holli: messed up Zoloft tapering?

[DaBro]

You’re doing so well @holli . You seem to be able to rise above the horrible symptoms and see them for what they are and keep a level head. Kudos to you! 

[holli]

13 hours ago, Altostrata said:

This is a good idea. If it goes well, you might be able to do this every few days.

okay, i’ll do this starting tomorrow. fingers crossed i tolerate drops well!

 

7 hours ago, DaBro said:

You’re doing so well @holli . You seem to be able to rise above the horrible symptoms and see them for what they are and keep a level head. Kudos to you!

thank you! i won’t lie it’s really tough with these horrible symptoms, but i’m trying my absolute best to just focus on getting through each day. hope you’re doing well!

[holli]

had vertigo today which i really hate and find hard to deal with but i just tried to stay calm and let it pass. gonna drop 0.1mg to 10.7mg tomorrow morning so hopefully some improvements will be seen soon (fingers crossed!)

 

17th november:

1am - got up to go to the bathroom and went really hot, legs went jelly and heart was racing. made my anxiety go crazy 

2:30am - finally managed to calm down and sleep

11am - woke up, achey, heavy head, vertigo

11:30am - took 10.8mg liquid zoloft, slight tremors and anxiety 

12:15pm - snack, nausea, heavy head, slight tremors

1pm - lunch, nausea increasing, getting hot, tremors increasing

2pm - nausea still bad, really hot, anxiety bad, tremors, vertigo

3pm - still the same as above, body really uncomfortable, ataxia sensations

4pm - snack, same as above but anxiety has eased a little, cooled down a bit

5pm - same as above 

6pm - dinner, slight nausea, feel very tired, still very uncomfortable but ataxia sensations have eased 

7pm - anxiety starting to increase, keep going hot and then cooling down then going hot again 

8pm - still the same as above

9pm - snack, anxiety has eased, cooled down a bit

10pm - took birth control, getting hot again, vertigo

11pm - same as above with electrical/heavy head

[getofflex]

Hello @holliI've been taking a break for a few weeks.  Have you been feeling any better in the pas several weeks from reducing?  I see from your notes you are having the same symptoms, but has their severity decreased any overall?  You are doing a great job.  

[holli]

27 minutes ago, getofflex said:

Hello @holliI've been taking a break for a few weeks.  Have you been feeling any better in the pas several weeks from reducing?  I see from your notes you are having the same symptoms, but has their severity decreased any overall?  You are doing a great job.  

hello! i hope you’re doing well! i’ll be honest, i haven’t really noticed a difference from reducing, except maybe more symptoms in the evening and less tremors in the day? but it’s not consistent, some days i’ll have barely any tremors and then some days i’ll get tremors on and off all day. i had to updose too because the adverse reaction and withdrawal was too much, it seems i can’t tolerate reducing much.

 

my anxiety has gotten worse though i think, i find i can’t really tolerate talking or holding conversations because my anxiety spikes and heightens all my symptoms. i find the only times of day that i can really talk or enjoy things are either at night (like past 10pm-ish) or an hour before i take my dose. i find looking at my phone with this anxiety is hard too. i cant read the forum, i cant read emails and i cant reply to messages from friends easily. i just sit and breathe and focus on the sounds outside my window, or if i can handle it then i’ll watch a lighthearted video to distract. 

 

however, i moved down to 10.7mg today and that’s only 0.1mg so hopefully i can reduce this way. i’m also still throwing up and feeling very nauseous so that hasn’t really changed either. though when i dropped too fast, i started throwing up everyday which was awful but now that i’ve updosed it’s gone back to every couple of days which while still isn’t great, it’s not as bad as daily. 

 

i also have todays notes here:

18th november:

1am - restless but actually cold for once

2:30am - fell asleep

8am - kept waking up anxious and then immediately going back to sleep

11am - woke up, achey

11:30am - took 10.7mg liquid zoloft

12:15pm - snack, slight nausea and tremors, anxiety

1pm - lunch, nausea, tremors, anxiety, getting hot, electrical and heavy head

2pm - same as above, tremors eased though

3pm - cooled down a bit but nausea still really bad

4:30pm - snack, anxiety bad again, getting hot, dp/dr

6pm - dinner, really hard to stomach because nausea suddenly increased, anxiety still there but not too bad

7pm - anxiety bad again, head heavy, feel tired, nausea not as bad but not gone

8pm - snack, same as above plus rushes of anxiety/nerves?

