West: dealing with effects of coming off Prozac, having to start Zoloft

[West]

Hello. I've been experiencing difficulties related to antidepressants that I haven't been able to find any explanation for until I encountered this website. I wanted to share my story here and hopefully get advice and reassurance that I will be OK.

 

I started taking 10mg of Prozac in 2018 to deal with the psychological effects of my chronic illness, IBS. I had anxiety with some depression. Taking Prozac gave me no side effects at any point and this medication made life much more manageable for me. In fall of 2019, I went through a severe episode of anxiety and upped my dosage to 20mg to help cope—again, this was nothing but beneficial.

 

In July 2021, I was at a point in my life where things were so good and I was so mentally stable that I wanted to get off Prozac. I didn't have a strong relationship with the PCP who prescribed it to me, and I didn't understand how severe the effects could be, so I decided to taper off myself based on no kind of schedule or logic. I took 1 capsule every 2 days for a couple weeks, then 1 every 3, and so on, until I finally finished around August. I had some dizziness and episodes of intense diarrhea, but they passed and I assumed I was in a stable place. Please don't tell me how unsafe this is—I now fully understand! I just wasn't educated and made a big mistake at the time.

 

In October 2021, I started to experience mental illness symptoms I had never gone through before:

• Tingling in feet and hands
• Frequent need to urinate
• Crying randomly
• Getting flashes of anger at my roommate

 

So I talked to my psychologist and my PCP and started back on Prozac. The PCP said that she typically starts patients on 10mg, but that it would be fine for me to start again on 20, so I did that. At the same time, I took a week's worth of antibiotics (nitrofurantoin) because I went to urgent care for a suspected UTI due to the urination symptom above. Pretty much immediately, I had horrible side effects:

• Nausea
• Lack of appetite to the point that food feels repulsive
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Uncontrollable shaking

 

After 2 weeks of trying to ride those out, I stopped Prozac completely. At that point, the beginning of November, I was terrified that something had gone physically wrong with me, so I visited my GI doctor and a different PCP to get an exam/blood tests/generally confirm that I hadn't developed some sort of horrible disease. Everything came back clean, and I met with a psychiatrist for the first time. 

 

The psychiatrist suggested that going back on Prozac like that had messed up my gut, therefore triggering terrible anxiety symptoms. Initially, she wanted me to try to get through the symptoms (with the help of propanolol to cut the episodes of acute anxiety) until my body finally balanced out. After a month of trying this, I was still struggling greatly just to eat and exist day-to-day, so she put me on 12.5mg Zoloft. She didn't want to restart me on Prozac at any dose because of how intense my side effects were.

 

Zoloft immediately cut the constant anxiety and physical shaking, but it also immediately gave me terrible diarrhea. I've been on it for 9 days now and the diarrhea is finally subsiding, but I still have no appetite and am usually nauseous. Currently, I'm hoping that staying on this low dosage and waiting for my physical and mental state to level out will get me back to normal.

 

The one-month period of waiting while being unmedicated in November just wasn't working—I was unable to eat enough or perform my job duties or even just sit and bear the anxiety feelings. But I'm also afraid that getting on another antidepressant could be a mistake, or that things won't level out and I'll be this barely-functioning wreck forever. Is there hope for me to stabilize on Zoloft? What would you suggest doing? Thank you for listening, and for any help you can give.

Edited December 8, 2021 by West
Forgot to include information about antibiotics

[Onmyway]

Dear @West, welcome to SA. I am sorry you are suffering so much with what seem to be withdrawal issues from prozac. 

What has happened to you is that the withdrawal effects of prozac have been mistaken for some sort of mental illness. Your doctor's attempt to reinstate prozac at a high dose has caused further destabilization. 

We find that due to prozac's long half life the medicine stays in your body for over a month so the withdrawal effects are more delayed. What we would have advised in October would have been to try a very low dose reinstatement of prozac about 1 mg - high dose reinstatements destabilize the nervous system even further as it has adapted somewhat after stopping the medication which is what happened to you.  

 

It seems like the zoloft reinstatement is working and if so, I'd suggest sticking with it. It is a higher dose than we would advise but we also don't want to mess with something that may be working. I would suggest not to increase any further from this dose as you may have the same issue as you did with prozac. These drugs are very potent at the low doses - this might help explain Why taper? SERT transporter occupancy studies show importance of gradual change in plasma concentration - Tapering - Surviving Antidepressants. Additionally our CNS is very sensitized and as such small changes or small doses of drugs have big impact. Usually keeping things stable helps the CNS get back to homeostasis rather than making multiple changes. Please keep us updated on how things go. 

 

Here is our thread on reinstating which has our collective knowledge. It is best if you read it and make your own decisions rather than just follow our advice because you can match the info there to your context better than we can. About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms - Symptoms and self-care - Surviving Antidepressants

 

Here are some resources that try to help understand what might be happening in your brain. 

