luna543: Sertraline withdrawal

[luna543]

Started Zoloft 50 mg in January of 2021 for a severe period of anxiety brought on by post covid. I am not sure if it helped since my post covid got somewhat better after a few months but i still had panic attacks. 

Started tapering by 10% since sometime in 2023 and now down to 15% of 50 mg dosage. The last few months i rushed a bit and went from 35 to 30 to 25 etc. 

A week after the last lowering i began experiencing even more panic attacks and adrenaline rushes that usually. Got stuck in the panic cycle for almost 3 weeks. I am also in the period of life where i have severe stress so i know it could have contributed.

 

Daily panic, have to take xanax sometimes, extreme adrenaline rushes, muscle cramps, inability to sleep, don’t know if this is a withdrawal. 

 

Doctors recommend going back to 50 mg, I don't know what to do please help. 

 

sorry i am new on site and don’t know how to use it

[Emonda]

Welcome @luna543

 

So the moderators can best help you, please complete your drug signature by following these instructions. Adding a signature ensures your drug history appears at the bottom of every post, making it more efficient for those trying to assist. This link should go directly to your own signature: Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

10 hours ago, luna543 said:

Started tapering by 10% since sometime in 2023

 

Slow is certainly the way to go. Were your monthly reductions getting smaller and smaller? When you add your signature, we will know.

 

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.

10 hours ago, luna543 said:

The last few months i rushed a bit and went from 35 to 30 to 25 etc. 

 

This is not recommended at all. The lower we go, the slower most need to go.

 

Those that taper too quickly often develop very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. This Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) is a helpful summary of what many experience.

 

10 hours ago, luna543 said:

i began experiencing even more panic attacks and adrenaline rushes that usually. Got stuck in the panic cycle for almost 3 weeks.

 

10 hours ago, luna543 said:

Daily panic, have to take xanax sometimes, extreme adrenaline rushes, muscle cramps, inability to sleep, don’t know if this is a withdrawal. 

 

This sounds like WD symptoms to me.

 

10 hours ago, luna543 said:

have to take xanax sometimes

 

Please add this to your signature. You need to be so careful with this. You can become dependent very quickly to this drug.

 

10 hours ago, luna543 said:

Doctors recommend going back to 50 mg, I don't know what to do please help. 

 

Jumping back to the original dose is not likely to be the best approach. When people up-dose, it is normally by < 10%, then sit back and monitor for a few weeks. Provided you have no immediate adverse symptoms to the up-dose, you reassess from there.

 

10 hours ago, luna543 said:

sorry i am new on site and don’t know how to use it

 

We've all been in your shoes. Just reply to this post, add your drug history, and we can work out what to do next.

 

Emonda

[luna543]

Thank you so much. Sorry I can’t think clearly. I even thought about going to the hospital. I have some parts of the day when I stabilize a bit but then get worse. I try to just eat, drink and sleep. I will up-dose for around 10% and update you. 

[luna543]

Also one doctor suggested antipsychotics for a few weeks (after diagnosing me with panic disorder), but I don’t think it is a good idea.

[getofflex]

7 hours ago, luna543 said:

Also one doctor suggested antipsychotics for a few weeks (after diagnosing me with panic disorder), but I don’t think it is a good idea.

Definitely NOT a good idea, in my opinion.  This is how people get on drug carousels, and it can take many years to get off of them.  Not only that, throwing another psych drug into the mix could worsen your symptoms and further destabilize you.  Unfortunately, most doctors are not familiar with how these drugs really affect us, and the dependency that they cause, and how long it takes to get off of them.  Emonda has the right idea with a small Zoloft updose, which I see you just did. Stick with that for a few weeks, and see if that helps.  Please be patient - it takes 4-7 days for it to register with you brain and can take even longer to make a significant difference.  

[Emonda]

7 hours ago, luna543 said:

one doctor suggested antipsychotics for a few weeks

 

7 hours ago, luna543 said:

but I don’t think it is a good idea.

 

12 minutes ago, getofflex said:

Definitely NOT a good idea, in my opinion.

 

I'm with getofflex.

[luna543]

Thank you both so much for the reply! The thing I'm confused about the most is withdrawal vs relapse, but a lot of what I expirience seem to be neuro emotions, insomnia, racing and obsessive thoughts that I didn't struggle with beforehand. 

I'll try to push through right now and see what happens.

[LostInCanada]

Welcome to SA.

9 hours ago, luna543 said:

I even thought about going to the hospital.

They will just add more drugs and leave you worse off.

 

on xanax 0.25 (1x or 2x daily) since Oct 6

This means your body is now dependent on this Benzo as well. This drug can cause interdose withdrawal. This can be adding to your symptoms. I am not well versed in benzos but I think since you are now dependent, you will need to settle on a specific dose and take it regularly and consistently twice a day. It will also need to be tapered. @LotusRising can you verify if this is correct. @Emonda

 

30 minutes ago, luna543 said:

confused about the most is withdrawal vs relapse,

This is withdrawal 

[Emonda]

4 hours ago, luna543 said:

I'm confused about the most is withdrawal vs relapse

 

 I think we all worry about this. I know I did back at the start of my journey.

 

WD tends to come on closer to a reduction in the dose of your AD (days/weeks - depending on the specific drug). A relapse generally takes longer (months). This is according to the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines

 

4 hours ago, luna543 said:

neuro emotions, insomnia, racing and obsessive thoughts

 

Certainly common WD symptoms.

 

4 hours ago, luna543 said:

that I didn't struggle with beforehand.

 

This, to me, is telling, and a common comment for WD symptoms...I never experienced this before.

 

I never experienced anxiety before, until I tried to taper off ADs too quickly.

 

4 hours ago, LostInCanada said:

This means your body is now dependent on this Benzo as well. This drug can cause interdose withdrawal. This can be adding to your symptoms. I am not well versed in benzos but I think since you are now dependent, you will need to settle on a specific dose and take it regularly and consistently twice a day. It will also need to be tapered. @LotusRising can you verify

 

Good spotting, LostinCanada.

 

Taking multiple psych drugs? Which drug to taper first?

[LotusRising]

Hi @luna543,

 

You mentioned taking xanax since October 6? Is that every day? 

 

How often did you take it once a day vs. twice a day? 

 

Sorry for so many questions. Just trying to get as much info as possible to help you  

 

 

[luna543]

Hi @LotusRising,

I took xanax 0.25:

October 6 at 3 am, 

October 7 at 2:30 am and 12 pm,

October 8 at 12 pm 

 

Thank you so much 😊

 

Also taking magnesium glycinate 100 mg once or twice a day for the past week.

 

[LostInCanada]

@luna543 please change your drug signature to this:

on xanax 0.25 (1x or 2x daily)  Oct 6-Oct 8

 

This will reflect accuracy. Your body is not dependent if you took them for 3 days. Dependency can happen very quickly so it is not recommended to take them at all. Disregard my previous comments please about taking them regularly. Thanks. 

It is best to learn non drug ways of coping with anxiety such as CBT, mindfulness, deep breathing, etc.

 ☺️🙏♥️

[luna543]

@LostInCanada Thank you, I will keep that in mind. 🙂