9pm - same as above, keep getting moments of brain zap/dizziness/room spin

10pm - took birth control, same as above, feeling hot and tired, very nauseous, internal vibrations 

11pm - above all eased a bit

 

[getofflex]

13 minutes ago, holli said:

i haven’t really noticed a difference from reducing, except maybe more symptoms in the evening and less tremors in the day?

It sounds to me like the adverse effects (tremors) are slowly improving.  The increased anxiety could be from the withdrawal.  It's a matter of balancing out the adverse effects with the withdrawal. 

14 minutes ago, holli said:

i just sit and breathe and focus on the sounds outside my window, or if i can handle it then i’ll watch a lighthearted video to distract. 

Good for you for using non drug coping skills!  

 

16 minutes ago, holli said:

however, i moved down to 10.7mg today and that’s only 0.1mg so hopefully i can reduce this way.

This sounds like a good cautious tapering plan.  You've been very patient and had a very strong attitude.  Someday, this will be a thing of the past.  

[Altostrata]

You are a trooper, @holli

 

Do you think the birth control is causing unpleasant effects after you take it? You might look up the adverse effects of that particular drug.

[holli]

thank you alto! i’m doing my absolute best!

 

1 hour ago, Altostrata said:

Do you think the birth control is causing unpleasant effects after you take it? You might look up the adverse effects of that particular drug.

i don’t think so, plus i’m honestly a little scared to even consider stopping taking it. i take desogestrel, the progesterone only pill, because i used to have such painful periods that would make me really ill and in a lot of pain every month. plus, i used to have awful pms symptoms. since i started the pill in january, i experienced nausea for about two days and that was it and since it’s stopped my periods and i don’t have to deal with the awful effects anymore. i could not imagine having to deal with the adverse reaction and withdrawal plus my nightmare periods right now. 

 

since moving it to 10pm i haven’t really noticed anything different. i sometimes get nausea in the evening but it’s very random and new with reducing. i threw up at night a couple days ago but i think that was because my anxiety spiked so bad. i also sometimes get moments of dizziness at night but that’s also been randomly happening since the crash in july. so everything points to zoloft for me right now. 

 

also another thing to note is that even when i did start the pill, i was still having slight nausea and random dizziness that i had the whole time on zoloft so honestly it’s really hard to tell if that was even the pill. 

[holli]

here’s todays notes!

 

19th november:

12:30am - ataxia sensations, uncomfortable 

2:30am - finally fell asleep

8am - woke up anxious, fell back asleep not long after

11am - woke up, anxious, achey, a bit of vertigo, hot 

11:30am - took 10.7mg liquid zoloft

12pm - threw up (tmi but i could taste the zoloft so i’m worried todays dose is messed up?)

12:15pm - snack, still nauseous, stomach feels unsettled, slight tremors

1pm - lunch, still feel very nauseous, head heavy/drowsy, uncomfortable anxiety, tremors are internal vibrations 

2pm - same as above but nausea has eased 

3pm - same as above but cooled down

4pm - snack, head still heavy but internal vibrations have eased 

5pm - same as above but getting hot again

6pm - dinner, still have heavy head and feeling hot, feeling uncomfortable/restless too

7pm - still same as above, ataxia sensations

8:30pm - eased a bit

9:30pm - a bit of nausea, getting hot again

10pm - took birth control, ataxia sensations, anxiety, internal vibrations, restless

11pm - same as above

[Altostrata]

I hope you're able to continue this micro-taper, @holli Zoloft is still making you nauseous. Did this also occur when you were taking it in tablet form?

[holli]

4 hours ago, Altostrata said:

I hope you're able to continue this micro-taper, @holli Zoloft is still making you nauseous. Did this also occur when you were taking it in tablet form?

it did yeah, the throwing up started late september/early october when i was still splitting a 50mg tablet into quarters (so it probably wasn’t even an accurate 12.5mg dose). i had really bad nausea after skipping doses in july too where i thought i would throw up, but never did. i’ve also just had light nausea the whole time i’ve been on zoloft. 