What is happening in your brain? - Symptoms and self-care - Surviving Antidepressants

How psychiatric drugs remodel your brain - Symptoms and self-care - Surviving Antidepressants

 

Hope that this helps. 

OMW

 

[West]

Thank you so much for the resources, @Onmyway! I’ll be sure to read them over—I’ve been reading a ton of this forum already, and it’s crazy how much better it has made me feel already. Two months of worrying I’m falling apart physically and mentally for no reason are being lifted off my shoulders by seeing others’ experiences! I definitely plan not to go any higher on the Zoloft and wait out the next month or so to see if I can get myself to a place of baseline functioning.

[ChessieCat]

Hi West and welcome from me too.

 

I can remember the relief that I felt after finding SA.  The title of my topic says it all:  "So I'm not the only one".  It can also be a bit ovewhelming because there is so much to learn.  I was like a dry sponge soaking up all the information.

 

2 hours ago, West said:

I definitely plan not to go any higher on the Zoloft and wait out the next month or so to see if I can get myself to a place of baseline functioning.

 

It is better to hold for longer than to risk reducing too soon.  It's also better to listen to your body/symptoms and not the calender.  Please read the following:

 

Stability

 

WDnormal

 

Moderator brassmonkey has written more about WDnormal in his Success Story:

 

tao-of-the-brassmonkey

 

There are many existing topics on SA.  You can use the site search function, but I prefer to use an internet search engine and add site:survivingantidepressants.org to the search term.  If you cannot find what you are look for, then try to think of a different search term.

 

SA strongly encourages members to learn and use non drug techniques:

 

Non-drug techniques to cope

 

You might also find these helpful.  The first one goes straight to a list of withdrawal symptoms.  The second link (Post #1) has links to computer and printable versions (for a full month) of the same list which you can use to rate your symptoms.

[West]

Hi ChessieCat, thanks for the welcome and the resources! That’s so true about listening to your body vs the calendar—throughout this experience it’s been so hard to remind myself that I will feel better when my body is ready, not when I feel like I have to for work/social/typical recovery timeline reasons. I will throw out the month idea and just maintain on zoloft until I feel strong and normal.

[West]

Is it a done thing to post daily breakdowns of how you’re progressing (anxiety symptoms, food and medication intake, etc)? I’m currently keeping a detailed log in my phone’s notes app, but I wonder if it might be more effective to log things here instead since I’ll still have it as a personal resource but will get the added benefit of other eyes to recognize patterns.

[getofflex]

It always helps to have more than one set of eyes looking at things.  

[ChessieCat]

9 hours ago, West said:

throughout this experience it’s been so hard to remind myself that I will feel better when my body is ready, not when I feel like I have to for work/social/typical recovery timeline reasons.

 

I tell members that it has nothing to do with how strong or disciplined we are as people.  And I would often remind myself that it was my brain that needed the drug.

 

I had decided on my "jump off" date but at the very end of my taper I radically changed my diet to very low carb after being diagnosed with diabetes (which wasn't a surprise).  I decided to stay on Pristiq for a few more weeks and also made an additional reduction so that if any new issues arose I would know that it was more likely related to the diet change and not from stopping Pristiq.

[West]

I'm going to start writing out daily logs here like I mentioned before. To start that off, I'm going to dump all my previous data from October to December—so please don't feel obligated to read this, because two months is quite a lot of text. It's very sketchy and impressionistic in the beginning because I didn't start writing things down systematically until mid-November.

 

As background I didn't mention before, I moved to a new apartment this September and pretty much immediately became highly emotionally distressed about everything about the living space and neighborhood. I'm autistic and dislike any kind of change, so I figured that fully accounted for it, but now my emotional outbursts during this time are interesting in the new light of withdrawal.

 

10/4

• Odd urination began—not frequent small amounts, but much larger amounts whenever I went
• Tingling in my feet also began

10/4–10/18

• Started randomly crying at things that weren't that sad. (For example, I read about a book teaching kids about pet loss and started sobbing at just the concept.) This was happening at work, which was obviously a big problem.

10/18

• Began Prozac 20 mg
• ~1PM: Food started tasting bad to me—I finished my lunch, but noticed that I had to make myself eat it

10/19

• Had an episode at work where I was ravenously hungry to the point where I was shaking until I could get some food in me

10/21

• Started panicking in earnest about my health. The combination of strange urinary symptoms, odd swings in hunger, and tingling feet had me worried I was somehow developing diabetes despite having none of the risk factors associated with it

10/22

• Diagnosed with a UTI at urgent care and prescribed a week's worth of antibiotics (nitrofurantoin)
• Evening: Felt feverish and exhausted. Barely able to get down a small dinner. Skipped a planned event with friends to lie down in a dimly lit room

10/25

• Diarrhea and stomach pains—attributed them to nitrofurantoin not playing well with my IBS

10/26

• I distinctly remember a moment on this day when something "snapped" inside my head and I entered a new mindset of constant panic
• For the rest of this week, I would have hours-long episodes of shaking and anxiety where I couldn't do my work, but could only lie in bed paralyzed with fear. None of my lifelong anxiety coping strategies could do a thing to stop it.

