Dani -- Zoloft Withdrawals?

[Altostrata]

I also forgot to mention this - I wrote to Dr. Stuart Shipko about my issues and symptoms. I told him exactly what I wrote here and this is the response I received:

 

 

"The time lag between stopping and the onset of symptoms is 5 months. It is unlikely that this represents a delayed withdrawal syndrome."

 

Stuart Shipko, MD (Psychiatrist/Neurologist)

Founder and Medical Director of PDI

....

 

Dr. Shipko may not realize you've had minor withdrawal symptoms ever since you quit Zoloft, and your symptoms may have gotten worse after stress. Our nervous systems can be very susceptible to stress even when withdrawal syndrome is mild.

 

Are the symptoms you're associating with your birth control pills related to the timing? It sounds like you might be getting them about an hour after taking your pills. If so, you might try taking them in the morning instead (make the change after you've had your period), or getting a lower dosage.

 

If your symptoms are entirely relieved when you've stopped taking the active pills, perhaps you should use some other kind of birth control for a while until your nervous system stabilizes.

[Dani]

Currently, I am on the lowest dose of birth control available. I am on them because I have various reproductive issues: ovarian cysts, fibriod tumors, and endometriosis. Because of all of these issues (plus, I am in my 30's & have no children), my doctor told me to hurry and start having children since I have a great risk of infertility. This is one of the main reasons why I stopped taking the Zoloft. Anywho, I stopped taking the birth control pills in June and July of 2011 to try and get pregnant. But along with other stressors, my relationship fell apart. So, I am back on the birth control pills.

 

Next month, I will try to reverse the time of day I take the pills. We'll see how that goes.

 

Thanks for the suggestion!

[Dani]

I'm losing hope

[summer]

I'm losing hope

 

Nope... not allowed to do that! Just one of those day, tomorrow will be better.

 

Go to the Rant section here - anything goes!

 

Sending cyber hugs... [[[hugs]]]

[Dani]

 

I'm losing hope

 

Nope... not allowed to do that! Just one of those day, tomorrow will be better.

 

Go to the Rant section here - anything goes!

 

Sending cyber hugs... [[[hugs]]]

 

 

The last 2 nights have been rough. My chest has been really tight, and I also felt little zaps in the left side of my chest. Ugh. The palpitations don't help either. I'm so scared that withdrawal will cause me to have a heart attack. I read that this could happen. I'm so scared I'm so lost.

[Roads]

This just broke my heart... but you are not alone, I'll be thinking of you! I know it is of no help, and I'd like so much to be able to relieve your suffering... But I can assure you that I think of you, that your suffering makes me so sad, and that your well-being is so important for me. And there are plenty of people around here who feels the same way!

 

It is okay if you lose hope. I can't demand any hope of you, as I am pretty desperate too. BUT, never lose the conviction that you deserve so much to be hopeful, and more precisely that things owe you to enable you to be hopeful, and, a fortiori, well. Because your ill-being is a ******* scandal.So please, even if you lose hope, keep on walking, you never know how it may turn. And above all because you owe you not to give up on your claim to your well-being due.

 

Remember, I'll think of you.

[summer]

 

 

I'm losing hope

 

Nope... not allowed to do that! Just one of those day, tomorrow will be better.

 

Go to the Rant section here - anything goes!

 

Sending cyber hugs... [[[hugs]]]

 

 

The last 2 nights have been rough. My chest has been really tight, and I also felt little zaps in the left side of my chest. Ugh. The palpitations don't help either. I'm so scared that withdrawal will cause me to have a heart attack. I read that this could happen. I'm so scared I'm so lost.

 

 

In all probability, you are experiencing anxiety. Why not have this checked out, so that you will be able to relax through it when it happens. I understand about being scared, and think you will feel better to know everything is okay.

 

Sending more hugs...

[Altostrata]

Symptoms can be very frightening, Dani. Please do what you can to stay calm because letting them scare you makes them worse.

 

I've found acupuncture to be helpful for anxiety and tightness in chest. It may take some time to find a good acupuncturist. He or she needs to understand not to give you any stimulating treatments at all, only calming, relaxing treatments.

[Dani]

Hi Everyone,

 

Thanks for all of your support. It's been rough, but I'm trying to work through it. I'm looking into acupuncture now. I went to see my therapist yesterday and I felt a little better talking to her.

 

I'm just hoping I can make it out of this...

