Krayona - Off of Zoloft

[Krayona]

Hi. On Zoloft since June 2009. Tapered from 200mg to 100mg during 2013. Started getting worsening adverse effects from it from March to June 2014. Adverse reactions were numb lips, eye pain, high sensitivity to light and sound and severe mood swings. I had trouble at work with crying, etc. I reviewed my activities and notes and it was clear i was cycling through 4 or 5 hours of negative effects everyday after taking the pils (and checking my "Take medicine" task complete). I called my doctor and she said I could quit but I might want to taper off over a few days... .

 

I had some time off work so I thought I could taper. I experimented the first few days... I spent this time with my teenage sons and they could see how it was. We all decided if I was going to be sick either way that it might be less bad to just be physically sick from withdrawal instead of physically sick and also be an emotional wreck after taking the pills.

 

I found and read the pamphlet on the Icarus project site and also advice from various places on the Internet I don't recall... So I'm taking Omega 3 fish oil for brain health and Magnesium for aches and pains, Benadryl to sleep and Imodium because it's called for... It's been 7 days since I've taken any zoloft. I'm hanging in there.

 

I'm not sure what caused the change. Some possibilities: 1) I joined a gym and have gone from not much exercise to hour and a half every other day. 2) I went on a grapefruit diet where I at a grapefruit for lunch every day for a few weeks. 3) A lawn guy came and sprayed weed killer that made me feel sick for several days in a way a lot like I'm feeling now. Stiff, painful, electrocution, shaking-but-not-shaking toxic feeling like picking toadstools or being stung by a wasp. 4) I wanted to be off medicine and wasn't sure why my doctor never thought it was the right time...

 

I went back to work today. My mood was great, chipper, stable. I think I would have been very productive if not for being behind and being sick. I think I ran out of steam because I had to work late and then go to the grocery store. I felt very strange and sick. I was pretty sure I was shaking like a leaf, but luckily it wasn't visible, but I did bump into several displays with my cart...

 

So I guess I will hang in there. I'm a little worried that this won't get better. I hope so. I have a few pills left but that's it.....

[Petunia]

Welcome Krayona,

Thank you for joining and for sharing your story.  I'm sorry you have been feeling unwell, but its not surprising, antidepressant  medication needs to be tapered carefully.  The symptoms you wrote about are typical of withdrawal.  Many people experience withdrawal symptoms when these drugs are stopped too quickly.  Some people are able to stop taking antidepressants with no symptoms of withdrawal, but the fact that you are already having symptoms indicates that you are not one of these people.  I don't want to scare you, but withdrawal syndrome can last for a very long time.  I came of medications too fast before I found this site and have been experiencing symptoms for several years.

 

Withdrawal symptoms are due to an absence of a medication at a level to which your body has become accustomed. Please read more about withdrawal syndrome here:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1008-intro-to-antidepressant-withdrawal-syndrome/

 

We advocate gradual tapering to minimize withdrawal symptoms.  If you have come off medication too fast and are experiencing withdrawal, its sometimes possible to reinstate a small dose of the medication, stabilize and then start a slow, safe taper of not more than a 10% reduction every 4 weeks.  Read more about this here:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/3079-about-reinstating-and-stabilizing-to-stop-withdrawal-symptoms/

 

When did you take your last dose of Zoloft and what dose was it?  It would be helpful if you put your drug and tapering history in your signature, then members can see your situation when replying to posts.  Instructions for how to do that are here:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/893-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/

 

I'm sorry about all the reading homework I have given you, but hopefully we will be able to help you start feeling better soon.  You will find a lot of friendly support here.

 

Petu.

 

[bubble]

Welcome from me too.

 

To all the excellent advice that Petu gave you, I'd just like to add from my own experience that if withdrawal symptoms start, they get worse over time, especially emotional ones. No supplements can help and unfortunately most doctors don't have a clue about that. They will just say your original "illness" came back and you need more medication.

 

I had a very painful experience with Zoloft before I found this site. Physical symptoms disappeared within a week or two but then I started sinking into the deepest depression of my life. I was tryining to tough it out for 2 months and in the end I was in such a dreadful state that my psychiatrist put me on an even stronger ADs which I now have lots of difficulties coming off.

 

I'm saying this because none of us wants to take this medication and we are prepared to suffer for a certain amount of time in the hope we will in the end be free from them. But unfortunately this often leads only to more medication or suffering that takes years of not being able to function.

 

That's why I want to warmly recommend that you consider reinstating a certain amount of Zoloft. We will be able to suggest a dose that might work based on your initial dose and the time you were off the medication. The only safe way to come off these drugs that at the same time enables you to maintain your qualty of life is tapering them very, very slowly.

