After 20 years quitting Setraline (Zoloft)

[DuaneHB]

I just found this site so my tapering was based off other internet searches. It was much faster than I've seen on here. I had my meds "poopout" 14 months ago after being on 50mg for over twenty years. The doctor wanted me to go to 200 but I passed and went to 100. As soon as I did full dpdr horribly and anxiety through the roof because of it. I went to a psychiatrists and he said to stick with it. I did for over a month but talked with him again and he moved it down to 75. I stuck with that for a couple months but still didn't feel right at all. On 8/25/18 I dropped down to the original 50 mg I had been on forever. At 12/3/18 I went to 37.5mg. 1/18/19 to 25 mg. 3/4/19 to 12.5 mg. Finally at 4/4/19 I quit. I felt pretty good for a couple weeks and then last week crazy strong dpdr. After a few days of it I decided to try a little CBD oil, no THC, to see if it would help. It seemed to make it WAY worse which I didn't think could be possible. Anyway after a day of that I decided to take one of the .5mg lorazepam pills the Dr. had given me when this all first started. It helped me sleep and I felt "OK" for a couple days. Last night pretty strong dpdr again but I pushed through it until I fell asleep and here we are to today. I feel great and then I get a wave of completely spaced out dpdr. My wife wants me to go see the Dr. and be put on something else. When I'm not freaking out in my head I'm enjoying the return of my memory and feeling emotions that have been gone for decades. So my goal, if possible, is to push through this crap somehow. Any advice? Thanks!!!

[SkyBlue]

16 hours ago, DuaneHB said:

The doctor wanted me to go to 200 but I passed and went to 100. As soon as I did full dpdr horribly and anxiety through the roof because of it. I went to a psychiatrists and he said to stick with it. I did for over a month but talked with him again and he moved it down to 75. I stuck with that for a couple months but still didn't feel right at all. On 8/25/18 I dropped down to the original 50 mg I had been on forever. At 12/3/18 I went to 37.5mg. 1/18/19 to 25 mg. 3/4/19 to 12.5 mg. Finally at 4/4/19 I quit. I felt pretty good for a couple weeks and then last week crazy strong dpdr. After a few days of it I decided to try a little CBD oil, no THC, to see if it would help. It seemed to make it WAY worse which I didn't think could be possible. Anyway after a day of that I decided to take one of the .5mg lorazepam pills the Dr. had given me when this all first started. It helped me sleep and I felt "OK" for a couple days. Last night pretty strong dpdr again but I pushed through it until I fell asleep and here we are to today. I feel great and then I get a wave of completely spaced out dpdr. My wife wants me to go see the Dr. and be put on something else. When I'm not freaking out in my head I'm enjoying the return of my memory and feeling emotions that have been gone for decades. So my goal, if possible, is to push through this crap somehow. Any advice? Thanks!!!

 

Hi Duane and welcome to SA.

 

I'd also been on about 20 years when I started this journey off meds -- it can be done, but it's likely that we'll have to go more slowly as our systems have completely rearranged because of the presence of the drug. 

 

To help us help you, please create a brief drug signature using these instructions: https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/18343-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/

 

 

Even though it might seem that you were tapering slowly, it was actually pretty fast. 

 

I'm glad you stopped the CBD. For us in withdrawal, it can be too much. Has stopping helped at all?

 

It's up to you if you want to "push through." However, we don't know how long it will take to push through, and it can take months or years. I'm not saying this to scare you. It has been my reality and I'm now on here as a volunteer moderator trying to help people *not* go through what I went through. This thread will be important to read (*first page especially):  https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/7562-about-reinstating-and-stabilizing-to-reduce-withdrawal-symptoms/

 

Updosing and tapering at no more than 10% per month could make all the difference in the world. 

 

Please let us know your thoughts on the above ^ thread, and also please let us know how you're doing.

 

One more thing -- keep notes on paper of your daily symptoms pattern. 

[DuaneHB]

Feeling decent today. Carefully watching my thoughts seems to help with the drdp the last couple days. The other physical symptoms I can deal with. It's the crap going on in my head on and off that's the ball buster for me. 

[Songbird]

On 5/1/2019 at 11:20 AM, DuaneHB said:

doctor wanted me to go to 200 but I passed and went to 100. As soon as I did full dpdr horribly and anxiety through the roof because of it. I went to a psychiatrists and he said to stick with it. I did for over a month but talked with him again and he moved it down to 75. I stuck with that for a couple months but still didn't feel right at all. On 8/25/18 I dropped down to the original 50 mg I had been on forever. At 12/3/18 I went to 37.5mg. 1/18/19 to 25 mg. 3/4/19 to 12.5 mg. Finally at 4/4/19 I quit. 

 

Please add this updosing and tapering information to your signature, i.e. the dates and dose amounts.