Elqueso: Zoloft tapering and updosing

[ChessieCat]

Yes, but you will need to be more precise with the cutting of the tablets.  Another option would be to cross over to DIY liquid first and then cross over using the same combinations to prescription liquid.  I realise that is an extra step but I think it would be more accurate.

 

And you might find that you don't mind making your own solution so you won't need the prescription liquid.

[Elqueso]

I've decided I will switch over to a DIY liquid solution first, then wait a week or two before starting on a liquid prescription from my doctor. It seems like the easiest way to control the tapering amount. Afterwards, I'll start the 10% reduction method you suggested.

 

Can you explain what to do with the white film that appears at the bottom of the glass when making your own liquid? I'm confused about this since I thought I would just be drinking the entire solution each time I take a dose, but others are talking about storing their liquid for a few days afterwards.

 

Also, does it matter how much water I am using to dissolve the tablets when I am switching to the DIY liquid? Should I try to use 50 mL of water with my 50 mg tablets?

Edited April 3, 2019 by Elqueso
Additional question

[Elqueso]

I'm also curious if I need to stay away from cannbis and alcohol while tapering. I've seen conflicting stories on this site where it helps some and hurts others.

[Gridley]

2 hours ago, Elqueso said:

I'm also curious if I need to stay away from cannbis and alcohol while tapering. I've seen conflicting stories on this site where it helps some and hurts others.

 

Our nervous systems are very sensitized during tapering and withdrawal, and we advise you avoid cannabis and alcohol while tapering.

[Elqueso]

I've started crossing over to a DIY liquid zoloft solution by using the method suggested by Chessie. Should be fully switched over by the end of the week. Next monday I have an appointment with my primary care doctor and I plan on asking for a liquid prescription, although I am curious about just dissolving the tablets in water. Not sure which option is better.

[Elqueso]

I've made a lot of progress towards switching to the all liquid solution of zoloft. By Sunday I will be done with the transition. Yesterday I tried measuring out 50 ml of water to prepare for my eventual taper, and I was struck by how strong the taste of powder was. That's going to be tough to get used to, especially once I start dissolving the entire tablet.

 

I'm a bit worried that I won't be able to get the entire dose because of the trace amounts of powder that are sitting at the bottom. Will probably need to try the vodka trick to unstick it.

 

On another note, I've almost completely stopped drinking and smoking, which I thought would be impossible for me. It became a sort of coping mechanism for my withdrawals, so now I need to learn some healthier techniques for calming my nerves.

 

One thing I've also noticed is I'm feeling a bit spacey/disconnected since starting the transition to a liquid dose. I'm not sure if it is because of that or if being sober for the first time in months is having a bigger impact than I expected. Hopefully once I'm more acclimated to it the symptoms will go away.

[Elqueso]

Have been on a full water solution for about a week now. 50 ml of water feels like it isn't enough for me though because of how strong the taste is. Could someone help me with the tapering math for dissolving a 50 mg tablet in 100 ml of water?

[Elqueso]

If anyone is still followibg this post can you help me with the tapering calculations for dissolving 50 mg tablets in 100 ml of water?

[eymen23]

Elqueso,

 

I’m sorry you didn’t get assistance with this before. What do you need help with specifically? 

 

If you dissolve a 50mg tablet in 100ml of water, then you need to take twice as many ml’s of DIY liquid as you intend to take in mg of the drug. 

 

For example of you intend to take a dose of 25mg then you would take 25 x 2 = 50ml of the DIY liquid. 

 

If you’re trying to work out the correct number of mg’s or ml’s to take when making a cut, then you can follow the method below.

 

Work out the percentage drop you are comfortable making. If you’re sensitive to changes in dose you may wish to reduce by 5% at a time. We recommend members reduce by a maximum of 10% at a time and hold after that for a minimum of 4 weeks.

 

Take away the percentage drop you wish to make from 100.

 

Example: 100 - 10 = 90

 

Multiply the current dose by the number above.

 

Example: 25mg x 90 = 2,250

 

Divide that by 100.

 

Example: 2,250 / 100 = 22.5mg

 

Example: 22.5mg x 2 = 45ml of DIY solution.

 

If you have more specific questions then please let me know.

 

 

[Elqueso]

Thanks for the quick response. I've decided to start with a 10% reduction from 50 mg, so my initial dose will be 45 mg. If I'm using 100 ml of water as my solution, then removing 10 ml should give me a 45 mg dose. I tried using 50 ml but the taste was too strong.

[eymen23]

Elqueso,

 

That’s correct, to take 45mg you will need to take 90ml of DIY liquid assuming it is 50mg per 100ml. 