10/28

• Made an emergency appointment with my therapist and sobbed the whole session

10/29

• Spoke to an urgent care doctor about discontinuing Prozac because the anxiety was unbearable
• Took last dose of nitrofurantoin

10/30

• Threw up for the first time after eating a banana and toast (very gentle foods for my stomach)

10/31

• Discontinued Prozac 20 mg
• Spent all day in bed
• Could only eat crackers and Ensure meal shakes

11/1

• My mom flew out to stay with me for a week because of how concerned she was. Having her nearby consistently brings down my anxiety during this time
• Visited PCP and was told that nothing was physically wrong with me based on a fairly cursory exam
• Took this whole week off work—I couldn't have done my job if I tried

11/3

• Saw my GI doctor and got completely clean labs: CBC, CRP, metabolic panel
• Found out I hadn't lost any weight during this episode
• Got prescribed Zofran and was able to eat solid food without feeling like I was going to puke for the first time in a few days

11/5

• Got a clean stool test from GI
• Spoke with psychiatrist, prescribed hydroxyzine for physical anxiety symptoms

11/6

• Was able to eat regular food and go on a decently long walk with my mom
• Tried hydroxyzine—it made me feel calm, but also high and sleepy

11/8

• My first day back at work and without my mom visiting
• Extreme stomach pain and anxiety
• Could only consume Gatorade and meal shakes
• Clean basic blood tests again from PCP
• Hydroxyzine didn't help

11/9

• Extreme stomach pain, nausea, and anxiety
• Consumed solid food

11/10

• No stomach pain or nausea, but anxiety
• Consumed solid food

11/11

• Some stomach pain and nausea, extreme anxiety
• Consumed solid food

11/12

• Some stomach pain, nausea, and anxiety
• Consumed solid food

11/13

• Nausea, extreme anxiety
• Consumed solid food, but could only have a meal shake for breakfast. It becomes a consistent theme that breakfast is the hardest meal to get myself to eat

11/14

• Nausea, extreme anxiety
• Consumed solid food and breakfast meal shake

11/15

• Morning: Vomited after eating 1 bite of oatmeal
• Nausea, extreme anxiety
• Shaking too badly to work for the first half of the day
• Consumed liquids

11/16

• Extreme nausea, less anxiety
• First noticed a metallic taste in mouth
• Consumed solid food

11/17

• Started Librax, a GI med that's a combination benzo and anticonvulsant (prescribed by my GI doctor to mitigate what we thought was a particularly bad IBS flare). I was prescribed 10 days' worth and took 1 each day in the morning even though 3 was the max I was allowed
• Stomach pain all day
• Consumed solid food

11/18

• Morning: Dry heaved with no vomit on waking up
• Less anxiety
• 3x bowel movements

11/19

• Stomach pain and anxiety
• 3x bowel movements

11/20

• Back pain started
• 4x bowel movements
• Consumed combination solid and liquid foods

11/21

• Calmer
• 2x bowel movements
• Consumed solid foods

11/22

• Back pain, no nausea
• Metallic taste in mouth particularly annoying
• 2x bowel movements

11/23

• Back pain
• Metallic taste in mouth particularly annoying

11/24

• Traveled to be with family for Thanksgiving, which made me calmer
• Back pain
• Consumed solid food

11/25

• Back pain and pain shooting down my left leg, feeling somewhat like itching. From this point on, the left side of my body begins experiencing various strange pains
• 1x bowel movement
• Consumed solid food

11/26

• Strong back pain
• Waking up throughout the night
• 1x bowel movement

11/27

• First day off Librax; immediately noticed more anxiety in the morning
• Less back pain
• Waking up throughout the night
• 2x bowel movements

11/28

• First day home from Thanksgiving family trip
• Tried calmaid lavender supplement, but it gave me horrible soap-flavored burps and didn't help
• Waking up throughout the night
• Horrible anxiety, shaky with hunger but can't eat
• 2x bowel movements

11/29

• Waking up throughout the night
• Bad vomit-like taste in mouth
• Pain that felt like intermittent stabbing in my belly button
• 3x bowel movements

11/30

• Began Zoloft 12.5 mg
• Belly button and left side pain
• Diarrhea 4hrs after first dose of Zoloft

12/1

• Waking up throughout the night
• Pain in left lower abdomen, groin, leg, and hip
• 1 normal bowel movement, then 4hr–post Zoloft diarrhea
• Felt calmer and didn't physically shake

12/2

• Trouble falling asleep due to stomach pain, but slept through the night
• 1 normal bowel movement, then diarrhea immediately after breakfast (before Zoloft) and 4hrs after Zoloft
• Lancing pain in left shoulder
• Slightly less calm, but still didn't shake

