jenn Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Hello All. I've been searching for information and help with SSRI discontinuation. This is the only credible place I have found. Thank you for being here. My basic story: I have been on sertraline (zoloft) on and off for over 15 years. I have gone off of it in the past and back on, with no side effects until the last time. The last time I went off I had some mild symptoms and did a little tapering. In the last year, I have been steadily declining my dosage until I was at 25 mg and started having symptoms. My doctor put me on a schedule of steadily increasing the number of days in between taking my 25mg dose. I followed this advice, with minimal symptoms (mostly brain fog) until I got to one dose every 5 days, then I stopped completely. I had minimal symptoms for about three weeks and then it all hit: Headache, Ringing in ears, Dizziness, Lightheaded, Muscle tightening, Memory issues, Brain Fog, etc. After 8 days of these symptoms, I started taking 25mg again approximately every 3 days. It has only been about a week and a half and the majority of the physical symptoms are much better, but last night I started some awful psychological symptoms: Panic, Anxiety, Feelings of dread, despair, etc. At this point I have read on this site about tapering and it is not at all how the doctor told me to do it. I don't know if I should go back to 25mg every day? Every 3 days? Go all the way back to 50mg? Please give me some advice here... I have also read postings on this site about finding a doctor to work with who knows what they are doing. Any other tips on this would be great also. Thank you so much, Jenn The following dates are approximate: January 2015 25mg every day - Feb 25 mg every other day - March 25mg every 2 days - April 25mg every 3 days - May 25mg every 4 days - June 25 mg every 5 days - July 15th - stop meds - Aug 10th terrible physical symptoms begin - Aug 18th start 25mg appx every 3 days (physical symptoms start to dissipate) - Aug 26th psychological symptoms intense sertraline on and off for over 15 years. Recent: 50mg to 25mg in 2014 - January 2015 25mg every day - Feb 25 mg every other day - March 25mg every 2 days - April 25mg every 3 days - May 25mg every 4 days - June 25 mg every 5 days - July 15th - stop meds - Aug 10th terrible physical symptoms begin - Aug 18th start 25mg appx every 3 days (physical symptoms start to dissipate) - Aug 26th psychological symptoms intense Link to comment
luv2knit Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Welcome, Jenn. Hopefully a mod or someone else more knowledgeable will be along shortly. As you may have guessed already, skipping days is not the proper way to taper. Doctors often have no idea of withdrawal and taper. I don't feel qualified to make a suggestion on where you should go from here, but this site suggests a taper rate of 10% (of your current dose) with cuts being made approximately once a month. You would take the appropriate dose at the same time every day. I'm sorry you are feeling so poorly. Hopefully the mods can help you get back on track soon. Zoloft 100 mg. daily for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome since Oct. 1994 / Synthroid 88 mcg. daily / Supplements: Neptune Krill Oil-1,000 mg. twice daily/Astaxanthin 10 mg. twice daily/Ubiquinol 100 mg. twice daily (These 3 have allowed me to discontinue (approved by doctor) bp meds I was on. Calcium Citrate 500 mg. daily/Vitamin D3 2,400 iu daily/K2 (MK7) 100 mcg daily (osteopenia and fam. hist. of severe osteoporosis). Stress B Complex (1/2 dose)/Quercetin (for allergies/asthma)/Magnesium (400 mg. oral glycinate and about 50 mg. magnesium chloride spray oil a day, divided throughout day). Tapered Zoloft about 6 wks. Totally off since the end of July (25-29, 2014). 3 wks. vertigo at end of taper, then 3-4 wks. OK, followed by withdrawal symptoms increasing in severity (nausea, gastric disturbances, loss of appetite, insomnia, restlessness, jitters, anxiety, agitation--jumping out of my skin--possible akathisia?) Seem to have paradoxical reactions to everything new, even Vitamin C. Severity of akathisia comes and goes, but is constant to some degree. Hard to leave house, and cannot be home alone. (Retired) Link to comment
jenn Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 Thank you for being here Platinum Star. It makes a difference to me. sertraline on and off for over 15 years. Recent: 50mg to 25mg in 2014 - January 2015 25mg every day - Feb 25 mg every other day - March 25mg every 2 days - April 25mg every 3 days - May 25mg every 4 days - June 25 mg every 5 days - July 15th - stop meds - Aug 10th terrible physical symptoms begin - Aug 18th start 25mg appx every 3 days (physical symptoms start to dissipate) - Aug 26th psychological symptoms intense Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted August 26, 2015 Moderator Share Posted August 26, 2015 Hi Jenn--welcome to the group. I'm sorry to hear that you're having a rough time of it right now. The taper schedule that your doctor gave you is pretty typical of their thinking and has caused many of our members quite a bit of pain. Skipping days is one of the worst ways there is to take these medications because it throws you into WD every other day and your brain gets really confused as to what is happening. The best thing you could do right now is to start taking the 25mg at the same time every day. This will help stabilize you. It will take a few weeks for the effects to fully kick in, but keep the faith, it will happen. One you are stable then we can work out a good tapering schedule. What is withdrawal syndrome? Why taper by 10% of my dosage? Tips for tapering off Zoloft (sertraline) Thank you for filling in a signature block, it really helps us see at a glance what is happening. 20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013. Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks. The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better. Final Dose 0.016mg. Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017 "It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general." Stephen Hawking Link to comment
