HealthHopeHappiness: sertraline withdrawal - will the side effects ever go?

[SandCastle]

@HealthHopeHappiness congratulations 💕. When you said you were going through IVF, I thought pregnancy might either make symptoms worse or significantly better. Hopefully the second trimester will ease things up some.

[Pina]

Congratulations @HealthHopeHappiness for your preganancy. I wish you all the best and much strength. 

I keep my fingers crossed that your symptoms will subside and you will feel better.

 

LG 

Pina

[HealthHopeHappiness]

I am currently 14.5 weeks pregnant and things are not good with me at all. I stopped taking my injectable progesterone and oral estrogen 2 weeks ago, cold turkey, and all hell has broken loose. I have had non-stop diarrhoea and stomach cramps for the last 6 days and terrible burning pain in my right upper back, shoulder and arm. The muscles in these areas are constantly twitching and it’s like there is an electrical current in this area of my body. Now, the logical part of me tries to soothe myself and rationalise that I have been here before and I have survived it, but it feels worse this time. I have no respite from the muscular symptoms. My usual remedies of Epsom salt baths, magnesium oil, acupuncture are not helping at all. My right arm and shoulder feel so fatigued and I can barely lift it to use it. I know progesterone in particular can cause muscular and joint issues, as well as digestive discomfort, but I naively expected these things to resolve once I stopped the meds rather than get worse. I am aware that I was always going to be more sensitive to the effects of the hormones because I am still recovering from WD, I just didn’t expect this level of discomfort. Is it normal for someone in WD to have this reaction to hormone therapy? Or is something else going on that needs looked into.

I can tell my husband doesn’t want to entertain the thought of me being back in the depths of acute WD again, and thinks it is all anxiety related. This means I don’t talk to him about the debilitating symptoms and feel very alone. 
 

Most importantly, I have my daughter and this new baby to think about and be well for, but right now I am barely functioning. 

[Pina]

Stay in there  - it will be better in a few days or weeks. 

 

"Is it normal for someone in WD to have this reaction to hormone therapy? Or is something else going on that needs looked into."

 

Yes, I think it's normal. I am also very sensitive to hormones and medications that affect hormones. They trigger me strongly. Give yourself time, it will get better. 

I have also had the worst shoulder, arm, back and muscle pain due to hormone changes. It takes a while until it gets better again. 

 

LG 

pina

[HealthHopeHappiness]

On 2/16/2023 at 6:57 AM, Pina said:

Stay in there  - it will be better in a few days or weeks. 

 

"Is it normal for someone in WD to have this reaction to hormone therapy? Or is something else going on that needs looked into."

 

Yes, I think it's normal. I am also very sensitive to hormones and medications that affect hormones. They trigger me strongly. Give yourself time, it will get better. 

I have also had the worst shoulder, arm, back and muscle pain due to hormone changes. It takes a while until it gets better again. 

 

LG 

pina

Thanks @Pina. Sorry to hear you’ve had muscle pain due to hormone changes too. 

[HealthHopeHappiness]

No sign of any relief from this right-sided neck, shoulder and arm pain and constant twitching/spasming. Have tried everything to get it under control. It wakes me from my sleep and happens throughout the day, even when busy at work. I had no idea hormones would cause a wave like this… I knew there would be some price to pay for taking the progesterone and estrogen during treatment but did not expect this level of pain and discomfort. 

[Pina]

Hello @HealthHopeHappiness,

 

how are you? Is the wave actually better?  I must say, my last few waves stayed between 8 weeks and three month. It only has gone slow better, but it did get better. 

 

LG 

Pina

 

 

[HealthHopeHappiness]

On 3/7/2023 at 7:11 AM, Pina said:

Hello @HealthHopeHappiness,

 

how are you? Is the wave actually better?  I must say, my last few waves stayed between 8 weeks and three month. It only has gone slow better, but it did get better. 