12/3

• Bad anxiety, stomach pain, and shaking
• Diarrhea immediately on waking, then 4hrs and 4.5hrs after Zoloft
• Took propanolol, which helped with shakiness
• Bad acid reflux in the evening

12/4

• Diarrhea immediately on waking, then 4hrs after Zoloft
• Pain all across left side that feels like itching
• Consumed liquids only, 1600 calories

12/5

• Left side of body tense, pelvis and groin pain, tingling in left chest area
• Occasional random specks in vision
• 1 normal bowel movement, then diarrhea 3.5hrs after Zoloft
• Consumed solids and liquids, 1340 calories

12/6

• 1 normal bowel movement, then diarrhea 4hrs after Zoloft
• No tingling on left side, but specks in vision
• Consumed solids and liquids, 1470 calories

12/7

• 2 normal bowel movements—no Zoloft diarrhea!
• Sleepy and lazy-feeling right after taking Zoloft
• Weighed myself and found I'd lost 4 lbs since starting Zoloft
• Left shoulder pain and back pain
• Consumed solids, 1600 calories

12/8

• 3 small normal bowel movements
• Feeling tired and forgetful
• No pelvis or abdomen pain, but left side back pain
• Calmer than I'd ever been in the evening after finding this site
• Consumed solids, 1530 calories

12/9

• 1 normal bowel movement, diarrhea 3hrs after taking Zoloft
• Shaking is back, but my office was also cold so that could account for it
• Left side back pain worse than ever
• Consumed solids, 1800 calories

 

From now on, I'll post more formal lists daily rather than dumping everything in one place like this.

[West]

That makes total sense, ChessieCat—I'm glad you took care of yourself and were gentle, and I'll strive to follow your example.

[West]

Has going through this made anyone else extremely paranoid about their health? The combination of odd physical sensations and heightened feelings of anxiety makes it really difficult for me to resist believing I'm dying of some kind of illness. I especially fear cancer—my mom's best friend died of breast cancer this year, and the idea of putting my family through something like that haunts me constantly. I just went to the GYN for a breast exam because the crazy tingling sensations in my chest terrify me, and even though they said things looked OK, I'm getting an ultrasound today "for peace of mind." I'm also getting a pelvic ultrasound next week because all the pain in my pelvis/groin area, plus the extended lack of appetite, has me paranoid about ovarian cancer. Hopefully once those 2 things are over and come back clean I can stop the constant medical freakouts.

[FeralCatman]

I have become very paranoid about my health due to all of this so you are not alone. Given the numerous and strange things that happen when coming down off of this stuff it would be impossible IMHO to not become paranoid about your health. Some of this stuff is pretty scary. It's why I have everything to check vitals including a single lead EKG so I can check things myself when needed for reassurance. I have had multiple tests for various things over the last 3+ years for these symptoms and all tests came back fine. I am gaining confidence now that all of these strange sensations and symptoms are and have been just WD related but as things crop up I certainly won't hesitate to message my PCP and ask for a test just to be sure. My PCP is really good in that way. Always better safe than sorry and only you know your body. Modern Medicine likes to use statistical averages which considering there are over 7 billion people on the planet makes no practical sense in the real world. I have said to my doctors many times "I am not a statistical average so please don't treat me like one." Since so many odd things have happened with me over many years my PCP now calls me "The Outlier" and I have thought of making him a name tag that says "MD in training".

[West]

10 minutes ago, FeralCatman said:

Since so many odd things have happened with me over many years my PCP now calls me "The Outlier" and I have thought of making him a name tag that says "MD in training".

 

I relate to everything you said, but this most of all! I'm constantly told by doctors that there's no way [x] medication or procedure will affect me badly, even if I'm sensitive . . . and then it definitely does. I've also confused a lot of doctors in my time.

 

I definitely need to work on getting a PCP with whom I have a strong relationship. When all this happened, I hadn't seen a PCP for almost 2 years due to COVID and moving, so currently I'm just bouncing around between wherever I can get care at the time.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience—I'm sorry you go through this too, but it's comforting to know that I'm not alone.

[West]

I have a new, more thorough format I’ll be making my updates in, which you’ll see below. I’ll likely post around this time each evening even though the day isn’t over since I want to relax and not check my phone at night. (Nights are also typically very calm “window” times for me.)

 

12/10

Day 11 on Zoloft

Night: Disturbing dream

7:30am: Wake up with anxiety

7:30am: Soft bowel movement

7:40am: Took propanalol

8:30am: Some appetite, but a bit of difficulty eating a solid breakfast

10am: Tingling on left side of chest really bothering me. Neck hurts below left side of jaw, too

11:30am: Soft bowel movement

Morning: Feeling nervous and shaky overall, but able to concentrate on work

Midday: Acid reflux

12:20pm: Breast ultrasound

1pm: 4/10 anxiety; pushed through and kept working

3pm: 6/10 back pain, but different—whole back is tight rather than 1 patch on left side. Forced self to eat lunch even though no appetite. Struggling to finish and burping a lot. Heart beating quickly.