 

The next 10% drop would mean you need:

 

(45mg x 90) / 100 = 40.5mg = 81ml

 

Hope that helps and best of luck with your taper. 

Edited May 13, 2019 by eymen23

[Elqueso]

Currently on week 2 of my taper using a DIY water solution to take 45 mg of zoloft. Haven't had any issues so far, but I think once I start my next 10% reduction down to 40.5 mg I will have to use an oral syringe along with my digital scale since it only measures whole milliliters. I'm just happy I have started making progress towards recovery even if it is slow going.

[Elqueso]

Currently on my 3rd round of tapering. Normally I would have gone down another 10 percent, but I held off sonce I wasn't feeling great. I've just recently stopped drinking and smoking completely, which was pretty hard for me since it was such a common thing for me to do. It was definitely stalling my progress, but I'm starting to feel more like myself now. I will most likely taper again in a week or so.

[Elqueso]

I started using the tapering excel spreadsheet to calculate my doses, and I'm not sure how I will measure my DIY liquid solution once the dosages get down to around 1 mg or less since my current scale doesn't show decimal places. Is there another scale you can recommend for that situation?

[Elqueso]

Not sure if anyone is still following this topic, but I'm currently at roughly a 33 mg dose of DIY liquid solution for zoloft, and could use some help calculating my next 10% reduction for tapering. If I calculated correctly, my next dosage should be 29.7 mg, which I plan on rounding up to 30 mg for ease of measurement on my digital scale. Since I am dissolving my 50 mg tablets in 100 ml of water, that would mean I need to drink 60 ml of DIY solution, down from my current 66 ml. Can someone double check this and see if this sounds right?

[ChessieCat]

If you are currently taking 33mg Zoloft then you could use 2 x 50mg tablets in 100mL water (1:1 ratio or 1mg Zoloft in 1mL liquid) which would make 3 doses of 33mg, taking 33mL of liquid.  You would not need to weigh anything.

 

To calculate a 10% reduction of 33mg:  33mg x 0.9 = 29.7mg

 

If you wish to round the amount to make it easier to measure, round up so that the reduction is less than 10% not more.

 

 

 

 

[ChessieCat]

You can always use more water to make measuring your dose easier if you don't have small syringes.

 

2 x 50mg tablets in 1000mL/1 liter of water

 

1 : 10 ratio

 

Each 1mL of liquid will contain 0.1mg Zoloft

 

For a 33mg dose you would take 330mL liquid

[Elqueso]

Going to be talking to a psychiatrist about my medication soon. I've been struggling with social anxiety for several years, and I'm fairly certain it's the main culprit behind my depression. I'm not really sure if I should keep trying to taper off zoloft completely, or try a different medication. It may be a situation where I'm better off with some form of antidepressant to manage my anxiety. Do you have any advice?

 

I've also noticed that I've been having uncontrolled head movements from time to time. They seem to happen more often when I'm stressed or anxious. Not sure if I should still keep tapering or just stick with the 33 MG dose of liquid solution for now.

[Elqueso]

Going to stick with the 33 mg liquid dose for now. Not sure if I will keep tapering since my anxiety has been higher over the past several months. I've even considered updosing a bit, but I don't know if that's the right move. Maybe I'm one of those people who are better off on an AD.

 

I also have an appointment with a psychiatrist at the end of the month to talk about medication options. May or may not follow his advice since the last time I talked to him he just suggested a different medication instead of talking to me about weaning off zoloft.

[Elqueso]

I'm going to start my tapering schedule again. I feel like I'm stable enough at this point to keep moving forward. Hopefully when I talk to the psychiatrist in a few days he'll be able to offer some guidance on tapering, but I doubt it.

[ChessieCat]

Please be careful about how and what you say to the psychiatrist.  It is important to be able to get your prescriptions for the duration of your taper.  We have SA members whose doctors have stopped prescribing and they've either had to find a new doctor or done a very fast taper.  Some SA members do not inform their medical professional that they are tapering.

 

There is plenty of information and support here on SA.  It's because most of the medical profession don't know how to get patients off their drugs that sites like SA exist.

 

The important things are to taper by 10% or less of the current dose and hold for at least 4 weeks.  And not to reduce again unless you are stable; listen to your body/symptoms.  And it's important to hold on a dose for longer if you are sick or experience additional stress; it's a good idea to not make a reduction if you are going on holidays.  Some members hold over the Christmas / New Year period and wait until life gets back to more normal.  Some hold over the winter and only taper during the seasons with more sunshine and being warmer.

