hopefulUSA: Zoloft re-instatement?

[hopefulSA]

Thank you for this wonderful website! I have already learnt so much and at least now feel like I'm not the only one going through this horrid experience! I just wish I'd known about this website before I quit the Zoloft...

 

I have been on 100mg Zoloft for several years (at least 10). About 2 months ago I decided that it was time to get off the anti-depressants. I have recently (over the last few months) had several skin conditions as well as swollen hands and painful joints and the Drs have been unable to find a reason for this. Originally they thought it might be an allergic reaction to Wellbutrin which I had just started. To cut a long story short, blood tests showed no signs of allergic reactions, auto-immune diseases or anything else...

 

I started seeing a homeopath and although he didn't blame it on the meds, he did say that sometimes something just pushes something in the body over the edge and then the body will react in weird and wonderful ways. I then decided that my body has now had enough!

 

I tapered off the Zoloft as suggested by the package insert (over a couple of weeks - from 100mg to zero) Approx 6-8 weeks. I have now been off the Zoloft completely for approximately 3 weeks and it's pretty awful! I get brain zaps, I'm unbelievably tired, don't sleep well (very restless sleep), am incredibly irritable and I cry for no reason at all. I feel totally overwhelmed by things that I should be able to handle. My memory and concentration is far from what it should be. No sex drive. Basically I just want to be left alone.

 

Any suggestions for re-instating? I am just so fed-up with feeling like this. And I feel so quilty towards my husband and 2 children. I'm quite sure I'm not the nicest person to be around at the moment.

 

Any help or suggestions would be highly appreciated!

[scallywag]

hopefulUSA -- Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants

 

I hope you'll find the information in the SA forums enlightening and helpful for your taper. I'm sorry that you are in the position that you need the information, but am glad that you found us. It's good that you've realized your symptoms are the result of a fast taper.

 

I've highlighted text in your post in blue italics, so that the key information is easy to see. Would you summarize your history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-18 months particularly? Any drugs prior to that can just be listed with start and stop years. Please put your withdrawal history in signature

 

You may way want to follow this topic so that you get notifications when someone posts in your thread. Click the gray "Follow this topic" button. A dialog box appears: select one of the notify options, then click follow this topic in the dialog box. In addition, setting this web page as a bookmark or favorite in your browser will help you navigate back to it.

 

Now that we're done with admini-stuff, some reading for you in topics relevant to your situation:

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Tips for tapering off Zoloft (sertraline)

 

This topic has information and discussion about reinstating. Please read it and come back to this thread and post any questions you have. About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

How do you feel about going back to a tiny dose -- much lower than your last one -- of Zoloft?

[hopefulSA]

Thank you for your prompt response Scallywag!!

 

I will put my withdrawal history in my signature (thanks for the link - I'm still finding my way around the site)

 

I have also read all the suggested topics related my situation and that is where my questions came from. I am OK with re-instating on a low dose, because I really need to feel better! I'm just really not sure where to start. If my last Zoloft was 25mg a day (3 to 4 weeks ago) what would be a good dose to start? I know it's not cast in stone, but should I start at 5mg or 15mg or 25mg?

[scallywag]

Question -- are you still on Wellbutrin? If so, dose & dates, please ma'am .  If not, when did you have the allergic reaction to it?

[hopefulSA]

Nope. Will do the "signature" bit now although definite dates are a bit vague...

[PatriciaVP]

Hi Hopeful,

 

Welcome to SA! I'm sorry to hear that you're having such a hard time, but so glad you've come. I'm sure you will be too.

 

Go slow and give yourself permission to feel however you are feeling. This journey is hard, but you are brave and strong. (I know that because you are here)

 

Peace, love and healing!

[hopefulSA]

Are all these symptoms really withdrawal symptoms...? Please tell me I will be "normal" again one day! Hate feeling like this. Out of control, emotionally overwhelmed, unstable and just trying to get through each day.

[hopefulSA]

Thank you Patricia VP!! I needed that right now! Deep down I know I am brave and strong but at the moment I don't feel it.