[Dani]

Hey guys...

 

I had the worst shakes in the world last night. I was fine all day yesterday, but last night around 11:30pm, I started to get the tremors so bad! I thought I needed to eat so I fixed something really fast. I felt calm for about 15 minutes...and then the tremors started again. I've been feeling like that all day today

 

My ankles felt like they were burning!! Never felt this before, but I see it's a withdrawal symptom. Hmm..fun.

 

Trying to stay strong though...

[Dani]

I haven't felt good since Wednesday 10/26/11. My anxiety is VERY high! I feel like I'm scared to leave the house. I'm scared to be alone. Since Saturday, I've had very bad tremors and my ribs hurt. My hearing is sooooo sensitive!

 

I feel almost like I have the flu or something. My entire ribcage is sore and tight. I can't seem to relax at all. I feel a lot like I felt right before I started taking Zoloft in 2004. So, it feels almost like a relapse. I know they say withdrawal feels a lot like a relapse, but this is crazy. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'm not sure if I can make it feeling like this. I can't imagine going on feeling like this for another week, let alone years and years.

 

There are so many things I need to do, but I can't. My house needs groceries, and I feel like I'm to damn scared to leave the house. And the physical symptoms are awful.

Family members are saying "You need to get out the house". How? When I leave the house, I feel dizzy and I feel like I'm going to panic.

 

I'm not even sure what I can do to get relief.

 

When is this hell going to be over????

[Altostrata]

Dani, are you light-sensitive? For some people, light worsens the feeling of anxiety.

[Dani]

No, I'm not light sensitive.

 

My hearing has been though.

 

I honestly feel like I'm getting sick or the flu or something. My body is achy and my muscles hurt. I just don't know what to do or what to take or anything. I am so lost.

[Dani]

Honestly, I'm not sure if I can continue on feeling like this. My doctor says that I could try a small amount of Lexapro and stabilize on them, and then do a much slower taper than I did with the Zoloft. This is not the same doctor who tapered me off the Zoloft. That doctor had no clue what she was doing when she told me to taper in a month or two.

 

I am so scared and I don't know what to do.

 

It's been seven months and although I had sadness and headaches after I stopped my last pill, I was doing well until my aunt died in August. I had a few good days since then, but this past week has been the most horrible by far. I'm looking at some of the things I've done this past week: I had hot chocolate from the packet. I also had chinese food - plain fried rice for 4 days.

 

 

I'm not sure if I'm just getting sick. The weather is changing and I have been sneezing more.

 

I just don't know what to do.

[Altostrata]

If I were you, I wouldn't go on Lexapro, it's activating. I might try 5mg Prozac, but no more. Prozac is easier to withdraw from than Lexapro.

 

Using an antidepressant to treat withdrawal syndrome is not a sure thing. Adding an antidepressant to a sensitized system that already has symptoms of anxiety can make symptoms worse.

[Barbarannamated]

However, the funny thing is that I was just watching an episode of Dr. Oz and he said that doctors tend to treat women much differently than men.

 

Dani,

Just saw this comment and couldn't agree more. Also, clinical trials are generally done on men to avoid teratogenicity issues. Females have to be outside of childbearing years or on birth control, so that throws more variables into the mix.

 

Has Dr. Oz ever addressed the antidepressant withdrawal issue? I'll put that on my 'to search' list.

[Dani]

If I were you, I wouldn't go on Lexapro, it's activating. I might try 5mg Prozac, but no more. Prozac is easier to withdraw from than Lexapro.

 

Using an antidepressant to treat withdrawal syndrome is not a sure thing. Adding an antidepressant to a sensitized system that already has symptoms of anxiety can make symptoms worse.

 

 

That makes sense because Prozac has a longer half life than any other SSRI.

[Altostrata]

Correct! And Lexapro is a very powerful SSRI, more powerful than Celexa or Zoloft.

[Dani]

Thanks Alto!

 

Have you tried Prozac? Do you know anyone who has used it during withdrawal and ended up feeling better?

[Barbarannamated]

I also forgot to mention this - I wrote to Dr. Stuart Shipko about my issues and symptoms. I told him exactly what I wrote here and this is the response I received:

"The time lag between stopping and the onset of symptoms is 5 months. It is unlikely that this represents a delayed withdrawal syndrome."

