given the drug, nor was I told they would be tough to wean off. Not happy about that. But I can't change that, I can only change what I can do now.

 

I now want to reduce what I take, I call it operation detox. I don't know if I'm going to totally get off, at least not anytime soon, and I've been scared by some of the things I've read on here and other places about the withdrawl after totally stopping. My immediate plan is to get down to 100mg, and then medium term down to 75mg. I'd be really happy if I could do that.

 

I got some 5mg pills from a compounding pharmacy. I've been down 10mg for one week, down to 115mg. I've had some mild withdrawal, like some sweats and heart racing, but it's been okay so far. I have noticed some improvement in the side effects already. I am planning on waiting another week and then going down another 5mg, and then going two week intervals until I hit 100.

 

Is this too fast?

[Catwoman73]

Hi @NathanR, and welcome to SA!  We are a community of volunteers providing peer support in the tapering of psychiatric medications, and their associated withdrawal syndromes.  

 

And welcome to another Canadian!  I live about an hour-ish west of Toronto myself!

 

If you could kindly complete your drug signature, we would greatly appreciate it.  This is a  little blurb that summarizes your drug history and appears at the bottom of each of your posts.  This is important for us moderators, so we can see your history at a glance without weeding through a lot of posts- it makes it much easier to know how we can assist.  To do this, just click the following link, fill in the box with your history to the best of your recollection, and click save.  That's it!  You can update your history as you proceed with your taper.  Have a peek at mine at the bottom of this post for reference, if you like. 

 

Your Drug Signature

 

I'm sorry to hear you've had some unpleasant side effects from your Zoloft.  You aren't alone at all in choosing to taper for that reason.  Sexual side effects can be particularly difficult to deal with.  Tapering in a safe manner is extremely important- what you are describing doing is linear tapering, which is likely to result in cumulative withdrawal effects over time.  Here at SA, we recommend tapering at a rate of no more than 10% of your current dose, no more often than every four weeks.  So as an example, 10mg- 9mg- 8.1mg- 7.3mg- 6.6mg.  This is known as hyperbolic tapering, and is designed to release the receptors from the medication in a way that minimizes withdrawal symptoms, and reduces the risk for protracted withdrawal.  With hyperbolic tapering, the dosage drops get smaller as you proceed- the reason this works is because the dose has exponentially larger effects on the brain at lower doses.  This may mean that you take part of your dosage in pill form, and part of it in a liquid form that you make yourself at time.  I am happy to assist with this.  You can read more about hyperbolic tapering here:

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

As you begin your taper, it's a good idea to keep a symptom journal.  This allows you to see the pattern of good and bad days/weeks as you proceed.  Even with hyperbolic tapering, you will experience these good and bad periods.  This is known as the windows and waves pattern of stabilization, and is an excellent sign that healing is occurring as you proceed.  Read more about windows and waves here:

 

Windows and waves pattern of stabilization

 

This is an excellent list of typical withdrawal symptoms- you can use this list as a template for a symptom journal if you wish.  It is also useful for simply reminding yourself that these drugs can impact many body systems, and nothing is entirely shocking when it comes to withdrawal.

 

Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) 

 

As you taper, it's a good idea to start developing some non-drug coping mechanisms to get through your withdrawal symptoms. We have many, many threads on this subject here at SA, and I will link some of them below.  You may find some of your own methods as well.  Personally, I have found mindfulness and meditation practices to be extremely helpful, along with gentle physical activity (swimming is my favourite), and keeping my mind occupied in healthy ways (I'm loving artistic stuff these days- not that I'm an artist at all lol- I do paint by numbers!).