Love the "Dory" quote! Exactly how I feel some days.... just keep swimming!

[SquirrellyGirl]

Hi hopefulSA, 

 

If you have read the links scallywag gave you, you will understand that a C/T has left your nervous system totally destabilized.  It's like the drug was an accelerator and so the body opposed it by applying the brake, hard, and now all you are left with is the brake, un-opposed!  It is truly amazing how messing up the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain like this affects our moods and behavior so profoundly!

 

So, a reinstatement would be your best bet to try to bring things back in line a bit.  First we need to see if your system will tolerate Zoloft at all, since it is highly sensitized now and sometimes taking the drug can cause an adverse reaction.  For this reason, we recommend starting with a tiny dose, perhaps 1 mg.  If you feel horrible right away, don't continue with the reinstatement.  It will take four days for the reinstatement to reach a steady state in the blood and perhaps a few more days for your system to respond favorably.  After that, we can reassess and see if a little bit more is needed.

 

See the link scallywag gave you on Zoloft; it will help you figure out how to get 1 mg :-)

 

SG

[hopefulSA]

Thanks so much for the advice!!

[JanCarol]

Hey Hopeful, here is a useful tool:  

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2390-dr-joseph-glenmullens-withdrawal-symptom-checklist/

 

First, you can check the list of symptoms to see if your symptoms are "normal" for withdrawal.  The list is extensive, but by no means complete - it is just the most common effects of withdrawal.

 

Then, you can print out several of them, and track your own symptoms over the weeks.  Symptoms will change and shift as different parts of your body heal from the withdrawal.

 

Healing and recovery comes in fits and starts, Waves and Windows.  You might feel great for an hour, a day, a week, and then come crashing down again.  I tell you this to encourage you - if it happens, when it happens, you can just say:  this is withdrawal, these are symptoms.  (NOT A RELAPSE!)  

 

I hope you reinstate.  You might feel a difference from even a tiny amount - your last dose was recent enough that a reinstatement could be very helpful for mediating your symptoms.  They won't go away entirely, but should smooth out significantly.  You could go up to as much as 2.5 mg, but I agree with other mods, that 1 mg as a "test" to make sure it is what you need is a good idea.  Stay on the 1 mg for 1 week, and check with us before increasing your dose.  There are a few rare circumstances that we might ask you to discontinue - but please check with us first?  

 

You may be bamboozled by the fact that Zoloft doesn't come in 1 mg doses.  Yeah, those darned drug companies.  Giving you dodgy information in the leaflet (which you followed to the letter, and look where it got you?) and not provided the tiny doses we need to come off of these drugs.  So we have to improvise.  The link Scally posted, Tips for tapering off Zoloft (sertraline), says that there is a liquid available for zoloft, but it is very strong, and will need to be diluted to get the doses you need.  All of this information should be available in this link, and you may wish to supplement that information by learning here:  http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/235-using-an-oral-syringe-and-other-tapering-techniques/

 

 

Welcome to SA!  You've gotten to us in time, that I think you can avoid the worst, and come through this much better!

 

Please keep us posted with what you decide, and symptoms, so that we can point you to new ways of thinking about your healing.

[hopefulSA]

You guys are awesome! I cannot tell you how much it means to know I'm not alone and that others are experiencing the same or at least did at some stage! I love the fact that you are psych drug FREE since Feb 2016!! That gives me hope!

 

Thank you for all the advice and support, I really appreciate it. I am going to try and follow all this advice and pray that I feel better soon.

[JanCarol]

So what have you decided Hopeful?  Will you try a reinstatement of 1 mg, to see if it helps?

 

Are you having symptoms?

[hopefulSA]

Hi there!

The night before everyone's advice came through (probably in the time when we had day and you guys had night time...) I decided to take a 12,5mg dose of Zoloft out of sheer desperation. (previous last dose 3 weeks ago was 25mg) The withdrawal symptoms are definitely better!!! I haven't had any negative effects from starting the Zoloft again so I think I am going to stick to 12,5mg for now.