 

i’m really hoping this micro taper is bearable too because i really need these adverse effects to ease!

[holli]

the intensity of the uncomfortable sensation i get has raised recently, i cant remember if it started before or after the dose reduction. it really sucks and it makes me feel like i need to scream or keep moving? like i need to rip my legs off or something… thankfully it doesn’t last all day but it does last hours. the past two nights i’ve had it before sleep and i’ve just had to curl up, try stay still and bare it. but i also had it from 2pm to about 4pm today. i’m hoping it goes away soon but as long as it comes and goes, i can put up with it as i reduce. it just really sucks when i get it because nothing eases it.

 

here’s todays notes:

20th november:

12am - awful anxiety, really restless and agitated

2am - finally eased, fell asleep

11am - woke up, achey, ataxia sensations, kinda nauseous 

11:30am - took 10.7mg liquid zoloft 

12:15pm - snack, anxiety quite bad, nausea, slight tremors, head heavy

1pm - lunch, still same as above

2pm - very uncomfortable/restless, still all the same as earlier but tremors are more internal vibrations

3pm - same as above 

4pm - still the same but nausea and internal vibrations eased

5pm - snack, uncomfortable feeling has finally eased a bit, anxiety has eased a bit too with it. head still heavy and head just feels "off" in general

6:30pm - dinner, same as above just general “off”

7:30pm - getting a little restless again, keep going hot then cold

9pm - feeling hot, heavy head, a little restless and nauseous 

10pm - took birth control, same as above

11pm - symptoms eased a bit, still feeling hot though

 

[Altostrata]

@holli, if I were you, I would persist in reducing the drug. I'm afraid there's no easy way out, you're stuck between drug adverse effects and withdrawal risk. This is going to be hard, but need to go off. You can do this. 

 

The alternatives are switching to a low dose of another SSRI, such as citalopram or fluoxetine, or getting a prescription for a benzodiazepine for the drug adverse effects or withdrawal symptoms.

[holli]

10 hours ago, Altostrata said:

if I were you, I would persist in reducing the drug. I'm afraid there's no easy way out, you're stuck between drug adverse effects and withdrawal risk. This is going to be hard, but need to go off. You can do this. 

yeah, it’s a shame i can’t reduce faster but i seem to be tolerating 10.7mg well so far so i guess it’s gonna have to be 0.1mg at a time. do you think there will come a point when adverse effects have eased and my nervous system has eased that i’ll be able to go a little faster?

 

10 hours ago, Altostrata said:

The alternatives are switching to a low dose of another SSRI, such as citalopram or fluoxetine, or getting a prescription for a benzodiazepine for the drug adverse effects or withdrawal symptoms.

i definitely don’t think i could switch to citalopram, i had adverse effects on that in march and i’d be too terrified to try again. fluoxetine has a long half life though right? could that possibly help? though, once again i’d be really terrified to try something new because of how i’ve reacted to the two ssri’s i’ve been on. 

 

i don’t think i’d want to even try benzos, having two drugs in my system sounds like it would complicate things more. plus, i’d have to withdraw from that later anyway which could bring its own problems. i don’t even think my doctor would actually be convinced to give me benzos even if i did choose that. 

[holli]

here’s todays notes, i had the horrible restless anxiety on and off all day. really hoping it’s a temporary thing and passes soon because it makes it very hard to get comfortable and stay still to sleep  

 

 

21st november:

12am - a little restless, keep tossing and turning trying to sleep

2am - drift off for a bit

3am - wake up suddenly with anxiety and nausea

3:30am - fell asleep 

11am - woke up, anxiety

11:30am - took 10.7mg liquid zoloft

12:15pm - snack, slight tremors and nausea, anxiety

1pm - lunch, tremors are more internal vibrations, nausea increasing a bit, head heavy and hot, feel drugged/drowsy, anxiety

2:30pm - anxiety increasing, feel uncomfortable/restless, electrical head, feeling hot, internal vibrations

4pm - snack, still same as above, head and neck are also hot, feel tired

5:30pm - anxiety and restlessness has eased a bit, still feel very tired 

6:30pm - dinner, nausea so it’s making it hard to keep down, getting hot

7:30pm - anxiety and restlessness increasing again, still hot, internal vibrations

8:30pm - snack, same as above

9pm - cooling down, i feel hot but cold?