4pm: Laid down and started feeling calm.

6pm: Small soft bowel movement

6:30pm: Not hungry for dinner but ate anyway. Tired.

Overall: 7 hrs sleep, 1530 calories, back pain 5/10, stomach pain 4/10, chest sensations 4/10, anxiety 4/10, nausea 3/10, lack of appetite 8/10

This was one of my best days in months in terms of focusing on work and getting things done there.

 

What has me most worried right now is how much and what I’m eating. I’m getting about 1,400 to 1,500 calories per day, which is 500 below my usual in normal times. I’m also mostly eating very bland foods like crackers and bananas. This is sustainable for the short term, but I’m concerned—will there be a time when the lack of appetite is such a problem that I have to start getting off Zoloft whether I’m physically stable or not? I have experience with significant weight loss in the past due to my IBS, and it was something I would not like to repeat if at all possible. How do people who have these symptoms ensure they get enough calories and nutrients when food is unappealing to repulsive? I can put myself on a diet of all meal shakes, but that’s psychologically and logistically difficult. Forcing myself to eat food doesn’t work because I will literally stop being able to swallow it.

 

Edited December 11, 2021 by ChessieCat
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[FeralCatman]

You could try a combination of both Ensure meal shakes or equivalent and food as tolerated. If you can't eat much at once then eat small bits as frequently as you can tolerate. That may also help with the acid reflux. It is what I do when sick and need nutrition. You can also look at what you are eating and adjust your diet to select nutrient dense foods and take a good multivitamin. This will end up being a largely whole food diet. I have largely stopped eating anything in a box except for Ramen when I just can't eat anything else and my body does much better with eating a whole food diet. Here is a web link that talks about nutrient dense foods. Every diet needs to be customized to the individual but this is a direction you could try going.

 

https://draxe.com/nutrition/nutrient-dense-foods/

 

You can also select calorie dense foods as discussed here

 

https://thegeriatricdietitian.com/calorie-dense-foods/

 

Best case you can pick foods that are on both lists so you get the biggest bang for your buck. Supplementation is good short term when needed but getting what you need from what you eat is of course best. I don't have IBS so you would have to factor that in as well based your experience and how you feel but I would guess that eating a good whole food diet should help that as well. My sister in law has Chrones Disease and she does the same basic thing with her diet. Whole and simple. If I remember right, most of the foods on these lists are also anti inflammatory or low inflammatory choices.

 

I also use Chammomile Tea for mild to moderate anxiety though it may make you sleepy. It is the only herb I use and it does seem to help and is readily available at any supermarket.

[West]

Thanks for the resources! I haven’t been eating fruits/vegetables a lot because that can often trigger my IBS when I’m in a bad flare, but I guess if eating literally anything is going to cause me GI problems, I might as well go ahead and eat. It’s pretty distressing to have to force food down, but hopefully it gets better soon.

[West]

Also, another question (let me know if I’m asking too much; my brain is spinning with a ton of information/theories since discovering this site): Would it be a total disaster if I tried to replace zoloft with amytriptyline at this point? Amytriptyline is a second-line treatment for IBS, and my GI doctor has said that she would prescribe me 10mg if I wanted. The reason I’m thinking of this is that if I could give my brain the antidepressant it seems to need at this point, while slowing down my gut and potentially bringing my appetite back, my main problems would be solved and I might have a better chance at getting stable. But I know that making another switch could also just throw everything out of whack even worse. Maybe I will keep this idea in my back pocket in case the nutrition situation becomes untenable.

[West]

12/11

Day 12 on Zoloft

7:30am: Wake up with anxiety

9:30am: Soft bowel movement

11am: Sleepy

Tingling in feet gone

Weird urination gone

Back pain in defined left area

2:30pm: Everything I’ve eaten today tastes terrible; I’m forcing it down my throat

4pm: Calm, a little bit of appetite

6pm: Food started tasting normal

8pm: Back pain really annoying

Overall: 7.5 hrs sleep, 1700 calories, back pain 6/10, stomach pain 2/10, chest sensations 0/10, anxiety 5/10, nausea 1/10, lack of appetite 6/10

 

Today was good. The morning anxiety is tough, though—no matter when I go to sleep, I shoot awake at 7:30am feeling like I’m having a panic attack. Going back to sleep isn’t an option, and nothing seems to stop the waves of fear until I get up and start my day. 

 

Edited December 12, 2021 by ChessieCat
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[methuselah]

On 12/10/2021 at 10:04 AM, West said:

 

I relate to everything you said, but this most of all! I'm constantly told by doctors that there's no way [x] medication or procedure will affect me badly, even if I'm sensitive . . . and then it definitely does. I've also confused a lot of doctors in my time.

 

I definitely need to work on getting a PCP with whom I have a strong relationship. When all this happened, I hadn't seen a PCP for almost 2 years due to COVID and moving, so currently I'm just bouncing around between wherever I can get care at the time.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience—I'm sorry you go through this too, but it's comforting to know that I'm not alone.

