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zolofellow: severe WD Symptoms following sertraline


zolofellow

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@marconyc this is neuroanxiety from my Sertraline withdrawal and its un-controllable ....it doesnt respond to bio feedback at all

Feb 2011 - May2012 Venlafaxine 75 mg - No witdrawal

Nov 2013 - Oct 2014 Cipralex 10 mg - Not very effective

Nov 2014 - March 2017 Venlafaxine 75 mg - Stopped with minimal taper and WD symptoms in 35 days

July 2017 - Oct 2018 Sertaline 50 mg - Stopped with very little taper (5 weeks on 25 mg), WD symptoms back in 2 months / Currently experiencing severe withdrawal

March 2019 - Reinstated 12.5 mg Sertraline

Supplements - Magnesium 375 mg (Magnesium Hydroxide), Fish Body Oil 1000 mg

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  • zolofellow

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  • Altostrata

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  • RachelSusan

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  • ChessieCat

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  • Mentor

Okay, I understand @zolofellow I know that sometimes these symptoms are purely from withdrawal. I was just thinking that my wife’s pregnancy has made my anxiety skyrocket so maybe the same is happening for you. I’m sorry you’re going through this. I’m also impressed by your stamina. I got down to 50mg of Zoloft and was in such a panic about withdrawal that my pdoc increased to 200mg and even added Abilify and Klonopin. My hat is off to you. I hope you see a window very soon.

2000–2015: sertraline 50mg, eventually up to 150mg for most of those years. Prescribed for dysthymia and generalized anxiety disorder. Two major attempts at discontinuing per psychiatrist's tapering advice were failures; each failure resulted in the dose being increased by 50mg. Those were my only increases in dose over the first 15 years

2000–2002: clonazepam .5mg 3x/day, then tapered quickly with no withdrawal
Jan 2015–Dec 2016: tapered sertraline from 150 to 50mg (relatively slowly from 150 to 100 and then pretty quickly from 100 to 50); severe withdrawal at 50mg
Jan 2017-Aug 2018: increased dose of sertraline from 100mg to 150mg to 200mg/day over the course of a few months per psychiatrist, who also added aripiprazole 1mg/day and clonazepam .5mg 2x/day

Found SA; Aug 2018-May 2023: Slowly tapered off clonazepam and abilify from 2018 to 2020; sertraline 200mg/day (200 mgai)

Taper: May 2023, 200 mgai; June 2023; 190 mgpw; July 1, 185 mgai; July 29, 181 mgai; Aug 27, 178 mgai; Oct 31, 175mgai; Dec 1, 171mgai; Jan 21, 2024, 168mgpw

 

 

 

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  • Mentor

Hi Zolofellow,

 

I hear your anxiety.  I do not suggest you increase your dosage to 50mg of Zoloft. I am not knowledgeable like the mods, but I did do a big increase once after being on a lower dose.  I got sick beyond belief.  I know you are bad now, but this could possibly be way beyond anything you have experienced thus far. It is bad.

 

I see you have reached out to the mods. You can wait a little longer, or try Gridley or try Alto and Chessie again, or all three. I see Gridley has answered you once. Also read once more the post on March 14 from Gridley.

 

You have a lot of stress going on in your life and my experience is that stress brings on symptoms. Your symptoms happen to include stress, so your reality based stress grows are sorts of additional stress. 

 

You are not alone. There are others on this site that support you.  I am not sure why the mods have not answered.  I do know there are at lot of people on this site and not a lot of mods. Just keep trying.  In the mean time I suggest, and it is just a suggestion, that you don't make any changes until you have heard from them. Like I said, it is just my suggestion, I don't really know, but I am telling you what I would do if I were in your situation.

 

I am very sorry you are going through this.

 

Warm wishes,

Rachel

 

I am not a health professional in any way.  I do not give medical advice.   Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a professional medical practitioner.

 

NEW INFORMATION FOR GABAPENTIN TAPER

April 29, 2022 900 mg to 800 mg (11%), May 29, 2022 800 to 700 mg (12.5%), June 20, 2022 700 to 650mg (8%), July 20, 2022 650 to 575 (12%), August 20,  575 to 500 (13%),  Sept 20, 2020 500 to 475mg (5%) Nov 7, 2022 475 to 425 (11%), Nov 21, 2022 500mg

Medications: Gabapentin, Prednisone 1.5mg a day, Cortisol Inhaler daily. 

HISTORY FOR ZOLOFT TAPER

Feb. 2016 to June 2016  - Was on 150mg Zoloft.  Put on Gabapentin at 900mg a day in 2016 due to antidepressant withdrawal. 

Quit Zoloft (Sertraline) June  2016,  reinstated 50mg of Zoloft July 2016.  From July 2016  to October 2016 went from 50 mg down 2.3 mg. I up-dosed in November 2016 to 12.5 mg. Held there until January 2017 when I started a much slower taper.