9:30pm - really nauseous, hot again, restless and anxious, whole body feels uncomfortable 

10pm - took birth control, same as above but with tremors and gagging. neck also tense and head heavy

11:30pm - nausea eased but now have vertigo and the restless anxiety

[holli]

restless feeling thankfully wasn’t too bad today so i’m glad i got a break from it! i also managed to sleep fine last night too, i find if i get into a comfy position i literally have to force myself not to move because then the restless feeling starts when i start tossing and turning again. it’s annoying but i eventually fall asleep.

 

though i’ve had more of a stiff and tense neck today so i don’t know if i potentially slept weird but it’s been worsening my heavy head feeling.

 

here’s todays notes!

12:30am - uncomfortable trying to sleep

1:30am - fell asleep

7am - woke up cold

7:30am - fell back asleep

11am - woke up, anxiety, head feels "off"

11:30am - took 10.7mg liquid zoloft, vertigo 

12:15pm - snack, anxiety increasing, restlessness/uncomfortable feeling, nausea, slight tremors

1pm - lunch, threw up, tremors increasing, head feels hot and heavy, feel hot in general, tense neck

2:30pm - anxiety/restlessness has eased, cooling down a bit, nausea still present, tense neck

4pm - snack, nausea has now eased, head still heavy and neck still tense but everything else eased

6pm - dinner, a little bit restless, head and neck symptoms still there

8pm - snack, same as above

9pm - anxiety starting again, vertigo, getting hot, dp/dr

10pm - took birth control, same as above with hot flushes

11pm - eased a little, vertigo and going hot and cold

[ThatOneGirlStitch]

I just wanted to stop by and say hi. I saw you were having nausea and I read on this site (you may have already read also) that many people find ginger tea or sucking on raw ginger to be helpful. I just started to try it myself. (see how that goes) Also it's great to see you were able to do some art! I always like hearing of those things.

[holli]

4 hours ago, ThatOneGirlStitch said:

I just wanted to stop by and say hi. I saw you were having nausea and I read on this site (you may have already read also) that many people find ginger tea or sucking on raw ginger to be helpful. I just started to try it myself. (see how that goes) Also it's great to see you were able to do some art! I always like hearing of those things.

hi! i have read about that but i’m not particularly keen on the taste of ginger so i’ve been hesitant to try it. let me know how it goes! hope you’re doing well

[holli]

god this restless anxiety feeling sucks! i really hope it eases soon  

 

here’s todays notes:

23rd november:

12am - restless anxiety

1:30am - finally fell asleep

8am - woke up anxious

9am - fell asleep again

11am - woke up anxious, vertigo

11:30am - took 10.7mg liquid zoloft, nausea, slight tremors, heavy head

12pm - threw up (just a bit of water), hot

12:15pm - snack, still nauseous, cooled a bit, tremors, vertigo, heavy head

1pm - lunch, same as above but with drugged head feeling

2pm - same as above but anxiety eased a little

3pm - still quite restless, cant relax, still have nausea, internal vibrations

4:30pm - snack, still restless but not too bad, nausea eased a little, neck stuff/head heavy, feel very tired

5:30pm - same as above, doing some crochet to distract from restlessness and head sensations

6pm - couldn’t concentrate on crochet because restlessness increased 

6:30pm - dinner, still restless 

8pm - snack, still restless and stiff neck/heavy head, getting hot too, nausea back a bit

10pm - took birth control, still same as above

11pm - restlessness eased, vertigo 

[getofflex]

Hi Holli, I just want to let you know I'm taking a much needed break, so I won't be around much.  Keep up the good work, it will pay off!  

[holli]

22 minutes ago, getofflex said:

Hi Holli, I just want to let you know I'm taking a much needed break, so I won't be around much.  Keep up the good work, it will pay off!  

hello! thank you for stopping by, i hope you have a lovely break  

[holli]

todays notes!