 

Good luck.  It is possible to get of psychiatric drugs.  I was taking an AD for 25+ years and have now been off for almost 1 year after a 6 year taper.  It seemed like forever and at times I became impatient, but the members here encouraged me and helped me to stick to "plan".  And it was worth doing it slowly.  Who knows?  I might have been able to get off quicker but I wasn't going to take the risk.  I have seen too many SA members try to go too quickly and ended up taking longer to get off their drug.  Every reduction you make is reducing the drug and heading in the direction of getting you off.

[Elqueso]

Just started my next step of the taper down to 30 MG from 33 MG. No real changes in my mood or anxiety levels so far. Can anyone recommend a digital scale that useful for a liquid zoloft taper? I've been using a digital kitchen scale for a while and it works well for now, but I think it'll be less useful once I get down to much smaller doses.

[ChessieCat]

Many members use the Gemini 20 scale or a similar one.

[Elqueso]

Thanks, I’ll check it out.

[Elqueso]

I took a look at the gemini 20 scale, and it seems like it won't work for my DIY liquid solution. It's mainly designed for powders and pills. Can I still measure a liquid solution with it using a small cup or something?

[Elqueso]

On 11/27/2022 at 6:47 PM, Elqueso said:

I took a look at the gemini 20 scale, and it seems like it won't work for my DIY liquid solution. It's mainly designed for powders and pills. Can I still measure a liquid solution with it using a small cup or something?

 

Does anyone know if this scale can be used for tapering with a DIY liquid solution? It doesn't seem like I can measure liquid easily with it.

[Elqueso]

Been struggling with depression a lot recently. I'm talking to a therapist, which helps, but it's still difficult to deal with. I think it's partially due to the sertraline, but mostly a result of having social anxiety for so long. I want to make my next dose reduction, but I'm also worried it could affect my depression.

[Elqueso]

Should I start a new thread for additional questions or keep using this one?

[Elqueso]

Could use some help if anyone is still watching this thread.

[RachelSusan]

@Elqueso Hi Elqueso,

 

In answer to your post, the mods prefer that you ask all questions on the same thread so that everything pertaining to you is kept in one place, except if it is a question about your Xanax, then that should go on your Xanax thread. It does however look like you are done with the Xanax.

 

The scale you mentioned is for dry pills, it is not for liquid.

 

I am a Zoloft survivor, I made it off. It was a difficult taper for me until I learned what was the best speed for my body, then it got easier. I want to offer my best wishes to you as you taper.

 

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by RachelSusan
typo

[Elqueso]

@RachelSusan Hi, thanks for your response. What's a better scale for measuring very small amounts of a liquid solution? I'm still a ways off from needing it, but I want to be as prepared as possible.

[RachelSusan]

@Elqueso I do understand you wanting to be prepared. It is a smart thing to do. I don't know if you plan to make your own liquid or if you will be getting a prescription for liquid. If you get a prescription you will use a syringe (without a needle) to measure your dose.  Sometimes the liquid will come with a syringe (mine did) but the syringe was way to big for my needs so I had to order one off of Amazon. I ordered something like the ones in the links below. I suggest you not order anything though until you either get your liquid or decide if you are making your own, and figure out your formula.  You can then decide what you need in size of syringe or if you need one at all.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZ80YOV/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_10?smid=A1UJDQHYNCE0BK&th=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N01TO2O/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_9?smid=ALANI0DM8AOYG&th=1

 

When I got to the very low doses and the syringe did not have a marking small enough so I added more water and figured out a new formula. I then could use that new formula in my syringe.

 

If you are going to make your own liquid below is a link to what this site suggests we do. I never made my own liquid so I am not knowledgeable on that issue. I have read here on SA comments from people that add so much water they think in terms of drinking ounces and some that make the amount of liquid added so small that they too need a syringe.  I haven't reviewed the entire link I am giving you, I just looked at the first entry, however if it you would be making your own liquid I suggest you review the entire thread to see what everyone else has to say.

 

 Also this site recommends that you slowly crossover from the pill to the liquid. Below is a link for that.

 

[Elqueso]

Hi @RachelSusan, thanks for your reply. I'm actually using my own liquid solution for sertraline right now, but I'm still taking the equivalent of around 27 mg in liquid form. I guess I could use some help figuring out a new formula for when I get down to less than 1 mg or so.

 

I've also developed some jerking head movements over the past several months that seem to come out of nowhere, and I'm pretty concerned about that. Should I keep tapering or stop?

[RachelSusan]

Hi @Elqueso It sounds like you are doing fairly well except for the head movements.  Sadly I can't answer your questions about the head movements nor offer you advise on figuring out a new formula.  It looks like eyeman23, Gridley and Shep had been advising you.  Perhaps you might want to reach out to them for additional advice, especially about formulas.  It looked eyeman23 was the person that gave you your last formula. They are all excellent and could give you much better help than I could.

Warm wishes,

Rachel