STARTING SENSIBLE  ZOLOFT TAPERING USING GUIDELINES FROM THIS SITE

Dec. 10 2016  - switched to Liquid Zoloft (Sertraline) @ 12.5 mg.   Jan. 4, 2020 1.875 mg (6.3%). Jan. 25, 2020 1.75 mgFeb. 29, 2020 1.625mg (7.10%).  Apr. 4, 2020 1.5 mg.  May 9, 2020 1.375 mg.  June 6, 2020 1.25 mg. (9.10%).  July 4, 2020 1.125 mg. (10%).  August 15, 2020 1.0 mg.  Oct 24, 2020 .875 mg.  Nov. 28, 2020 .75mgJan 16, 2021 .685mg (8.7%).  Feb 13, 2021 .62mg. March 12, 2021 .56mg.  May 1, 2021 .375mg.  May 29, 2021 .25mg. June 26, 2021 .0125mg. July 25, 2021 .065mg. August 22, 2021 .048mg.  October 2, 2021 .043mg.  October 10, 2021 .038mg.  October 23, 2021 .035mg.  October 30, 2021 .032mg.  Nov. 13, 2021 .030 mg.  Dec 4, 2021 .0285 mg.  Dec 11, 2021 .0265 mg. Dec 18, 2021 .0246 mg. Dec 25, 2021 .023mg. Jan 1, 2022. 0 mg. OFF COMPLETELY

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thanks Rachel! but today is just so horrible .... i have never had anxiety like this before ... and its just unbearable ... i am just looking for the best advise to change this state coz this is unsustainable ... and getting to a Pdoc in the UK is next to impossible

Feb 2011 - May2012 Venlafaxine 75 mg - No witdrawal

Nov 2013 - Oct 2014 Cipralex 10 mg - Not very effective

Nov 2014 - March 2017 Venlafaxine 75 mg - Stopped with minimal taper and WD symptoms in 35 days

July 2017 - Oct 2018 Sertaline 50 mg - Stopped with very little taper (5 weeks on 25 mg), WD symptoms back in 2 months / Currently experiencing severe withdrawal

March 2019 - Reinstated 12.5 mg Sertraline

Supplements - Magnesium 375 mg (Magnesium Hydroxide), Fish Body Oil 1000 mg

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  • Mentor
1 hour ago, zolofellow said:

@marconyc this is neuroanxiety from my Sertraline withdrawal and its un-controllable ....it doesnt respond to bio feedback at all

 

hi Zolofellow,

 

I cant offer you any advice on medicine, but my thoughts are with you. I hope your anxiety ends soon. You can be sure it will end at some point. Stick with it.

 

Warmest wishes

 

R

 = medication taken now

2007 quetiapine to March 2019 200mg

2019 quetiapine March to present 225mg 

2007 citalopram to present 40mg 
2018 March Abilify 5mg  
2019 Abilify February rapid taper over 3 weeks from 5mg to off

2019 March Clonazepam as required, taken very occasionally, then taken 0.5mg for 2 days 28th and 29th March, now phased out

2019 1st April reinstated Abilify 0.5mg / day 

2018 to 2020 Liquid B12 2g twice daily (diagnosed B12 deficiency) 

2020 July reduced quetiapine to 200mg

2022 October began taper of Abilify
 

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  • Administrator
On 4/10/2019 at 7:35 AM, zolofellow said:

i am writing in a very desperate state! my wave is getting worse by the day and now it seems my original health anxiety (for with i went on the ADs is also back). Since my wifes Gestational Diabetes diagnoses my mind has fixated on diabetes and that i migh have it.

 

This is a good time to do some deep breathing. What makes you think you have diabetes because your wife has gestational diabetes? How does that make sense?

 

Yes, you could be anxious because your wife is pregnant. Has there been a recent event in her pregnancy other than the diagnosis of gestational diabetes? Is she having trouble sleeping because pregnancy?

 

Has anything else happened -- have you taken an antibiotic, or accidentally skipped a dose of Zoloft? Had a glass of wine or two?

 

Your occasional diazepam use could be backfiring on you. (Please put diazepam in your signature.) When it wears off, you might be getting rebound anxiety and insomnia. You will need to keep notes every time you take it -- time of day and dosage -- to see if this is what's happening.

 

What is your daily drug schedule, anyway?

 

It seems to me your reinstatement is working, but your "withdrawal brain" is as susceptible or even more vulnerable to the irrational health anxiety that caused you to go on antidepressants in the first place. We can't fix your health anxiety, if you want to live drug-free, you'll have to get than in hand. Duncan Double might be helpful. You'll have to consult him or another doctor if you want to take a drug to control this.

 

Please read these topics AGAIN:

 

On 3/16/2019 at 12:51 PM, Altostrata said:

 

 

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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Hi, what exactly is your health anxiety about? I was worried about diabetes for a while as I have family members with it, so I bought a blood glucose meter and monitored it for a while. I found out my blood sugar is completely normal so I could let that worry go. 

However, I then found other health issues to worry about. Deep down I knew it was all anxiety& withdrawal but I had to be sure. So I went to the GP with the symptoms, not mentioning anxiety or medication. Had blood tests, ultrasounds etc. Also went privately to a cardiologist. Once all serious health possibilities were ruled out, I felt SO much better. 

At this point I know that my random symptoms are caused by withdrawal (and some histamine intolerance, which is normal when reducing an SSRI after 13 years...) as well as my regular anxiety. Maybe having a checkover by a doctor can help put your mind at rest?

 

Also, have you tried finding a therapist, instead of a psychiatrist? You might have to go private though. The NHS mental health nurses weren't very helpful for me. They never encouraged me to let out my unfelt feelings, instead just made me feel like I had to work harder to change who I am. CBT isn't the answer to all questions. I mean, if it it helps, great. If not, try something else. 

Have you looked into EMDR or pscychotherapy? Might help you release that feeling of tight knot you have inside...

2005-2018: Sertraline 50mg

Jan 2018: Started taper from 50mg

Jun 2018: 25 mg

July 2019: 20 mg. Switched to Microtapering

Spring 2020: Tetanus vaccine and a course of rabies vaccinations. 

July 2020: 16 mg. Hold.

During 2020, I was forced to change manufacturers(of generic Sertraline) 4 times due to supplier issues. I didn't write the dates down. 

1st Oct&4th Oct 2020: IV drip with Metoclopramide, ranitidine, hyoscine butylbromide in hospital

26 October 2020: 17 mg

1Nov: 16mg

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