 

 

24th november:

12am - restless in bed

1:30am - finally fell asleep

9am - woke up, kept drifting in and out of sleep

11am - woke up, anxious, hot

11:30am - took 10.7mg liquid zoloft

12:15pm - snack, nausea, tremors, anxiety, restless, heavy head, vertigo, hot

1pm - lunch, thought i was gonna throw up but thankfully didn’t, same as above

2pm - still same symptoms 

3pm - nausea eased a little, cooled a little

4pm - snack, still have some nausea, still very restless and achey now too, tremors are now internal vibrations

6pm - dinner, still kinda restless and anxious, nausea eased

8pm - snack, getting hot, uncomfortable head sensations (tingling, squeezing, numb… like brain zaps i guess), a little restless and anxious

10pm - took birth control, same as above with head pressure

11pm - symptoms eased, vertigo

 

[holli]

i’m noticing ever since the drop i’ve been restless and more unsteady/unbalanced… why cant i handle a 0.1mg drop? is my nervous system in that much chaos? it’s really frustrating. 

 

@Altostrata you said previously about potentially swapping to fluoxetine, could that potentially help me function a little better? i’m wondering if the longer half life would help, and would i potentially not have the sertraline adverse effects and be able to function a little? i’m just wondering what my options are, me and sertraline really seem to not get along so i’m wondering if fluoxetine is something to consider if i really can’t handle drops because i’m just existing right now. i just wish i had a little more bare minimum function.

 

here’s todays notes also:

 

25th november:

12am - only a little restless

1am - fell asleep

9am - woke up, hot and cold, fell asleep after a while

11am - woke up, nauseous, vertigo

11:30am - took 10.7mg liquid zoloft

12pm - threw up (just a bit of water)

12:30pm - snack, still feel nauseous, anxious/restless, hot, tremors 

1:30pm - lunch, same as above

3pm - still feeling really restless, nausea not as bad but still there, tremors eased

4pm - snack, nausea increasing a bit, head feels "off" (uncomfortable sensations), still a bit restless and hot

5pm - same as above, dp/dr

6:30pm - dinner, still quite restless but dp/dr gone, nausea eased

8pm - snack, getting hot and restless/anxious increasing

9pm - nausea increasing, same as above

10pm - took birth control, nausea eased a little but still restless/anxious

11pm - symptoms eased a bit

 

[holli]

here’s todays notes:

26th november:

12am - restless, tossing and turning in bed

1:30am - fell asleep

7:30am - woke up hot, fell back to sleep not long after

11am - woke up, anxious, vertigo 

11:30am - took 10.7mg liquid zoloft

12:15pm - snack, very nauseous, anxious and restless, head heavy, neck tense

1pm - lunch, still same as above

3pm - still the same as above, head feels very drugged, right leg has tremors, intense internal vibrations, feel very uncomfortable, head very heavy, anxiety still

4pm - snack, nausea not too bad, still same symptoms as above

5pm - still the same, whole body is tense and buzzing and it’s making me exhausted, head also feels overwhelmed and electrical 

6:30pm - dinner, same as above

8pm - eased a little but nausea came back

10pm - took birth control, nausea eased but getting really hot and more restless

11pm - cooled down a bit, restlessness and anxiety eased a bit

[Altostrata]

On 11/25/2021 at 4:32 PM, holli said:

you said previously about potentially swapping to fluoxetine, could that potentially help me function a little better?

 

Yes, fluoxetine has a different chemical makeup and may not cause the same adverse reaction. I might add in 1mg fluoxetine at first and make a gradual switch to 5mg fluoxetine. Tell your prescriber you need liquid fluoxetine for a crossover.

 

The transition may be bumpy, but you're already coping with a lot. It may be worth trying.

[holli]

23 hours ago, Altostrata said:

Yes, fluoxetine has a different chemical makeup and may not cause the same adverse reaction. I might add in 1mg fluoxetine at first and make a gradual switch to 5mg fluoxetine. Tell your prescriber you need liquid fluoxetine for a crossover.

okay, i’ll give it some thought and honestly at the moment i’m leaning towards this option just because i don’t really know how i’m supposed to get off zoloft with the mess that the adverse effects is causing me. 