 

Some more reading for you about Zoloft: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1441-tips-for-tapering-off-zoloft-sertraline/

 

best,

bubble

[Krayona]

I will work on the signature thing. I don't know. I might make it through. I'm pretty angry at my doctor. This is bullsh*t. I'm going to try vitamins and self care and pray for healing. Thinking about being sick for months if not years is horrible news.

It is what it is, I guess.

[Rhiannon]

I also highly recommend reinstating on a small dose to stabilize, and then tapering off slowly once you're stable. Things can get much worse than they are right now. Please read the threads of weebles2, thisismyname, and Bubble, to get a sense of how reinstatement works. 

 

If you jumped off 100 mg cold turkey a reinstatement of something like 10-20 mg would probably be what we'd recommend. If you tapered and came off a lower dose, the reinstatement would be less. That's why we need to know your doses and dates.

 

Your "adverse effects" earlier this year may well have been a delayed withdrawal effect from dropping from 200 to 100 last year. For some reason with ADs it is not unusual for people to get past the initial withdrawal and then get hit again months out, three to nine months or so. Nobody knows why, but we see it often.

 

We don't generally see people doing very well with the "vitamins and prayer" approach. It's still early enough (sounds like, I'm not sure of your doses and dates) for reinstatement to work well for you. I wouldn't throw that opportunity out the window without some serious research.

[Krayona]

Oh. It's only been eight days. I misunderstood. I thought I have to go back to 100 and taper to 90. If a very small dose would help me I would be willing to do _that_!

 

The constant parasthesia (pins and needles/brain zaps) has scared the heck out of me and made me feel like this stuff is about as safe as agent orange, so I'm very leery of it.

 

Today is the 4th of July. I go to see my Doctor on Monday and I will request my medicine history.

 

Thanks

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Krayona.

 

Do you have any pills left? Please read the links Petu gave you.

[Krayona]

Hi, Today was day 11 without Zoloft. I am happy that the diarrhea went away the other day. Ive been going to the gym twice a day for really short, light workouts and to hit the massage machines. I am combatting the pain points in my neck and shoulders with more reps on the shoulder press and the hydro therapy bed.

 

For pain and buzziness the Omega 3 helps, the 5 HTP helps, Gatorade helps. The brain stuff was the worst today. I gave them fun nicknames so I can note the times (and make them less unfun). I had a lot of "Karate eyes" swishing sounds when I look to the left or right and 4 times of "alka seltzer head", and 2 times of vertigo with tinnitus, 2 times of "Ringu flash", 2 times of needles and pins, several instances of vocabulary failure, a few dyslexic moments and possibly one visual hallucination, unless the guy I saw really did have only one mutton chop. LOL

 

I had really good luck quitting smoking cold turkey ten years ago, by responding incorrectly to my cravings... (Holding up my arm until the craving went away every time, even when the craving came back the next week.)

 

Headbanging to brutal death metal helps with the tinnitus and the vertigo. The hydro bed helps override "alka seltzer head", playing Tetris. Not everything can be hacked, sometimes I just need a nap. Mostly I need to heal...

 

No, I do not have any pills. I see my doctor tomorrow. I will read the links.

[bubble]

please browse through the links.

 

especially: http://survivinganti...rawal-syndrome/

[Krayona]

Yes, now I have read everything.

 

Even though I AM feeling very sick and am clearly experiencing withdrawal.... The last week of taking it was Even More of a nightmare: hot flashes, twitching, Uncontrollable crying, at my Desk. At Work. Cried to my manager, yelled at My boss, had a disjointed conversation with the owner of the company that I Don't Even remember and i believe he asked my boss if I took recreational drugs. Ran into walls, had to wear flats. I was getting "surprise" diarrhea even before I quit. The last time I worked out that week I almost passed out when my heart rate was 172. Tonight I did an identical workout and maxed at 137.

 

So.... I feel that it is unlikely I will be reinstating. I will talk to my doctor tomorrow. I guess we'll see...

 

Thanks.

[Krayona]

My kids threw my last few pills away so I "wouldn't be tempted"

[Petunia]

Perhaps you could get a new prescription from you doctor so that if your symptoms continue to get worse, you will have the option of reinstating.  Do stay in touch and let us know how how you are doing.

[bubble]

When making your decision you might also want to consider that what  you named adverse affects of taking the medication from March to June were most likely withdrawal symptoms indicating that your tapering was going way too fast for your brain to adjust to the changes which loss of the drug caused.

 

Withdrawal doesn't hit us only when we stop taking the medication completely but when we reduce it too fast. 

 

Our member Rhi explaiend this very well for me:

 

 

Rhi with more reasons for a slow taper and treating our nervous system gently:

 

You can't get off the drug (without major instability) faster than your brain can re-adapt itself to the absence of the drug. This involves changes in gene expression everywhere in the system (not a fast process), adjustment of populations of different receptors and cell types, et cetera. These are concrete processes and are not fast.

