Mythlady: New Member

[mythlady]

Hello everyone -- I am a 63-year-old woman, retired for about a year, who has been on antidepressants for a number of years, having been prescribed different ones over time.  Until recently, I had been on Wellbutrin, Zoloft, and Trazodone.  The Trazodone was prescribed at a low dose, for insomnia, and I took it for about a year.  The Zoloft I had taken for several years; it had been prescribed because I had an extremely high-stress job and was suffering from a great deal of anxiety. To tell the truth, I believe that my depression often manifests itself as anxiety rather than "the blues," as my mother called it.

 

Since retiring last year, I thought I would try to get off some of the pills I've been on, by eating better, taking better care of myself, and so on, and I thought I could do without the Trazodone and Zoloft, now that anxiety on a daily basis was not a big part of my life any more.  I'd gotten off one or another antidepressant in the past, but wound up for the most part going back to them (or a different one than I'd gotten off of); I never had much trouble in tapering off.

 

Getting off the Trazodone, even at the low level I was taking, was miserable -- the physical symptoms were very unsettling, and I wound up going down at a much slower rate than I'd intended to at first.  I finally did get off it, and I'm dealing with the fact that sometimes I don't sleep well, but I'd rather do that than be taking something every night to get to sleep.

 

Then I started tapering off the Zoloft, again because in retirement, I have a lot less anxiety to deal with than I did when working.  I had less trouble tapering of the Zoloft, and did it in a matter of weeks.  I had some intestinal distress along the way as I stepped down each level, but that resolved itself as I got off.

 

Very shortly after finishing with the Zoloft, I went into the hospital for knee replacement surgery, which is about a month ago now.  I did very well with the surgery and have been recovering very well, and am looking forward to a trip to England in another couple of weeks.  One of the challenges was getting off the narcotics I was on while in the hospital (essentially mainlining it through an epidural) and after; I managed to do it over a couple of days but found myself very weepy and easily upset.  That resolved itself, finally, and all is well.

 

But.  I'm finding that I still feel very emotional and weepy and easily upset.  I finally started to wonder whether this has less to do with the aftermath of the surgery and more to do with getting off the Zoloft, so I started wondering about rebound depression and so on, and found this forum.  I really, sincerely, do not want to go back on the Zoloft, so I thought I'd ask you all about other ways I can deal with my feelings than going back onto that antidepressant.

 

A long introduction!  Hope it all makes sense.

Edited October 23, 2013 by Petu
Member name added to title.

[areyouthere]

Hi Mythlady!!! Welcome!!

 

Yes... your story is very well written and clear. We will need more detail however. In your signature &/ or in your next response can you tell us at what dose you were on for each of the medications when you began your taper? So that looks like June 2013.;

 

What dose of Trazadone, Zoloft and Wellbutrin were you on in June 2013?

 

Also... When you say that you have been on these meds for "several years" does that mean that your history of medications for anxiety & depression JUST started several years ago or have you been on similar or different meds before that, earlier in your life?

 

Glad that you are here!!!  Again welcome. 

 

Someone much more knowledgeable than me will be steeping up here, but I know that they will want the information I asked for.

 

Congrats on your retirement!!

 

RU

[mythlady]

Thanks -- I've added information to my signature on the dosages I was taking/am on at this point.  I'd say that I've been on antidepressants of one kind or another for somewhere between 15-20 years, but I don't have that specific information any more.  Over the years, I've also been on Paxil and Effexor, but not recently.  The particular medication has been switched around, as it has been effective/not been effective and so on.

 

Thanks for your response.

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Mythlady.

 

Yes, weepiness can be a withdrawal symptom. It is also possible the stress and medication associated with your recent operation made very mild withdrawal syndrome worse.

 

Since you're so recently off Zoloft, you might take a very small amount, perhaps 2.5mg to start, and see if your symptoms are reduced. If they are, stay on the Zoloft for a month and then very, very carefully taper by tiny amounts.

 

See http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1441-tips-for-tapering-off-zoloft-sertraline/

 

Wellbutrin can have adverse effects on sleep. Once you get stabilized, you probably will want to come off that as well, see http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/877-tips-for-tapering-off-wellbutrin-sr-xr-xl-buproprion/

[mythlady]

Thank you for the advice.  I'm not sure I want to go back on the sertraline, even at a tiny dose -- I think I may go ahead for a bit and see how it goes -- it's just good to know that it *might* be because of the medication and not that I'm returning to being depressed/anxious again, if that makes sense at all.

 

What kinds of non-medication things can help with depression -- not with the withdrawal, but say that someone was suffering from depression but didn't want to get started on the medication route at all.  I've heard fish oil mentioned, I think?  And what about meditation, which I've done and can do fairly well, but haven't on a regular basis?  Are there other things I might try?  Thanks.

[Altostrata]

Many people do well with fish oil and magnesium supplements, see

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1300-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/

 

See more suggestions in our Symptoms and Self-care forum.