Stuart Shipko, MD (Psychiatrist/Neurologist)

Founder and Medical Director of PDI

What the heck? I'm really confused now.

 

This still confuses me. Did we ever get clarification?

 

Dani,

I feel like I've hit a wall in the past week, too. Muscle tightness, headaches. It took every ounce of energy to get to LA for the ISEPP conference and, I hate to say, a very expired 12mcg fentanyl pain patch. It helped, but revved me up and couldn't sleep Friday nite. Felt like crap on Saturday, couldn't drive home and checked back into the hotel. Managed to drive home Sunday (about 2 hrs) and have been in bed or recliner since. This feels like the worst time of my neck injury/disability/incapacitating chronic pain. The anxiety seems to be lessening and general malaise moving in. I wonder if I've graduated to a new phase of 'neuroendocrine renaissance'.

 

Dani, if you had these symptoms prior to or during antidepressants, how would you have handled it? Im trying to ask myself that question so to not be overwhelmed by WD and thinking of reinstating ADs. That is not an option for me b/c of endocrine issues. I will, however, take opiates on a controlled basis to get thru this. DCing those was far easier.

 

This message is all mixed up--sorry! I'm not advocating opiate use, but I believe they are the lesser of the 2 evils, esp used short term.

 

Psych Med Detox of the future .... "opiates and marijuana aid in antidepressant withdrawal" ;-)

Kidding!

 

I hope you're having a better day, Dani.

 

{{{HUGS}}}

[Dani]

When I wrote back to the doctor that it was within the 5 month period, he said I would need a full evaluation. That's it

[Dani]

 

 

This still confuses me. Did we ever get clarification?

 

 

Dani, if you had these symptoms prior to or during antidepressants, how would you have handled it? Im trying to ask myself that question so to not be overwhelmed by WD and thinking of reinstating ADs. That is not an option for me b/c of endocrine issues. I will, however, take opiates on a controlled basis to get thru this. DCing those was far easier.

 

 

 

 

I think if I was told about other options i.e. exercise, therapy etc, I would have definitely gone that route for my anxiety. I'm just so upset right now because I feel like i completely ruined my life. I blame myself for not doing enough research in the first place. But no, because the doctor was the authority AND I thought since he spent years and years in medical school, he knew what he was talking about. I'm so sick...and I'm so sick of being sick.

 

Certain people are starting to get sick of me being sick too. And that is the worst. I feel so incapacitated.

 

To help with the muscle aches and soreness in my ribs, I've been taking Tylenol, but obviously I can't take it forever. My hearing is so sensitive and my ears/head feels full or like it's congested or something.

 

Alto suggested I try a little prozac to help with the process. As much as I am against taking anymore AD's, I am not sure I can make it without something to help me. I have so many things to do. I gotta help care for my mother, I have things to take care of in the house and I currently can't do a damn thing.

 

*sigh*

 

Thank you for the hugs. I'm sending you my hugs too. ((HUGS))

[Altostrata]

Dani, I haven't tried Prozac for prolonged withdrawal but other people apparently have had luck with it.

 

They've gone on other antidepressants, too, and report relief of symptoms.

 

BUT -- I don't believe this is a sure thing. I have no idea how often it works. There's no guarantee. Many of the people here who have tried reinstating found it made their symptoms worse.

 

Most psychiatrists, like your doctor, would put you on another antidepressant, and if that doesn't work add Abilify or some other add-on, or try you on yet another antidepressant -- and if none of these things worked, call you "treatment-resistant" and start talking about things like electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) (IMHO NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!!).

 

You could spend years and years on various drugs and combinations of drugs to treat withdrawal syndrome, and not feel any better than you feel now. Medicine just does not know how to treat it.

 

If you really want to try an antidepressant to treat withdrawal syndrome, you might try a wee bit of Prozac, and back off if it doesn't help. You control the experiment. chrisihops just tried this.

[Dani]

Do you know of anything I can take or use for my tight chest/sore ribs? Can I use something like Aspercreme or something?

[Altostrata]

I found acupuncture to be helpful for symptoms like that. Massage might be good, or hot whirlpool baths. Even chiropractic, if body pain is connected to a posture habit.

[Dani]

Thanks Alto.

 

Unfortunately, my insurance will not cover acupuncture or seeing a chiropractor. (I don't have the money for it either) :(

 

That's why I asked about Aspercreme or something over the counter.

[Altostrata]

Can you go to a warm-water pool? Moving around in warm water might be therapeutic.