 

i’ve been thinking about it today and discussing it with my mum, i’m still gonna think on it for a couple days. it’ll take a while anyway because getting an appointment to talk to my doctor usually isn’t fast, and ive somehow got to find a way to persuade them to give me the liquid… that’ll be interesting since they denied the existence of liquid zoloft. it’ll also be interesting to see how i’ll handle talking to my doctor because the time of day that i’ll speak to them is also the time of day where adverse effects are the worst. but i’ll cross that bridge when i get to it. 

 

23 hours ago, Altostrata said:

The transition may be bumpy, but you're already coping with a lot. It may be worth trying.

this is what worries me a little. the potential of dealing with adverse reactions and withdrawal of zoloft, while also dealing with start up side effects and/or adverse reactions of fluoxetine. but like you said, i’m already dealing with a lot and i can’t function like this so it could potentially be worth that bumpy ride. i’ve got a lot to think about. 

 

i’ll also do some research on the forum a bit i think before i make this jump.

 

also here’s todays notes:

 

27th november:

12am - restless, tossing and turning in bed, a little nauseous

1:30am - drifted off to sleep

2:30am - woke up anxious, fell asleep not long after 

7am - woke up anxious, fell asleep not long after

11am - woke up, anxious

11:30am - took 10.7mg liquid zoloft

12pm - heaving (barely anything came up), stomach churning, nausea, tremors, head feels drugged

12:30pm - snack, still same as above

1:30pm - lunch, still same as above, tremors only in right leg now and internal vibrations everywhere else

2:30pm - getting really anxious and restless

3:30pm - calmed a little, exhausted from anxiety

4:30pm - snack, same as above

5pm - hot flush, went really uncomfortable and it made my head spin, nausea back

6:30pm - dinner, nausea eased a bit, cooled down, head feels heavy/drugged

8pm - restless anxiety, getting hot again

9:30pm - nausea back, head heavy/drugged, internal vibrations, hot

10pm - took birth control, still same as above

11pm - symptoms eased a bit, cooled down

 

[ChessieCat]

You might find some helpful ideas in the following topic:

 

how-to-talk-to-a-doctor-about-tapering-and-withdrawal-what-to-expect

 

I realise that you are dealing with an adverse reaction, but getting some ideas of how to advocate for yourself can be useful.

 

One thing that I suggest to members is to write out what you want to say to the doctor and rehearse it.  And try to think of some of the responses that they might give and have some idea of how you would respond to it.

 

You will need to be as calm as you can when speaking with the doctor and be firm and clearly state what you need and (possibly depending on the doctor and their response) why you need it.  If they say to keep doing what you are doing now or doing it differently to how you want to do it, say to them that what you are doing now is making you feel "insert symptoms etc" and that you have done your own research and would like to try doing it "this way".

 

And remember, it is you who is being affected by what you take, not the doctor.

[holli]

22 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

You will need to be as calm as you can when speaking with the doctor and be firm and clearly state what you need and (possibly depending on the doctor and their response) why you need it.  If they say to keep doing what you are doing now or doing it differently to how you want to do it, say to them that what you are doing now is making you feel "insert symptoms etc" and that you have done your own research and would like to try doing it "this way".

 

And remember, it is you who is being affected by what you take, not the doctor.

i think this is what i struggle with the most and honestly what got me to this position. i need to be more assertive with getting across how i feel and how i want things to go. the whole time i’ve spoke to my doctor about these meds, i’ve felt almost downplayed and patronised about my symptoms. i’d always come off the phone call with my doctor feeling like i hadn’t really been listened to. so though it’ll be hard with how awful the anxiety i get is and how sick and generally unwell i’ll feel when talking to the doctor, i will try my best to really get my points across. i’m not putting up with being shrugged off.

 

thank you chessie for the advice and link!! also congratulations on finishing your taper off pristiq!!!  