I feel a lot more in control and not quite so overwhelmed and teary as before (so far...) I really hope it holds and that I can stabilize on the 12,5mg and then do the 10% taper from there.

Does that sound like a good plan?

[scallywag]

If it works for you, it's a good choice! Just stick with it for at least a month, if not 6-8 weeks before starting your taper.

[hopefulSA]

Thank you Scallywag! Yes, I will definitely!

I really also think the support from this website and just knowing that there is hope and that I'm not finally losing all my marbles has also greatly contributed to me feeling better the last 2 days.

Will keep everyone updated. Hoping and praying for more good days than bad...

[SquirrellyGirl]

Hi there!

The night before everyone's advice came through (probably in the time when we had day and you guys had night time...) I decided to take a 12,5mg dose of Zoloft out of sheer desperation. (previous last dose 3 weeks ago was 25mg) The withdrawal symptoms are definitely better!!! I haven't had any negative effects from starting the Zoloft again so I think I am going to stick to 12,5mg for now.

I feel a lot more in control and not quite so overwhelmed and teary as before (so far...) I really hope it holds and that I can stabilize on the 12,5mg and then do the 10% taper from there.

Does that sound like a good plan?

 

That is such wonderful news - what a relief, huh?  Yes, sounds good!  Tapering slowly from stability is pretty undramatic :-)  I hope your stabilization period comes with continued improvement!

 

SG

[hopefulSA]

OK, I've just taken my 4th 12,5mg Zoloft dose (re-instatement), but although the withdrawal symptoms are slightly better, I'm still battling.

I'm still very irritable and I feel quite overwhelmed. I think I'm having mini anxiety attacks, especially in the morning (funny "hollow" feeling at the pit of my stomach, slightly racing heart and feeling like I can't cope.) Having to then force myself to focus on what I'm doing one minute at a time. This morning I was driving myself and my daughter to a horse show and suddenly I felt like I didn't know I was going to make it there. I'm feeling slightly nauseous and have bouts of reflux or heartburn.

Does this sound familiar? Or am I looking for excuses?

Do I stay on 12,5mg or do I increase the dose?

Help!

[scallywag]

Withdrawal syndrome means symptoms for many people.  It's the rare few -- unicorns, I call them -- who have no symptoms. .  Reinstating *can* be helpful after a fast-taper or a cold-turkey cessation. It's not, however, a guarantee of "smooth sailing": symptoms can diminish, stay the same or worsen. 

 

Allow your nervous system to catch up after the 25-0 mg a month ago. It's early days after reinstating. Stay on the 12.5 mg. 

[hopefulSA]

OK, almost 2 weeks back onto Zoloft (12,5mg dose.)

The brain zaps have subsided and the incredible fatigue is a bit better (I am also on holiday so that might also help!!)

But I am feeling really depressed and withdrawn. I don't feel like talking to anyone and am very irritated with everyone around me. Everything is just too much effort.

Do these feelings go away eventually? Are there any recovered antidepressant users out there that can really say they don't have these feelings / symptoms of depression anymore? I really can't live like this for the rest of my life!!

Am I fooling myself thinking that I will live a normal "happy" life again? Should I not just stay on the antidepressants?

I know I sound really pathetic at the moment, but I need to know if this will really work?

[PoetJester]

Hi HopefulSA,

 

I was on Zoloft and Zyprexa from 1998 to 2014.  I had been on relatively high doses.  200 mg Zoloft and 17.5 mg zyprexa.  I had dropped down to 100 mg and 7.5 mg when I quit cold turkey in February 2014.  I originally went 6 days without sleeping while vomiting all over my apt.  there are still stains on my living room carpet.  I had the brain zaps too.  My went away without reinstating.  They only lasted a few weeks at most. 

