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EGFmom: Mom of female teen trying to get off Zoloft


EGFmom

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I am a mother of a 16 y.o. daughter who has been on mostly 25mg of Zoloft since 10/2015 to help her go to high school.

 

My daughter wanted to go back to public high school in 2015.  But when she started she could not get out of car.  She went to school as a hospital/homebound student and we had a psychiatrist give her 25mg of Zoloft.  The effects were positive quickly in that she could have a social interaction with an adult (her homebound teacher) without locking herself in bathroom.  Her ability to concentrate improved and her interest in doing well and learning improved noticeably.  She was unable to attend that year but had the goal to return in 2016.  She got good grades and enjoyed it. 

 

2016 - still on 25mg she made it to school physically - 80% attendance, missing 20% due to anxiety/health issues related to anxiety.  Her grades and mood were stable.  She did start complaining of headaches.  She got behind in schoolwork because of missing 20% and then testing started.  Dr. upped her to 50mg for about 6 weeks, then 100mg for week of testing in April.  After testing and catching up she came back down to 50mg, then she got back to 25mg by May 2017.

 

We had a plan to taper this summer but first she was going to stay on 25mg from May to end of July.  She, on her own, stopped taking them approximately August 1st or 2nd.  At this point I didn't know what to do.  Her psychiatrist and her father think she should stay on (to avoid inconvenience of symptoms) and her talk therapist, me (mom) and she feel she should taper off.  

 

Because of the cold turkey stopping of Zoloft, I am seeing significant irritability and intolerance as the first symptoms of withdrawal, now as of 8/14/17 she is telling me she is sad for no reason and depressed - the depression and nausea come in "waves" she says.    I don't know whether the anxiety is lack of meds or withdrawal.  Her sleep is poor too, so that contributes hugely to her mood. 

 

Her psychiatrist P.A. is not supportive for stopping. If I take her in, I know she will encourage her to go back on.   After all I have read there is too much evidence to support her getting off the drug for so many reasons.  I am not sure whether to have her start taking the 25mg and re-try for a long taper OR just try to weather the symptoms which could result in her being hospital/homebound (I don't care about this, school is supportive and she has an IEP for this but she sees this negatively).

 

Your advice from experiences and knowledge of Zoloft and re-trying a taper is appreciated.  Especially in teen girls.   I have no where to turn to for knowledgable advice at this point.

17 y.o. daughter has been on 25mg of Zoloft since approx. 10/15 at age 15 for anxiety so she could attend high school - her choice.  Zoloft increased briefly for 2- 3 weeks 4/17, then back to 25mg - no significant withdrawal symptoms at that time.  

She wanted to stop meds summer of 2017 - she  stopped abruptly without me knowing in early August 2017 right before junior year.  Moderate withdrawal symptoms of irritability, nausea but later she said wave of depression came - which she never had before.  I started posting at the SAD site just this week.  She is now unable to get out of the car for school and cries - similar to her pre-Zoloft behavior in 2015.   She wants to go back on and now I don't know if she'll want to taper off again.   I am making liquid and putting her back on at 1/4 dose for now based upon suggestion and my readings. Learning all I can on site. 

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  • ChessieCat changed the title to EGFmom: Mom of female teen trying to get off Zoloft
  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi EGFmom, welcome to SA. You are right to be concerned. After taking zoloft for so long her developing brain has grown around the drug. Stopping it cold turkley means her brain is struggling to work normally, especially so after all the changes earlier.  As she has been off for 3 weeks it might be better to go back on a smaller dose, 1/4 of a 25mg tablet because often people can't tolerate the drug the same after being off for a while.  This could be enough for her to stabilise then start a slow taper later. It takes a few days to reach a steady level in the blood, then a few weeks to stabilise. People often feel better after a few days, some almost right away but there is than a period of time where there are fluctuations, this is the brain stabilising. Of course your daughter has to agree to it and that is where my concern is. I have a daughter who quit her AD and I was powerless to make her start taking it again. It was months before she finally decided to take it agan and she could have saved herself months of suffering withdrawal. It is so hard being a mom! 

It will help if you can put her drug history in your signature, you can find details here.... it makes it easier for us when we can see the edetails at the bottom of posts.

http://survivingantidepressants.org/topic/12364-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/

 

I will post some links for you, hopefully she will read them with you and will see that reinstating will be best. 

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/topic/603-what-is-withdrawal-syndrome/

 

About reinstating

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/7562-about-reinstating-and-stabilizing-to-reduce-withdrawal-symptoms/

 

Brain remodelling

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1160-brain-remodeling/

 

In the meantime she will need to learn non drug ways of coping with the symptoms that led her to ADs

There are lots of topics here that members have found helpful, sharing experiences.

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/topic/1112-non-drug-techniques-to-cope-with-emotional-symptoms/

 

Finally, about tapering zoloft when she is stabilised. Zoloft is available in a liquid or can be made into a liquid from tablets which is much more accurate than cutting tablets.   

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1441-tips-for-tapering-off-zoloft-sertraline/

 

 

 

**I am not a medical professional, if in doubt please consult a doctor with withdrawal knowledge.

 

 

Different drugs occasionally (mostly benzos) 1976 - 1981 (no problem)

1993 - 2002 in and out of hospital. every type of drug + ECT. Staring with seroxat

2002  effexor. 