 

LG 

Pina

 

 

Unfortunately there is no improvement for me at all. I am just trying to keep calm and carry on as much as possible. I’m now halfway through my pregnancy and so sad that it is riddled with fear and anxiety due to ongoing WD symptoms. I would say I have been in this wave since about December time, with no sign of it easing. My right shoulder and arm are still twitching and I have terrible nerve pain from my shoulder to my elbow. I feel like I am shaking/vibrating from the inside out. Still have issues with my left foot and leg, both hands are constantly curled into a fist and I have TD-like movements in my face. Every so often I will have a glimmer of hope that one day this might pass and I will wake up feeling like the old me. Thanks for checking in with me. 💞

[HealthHopeHappiness]

Will I ever feel strong and healthy again? Will I be well enough to look after my new baby daughter when she arrives in August? Will I be able to play and chase after my eldest daughter? I feel so sad, so anxious and hopeless. 28 months off. When will it end?

[DaBro]

It will. 24-30 were my worst. We heal. Stay strong. 

[Pina]

Hello,

 

I think the hormonal changes due to pregnancy will trigger you a lot. 

Regardless, I also had long periods of extreme muscle pain in my back, alternating with nausea and lots of bad anxiety periods. Between 25 and 33 months after zero it was one of the most bad times for me.

 

I'm sure you'll be able to look after your baby and play with him or her. Children give you so much happiness. I have three children and I can do it too. 

My children are my anchor and make me stronger. Look forward to your baby and if it sometimes becomes too much for you, ask for support. Everyone needs a little support now and then.

 

I wish you all the best and much strength.

 

LG 

Pina

[SandCastle]

Hi @HealthHopeHappiness How have you been this past month? Was just thinking of you today and hope you are finding some relief.

[HealthHopeHappiness]

Hi @SandCastlesorry I can’t give a more positive update, but much the same over here - awful twitching all over, TD, akathisia feelings in the pit of my stomach, insomnia, weakness, speech issues, etc. Pregnancy, WD from my hormone injections, plus allergy season has made things exactly like year one of WD. I suppose the positive difference is I am able to continue to go to work and to function as a mum for my daughter. I just keep hoping that things will settle once my new baby arrives and I will be able to manage my anxiety around the WD symptoms. 
 

How are you? I think of you often and hope that you are going from strength to strength. 💞

[HealthHopeHappiness]

Ended up having to visit triage last night as had visual disturbances and headache. Midwives asked me to go up to check blood pressure in case of preeclampsia but blood pressure was low, not high. Ferritin level through the floor though so likely an iron infusion is needed, waiting to hear from consultant next week. Having lots of tingling on my scalp along with the headache which makes me think it is WD related, but the visual disturbances are scary - it was like there was a geometric pattern in my visual field and it lasted about 30 minutes. Twitching is relentless all over my body, probably not helped by the low ferritin which is sitting at 8. Pain and weakness in left leg too. Constantly pushing down the feelings of a panic attack. 
 

I just want to enjoy my pregnancy - I put my body through so much to get to this point and WD is spoiling it, like it does everything else. 😓

[SandCastle]

@HealthHopeHappiness I’m really sorry to hear you’re still dealing with quite a storm. I hate that you’re having the pregnancy experience robbed from you. I had that with my first pregnancy (nothing to do with WD) and I remember just being so jealous of everyone that got to spend their pregnancy dreaming of baby names and what color they would paint the baby’s room. It’s really unfair to have to miss out on that. I’m sure low iron is not helping anything, but it’s so common with pregnancy that it’s hard to avoid. I can tell by your posts you’ve come a long way with acceptance. The mental torture was always worse for me than the physical symptoms. Once that eases up for a while, I feel like it sort of bridges a path to physical relief as well. Unfortunately I’m also back to square one lately. I had to take antibiotics for strep throat recently, and allergy season was rough where I am too. The combination sent me spiraling. Lots of twitching, tingling and the sensation like my lips and fingers aren’t really moving correctly if that makes sense. It’s so disheartening after experiencing a period of feeling recovered. I’m at right about three years now and I’m hoping symptoms will pass more quickly. I’ll keep you posted!

[Altostrata]

Hello, @HealthHopeHappiness, how are you doing?

[HealthHopeHappiness]

I just wanted to update my thread. After a very difficult pregnancy, I had my beautiful baby girl in August, she is perfect and I am so lucky. Unfortunately my birth experience resulted in me almost losing my life, which is why it’s taken me until now to have the strength to update my thread. I had a major haemorrhage post delivery which required surgery and multiple blood transfusions. I then had anaphylaxis during surgery and spent the week in high dependency. I had been so determined to have a natural, drug-free birth so as not to further upset my already frazzled nervous system from pregnancy. I managed to deliver without any meds, but the complications that followed meant I ended up with a GA, lots of pain relief, blood transfusions, antibiotics, etc. My CNS  is in tatters, but I’m doing all I can to try and settle things down and regain some sort of equilibrium. 
 