 

here’s todays notes:

 

28th november:

2:30am - finally fell asleep after not being able to relax 

7am - woke up slightly anxious, kept falling in and out of sleep from here

11am - woke up, anxious 

11:30am - took 10.7mg liquid zoloft

12pm - heaving (not much came up), really nauseous, head heavy/drugged, anxiety increasing, slight tremors 

12:30pm - snack, same as above

1:30pm - thought i was going to throw up but didn’t, head still heavy/drugged, getting hot

2:30pm - anxiety still a bit bad, feel tired from it, but cooled down a bit, still nauseous 

4pm - snack, nausea calmed a bit, just feel overall tired, head electrical 

5pm - anxiety increasing, getting hot, head heavy/drugged feeling

6:30pm - dinner, calmed a bit but head still heavy/drugged 

8pm - snack, head has eased a bit, just feel tired and rough

10pm - took birth control, nausea increasing, anxiety/restlessness increasing, getting hot

11:30pm - cooled down, symptoms eased a little

[holli]

oh i forgot to add actually, when talking to my doctor, should i mention how i’m tapering? i have a feeling that if i mention to them that i’m dissolving the medication in water and taking 10.7mg, they’ll probably be like “well no wonder you feel ill, you’re not taking it properly”. i don’t know whether to tell the whole truth or just say i’ve gotten down to 12.5mg tablets and i’d like to switch to liquid fluoxetine for a much slower and easier taper?

 

i feel like i really have to plan what i say because of how they’ve refused to do it my way in the past, even though like you say, it’s me that gets the effects not them. sigh, if only doctors understood this.

[holli]

here’s todays notes, i’m still doing these as much as i can just so i can see differences once i potentially switch. i’m also noticing that i’m gagging more and really having to put all my energy into not actually throwing up. i find the gagging happens a lot more with movement too, so i wonder if it’s mixed with the vertigo sensations and it’s causing motion sickness. not fun all the same.

 

29th november:

2:30am - finally sleep after not being able to relax

11am - woke up, anxious, vertigo

11:30am - took 10.7mg liquid zoloft

12:15pm - snack, really nauseous, gagged, head heavy/drugged, slight tremors, anxiety

1:30pm - lunch, gagged again, struggling not to throw up, still same symptoms as above

3pm - still feel really sick, head heavy/electrical/drugged feeling, body tense, internal vibrations 

4:30pm - still same as above but a little less intense, still feel quite nauseous 

6:30pm - dinner, nausea making it hard because i keep feeling like i’m gonna gag, body tense/uncomfortable 

8pm - still same symptoms as most of the day

10pm - took birth control, nausea eased a little, anxiety increasing a little

11pm - symptoms eased mostly 

[getofflex]

On 11/28/2021 at 5:43 PM, holli said:

i don’t know whether to tell the whole truth or just say i’ve gotten down to 12.5mg tablets and i’d like to switch to liquid fluoxetine for a much slower and easier taper?

If it were me, I would just do the latter.  If they ask how you are doing it, you can explain, and let them know you were so advised in a forum that has helped thousands of people get off psych meds, which most doctors are clueless on how to do.  

 

Hopefully the link that chessiecat gave you on how to talk to your doctor will help.  

 

It sounds like, from your notes, that perhaps the tremors are not quite as bad as they were.  How are the small reductions affecting you? 

 

[holli]

29 minutes ago, getofflex said:

If it were me, I would just do the latter.  If they ask how you are doing it, you can explain, and let them know you were so advised in a forum that has helped thousands of people get off psych meds, which most doctors are clueless on how to do.

yeah, i think i’ll do it this way. it would be nice if i could lead them to this site but something tells me they’ll probably just brush it off. 

 

29 minutes ago, getofflex said:

It sounds like, from your notes, that perhaps the tremors are not quite as bad as they were.  How are the small reductions affecting you?

tremors are definitely not as bad as they were! i also find my stomach doesn’t churn as much this past week and i don’t get super bad anxiety and go hot in the earlier part of the day. i haven’t thrown up in a couple days (which isn’t out of the ordinary) but i now just find i gag more, especially if i move too much? it’s odd and annoying because i have to really focus while eating to not gag and throw up lately.

 

i feel like i’ve finally calmed down from the last drop of 0.1mg these past two days. when i dropped, i think i experienced akathisia? it was the worst sensation i’d felt so far and it really ruined my sleep for a while. with the drop i also experienced more sensitivity where everything would make me anxious and my brain would buzz, that’s recently eased too. i’m glad all these things have eased a little but it’s quite scary that a tiny 0.1mg drop made all that increase in severity. with that drop i also started throwing up more in the morning where all i’d had is water and it’s not a pleasant experience to not be able to bring anything up when your body wants to. 