jenn Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 Thank you so much. This is so very helpful. I will continue to update. Thank you. sertraline on and off for over 15 years. Recent: 50mg to 25mg in 2014 - January 2015 25mg every day - Feb 25 mg every other day - March 25mg every 2 days - April 25mg every 3 days - May 25mg every 4 days - June 25 mg every 5 days - July 15th - stop meds - Aug 10th terrible physical symptoms begin - Aug 18th start 25mg appx every 3 days (physical symptoms start to dissipate) - Aug 26th psychological symptoms intense Link to comment
Nomoreheadmeds Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Welcome jenn you came to the right place. Sertraline 100mg amytrip 60mg diazepam 4mg (and when needed) since late 90's.Reduced all meds over 6 wks (too short) last doses 13 wks ago.Still having withdrawals.I would have done it differently 5th august 2015 reinstated 5mg amytripiline.increased to 10mg amtrip 9th sept 2015. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus apace41 Posted August 26, 2015 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted August 26, 2015 Hi, Jenn. Welcome to the site. Sorry your p-doc was so clueless and got you into this mess. If you follow BrassMonkey's advice you should be back on track and have a chance to do a nice slow taper. My only suggestion might be to try adding some quality fish oil and possibly magnesium to help your CNS deal with the blow it's been handed. Just a thought. Cheers, Andy Sertraline 50mg and Clonazapam .375mg from 2000 -- symptoms of dizziness Spring 2012 increased to .5 Clonazapam and 100mg Sertraline -- no improvement Benzo microtaper from November 2012 to November 2014 (followed benzo sites "taper benzo first") Started Sertraline taper in December 2014 cut by 25mg to 75mg; 62.5mg 1/1/15 and 50mg on 2/1/15 Held at 50mg through April 5 to use liquid Reduced dosage in 10% or less drops from 50mg to 25mg -- at single tablet of 25mg on 10/5/15 Transitioned to all liquid for accuracy while tapering -- Horrible insomnia -- back to 25mg liquid and held until October 1, 2016 10/16 -- 11/18 tapered very slowly to 10.6mg. No real improvement and never really stable so updosed to 12.5mg (1/2 a pill) for convenience and long hold. After 8+ months of holding with no noticeable improvement decided to add .4ml of liquid Prozac (about 1.5mg) to see if that improves the situation Supplements, Magnesium, D3, Omega 3, curcumin, Valerian, 81mg Aspirin, L-Theanine, Vit. C, Link to comment
jenn Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 Thank you Apace41. Do you take a certain type of magnesium? I used to take mag. glycinate, but now just have mag. oxide... sertraline on and off for over 15 years. Recent: 50mg to 25mg in 2014 - January 2015 25mg every day - Feb 25 mg every other day - March 25mg every 2 days - April 25mg every 3 days - May 25mg every 4 days - June 25 mg every 5 days - July 15th - stop meds - Aug 10th terrible physical symptoms begin - Aug 18th start 25mg appx every 3 days (physical symptoms start to dissipate) - Aug 26th psychological symptoms intense Link to comment
Administrator Altostrata Posted August 27, 2015 Administrator Share Posted August 27, 2015 Welcome, jenn. Brassmonkey gave you good information. I agree with all of it except that I would start with 12.5mg sertraline (half a tablet each day). With the "averaging" you've done by skipping days, your nervous system may have accommodated somewhat to a lower dosage every day. Tips for tapering off Zoloft (sertraline) contains information about how to titrate sertraline. This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein All postings © copyrighted. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus apace41 Posted August 27, 2015 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted August 27, 2015 Thank you Apace41. Do you take a certain type of magnesium? I used to take mag. glycinate, but now just have mag. oxide... Jenn, I take glycinate since it is more easily absorbed. I would stay away from oxide. Andy Sertraline 50mg and Clonazapam .375mg from 2000 -- symptoms of dizziness Spring 2012 increased to .5 Clonazapam and 100mg Sertraline -- no improvement Benzo microtaper from November 2012 to November 2014 (followed benzo sites "taper benzo first") Started Sertraline taper in December 2014 cut by 25mg to 75mg; 62.5mg 1/1/15 and 50mg on 2/1/15 Held at 50mg through April 5 to use liquid Reduced dosage in 10% or less drops from 50mg to 25mg -- at single tablet of 25mg on 10/5/15 Transitioned to all liquid for accuracy while tapering -- Horrible insomnia -- back to 25mg liquid and held until October 1, 2016 10/16 -- 11/18 tapered very slowly to 10.6mg. No real improvement and never really stable so updosed to 12.5mg (1/2 a pill) for convenience and long hold. After 8+ months of holding with no noticeable improvement decided to add .4ml of liquid Prozac (about 1.5mg) to see if that improves the situation Supplements, Magnesium, D3, Omega 3, curcumin, Valerian, 81mg Aspirin, L-Theanine, Vit. C, Link to comment
luv2knit Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Good luck! Keep us posted! Zoloft 100 mg. daily for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome since Oct. 1994 / Synthroid 88 mcg. daily / Supplements: Neptune Krill Oil-1,000 mg. twice daily/Astaxanthin 10 mg. twice daily/Ubiquinol 100 mg. twice daily (These 3 have allowed me to discontinue (approved by doctor) bp meds I was on. Calcium Citrate 500 mg. daily/Vitamin D3 2,400 iu daily/K2 (MK7) 100 mcg daily (osteopenia and fam. hist. of severe osteoporosis). Stress B Complex (1/2 dose)/Quercetin (for allergies/asthma)/Magnesium (400 mg. oral glycinate and about 50 mg. magnesium chloride spray oil a day, divided throughout day). Tapered Zoloft about 6 wks. Totally off since the end of July (25-29, 2014). 3 wks. vertigo at end of taper, then 3-4 wks. OK, followed by withdrawal symptoms increasing in severity (nausea, gastric disturbances, loss of appetite, insomnia, restlessness, jitters, anxiety, agitation--jumping out of my skin--possible akathisia?) Seem to have paradoxical reactions to everything new, even Vitamin C. Severity of akathisia comes and goes, but is constant to some degree. Hard to leave house, and cannot be home alone. (Retired) Link to comment
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