I’ve noticed that younger doctors are more in tune with ssri/benzo withdrawal discontinuation.   Perhaps try a younger doc.  It’s always a roll of the dice of course, some just refer to “the literature” on the subject and choose that hill to defend and die on if necessary.

[West]

2 hours ago, methuselah said:

I’ve noticed that younger doctors are more in tune with ssri/benzo withdrawal discontinuation.   Perhaps try a younger doc.  It’s always a roll of the dice of course, some just refer to “the literature” on the subject and choose that hill to defend and die on if necessary.

Hmm, good to know! I will look for someone younger whenever I begin my search for a permanent PCP.

 

My psychiatrist is younger, but I don’t know how much I trust her judgment. When I started vomiting after a week of Zoloft, she wanted to switch me to Paxil, but I convinced her that I wanted to stick it out for another week (which seems to have been correct). I think it would be absolutely crazy to put me on a different drug when I was already reeling from 2 other drugs! I’m going to talk to her about this whole withdrawal thing for the first time this week, so I’ll see how that goes.

[methuselah]

She sounds like a moron….maybe not too young     As u know, Best thing you can find is someone who is empathetic, believes you and your experience, and will work with you.  No action is very difficult to do, but is often the best action. 
 

either way, I’ll be interested to hear what she has to say about tapering and withdrawal.  
 

[West]

12/12

Day 13 on Zoloft

7:30am: Wake up, not really anxiety but very awake

9am: Normal bowel movement

10am: Hour nap

11:30am: Took Zoloft

1:30pm: Went for a walk; felt calm for first half but anxious as it went on. Hot flashes

3:30pm: Soft bowel movement

4pm: Anxious while cleaning kitchen

6pm: Calmer

Overall: 7.5 hrs sleep, 1735 calories, back pain 3/10, stomach pain 1/10, chest sensations 3/10, anxiety 4/10, nausea 0/10, lack of appetite 4/10

 

Still improving, looks like. I have a very anxiety-inducing day at work tomorrow, so we’ll see how that goes.

 

I’m also processing some anger at how the medical system handled my care with SSRIs. Apparently the recommended length of treatment for someone with no prior history of depressive episodes is 6 months. I was on Prozac for 3 years and not a single professional I interacted with batted an eye. 

[West]

12/13

Day 14 on Zoloft

Woke up some time before 7am alarm

8am: Took Zoloft

8am: Soft bowel movement

9am: Sleepy

10am: Back pain 4/10

10:30am: Diarrhea preceded by stabbing pelvic pain (right before tough work meeting)

12:30pm: I can feel hungry again! But food doesn’t always taste like anything, and often I’ll lose motivation to finish chewing a bite in the middle of the process.

1:30pm: Diarrhea (right before pelvic ultrasound appointment)

3:30pm: Fast heartbeat, but not too distracting. Pain radiating down left leg again

Overall: 7 hrs sleep, 1665 calories, back pain 6/10, stomach pain 2/10, chest sensations 2/10, anxiety 4/10, nausea 0/10, lack of appetite 1/10

 

I ate basically what I normally would on a day I go into the office! Which tells me my usual calorie intake is actually suboptimal, huh. My bowels really, really don’t like Zoloft, though. And the back pain is pretty intense. That’s the one thing I haven’t seen a specialist to check on because it’s pretty obvious that my back hurts because it’s tense, but if it goes on for another month, I’ll need to do something.

[West]

On 12/11/2021 at 11:45 AM, West said:

Also, another question (let me know if I’m asking too much; my brain is spinning with a ton of information/theories since discovering this site): Would it be a total disaster if I tried to replace zoloft with amytriptyline at this point? Amytriptyline is a second-line treatment for IBS, and my GI doctor has said that she would prescribe me 10mg if I wanted. The reason I’m thinking of this is that if I could give my brain the antidepressant it seems to need at this point, while slowing down my gut and potentially bringing my appetite back, my main problems would be solved and I might have a better chance at getting stable. But I know that making another switch could also just throw everything out of whack even worse. Maybe I will keep this idea in my back pocket in case the nutrition situation becomes untenable.

If anyone has any insight on this, I’d really appreciate it. Zoloft is very rough on my gut, and I worry that if the diarrhea doesn’t subside (as seems to be the case for a subset of people who try this medication), then 1. my psych will insist on switching me to something else 2. Zoloft’s side effects will have repercussions on my IBS for many months.

[West]

I’ve updated my signature as I realized I wasn’t remembering my SSRI history exactly right. (The years when I began taking antidepressants were traumatic for other reasons, so my memory of them can be foggy.) I originally started on Celexa, but asked to be switched when it caused emotional numbness.