Tapered  March 2012 to March 2013, ending with 5 beads.

Withdrawal April 2013 . Reinstated 5 beads reduced to 4 beads May 2013

Restarted taper  Nov 2013  

OFF EFFEXOR Feb 2015    :D 

Tapered atenolol and omeprazole Dec 2013 - May 2014

 

Tapering tramadol, Feb 2015 100mg , March 2015 50mg  

 July 2017 30mg.  May 15 2018 25mg

Taking fish oil, magnesium, B12, folic acid, bilberry eyebright for eye pressure. 

 

My story http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/4199-hello-mammap-checking-in/page-33

 

Lesson learned, slow down taper at lower doses. Taper no more than 10% of CURRENT dose if possible

 

 

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Thank you for this information.  I am very sad because I know that you are right about the brain.  It took a lot of years to even consider trying meds/ AD as a solution for her anxiety and when we did, it worked and gave her a lot of success and confidence to the point of making us all think she doesn't have social anxiety symptoms.  But I realize it is a mask and not a long term solution.  I continually offer CBT to her and she has a caring therapist but the challenge I think is her deep avoidance of reviewing her own behavior - she seems unable to look detachedly at herself without internalizing the negative feelings and self-blaming.  We have a long road to incorporate these positive habits of mind.  

 

She agreed to go back on and at a lower liquid dose (she just wants to graduate high school) and we will watch very closely.  I am looking for any hope that she can rehabilitate her brain after all this - I hate that we used it but it was after a long and very desperate attempt to find some solution for her to feel better. 

17 y.o. daughter has been on 25mg of Zoloft since approx. 10/15 at age 15 for anxiety so she could attend high school - her choice.  Zoloft increased briefly for 2- 3 weeks 4/17, then back to 25mg - no significant withdrawal symptoms at that time.  

She wanted to stop meds summer of 2017 - she  stopped abruptly without me knowing in early August 2017 right before junior year.  Moderate withdrawal symptoms of irritability, nausea but later she said wave of depression came - which she never had before.  I started posting at the SAD site just this week.  She is now unable to get out of the car for school and cries - similar to her pre-Zoloft behavior in 2015.   She wants to go back on and now I don't know if she'll want to taper off again.   I am making liquid and putting her back on at 1/4 dose for now based upon suggestion and my readings. Learning all I can on site. 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Please don't blame yourself, you did what you thought was right at the time and that is all we can do as parents. Doctors recommend drugs for chilsdren and we should be able to trust them. Sadly they are taught by the drug companies who will do anything to sell their drugs. They even have toys advertising their drugs! One whistle blower who was a drug rep said that  they were taught that if they get them as children they have a customer for life! All this is in the controversies section here at SA.  Taper very slowly and carefully, and let her stabilise for a few months after reinstating before startingt he taper. It will be a long road but hopefully with very few bumps. 

 Maybe she would be better with a different therapist? She has to feel comfortable with her therapist for it to work.  I hope it goes well for her, keep us updated on her progress and if you have any questions just ask. 

 

**I am not a medical professional, if in doubt please consult a doctor with withdrawal knowledge.

 

 

Different drugs occasionally (mostly benzos) 1976 - 1981 (no problem)

1993 - 2002 in and out of hospital. every type of drug + ECT. Staring with seroxat

2002  effexor. 

Tapered  March 2012 to March 2013, ending with 5 beads.

Withdrawal April 2013 . Reinstated 5 beads reduced to 4 beads May 2013

Restarted taper  Nov 2013  

OFF EFFEXOR Feb 2015    :D 

Tapered atenolol and omeprazole Dec 2013 - May 2014

 

Tapering tramadol, Feb 2015 100mg , March 2015 50mg  

 July 2017 30mg.  May 15 2018 25mg

Taking fish oil, magnesium, B12, folic acid, bilberry eyebright for eye pressure. 

 

My story http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/4199-hello-mammap-checking-in/page-33

 

Lesson learned, slow down taper at lower doses. Taper no more than 10% of CURRENT dose if possible

 

 

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We all have a soft-wired brain, so yes she can definitely recover.

 

If she decides to taper, do it very slowly as at her age there is so much going on in the brain. Also the CBT is very important. If the drugs are gone, the brain has to take care of itself. Due to brain plasticity bad habits can be replaced by good habits.

 

Personally I doubt this is the right time to start tapering. I would stay on a steady dose until she gains strength cognitively.

 

Took my first SSRI sipralexa/lexapro/escitalopram in 2007 for depression. In 2010 the doctor switched me to paroxetine/seroxat/paxil for anxiety.

My paroxetine story from then on:

 

2010-15 from 10mg up to 20mg

jan 2016 30mg

may 2016 0mg cold turkey (don't!)

dec 2016 symptoms: anxiety, tremor (could barely stand)

jan 2017 reinstated at 7.5mg to taper in steps of 10%

...

Dose changes from may 2017 to now: 

5.0/4.7/4.4/4.0/3.7/3.5/3.3/3.1mg

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