 

Sometimes there are acupuncture colleges where you can go for treatment at a reduced rate.

[Barbarannamated]

Dani,

You might try talking to an acupuncturist about your situation, that you are trying to get away from drugs, etc. They tend to be more compassionate than MDs and want to help people get better w/o drugs. You might find someone who will treat at a low cost. Same w chiro. Blame the bad medical docs.

 

I've found Salon Pas patches (menthol) to be helpful. Aspercreme probably works same way. Heat, ice. I use it all.

 

My primary insurance (Medicare) doesn't cover acupuncture either and i'm told they are cutting back on chiro. Those are what has helped me do without pain meds.

[Dani]

I can try a hot bath or something. Thanks again.

[Dani]

Dani,

You might try talking to an acupuncturist about your situation, that you are trying to get away from drugs, etc. They tend to be more compassionate than MDs and want to help people get better w/o drugs. You might find someone who will treat at a low cost. Same w chiro. Blame the bad medical docs.

 

I've found Salon Pas patches (menthol) to be helpful. Aspercreme probably works same way. Heat, ice. I use it all.

 

My primary insurance (Medicare) doesn't cover acupuncture either and i'm told they are cutting back on chiro. Those are what has helped me do without pain meds.

 

 

Thanks alot Barb. Just a few weeks ago, I started to believe I was closer to recovery than I thought. Now...not so much

[Altostrata]

I am seriously thinking of taking curcumin capsules. I had a craving for turmeric for quite a while. It's supposed to help inflammation.

[Dani]

Really? I have turmeric just sitting around in my spice cabinet. Hmmm....

[Dani]

Altostrata,

 

I would like to thank you for all of your advice and suggestions given to me while I am going through this VERY rough time. There are days (like this past week) where I feel like I would not make it another day. Thank you for giving me some sort of hope to hang on to.

[Altostrata]

That's okay, Dani. When you're feeling better, you can pay it forward by helping others on the site.

[Dani]

Hi Everyone,

 

Happy New Year.

 

It has been a while since I've been here. It has been an emotional and psychological rollercoaster. However, I can say that I have had some good days, some great days. But I have also had terrible, horrible days...today being one of them. I stopped taking the birth control pills in mid November. I starting having really bad leg cramps so my doctor told me to stop taking them. By Thanksgiving, my headache spells decreased. I'm not sure if the birth control pills were causing the headaches or what. But they have decreased..until yesterday. My right ear feels like someone is banging a drum inside of it. Booom... Booom. Ugh. I guess it will take some time for my hormones to recover from the birth control pills also.

 

I took a CT Scan in November which was normal. Yet, nobody can explain why I feel these cold sensations in my head. It almost feels like someone is pouring ice water down the back of my skull. Not sure what that is.

 

Some days I am so depressed, I feel like I can't get out of bed, but I push myself. My mother is dying, so I need to care for her. I have to push myself through the tears some days. Some days, the anxiety is unbearable. I am becoming agoraphobic, so I am forcing myself to walk around the neighborhood for about 15 minutes every couple of days. I can't believe how scared I am of being alone. It sucks. Does this get better?

 

The dizzyness and lightheadedness are so bad. I feel like a space cadet everyday. I find that it increases during my period, but even days when I dont have it, I feel like a damn astronaut. I also noticed that when its really sunny outside, I am so anxious. Ugh. I have been off Zoloft for 10 months, and somedays, I cry for someone to give me the Zoloft back so I can feel "normal" again.

 

The tremors (internal vibrations) came back Jan 1. I feel like my brain is shaking inside my skull. My hands, my legs. *sigh*. They subside during the day but I can feel them slightly at night.

 

Overall, despite these waves, I feel a little better than I do in November, but nowhere close to where I need to be to function. I'm not even sure if I will ever become 100%. Thankfully my father has been supportive. Even my mom has been too. Other family members? Not so much.

 

This does get better, right?

[Altostrata]

It does get better, Dani. You've experienced this yourself.

 

It sounds like you have light sensitivity. This can trigger anxiety and may be involved in your avoidance of going outside. If you cut down on as much light stimulation as possible, you might find your symptoms lessen.

 

Think sunglasses (maybe amber shades, we have a couple of topics on them in Symptoms), blackout shades and curtains, sleep mask, reducing time on the computer at night -- any exposure to bright light.