 

so i think that’s why prozac might be more beneficial? dropping 0.1mg every time and getting these horrible reduction symptoms doesn’t seem great, i’ve only just recovered from the last reduction. i seem to be extremely sensitive to zoloft reduction and updosing isn’t an option because of the adverse reaction. tricky!

 

also nice to see you back on the forum, i hope you had a nice break!  

[getofflex]

17 minutes ago, holli said:

tremors are definitely not as bad as they were! i also find my stomach doesn’t churn as much this past week and i don’t get super bad anxiety and go hot in the earlier part of the day. i haven’t thrown up in a couple days (which isn’t out of the ordinary) but i now just find i gag more, especially if i move too much? it’s odd and annoying because i have to really focus while eating to not gag and throw up lately.

From this, it sounds like overall, your adverse reaction is decreasing!  Yay!  

 

19 minutes ago, holli said:

i feel like i’ve finally calmed down from the last drop of 0.1mg these past two days

Your last drop was on the 18th of November?  So it took about a week and 3 days for things to calm down after that drop?  Akathisia is not good - we want to avoid that.  

 

Alto did suggest that you could do a crossover to prozac.  We would want to do that slowly and carefully.  Here is a link about doing a crossover.  

 

Crossover to fluoxetine/Prozac

 

Read this, and let me know what you think. 

 

 

[getofflex]

Yes, I had a nice break!  I got to see my older son for the first time in 2 years (!) because of the lockdowns and other stuff.  Then, my younger son was with us for a week at Thanksgiving.   

[holli]

44 minutes ago, getofflex said:

Your last drop was on the 18th of November?  So it took about a week and 3 days for things to calm down after that drop?  Akathisia is not good - we want to avoid that.  

yeah that was the last drop and it was awful how much i felt it considering how small the drop was. it’s great that it’s lessened the adverse, but going through those symptoms on top of everything else was terrible and it’s honestly frightening if that’s how the rest of the taper could be. 

 

47 minutes ago, getofflex said:

Alto did suggest that you could do a crossover to prozac.  We would want to do that slowly and carefully.  Here is a link about doing a crossover.  

 

Crossover to fluoxetine/Prozac

 

Read this, and let me know what you think.

thank you, i was actually looking at this link earlier! i’m still torn to be honest. i want to bridge to prozac and trust that it’ll work but i’m also just really scared about how it could go. the fact i could potentially still feel the zoloft withdrawal while bridging is terrifying because of how the taper has been going, and then im also worried about adverse reactions from prozac because of how i’ve reacted to both zoloft and citalopram. 

 

it’s a really tricky situation. i just really want to be able to function and get my appetite back, and i want to trust that prozac could do that for me, but im also really scared about coming off zoloft and going to something new. but then tapering zoloft 0.1mg at a time and experiencing akathisia is also terrifying. so im very conflicted right now. maybe i just need to be brave and try the bridge in the hopes that it’ll improve my situation?

 

50 minutes ago, getofflex said:

Yes, I had a nice break!  I got to see my older son for the first time in 2 years (!) because of the lockdowns and other stuff.  Then, my younger son was with us for a week at Thanksgiving.   

aww!! that’s so nice!! i’m really happy for you that sounds lovely to spend time with your sons, especially your older one after such a long time. i’m sure that was a wonderful time  

[holli]

here’s todays notes:

30th november:

2am - keep going hot and cold, cant get comfortable, tossing and turning

3:30am - finally slept

11am - woke up, anxious

11:30am - took 10.7mg liquid zoloft

12:15pm - snack, gagged, feel nauseous

1:30pm - lunch, keep feeling like i’m gonna throw up, head feels electrical/drugged, internal vibrations, anxiety increasing

3pm - nausea eased a little, body feels uncomfortable/tense and achey, overall feel rough/flu like 

4:30pm - snack, ataxia sensations, body feels uncomfortable, thought i was gonna gag again, trying to distract with crochet

6:30pm - dinner, still feel a bit uncomfortable, head feels "off", just feel tired

8pm - snack, head sensations, hot, tired and slight inner vibrations, head pressure

10pm - took birth control, inner vibrations gone, head still “off” and still hot

11:30pm - symptoms mostly eased