 

12/14

Day 15 on Zoloft

8am: No anxiety immediately upon waking, but it builds until the time when I have to get out of bed

8:30am: Soft bowel movement

9am: Took Zoloft

10am: Left arm tightness and sensitivity in chest

11:30am: Sleepy

1pm: Heart beating faster and anxiety, but very manageable

1:30am: Stomach pain, heat on back of neck, feeling worse

2:30pm: Went for a walk, fear and stomach pain let up

7pm: Mild back pain, major pain in left arm

Overall: 8 hrs sleep, 1625 calories, back pain 5/10, stomach pain 4/10, chest sensations 5/10, anxiety 3/10, nausea 1/10, lack of appetite 3/10

 

The left-side pain is crazy. Why only on the left, and appearing in different places (arm, chest, back, leg) on that side? The part of me that tries to find medical explanations for all this is afraid I have a tumor pressing on my spine somehow, but my lack of knowledge about how I would even figure that out is stopping me from going down the symptom-googling rabbit hole for now.

[West]

I just saw my psych, and she's not on board with the withdrawal theory. Her reasoning is that 20 mg of Prozac is barely anything, so there's no way it could've affected me like that. (Notwithstanding her assertion that 12.5 mg of Zoloft wouldn't affect me because it's so little, followed by my experiencing side effects literally 4 hours after taking the first pill.) She feels like the solution has to do with my IBS, and she's eager to get me up to 25 mg of Zoloft to handle the mental issues, which she sees as distinct from the physical parts. She's also pushing a bunch of random supplements instead of waiting for my body to heal on its own. Each day is so different for me (on an upward trend!) that I really can't imagine starting a supplement to fix something that might work itself out on its own in a couple of days.

 

I'm totally against all this because I have, well, this entire thread of evidence showing that my issues are inconsistent with my typical IBS flares and closely followed changes in SSRI dosage. Luckily, I was able to convince her that I do not want to budge from 12.5 mg until I'm at stability. I'm not sure how we'll handle my eventual desire to get off the Zoloft when I'm strong again—I may have to go shopping for a new psychiatrist when I'm at that point, but it's not a change I have the mental resources to make right now.

[FeralCatman]

Barely anything to whom is my question? This person is not walking around in your body experiencing these things. They are simply quoting out of a misguided prescribing manual. There is no accounting for variations in individual physiology in psychiatry or in medicine in general. In my case I never would have thought that stopping an antihistamine like Allegra at the same time I came off of Seroquel could cause so many problems but it has and is in measurable ways. I am lucky to have a PCP, ENT doc, and an immunologist who are on board with me and are willing to think things through. They have been able to answer many of my questions and the answers turned out to be correct. Give the same questions to psychiatry and they get it completely wrong. Sounds like you need another psychiatrist who will listen and consider things outside of their training. You may want to try to consult with a holistic psychiatrist who does traditional and naturopathic methods. Seems like there are more and more of them popping up every day. Since you are in NY City there should be options there.

[methuselah]

Show her this.  Pretty extensive with significant amount of sources quoted…

 

https://www.karger.com/Article/Fulltext/506868

 

 

[SandCastle]

@West Mine was from Sertraline withdrawal, which is generic Zoloft, and I experienced the stomach, back, hip and pelvic pain frequently since I stopped CT. My experience on Sertraline was different, it was mostly intense bone, skin and joint pain, terrible muscle cramps, excessive hunger. The stomach side effects didn’t start until I stopped the drug. It’s possible that your stomach issues and back pain are from the Prozac withdrawal and not from starting the Zoloft, since some symptoms of withdrawal take weeks or months to appear. I do think a lot of us experience fear for our health, especially when you’re like me and don’t put two and two together at first. In the beginning I had no idea there was such thing as withdrawal. Plus it’s hard to pin every single symptom on withdrawal when your symptoms are constantly changing. I do think it gets easier over time and you become more accepting as symptoms diminish and you kind of ride the rollercoaster of ups and downs. It’s very promising that you’re already feeling better!

[West]

20 minutes ago, SandCastle said:

@West Mine was from Sertraline withdrawal, which is generic Zoloft, and I experienced the stomach, back, hip and pelvic pain frequently since I stopped CT. My experience on Sertraline was different, it was mostly intense bone, skin and joint pain, terrible muscle cramps, excessive hunger. The stomach side effects didn’t start until I stopped the drug. It’s possible that your stomach issues and back pain are from the Prozac withdrawal and not from starting the Zoloft, since some symptoms of withdrawal take weeks or months to appear. I do think a lot of us experience fear for our health, especially when you’re like me and don’t put two and two together at first. In the beginning I had no idea there was such thing as withdrawal. Plus it’s hard to pin every single symptom on withdrawal when your symptoms are constantly changing. I do think it gets easier over time and you become more accepting as symptoms diminish and you kind of ride the rollercoaster of ups and downs. It’s very promising that you’re already feeling better!

 

What a relief to hear that this kind of pain can indeed be part of withdrawal. That sounds really hard, though—I'm sorry you went through that. How are you feeling now?