 

Derealization or Depersonalization

 Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

 Easing your way into meditation for a stressed-out nervous system

Music for self-care: calms hyperalertness, anxiety, aids relaxation and sleep

Ways to cope with daily anxiety

"Change the channel" - dealing with cognitive symptoms

Dealing With Emotional Spirals

 

There are other things you can do to assist with healing your nervous system as well.  Eat a balanced, whole foods diet, stay adequately hydrated, gentle exercise (going too hard can be detrimental to healing for some), and get enough rest/sleep.  Avoid all neurologically active substances, like alcohol, caffeine, nicotine and recreational drugs, as these are like adding gasoline to the fire of your nervous system right now.  And avoid adding any other psychiatric drugs into the mix to help you deal with withdrawal symptoms.  This is for two reasons- first of all, the effects are unpredictable, and can actually make withdrawal significantly worse rather than better, and secondly, taking other psych meds just creates a situation where you will have to taper from something else down the road, thereby prolonging your journey.  We only recommend two supplements here at SA- magnesium and omega-3 fatty acids.  Do be mindful though- it is common to develop hypersensitivities to all sorts of things while tapering- medications, supplements and even foods.  Start with low doses of anything you choose to take to see how you fare, and increase slowly over time. 

 

In summary, would probably be best to start tapering hyperbolically rather than linearly right away in order to minimize your symptoms as you proceed, and reduce the risk of developing protracted withdrawal. If you've already gone from 125 to 115mg, as stated in your post, that is a good, safe drop of less than 10%, so no worries there.  I would hold here for four weeks, and then start dropping in 10% intervals- so your next few drops will be to 103.5mg, 93.2mg and 83.9mg.  Keep a symptom journal with each drop.  If you have severe symptoms, go back to the dose where you were previously stable, give yourself time to stabilize, and then try dropping slower- by 5% would be a good place to start.  We also have micro-tapering methods here at SA that are extremely gentle on the nervous system, if you are interested in trying that.  I can absolutely help walk you through the logistics of creating your own suspension at home in order to get these oddball dosages. 

 

All in all, I really want you to keep believing that you can heal from the effects these drugs have had on you!  Everyone heals, it's what humans are designed to do.  Give your body the best environment for healing that you can, and let it do the work it was made for!❤️‍🩹

 

This is your introduction topic- each member gets one intro topic.  Please post updates, questions or concerns here on this thread.  But don't hesitate to explore the rest of the forum- there is lots of good info here!  And if you're up to it, do read the intro threads of others, and drop a word of support in the comments.  Tapering and withdrawal can be a lonely journey- it helps to have a community of people in your corner who truly understand!  

 

 

 

[NathanR]

@Catwoman73

 

I actually grew up a few hours north of the city.

 

Thanks for the detailed reply. I have already read quite a number of articles on this site, which has been helpful. I have a rigorous exercise routine which really helps me manage the anxiety and the doom loop I can get into "what if the withdrawal is worse than the side effects", "what if I never get better", etc.

 

I have to be honest reading some of the experiences of people on here makes me quite scared about what may happen with this taper, but I am determined to see it through anyways. I had little to nothing in the way of side effects at the initial, low, dose, so I'm hoping I can get back there, ideally to 50mg. I just hope I haven't messed up my body at this higher dose and worry that I won't return to baseline. That's probably just negative thinking though.

 

Anyways, I have decided to go with the hyperbolic tapering, to go slow and minimize nervous system disruption or damage. As you say:

 

With hyperbolic tapering, the dosage drops get smaller as you proceed- the reason this works is because the dose has exponentially larger effects on the brain at lower doses.  This may mean that you take part of your dosage in pill form, and part of it in a liquid form that you make yourself at time.  I am happy to assist with this. 

 

Can you tell me a bit more about how you take part of your dose in liquid form? You make it yourself?

 

Have other people recovered from long-term use of zoloft? I need some inspiration here.

 

Thank you very much.

[NathanR]

I'm doing well other than increased anxiety and trouble sleeping. I was fine, but the last couple days I've slept quite badly, which makes me nervous for the future. 

[NathanR]

I'm tolerating the drop in 10mg well, I'm thinking of trying to do another 10mg taper after three weeks.  Bad idea?

[NathanR]

Okay, it's been almost four weeks and I'm doing well.

 

Tapering down to 105mg and holding for another month.

 

Wish me luck.

[NathanR]

I'm actually now scared to come off the drug totally, now that I've read about PSSD *after* stopping.

 

Now what am I supposed to do? How common is that? Anyone?

[NathanR]

I could use some encouragement or help, feeling really low.

 

Worried that my long term use is going to make things worse. The though of being chemically castrated without my consent or knowledge is unbearable.