CopperPhoenix: withdrawals after only 1 week?

[CopperPhoenix]

Hello,

 

I came across this site recently and found some helpful advice and comfort here, so I thought I would introduce myself and maybe get some feedback from some others who might be or were in my situation. 

 

I have suffered with GAD and panic attacks since I was 12. I have learned over the years how to cope with it without medication. I recently tried sertraline for 7 days at only 12.5 mg (I cut the 25 mg pill in half) because I have always been significantly sensitive to medications. I was having some mild depersonlization while on it, which is one of my biggest triggers for panic attacks (losing control), so I decided to stop taking it. The first week after was ok, nothing really major besides some depersonalization from time to time, but nothing I was concerned about. The real misery started about 10 days after in which I woke up after a "brain zap" from my sleep and was so disoriented and dizzy I could barley walk for about a minute. A panic attack ensued and since that time (3.5 weeks ago) I have been dealing with a constant feeling of walking on a boat when I am standing or walking. It is a horrible experience and is affecting my ability to work and be a parent. I have also had burning in my extremities, anxiety and depression, crying spells, and trouble concentrating with brain fog. I will say that I have had maybe 3 or 4 windows of either a couple of minutes of relief or maybe an hour of relief where I have felt normal since this all started. I am shocked that a medication can do this to me with such a short time of taking it at a very small dose for that particular medication.

 

I do have some solace in that I went through a similar experience 2 years ago after taking sertraline for only 5 days at 12.5 mg, but I never connected the two last time this happened. The reason for this is because the withdrawal symptoms did not present themselves until about  3 weeks after the fact if I can remember correctly. Those similar symptoms, including the vertigo/dizziness, seemed to last about 4 to 6 weeks before I started to climb out of what I now feel was withdrawals.

 

Anyway, I feel that this time around it has been worse with the constant vertigo/dizziness in standing and I am knee-deep in a withdrawal and fearing I will never feel normal again and unable to support my family. Is there anyone else out there with similar experiences with only taking medication a short time on a small dose?

 

Thanks,

 

David

[ChessieCat]

Hi CopperPhoenix and welcome to SA,

 

What you have experienced is an adverse reaction.  My suggestion would be to not take them again.  And I would be very wary of taking any psychiatric drugs in future.

 

Q:  Have you taken any other types of psychiatric drugs at all in the past?

 

Please see this topic:  are-we-there-yet-how-long-is-withdrawal-going-to-take

 

Please create your drug signature using the following format.   Keep it simple.  NO diagnoses or symptoms please - thank you.

• details for last 2 years - dates, ALL drugs, doses
• summary for older than 2 years - just years and drug/s

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

 

This is your own introductions topic where your can ask questions about your own situation and journal your progress.

 

Edited January 15, 2019 by ChessieCat

[ChessieCat]

We strongly encourage members to learn and use non drug coping techniques to help get through tough times.

 

Understanding what is happening helps us to not get caught up with the second fear, or fear of the fear.  This happens when we experience sensations in our body and because we don't understand them we are scared of them and then start to panic.

 

This document has a diagram of the body explaining what happens in the body when we become anxious:

 

https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/AnxietySelfHelp.pdf

 

Anxiety Stuff - all kinds of stuff about anxiety attacks and things that help ...

 

Audio FEMALE VOICE:  First Aid for Panic (4 minutes)

 

Audio MALE VOICE:  First Aid for Panic (4 minutes)

 

Non-drug techniques to cope

 

dealing-with-emotional-spirals

 

Dr Claire Weekes suffered from anxiety and learned and taught ways of coping.  There are videos available on YouTube.

 

Claire Weekes' Method of Recovering from a Sensitized Nervous System

 

Audio:  How to Recover from Anxiety - Dr Claire Weekes

 

CBT Course:  An Introductory Self-Help Course in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

 

Resources:  Centre for Clinical Interventions (PDF modules that you can work through, eg:  Depression, Distress Intolerance, Health Anxiety, Low Self-Esteem, Panic Attacks, Perfectionism, Procrastination, Social Anxiety, Worrying)

 

On 4/28/2017 at 4:03 AM, brassmonkey said:

 

AAF: Acknowledge, Accept, Float.  It's what you have to do when nothing else works, and can be a very powerful tool in coping with anxiety.  The neuroemotional anxiety many of us feel during WD is directly caused by the drugs and their chemical reactions in the brain.  Making it so there is nothing we can do about them.  They won't respond to other drugs, relaxation techniques and the like.  They do, however, react very well to being ignored.  That's the concept behind AAF.  Acknowledge, get to know the feeling involved, explore them.  Accept, These feelings are a part of you and they aren't going anywhere fast. Float, let the feeling float off as you get on with your life as best as you can.  It's a well documented fact that the more you feed in to anxiety the worse it gets.  What starts as generalized neuroemotinal anxiety can be easily blown into a full fledged panic attack just by thinking about it.

 

I often liken it to an unwanted house guest.  At first you talk to them, have conversations, communicate with them.  After a while you figure out that they aren't leaving and there is nothing you can do to get rid of them.  So you go on about your day, working around them until they get bored and leave.

 

It can take some practice, but AAF really does work.  I hope you give it a try.