More to the point, they're also not very reliable and not very efficient. Healing a bone or an organ is one thing; we've had five billion years of evolution to get pretty good at that. Our brains have never before in evolution encountered anything like what these chemicals do to them. The kinds of changes in neurotransmitters that our brains know how to deal with are subtle--things like response to changes in day length, changes due to varying hormones in puberty and pregnancy and with aging, changes due to stressors in the environment, et cetera. We have never encountered ANYTHING like these extremely potent and precisely targeted chemical perturbations.

Our brains do their best to re-establish homeostasis when the drugs are introduced; this requires concrete changes in gene expression, cell populations, etc as above, which continue and change over time, because neuroplastic processes are happening in the brain all the time.

Reversing what the drugs do to them is just as complicated. It's no accident that (according to the Harm Reduction Guide by Will Hall) the single factor that best predicts the success of getting off psych meds is how long a person was on them to begin with. And that's just with a single med. Polydrugging takes the whole thing up to another level.

And when you've been on and off various meds, and on combinations of meds, there's really no telling what's happened, what kind of changes have taken place. Like Alto says (only she says it better)--our nervous systems are not infinitely pliable. Sooner or later something's gotta give.

Hence the need for caution when you start yanking stuff out and shoving stuff around. Ouch. It's your brain. You only get one.

 

[tezza]

Hi Krayona,

 

Welcome! I'm sorry you've been through so much. You've come to a good place for great advice and support!

 

I don't have anything to add to the above, just wanted to welcome you and say "hello".

[Altostrata]

The "karate eyes" are brain zaps.

[Krayona]

I went to see the doctor yesterday. I had serotonin syndrome. Stopping it saved my life.

[Krayona]

The "karate eyes" are brain zaps.

Is that the technical term?

[Altostrata]

It's the term that will get results if you search in the Symptoms forum.

[Krayona]

Update: started 10mg Celexa 7/7. Went in hospital 7/9 for TIA. I should go home today.

[Petunia]

I'm really confused.  I thought that you were on Zoloft and were considering a reinstatement of a low dose of it.  Why are you now taking 10mg of celexa?

 

It would be helpful if you put your drug and tapering history in your signature, then members can see your situation when replying to posts.  Instructions for how to do that are here:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/893-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/

 

 

Are you feeling better, has starting on celexa stopped your withdrawal symptoms?  What are your plans now, are you going to continue taking celexa or do you still need support with tapering?

 

I'm sorry I don't know what TIA is, but I hope you are doing ok now.

[Krayona]

I'm home from the hospital. The doctor put me on Celexa to help with withdrawal. Bran zaps got better except for extreme confusiong and the stroke. Transient ischemic attack.

[Altostrata]

Oh, dear, Krayona, it sounds like 10mg Celexa might have been too much for you. Very sorry to hear about the TIA.

[tezza]

Hi Krayona,

 

I didn't know what TIA was either...is it mini stroke? I'm sorry for whatever it is, that you had that.

 

Alto is the most knowledgeable person I know concerning these meds. The other mods are very knowledgeable as well. I don't want to name them because I might leave someone out.

 

I hope you feel much better real soon!

 

Thank you for adding me as a friend!

 

Hugs and healing!

[Krayona]

I think things are improving... I worked mostly half days last week.  No Celexa or vitamins this weekend.  I've been plugging away on cleaning.  I had been such a hoarder.  Everything is a little bit different now.  I think I will be a lot healthier without taking these medications.

[Rhiannon]

Yes, now I have read everything.

 

Even though I AM feeling very sick and am clearly experiencing withdrawal.... The last week of taking it was Even More of a nightmare: hot flashes, twitching, Uncontrollable crying, at my Desk. At Work. Cried to my manager, yelled at My boss, had a disjointed conversation with the owner of the company that I Don't Even remember and i believe he asked my boss if I took recreational drugs. Ran into walls, had to wear flats. I was getting "surprise" diarrhea even before I quit. The last time I worked out that week I almost passed out when my heart rate was 172. Tonight I did an identical workout and maxed at 137.

 

So.... I feel that it is unlikely I will be reinstating. I will talk to my doctor tomorrow. I guess we'll see...

 

Thanks.

 

Agree with Bubble that these were symptoms of withdrawal, not side effects. Because:

1. Side effects decrease at lower doses, they don't increase.

2. Receptor occupancy plummets at lower doses and the last bit of a taper needs to be done with great care, which is not what you were doing.

 

With the severe consequences you've experienced already I am very concerned about your approach to med dosages. Please consider not jumping on and off these meds, but making only cautious and small changes at a time.

 

You've chosen a course of action that I fear is unwise. May the gods of good fortune be with you.