 

I'm almost certain that the stomach issues are partly from Prozac withdrawal and partly from Zoloft. Although most of the symptoms were present before I started taking Zoloft, the diarrhea occurs on such a clockwork schedule that I can clearly tie it to my Zoloft doses.

 

But yes, I'm learning to become more accepting, and it's definitely helpful that some of my symptoms are becoming better already. I wonder if beyond everything else, it helps that I'm young—I'm 24, and I'm noticing that many members who tell their stories are a decade+ older than me.

[West]

Thank you for the recommendations, FeralCatman and methuselah. I'm not currently feeling well enough to work on getting a new psychiatrist or open a debate with my current one, which is fine for now since she is OK with the practical application of my plan if not my theories behind it. But I will keep your thoughts in mind for when I reach a stage where I need a more knowledgeable psych's support.

[West]

12/15

Day 16 on Zoloft

8am: No anxiety upon waking, but it builds until I get out of bed

8:30am: Normal bowel movement

9am: Nauseous, shaky, hot flash, anxious, back pain

10:30am: Physically better but mentally freaking out

12:30pm: Burping, stomach pain, acid reflux, faster heartbeat. I made myself anxious about the omicron variant and then had to deal with an issue at work that always stresses me out.

1pm: Soft bowel movement. Anxiety passing

3:30pm: Nope, anxious and tired

5pm: Feeling good after taking walk

6:30pm: Back to anxiety

6:45pm: Soft bowel movement

Overall: 7.5 hrs sleep, 1700 calories, back pain 4/10, stomach pain 4/10, chest sensations 1/10, anxiety 6/10, nausea 3/10, lack of appetite 4/10

 

Today was very hard anxiety-wise. I was happy for a small bit because I worked it out with my job and family so that I will be staying with my mom for a month starting Sunday. I think that being out of the city and with her will be very relaxing for me. But I feel certain that something is different on my left breast, and I’m terrified that I will get a call back with scan results saying it’s cancer. If anything that needs medical attention comes up, I will have to cut my visit short because my insurance doesn’t cover most things in my mom’s state. I know that I wouldn’t be so scared of all this if it weren’t for the excess anxiety caused by withdrawal, but that doesn’t help when I’m noticing (accurately or not) strange things that exist outside that anxiety.

[West]

12/16

Day 17 on Zoloft

7am: A little anxiety, heart beating fast

7:30am: Soft bowel movement

7:30am: Both legs hurt and feel wobbly

9:30am: Tingling in feet maybe coming back, acid reflux

12pm: Feels as if I’m swaying slightly when I’m standing still

3pm: Calm for the rest of the day

5pm: Hot flashes, stuffy nose—allergies?

Overall: 7 hrs sleep, 1750 calories, back pain 3/10, stomach pain 0/10, chest sensations 0/10, anxiety 5/10, nausea 1/10, lack of appetite 2/10

 

Today was one of my best days yet. My ultrasound came back normal, so I guess I finally have to stop freaking out about my chest. 

[SandCastle]

Hi @West I am still going through ups and downs, but I’m in my mid 30s, so hopefully your age will be on your side! I think something that causes setbacks for me is catching so many viruses from my daycare age kids, having to take certain medications, and seasonal allergies. These things all cause waves for me and it’s rare I go more than a month or two without dealing with one of these. Otherwise I think I could have been through this by now. I’m glad to see you had your best day yet!

[West]

8 hours ago, SandCastle said:

Hi @West I am still going through ups and downs, but I’m in my mid 30s, so hopefully your age will be on your side! I think something that causes setbacks for me is catching so many viruses from my daycare age kids, having to take certain medications, and seasonal allergies. These things all cause waves for me and it’s rare I go more than a month or two without dealing with one of these. Otherwise I think I could have been through this by now. I’m glad to see you had your best day yet!

Sorry to hear you’re still dealing with the ups and downs, but that makes sense. I hope the ups become better and better for you!

[West]

12/17

Day 18 on Zoloft

6am: Woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep

7am: Normal bowel movement

7am: Slept another hour, back pain

9am: Very calm while eating breakfast and handling stressful things at work. Took antihistamine for allergies

12pm: Soft bowel movement

4pm: Still calm, but head feels foggy

6pm: Calm, more alert

Overall: 7 hrs sleep, 1750 calories, back pain 3/10, stomach pain 0/10, chest sensations 0/10, anxiety 2/10, nausea 0/10, lack of appetite 0/10

 

Something clicked in my head today and I was able to think like my old self for the first time in 2 months. I worked a full day without getting off-task. I joked with my roommate and felt engaged in our conversation. I’m still having some flights of anxiety, but NYC is an anxious place to be nowadays with the virus news. It’s scary for me to imagine that this could just be an up moment and I’ll soon plunge back into the terror and pain, but I’m relieved to know that the me from before withdrawal still exists. If things continue OK, I might log my symptoms less often (probably focusing on the back pain, which I can’t seem to shake no matter what I do).