I can’t help but wonder if WD contributed to my anaphylaxis during surgery. Since stopping SSRIs, my allergy symptoms have been more severe. I suppose I won’t ever know, but in my gut I think it has been a factor. 
 

Right now, I am still bothered by widespread muscle twitching, eye pain, visual disturbances, headaches and muscle weakness. I also have a lot of nerve pain in random places. 
 

Although the above sounds pretty negative, I am managing to keep going and feel joy! It’s not all bad. I’m lucky to be alive and I have a beautiful family who need me, so I’ll keep doing what I can to recover. 

[Erimus]

Congratulations on the new baby! You are a warrior for going through all of it on top of withdrawal. I wish you and your family all the best. Hopefully you can get some real deep healing done from this point on.

[littlebird]

Congratulations on your new baby!!! What a terrifying experience you went through. Even without WD, a near-death experience would shake anyone's CNS. 

 

On 9/18/2023 at 2:11 AM, HealthHopeHappiness said:

I am managing to keep going and feel joy! It’s not all bad. I’m lucky to be alive and I have a beautiful family who need me, so I’ll keep doing what I can to recover. 

So happy to hear this! I hope you're able to take some time to take care of yourself so you have more to give your beautiful family. Not easy, especially with a baby, but fingers crossed you're able to find quiet moments here and there for yourself. Congratulations again! Must be so wonderful to have this new life in your arms.

[HealthHopeHappiness]

Thank you for the kind messages @Erimus @littlebird,

 

I know this is probably a ‘how long is a piece of string?’ question, but just wondered if any of the mods have any thoughts, after what happened to me recently, if I will be back to the start of my WD recovery process? I’m almost 3 years out, but I now feel like I did right at the start of WD. This has happened on and off over the last 3 years, but this time it just feels so intense and I have such a myriad of symptoms. I guess I’m wondering whether this is a wave I can expect to pass and then return to more of a WD normal, or if this is the start of a new recovery period. 

[DaBro]

Hi @HealthHopeHappiness  Being a man I can never know or imagine the impact of childbirth on the body’s equilibrium but as a father of 3, I remember how tiring that time was for my wife, and she wasn’t going through WD. 
 

i know during WD that if I overdid things or introduced a new stressor I was at risk of having a knock back but as always things eventually stabilised. Childbirth has to be one of the biggest possible stressors on the body and CNS and à newborn isn’t going to give much rest time for you. 
 

I’m sure you haven’t gone backwards. Instead this is more like trying to take 5 steps forward at once while dealing with a life changing experience. Time for a bit of self compassion and knowing that pretty much everyone would find your situation really really tough?

 

Congratulations on your new baby and wishing you and crossing fingers for a speedy recovery 

[Altostrata]

On 9/18/2023 at 2:11 AM, HealthHopeHappiness said:

Right now, I am still bothered by widespread muscle twitching, eye pain, visual disturbances, headaches and muscle weakness. I also have a lot of nerve pain in random places. 

 

Hello, @HealthHopeHappiness So sorry to hear the pregnancy and birth was so difficult for you. Still, congratulations on your new baby.

 

The birth was only in August, and you received a lot of medical treatment then. We cannot say any of your symptoms were due to your prior withdrawal syndrome. It's probably best not to worry about the influence of withdrawal syndrome and focus on recovering from the more recent birth-related issues.

 

Please do what you can to relax and recover. Please let us know how you're doing. 

[HealthHopeHappiness]

Update: 

I am trying so hard to get myself back to a healthy baseline following what happened at my daughter’s birth. Never have I ever felt in such poor health. My nervous system is hanging by a thread, if I thought WD was hard before, this is excruciating. I feel there is no point listing my symptoms, they are what they are and listing them isn’t going to change anything. Have had heart and blood pressure monitors on and awaiting results. Still going for acupuncture, still taking magnesium. Got a private consultation tomorrow with a nutritionist who specialises in histamine intolerance, I hope she can help me get my allergy symptoms under control following the anaphylaxis. I will do whatever it takes, I want to live. Deep breath and keep going. 

