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DieselDog: New Here! 8 Months off Sertraline! Need insight please!


DieselDog2015

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Hello everyone! I've been an avid reader of this forum For quite awhile!

 

I would like to share my story and hopefully receive some insight on what is going on. Sorry in advance for being so long I just want to be through.

 

So here goes! Im a 27 yr old male. Never in my life had any sort of anxiety or depression. Well starting in about late 2012 to early 2013 I began drinking very heavily. I had just got a new job in automotive sales and things were awesome I loved it! I started drinking on average about 12-15 light beers a night everyday after work M-S. I wasn't drinking to take the stress away or anything like that I just loved my life and it made me feel very good. During the days at work I would probably have 1-2 monster energy drinks. I never drank during the day and I always showed up on time at work.

 

Well fast forward to when it all began. October 2014. Came down with shingles and the doctor said it was from stress. I did not realize I was stressed. Well driving home one day from work it happend..my first panic attack. Luckily I made it home. Thought I was having a heart attack so my wife called 911. By the time they showed up I had calmed down and even the EMT said it was a panic attack. Well the next day I couldn't even get into a car without having a panic attack. So enter the doctor. Told him what was going on and he put me on Sertraline and Klonopin. Mind you I was still drinking at the time. Doctor said a few beers wouldn't hurt. Little did he know my addiction.

 

Well I started Sertraline at 25MG andworked my way up to 50MG. I took Klonopin for a few months .5MG a day to help offset the start up symptoms. Things were getting better from this point. I could drive my car no panic. I was still coming home at night and drinking at least a 6 pack of beer a night. Well I continued like this until about March of 2015. We decided to get a puppy and at this point I was feeling good. I decided to stop taking the Sertraline. So I went down to 25MG for a few weeks and then just stopped completely.

 

Things were pretty good for about a month until the anxiety/panic came back. So I started on 25MG of Sertraline again. That helped. So between March or 2015 and April of 2016 I had bounced around between 25 MG-50MG of Sertraline and sometimes world stop for a few weeks completely to try and get off of it. A train wreck. I started slowly stopping drinking by the end of 2015 to the beginning on 2016. I would have an occasional beer here and there. Definitely not like I used.

 

Well I decided that by May 1st 2016 I was done with all drugs, alcohol, caffeine. So April 30th 2016 I took my lady dose of 25MG Sertraline. It was good for a few months after they minor anxiety nothing I couldn't handle things slowly got better. Had a pretty decent summer no issues just minor stuff like anxiety.

 

Well here we are in December and things have ramped up significantly and I'm not sure why. This is why I need some insight. First of all I haven't had a drink since October 1st and haven't had an energy drink since October of 2014. I have been taking a high quality multivitamin and mineral complexe everyday along with 3 fish oil a day and I started taking a magnesium supplement about a month ago, and also started a probiotic supplement in November because of some digestive issues which have gotten better. I joined the gym in July and have been going religiously 3 dYs a week. I've changed my diet significantly. I had a physical in September and everything was spot on perfectly healthy.

 

Here's my issue and someone please help me with Rhys. Since right after thanksgiving I have been having a crazy amount of just depression and anxiety. I sleep great, and never had a problem there. It's just I don't feel pleasure or anything really lately and this constant tightness in my chest of anxiety. I went to the doctor a few weeks ago cuz I am having trouble taking deep breaths or more like a constant need to take a deep breath. They did blood tests and x rays and everything is perfect. They said it was anxiety! They wanted to put me on lexapro! No thank you! So what I am currently dealing with us literally a teeter totter of if I'm depressed and feeling blah then my anxiety breathing issue is gone but as soon as my depression goes away the tight chest and constant need to take a deep breath comes back, I'm not anxious about anything and I'm not depressed. But this happens on a daily basis almost in waves. I've had a few days since November where I felt great! No depression no anxiety! Then it all came back the next day.

 

My question is..is this protracted withdrawal still with windows and waves or have I honestly devoloped an anxiety depression disorder? Like I said I never had any of this before I started drinking and taking meds. I just want to go back to my old self and every once in awhile I have a day of that.

 

Thank you for reading my story and I hope to hear some positive feedback that this is just withdrawal from the Sertraline and it will go away some day. I'm doing everything I can to stay active eat healthy and take the right vitamins. I read somewhere about natural depression is different than withdrawal depression. Hmm.

Edited by ChessieCat
Added paragraphs

October 2014- prescribed Sertraline 50MG

Also prescribed .5MG Klonopin to mitigate start up symptoms of sertraline.

Did not take Klonopin very long maybe .5MG a day for a couple months. No longer take.

Between October 2014 and May 1st 2016 I tried multiple times to get off Sertraline. Dropped dose to 25MG, then back up to 50MG then back down to 25MG multiple times.

Final Dose was 25MG on April 30th 2016

May 1st 2016 -Anti Depressant Free/Drug Free

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Hi DieselDog,

 

I can really relate to your story. Looking back it's obvious to me that alcohol played a huge role in creating a lot of my symptoms related to anxiety and depression. I kept my drinking mostly to the weekends (I would always get very drunk when I did drink, though) so that in combination with my friends drinking the same amount as myself without getting ill made me believe that there was something else "wrong" with me.

 

The last few years I've really kept my drinking to a minimal and some symptoms that I thought I would have to live with for the rest of my life have gradually vanished.

 

The thing you said about balancing between depression and anxiety, that is so spot on what I felt, even before antidepressants.

 

My point is I think you have to stay away from alcohol for a looong time for major results. I kept thinking that a "white month" would prove to me that my issues where not related to alcohol. I was so wrong. So please, keep track of  your symptoms (in a diary), stay sober and compare your symptoms every 6 months. I am positive you will see progress.

Effexor 150mg July 2011 - March 2014

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Thank you for the insight! I always have been wondering if what I'm going through is a combination of both ssri protracted withdrawal and a little bit of alcohol wothdrawal. I will start a journal. Thank you!

October 2014- prescribed Sertraline 50MG

Also prescribed .5MG Klonopin to mitigate start up symptoms of sertraline.

Did not take Klonopin very long maybe .5MG a day for a couple months. No longer take.

Between October 2014 and May 1st 2016 I tried multiple times to get off Sertraline. Dropped dose to 25MG, then back up to 50MG then back down to 25MG multiple times.

Final Dose was 25MG on April 30th 2016

May 1st 2016 -Anti Depressant Free/Drug Free

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Anybody else have any insight on what's going on? Any words of encouragement or knowledge would be of great help! Thanks!

October 2014- prescribed Sertraline 50MG

Also prescribed .5MG Klonopin to mitigate start up symptoms of sertraline.

Did not take Klonopin very long maybe .5MG a day for a couple months. No longer take.

Between October 2014 and May 1st 2016 I tried multiple times to get off Sertraline. Dropped dose to 25MG, then back up to 50MG then back down to 25MG multiple times.

Final Dose was 25MG on April 30th 2016

May 1st 2016 -Anti Depressant Free/Drug Free

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  • Moderator Emeritus

DieselDog -- Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA)

 

Some people do well for several months and then experience symptoms. You can read more about that in this discussion:

Delayed onset of withdrawal symptoms

 

You may find some useful ideas for coping with the symptoms in this discussion:

Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

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