FishbumTX: New here and experiencing withdrawal I think

[FishbumTX]

Coming off Zoloft 

Withdrawal symptoms after 2 months? 
36 male
I had a few major panic attacks around 2018 and got on Zoloft and they went away for the most part. I ended up coming off the 25mg Zoloft after about 8-9 I think. I didn’t taper or anything just kinda quit taking it one day and never looked back. Felt great up until Feb 2024 when I had a major panic attack out of nowhere. I started having constant anxiety and panic attacks almost all day everyday. It was miserable. Called a doctor and got put back on Zoloft 25mg. After a month or so I started to feel ok again but not good, just kinda able to manage to get up and go to work or what ever I had to do. I had no motivation to do anything and all I wanted to do in my free time was sleep. Felt very emotionally blunted and just foggy headed and zombie like. My girlfriend convinced me it was ruining me and got me to get off it after about 7 months. I talked to my dr and she said I could just quit cold turkey because I was on such a low dose. So I quit taking it and for about a week I felt great. Felt like I was my old self again. But then anxiety slowly started creeping back in again. It was very mild but still could feel it there. And it started progressively getting worse to the point that I’ve been experiencing the chest tightness, rapid heart rate and everything. Almost to full panic attack but ive managed to breathe through and prevent a full on panic attack. I’ve been off for just over two months now and a few weeks ago I started experiencing headaches and then those went away and now for the last week I’ve been feeling pretty nauseous and it’s been getting progressively worse to the point now I feel like I’m gonna throw up. Am I going through delayed withdrawals? What has been your experience and how did you get through it? I don’t really want to be on any kind of ssri or anything I just want to be free and be myself again

[Jane318]

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

 

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.  Please list any other drugs or supplements you take on a regular basis.

 

I commend you for you decision to get off Zoloft.  Doctors are quick to prescribe these powerful psychoactive drugs and usually woefully ignorant of how get off of them safely.  From your narrative, it sounds that you had at least two cold turkey stops of Zoloft, the most recently a few months ago.   Cold turkeys are enormously brutal - they throw our central nervous system into a tailspin.  Sometimes we can get away with the first one. 

 

10 hours ago, FishbumTX said:

Am I going through delayed withdrawals?

It is not unusual for withdraw symptoms to have delayed onset.  They symptoms you describe are often associated withdrawal.  You can compare with the list here:  Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF).

 

10 hours ago, FishbumTX said:

What has been your experience and how did you get through it?

You can read about withdrawal syndrome here:  

What is withdrawal syndrome.

Brain Remodelling 

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

 

In your case, it sounds as though things are getting worse.  Since it has been only a couple months since you stopped, it might be appropriate to reinstate Zoloft at a very small dose, much less than the dose you took before stopping.  Reinstatement of a very small dose of the original drug is the only known way to help alleviate withdrawal syndrome.  Reinstatement predictably works up to 3 months after last dose.  The only alternative is to try and wait out the symptoms and manage as best you can until your central nervous system returns to homeostasis.  Unfortunately no one can give you an exact timeline as to when you will start feeling better and while some do recover relatively easily, for others it can take many months or longer.  

 

If you decide to reinstate, it is better to start with a small amount and increase a bit if symptoms remain unbearable.   Your system has become sensitized and if you take too much it may be too much for your brain and can cause you become unstable.  Sometimes it can be hard to regain stability after this happens.  Then, once you've stabilized on that dosage, which can take several months, you can begin a slow 10% per month taper down to zero (Why taper by 10% of my dosage?).

Please read:

About Reinstating and Stabilizing to Reduce Withdrawal Symptoms

How long does it take to stabilize after reinstating or updosing?

Hypersensitivity and kindling

 

Please let us know if you decide to try reinstatement and would like input on an initial dose.

 

In either case, it will likely take several more months for you to stabilize.   During this time, it is very normal to have periods where you feel better, and periods where you feel terrible.  This is what we call the windows and waves pattern of stabilization.  This is actually a good sign of healing!  Read more about windows and waves here:   The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

10 hours ago, FishbumTX said:

I don’t really want to be on any kind of ssri or anything I just want to be free and be myself again

We are here to support you on your journey to freedom from SSRIs!  You will heal.

 

We have many, many forums on how to cope with withdrawal as well as the stories of other members.  You can click through the topics listed on the home page and then browse the various forums (menu at top) or search the site.  The best way to search this site for specific information is to use your favorite search engine. Type in survivingantidepressants.org then the symptom, treatment, supplement or information you wish to search for.

 

There are a few things you can do to help your nervous system heal.   Eat a balanced, whole foods diet, stay well hydrated, engage in gentle exercise, and get adequate rest/sleep.  Avoid all neurologically active substances, like caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and recreational drugs- these are like pouring gasoline on a fire for your symptoms.  Avoid adding any further psychiatric medications to deal with your withdrawal from psych meds- the effects of these meds on a destabilized nervous system is unpredictable, and taking something else could make you worse.

 

We recommend only two supplements here - magnesium (glycinate is a good form) and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system.

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

This is your introduction topic.  Each member gets one intro topic- please post updates and questions here, in this thread.

 

Again, welcome to SA - Please keep us posted and best wishes.

 

 

Edited December 4, 2024 by Jane318
Added response to final quote