[HealthHopeHappiness]

A wee update from me. 18th November was my 3 year anniversary of stopping Sertraline. I was quite excited about this one because I’ve read lots of stories about people really starting to heal after the 3 year mark. If anyone told me at the start that this torture would last 3 years I wouldn’t have believed them, but here I am 3 years later and still holding on! It’s dragged by and flown in all at the same time. Here’s hoping this year sees more improvements. 
 

I had the results of my heart and blood pressure monitors and as predicted, it picked up some anomalies. It looks like I have POTS and I remember reading lots of posts about people having this. I’m being referred to cardiology for more testing. Interested to know if anyone else with POTS healed from this. 

[Strugglingmama]

Hi @HealthHopeHappiness

 

I have been following your feed. Congrats on the arrival of your new baby. Sorry for all the trauma.

 

We are just so similar I had to reply. I had a second trimester loss last July at 18 weeks after a frozen embryo transfer. It was traumatic and I lost 2.5L of blood and felt like the living dead after. I am now 25 weeks pregnant with a little girl. 
 

I also developed pots and have been diagnosed by a cardiologist. I think it started with withdrawal and then was exacerbated by my large PPH and now pregnancy is making it challenging. 
 

I haven’t ‘overcome’ pots but I have had it for a few years now and am learning how to deal with it. I get less worked up or in a spiral since I can attribute my symptoms to that… rather than just feeling broken with no answers.

 

what helps me: steady exercise. Walking everyday to retrain my heart (harder to do while pregnant and living in cold canada), keeping a healthy weight, drinking a TON of water with some added electrolytes and resting before I crash.

 

I have a 4 year old toddler, work full time in a busy hospital, and am pregnant. Some days it’s too much but I just to power through and enjoy the days. My ‘mental health’ is much better. Less panic and anxiety. Physical not as great but I’m coping.

 

sorry for the long reply but we’ve got this  

[HealthHopeHappiness]

On 11/24/2023 at 1:26 PM, Strugglingmama said:

Hi @HealthHopeHappiness

 

I have been following your feed. Congrats on the arrival of your new baby. Sorry for all the trauma.

 

We are just so similar I had to reply. I had a second trimester loss last July at 18 weeks after a frozen embryo transfer. It was traumatic and I lost 2.5L of blood and felt like the living dead after. I am now 25 weeks pregnant with a little girl. 
 

I also developed pots and have been diagnosed by a cardiologist. I think it started with withdrawal and then was exacerbated by my large PPH and now pregnancy is making it challenging. 
 

I haven’t ‘overcome’ pots but I have had it for a few years now and am learning how to deal with it. I get less worked up or in a spiral since I can attribute my symptoms to that… rather than just feeling broken with no answers.

 

what helps me: steady exercise. Walking everyday to retrain my heart (harder to do while pregnant and living in cold canada), keeping a healthy weight, drinking a TON of water with some added electrolytes and resting before I crash.

 

I have a 4 year old toddler, work full time in a busy hospital, and am pregnant. Some days it’s too much but I just to power through and enjoy the days. My ‘mental health’ is much better. Less panic and anxiety. Physical not as great but I’m coping.

 

sorry for the long reply but we’ve got this  

Hi @StrugglingmamaI have been thinking of you often since I read your devastating news. It is just so lovely to hear you are expecting a beautiful daughter. I’d imagine your pregnancy has been a stressful time for you too though. Can I just say… you are made of the strongest stuff 💪🏻To deal with the loss of your baby, withdrawal, working, a 4 year old and being pregnant again - wow. 
 

Thank you for reaching out about POTS and I’m sorry to hear you have it too. Your tips are much appreciated and I already actioned one today with the hydration and electrolytes. Do you find you have obvious palpitations sometimes? My heart does some strange things - it sometimes feels like it is doing a somersault or it will flutter repeatedly. I’m more accepting of the symptoms now, especially because I sort of know what the cause is. I’m also pleased to know I’m not going mad and imagining it all. I find withdrawal so difficult because it’s hard to know when it’s ‘just withdrawal’ or when something needs to be investigated. I have ended up with an unhealthy habit of avoidance when it comes to anything medical now as my trust in the professionals is non-existent. 
 