 

I finally did start to get sleeps but they were pretty poor.  3 to 4 hours a day.  The fatigue was brutal on days I didn't get much sleep.  My sleep started to get a little better but is nowhere where it should be 2 1/2 years later.  All the poor sleep has caused the same problems with my memory and cognitive ability that you are having.  I lose stuff or forget stuff all the time which leads to swearing spells and I ruin stuff constantly now when cooking in the kitchen.   And the crying, yes, many a day I will weep uncontrollably, sometimes enough to fill up enough  a couple of dish towels with tears and snot and often it is over my food while I am eating.  

 

Since, I am a bachelor who lives alone, I don't have the same challenges of taking care of a family, but it's sad and frustrating none the same to see my health and hopes going away.  I am a bit of a zombie these days from lack of sleep.  I call the condition, Inzombia, as I stagger around often with my fly undown and bump into walls.  Doctors have been no help whatsoever and I am experiencing an array of heart problems due to the insomnia or inzombia.  I have a racing heart (I took Taurine and it quieted my palpatations) and rising blood pressure (up 25 pts since wd),  

 

Sorry, I feel like I am basically talking to myself, I didn't sleep well again last night and sometimes typing out my story again is all I am capable with the fatigue and hopelessness.  Usually, I can at least write with some enthuasiasm even if my days seem to be in "lousy" gear all of the time, but as you can imagine, 2+ years of basically the same thing you are going through now can get pretty old, but it is possible.  However I feel like a shell of my former self.   

 

if you are interested there is a facebook page that about 50 of us from this site take part in to commiserate over what we are going through. it is under "off-topics" on the Introductory page.  There is a link to click on that will send you to the page.  I hope you see some improvement soon.   PoetJester (Derek)

[doggiemama]

Hi hopeful I'm also a south african and thought I was the only one in SA suffering LOL you live and learn

[hopefulSA]

Hi Doggiemama!

Good to know I'm not alone in SA!! How are you doing!?

[doggiemama]

Hi Hopefull I only saw your reply now good to know there are SAs here. Very few people in SA know about WD and least of all Drs I went off CT and have been suffering for 2 years but some can go off feel bad for a few weeks and are ok. Unfortunatly I'm not one of them. I stay in a very small town in the Freestate and am amazed how many people I talk to are on ADs when I tell them the dangers they look at me like I'm mad. Hope you feeling

[hopefulSA]

Hi doggiemama (and all the other survivors!)

Yes, it is scary to see how many people are on antidepressants... And even scarier to see how easily it is prescribed! The patients usually have no clue how difficult it is to come off these meds!

I'm doing OK at the moment. But I agree that the WD comes in waves and windows. Just when I think I'm 100% OK, another wave hits me. Fortunately the waves seem to be getting smaller and the windows bigger.

I find I'm very irritable and I get quite tearful. Nothing over the top I think, but I feel like I'm more impatient than I used to be. I get frustrated quite easily and I feel overwhelmed at times. Again, nothing that I can't cope with at the moment, but it feels different to when I was on the Zoloft. Sometimes, when I'm having a bad day or 2 I just want to grab the pills again and go back to "feeling less!" But then I tell myself, I've come this far, I'm NOT going back!!!

To everyone out there going through this: hang in there! It gets better!! If I look back at the hell I was in a few months ago, I'm very glad I stuck it out and that I am where I am now. I'm on about 6.25mg/day at the moment, (from 100mg/day!) so almost completely off the Sertraline. I hope and pray that the waves will continue to get smaller and the windows bigger!

[scallywag]

Glad to hear that you're coping with the frustrations of withdrawal symptoms.  Would you take a minute or two to update your signature to reflect your reinstatement and any subsequent dose decreases?

[hopefulSA]

Hi there!

It's been quite a while since I've been on this site.

I am now completely off the Zoloft (about a month). I think I'm doing OK, but I am extremely teary. You just have to look at me and I start crying! Good things, bad things, ANYTHING! I find I can't even tell a story about something that touched me and I get all tearful. Very embarrassing... does anyone else experience this?

I also feel a bit depressed and overwhelmed at times. Again: anyone else? I sometimes feel quite "dead" as if I'm just surviving, getting through every day with sheer determination.

Hope to hear from some of you!

All the best for 2017!!

hopefulSA