 

 

[Altostrata]

Welcome, CP.

 

Since you last took Zoloft, has there been any change in symptoms? 

 

Some people have fairly immediate adverse reactions to SSRIs. You appear to be one of them. If I were you, I wouldn't take any of these drugs again.

 

As in withdrawal syndrome, your nervous system has been destabilized. Recovery is like that from withdrawal syndrome: Slow, frustrating, and very gradual.

 

Those non-drug coping skills ChessieCat suggested will help you get through the recovery period, which can be months.

 

A lot of people find fish oil and magnesium supplements helpful, see
http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/

http://survivingantidepressants.org/topic/15483-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/

 

Try a little bit of one at a time to see how it affects you. Please let us know how you're doing.

 

[CopperPhoenix]

ChessieCat: Thank you. What a wealth of great information. I have taken psychiatric drugs in the past very sparingly ( I update my sig to reflect that). My family kept pressuring me to try it again because they can see how stressed I am all the time. 

 

Altostrata: Thank you for your advice. There has been some minimal changes in my symptoms for the better I think. The past month or so is kind of a blur. The vertigo/dizziness, off-balance feeling is still present, but seems to be letting up a bit at certain times. The brain fog comes and goes, but when it hits I can hardly think straight and feel dazed. I do find that when I can consciously remind myself to relax and not fight the symptoms (similar to the AAF), they tend to decrease. It is funny though sometimes I will be sitting and thinking and all of a sudden a rush of calm infused my body and I feel "normal" again for a couple minutes. I am guessing that is the window people talk about. I feel like I might take a step forward one day and than the next day seems worse! frustrating

[Altostrata]

Those are typical The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

How's your sleep?

[CopperPhoenix]

I am sleeping well. I get about 8 hours of sleep a night, somewhat restless (I am up for maybe 5 minutes before dozing off about 3 or 4 times a night), but nonetheless sleep. I did have a couple nights last week where I could not sleep at all due to anxiety, but I seem to be back on schedule with sleep again. 

[Carmie]

Hi CopperPhoenix, 

 

How have you been doing?💚

[CopperPhoenix]

I apologize for the time between posts. I wanted to come back at the 6 month mark and give an update. About the 3 month mark I started to have windows that lasted days, and then weeks. This was encouraging and helped solidify my belief that what I was going through was indeed withdrawal symptoms. Symptoms generally abated over the ensuing 3 months, but I would have symptoms pop up when stress levels increased, but would not really take hold and fade away. I had turned the proverbial corner! Mmmmm no. I recently started to increase my workload, and therefore my stress, and I  hit a wall. My symptoms feel eerily similar, but different at the same time. It is hard to explain. I am guessing that I am now in the midst of a wave (about 3 days) with some little windows which is better than when this first started, but it is still hard. I am a moderate hypochondriac given my medical background and am worrying that this is not related to my withdrawal from zoloft about 6 months ago. I am having weird head pressure that is constant during the day, brain fog, mild memory issues, depressive type feelings (mud in the brain?), headaches that Ibuprofen or Tylenol don't help with, sore throat, and spaciness. Overall, just having a real fun time. I am suppose to go to on a vacation tomorrow with my kids and I am stressing about it. It should be an exciting time, but I am dreading it  I am back to stress management again. 

[Gridley]

12 minutes ago, CopperPhoenix said:

I am guessing that I am now in the midst of a wave (about 3 days) with some little windows which is better than when this first started, but it is still hard.

 

Recovery happens, but it takes a long time and can be quite frustrating.

 

How Long Is Withdrawal Going to Take? (this post - see below)  

 

 

[CopperPhoenix]

Update to regarding recent events in November/December 2022. Hope this helps someone.

 

Hello,

 

I have been away for a while doing well since my last posting regarding a short-term trial of Zoloft and experiencing bad side effects for months back in 2019. Overall, I have been doing well with symptoms popping up rarely when I was significantly stressed out, but never like I had experienced previously back in 2019. About 2 weeks ago though, my wife made a fruit cake with fruit she has been marinating in brandy for about 6 weeks. She told me that it would evaporate with cooking. I had a couple pieces about 2 weeks ago and I feel like I am back in withdrawal. My symptoms include brain fog, apathy, akathisia/restless legs during day and evenings, bilateral leg pain that switches from hot to cold, and of course anxiety.

 

 

Update #2 February 2023

 

I wanted to come back an update on my recent reply to this post. My symptoms from my alcoholic fruit cake incident resolved to almost nothing around the last week of December 2022 putting my length of "wave" about 4 weeks or so. I was doing well until the beginning of February and the symptoms seemed to roll in again, but this time seem to be even more intense. I am assuming this is a "wave", but are "windows and waves" possible in my situation? I had assumed that my setback in in December was temporary and I did not expect to be back in a "windows and waves" situation after being drug free for so long. 

[CopperPhoenix]

Hello again,

 

I had some dental work done yesterday with local anesthesia for some cavity work I needed done. Everything was fine until I started driving home and had some depersonalization for the remainder of the evening. After feeling tired and heading to bed, I could not sleep and had anxiety all night. I might have got 1 hour of sleep at best. I can't believe I am going through this again.