Anyway, thank you so much for taking the time to reply when you already have so much on your plate. You will be in my thoughts as you continue your pregnancy and I look forward to hearing about the safe arrival of your beautiful daughter when the time comes. 💞

[HealthHopeHappiness]

A few days into some new, what I hope are WD symptoms, following exposure to yet more medications. Ended up with bacterial tonsillitis and mastitis which required treatment with clarithromycin twice in the space of a month. Since the end of last week, I’ve been having some issues with my memory which are new for me. Forgetting random things, like my daughter’s shoe size, or the names of songs, etc. The more I try to remember, the panic sets in which makes it worse. I also feel like I am slower reading to my daughter at night and sometimes look at a word and it takes a minute to recognise it or think what it means. It feels frightening. I remember reading other peoples’ posts on here about symptoms like this but it had never been my experience. I’ve had an increase in other WD symptoms too, like brain zaps, twitching, air hunger at night, insomnia, nerve pain, tinnitus, headaches. My nervous system feels like it is in turmoil. I am also majorly sleep deprived from breastfeeding on demand which I know will be contributing to the forgetfulness. I remember having lapses in memory after returning to work when my first maternity leave ended - forgetting peoples’ names, etc and I wasn’t in WD then but was majorly sleep deprived! I am also dealing with PTSD symptoms following my daughter’s birth and I know trauma can do strange things to the brain too. A perfect storm really. Just trying to keep my health anxiety at bay and not fixate on these new symptoms as I know it makes them worse. Hoping in a few weeks time, I read this post and the symptoms have settled and no doubt something else has started, as seems to be the WD pattern over the last 3+ years. 

[HealthHopeHappiness]

Anyone any experience of waking up gasping for air? Almost like you’ve stopped breathing momentarily? I vaguely remember this whilst on SSRIs and during early WD, I wish I’d kept a journal. Almost what I’d imagine sleep apnoea to be like. It’s so scary, my mind is worrying it’s something more concerning but I’m sure I’ve read other people have experienced this. 

[DaBro]

I had throat constrictions that came and went with facial palsy and spasms. They got me gasping for air. Normally short lived. Same thing?

[HealthHopeHappiness]

On 2/2/2024 at 12:02 PM, DaBro said:

I had throat constrictions that came and went with facial palsy and spasms. They got me gasping for air. Normally short lived. Same thing?

Hey @DaBroits always so good to hear from you. How are you doing this week?

I don’t think it’s throat constrictions for me, I actually had a bit of an ‘ah-ha’ moment at birth trauma counselling this week. I was ventilated after the birth of my daughter and when I mentioned this sensation to my psychologist, she said it’s what the body does when the breathing tube is removed, so she thinks it could be a trauma response. I know it will also be related to or intensified by WD too as I remember waking up taking a big breath in during early WD, but this time it feels different. 
 

Thanks, as always, for taking time out of your day to reach out and reassure. 

 

[HealthHopeHappiness]

If any mods are out there, I’m still riding the most intense wave 6 months on after the birth of my daughter. What I’m wondering is if the large amounts of adrenaline given during my anaphylaxis could be causing things to be as bad as they are? I’m assuming adrenaline is one of the worst things a person could receive during WD? 
I am still powering through trying so hard not to lie down to this, but my nervous system is in such a state that I’m scared it can’t recover from this. 

[Strugglingmama]

@HealthHopeHappiness

 

how are you doing? I was thinking about you today. We had our little girl in March (11 days overdue). She’s healthy and my labour went well- no trauma this time.

 

She’s just over 2 weeks. I will say I have found the postpartum hormone drop challenging. My initial withdrawal symptoms (mostly feeling off, brain fog, dizzy) have returned slightly. I hadn’t had these my whole pregnancy. 
 

I truly think we have sensitive brains and any sort of disruption is difficult for us. I’m hopeful that with some rest (when able) and reassurance that this will pass, things will improve.

 

over the past several years I have had my symptoms flare. Usually around trauma or hormonal change. I have had so many months and periods of normalcy. I just need to remind myself of that right now.

 

I hope you’ve had some improvements.