trashpanda: Attempting to get off of Zoloft after 12 years of antidepressant use

[trashpanda]

I started taking SSRIs when I was pretty young, 15 years old. At the time I was having a lot of insomnia, social anxiety at school, general anxiety and also feeling very low mood. I had already had anxiety growing up, but hitting high school and struggling to fit in and make friends really affected me. I started to take 10mg of lexapro, and also 5mg zoplicone (when needed, for my insomnia). I only took the zopliclone for 2 years, but continued to take lexapro until I was about 21, and was feeling pretty depressed again and my doctor had me switch to Zoloft 100mg, which I continued to take until like so until I was almost 26 and realizing I felt incredibly numb, dissociated, and didn't have much of a libido at all. I worked with my psychiatrist to lower my dose to see if I would feel any better. So last year, I went from 100mg to 75mg for a few months, and I did feel better initially, but then I felt quickly the same again, dissociated and no libido. So I lowered to 50mg. Again, I felt better initially, but it was almost like my brain would adapt to the lower dose and I felt the same numbness again. When I lowered down to 25mg at the beginning of this year, within a few days I felt incredible. I felt like I had myself back again. I would sing in the shower sometimes even. But then, a few weeks later it was like my brain adjusted again. So, I went down to 12.5mg. This time I don't think I felt any different in terms of less numbness and more libido, but instead I would feel more anxiety. When there were presentations at work, I would feel more apprehensive, and sometimes I wouldn't be able to sleep the night before them. I spoke with my psychiatrist about stop taking the Zoloft completely, and she said I was on the lowest dose now so I was free to do so if I wanted to try. So in May I stopped taking the 12.5mg. Over the next few weeks, my boyfriend said he felt like I became different, I became a lot more lively basically. And I felt more natural too, I didn't feel so much like a robot, how I felt most days while taking even my small dose of Zoloft.  I did not experience any withdrawal effects the first week other than maybe an occasional headache, but over the second two weeks I started to have more issues sleeping until I did not sleep for a total of 3 days at all. That gave me a lot of anxiety and made me start taking my medication again. I am planning to try lowering my dose even slower next time I go off it and see if that makes any difference in preventing my insomnia. I'm still trying to decide if right now is a good time to try going off it again or if I should wait a bit (going through some life changes right now). I would be interested to know if anyone had any similar experience. 

[Emonda]

Welcome @trashpanda

 

Could I ask you to add some more details to your signature, please. Dates/dose changes.

 

Also, can you please confirm the dose you are on now and when you started at this dose.

 

From what I read initially, you have made quite a lot of changes, and those changes have been large. I'd expect you to have unpleasant WD symptoms. Can you relate to the following list: Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) 

 

On 10/23/2024 at 2:46 PM, trashpanda said:

I'm still trying to decide if right now is a good time to try going off it again or if I should wait a bit

 

On 10/23/2024 at 2:46 PM, trashpanda said:

going through some life changes right now

 

You want to be in a good head space when commencing your tapering journey. I read one Moderator here say you don't want to start a marathon with a sprained ankle....that's going to be difficult. You need to be in a good place at the start.

 

Is an end in sight to those life changes?

 

When you are ready to taper, SLOW is the way to go. Think in terms of as slow as a garden snail 🐌☺️

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage? The reductions should get smaller and smaller each month, for example: 10mg, 9mg, 8.1mg, 7.3mg etc. This process involves a degree of trial and error, as there is no way of predicting how an individual will respond. Importantly, if you develop unpleasant side effects from tapering, halt the taper, give yourself time to settle, and once stable, taper more slowly and by smaller amounts moving forward. The experience of others suggests that the lower you go in dose, the slower you need to go with tapering.

Some people find tapering by smaller weekly amounts more tolerable. You can read more about this approach here: The Brassmonkey Slide Method of Micro-tapering

Recovery from ADs and tapering is not linear. There are good days and not-so-good days/weeks/months. This is referred to as the Windows and waves pattern of stabilization.

Here's some goo general info to read:

The following general links are worth reading:

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.

Don't change the manufacturer of your AD.

Once again, welcome to S.A.

Emonda