Sertraline, trying to cut down, need advise please

Treatment and medication
1

Hay everyone,

i hope you are all ok, and being strong and fighting hard.

some of you may know mw on here already, but for those that dont, ive been on sertraline 50mg for 1 year and 4 months now, as i suffered a really bad bout of panic disorder and severe depression.

its helped me so so much, and i am thank full everyday as it saved my life.

ive put a lot of waight on, and not only that i want to come off them before they one day stop working. i dont know why i have this fear but i just do for some reason!?

any way for 4 or 5 months i cut my 50mg tablet by nipping off a quarter of it and consuming the rest. been fine doing that although it has not been always accurate.

now i am halving the dose , so 25mg as of 3 days now.

Today i feel as if i have flu, i have bit of loose stools, and just feel sooo tired and drained, im not depressed, or anxious, i am a bit snappy with people.

im not sure if i should just continue and ride it out, or should i just up my dose again ? i just dont want to relapse.

is this a common feeling of withdrawel? and if so can it get worse?

I know not many people on here are at the point of coming off, as most people leave this site once they are well again.

but if you have any experiance i would realy like to hear.

Many Many Thanks.

Best Wishes

Lattifa

2

I was on 100mg Zoloft for ten years. Like you, I had a fear that made me decide to taper off. I did so over 2-3 months and got down to 12.5mg/6mg. I did relapse. And it was horrendous. Needless to say, I'm on my fourth week of 50mg and am seeing how it goes from there. I'm dealing with start up side effects and all of the symptoms that deal with waiting for the med to stabilize. Apart of me wishes I never tried to come off. But it also forced me to develop a healthier life style to combat all of the crazy emotions.

I suffered withdrawals, including: headaches, insomnia, panic attacks, crying spells, brain zaps, anger, irritability, jitters, depression, suicidal thoughts, no appetite. It was pretty bad.

My advice, do not come off of this med because of a fear that it won't work. It's almost like a self fulfilling prophecy. You'll get to a point where it won't be effective because you are coming off of it and I don't think it's a good risk to take just because you're afraid it will eventually stop working on its own. It won't. I was on it for ten years, no problem. Also, feeling like you don't need it because you feel better, also means the meds are working and that is part of why you feel better.

It's a personal decision and only yours to make. I'm just telling you my experience and opinion based on what I went through am going through now. I'm not trying to scare you or anything like that. If you feel you're doing fine, then by all means, do what you think is best for you.

3

Hi thanks for your reply.

I am pretty scared now lool

Do you think you cut down too quick as you was on a 100mg and it's taken me 3 months to get from 50 to 25mg?

I don't know if I can get stable on 25mg I'll stay on it for a good 6 months I think.

I just hope I can get stable on 25mg, but are the flu type symptoms part of withdrawal symptoms?

4

Oh no, please don't be scared... it wanst my intention >_< sorry

I think it very well could've been tapering too fast, also I have PTSD and had an anniversary during that time that caused me to panic.

Yes, I felt drained al the time, as well as hyper aware from anxiety. I also would wake up sweating profusely. It very well could be withdrawals. If you are determined to kick the Zoloft, then I think you're doing it slow enough. It's just a tricky game to play when dealing with meds like these. I didn't get really bad until I went down to 12.5mg.

5

Hi Lattifa, what this the first and only time you've been on this med? Or have you had relapse before, and if so, how many?

6

first ever time i have ever in my life suffered with depression and anxiety, due to dr thinking i was depressed she gave me citalopram, and i took one dose it completly ruined me.

7

Ok, that's good news and good to hear! Personally if I were you I would try to get off. Why? Stats show that almost EVERYONE in life has at the very least ONE episode of mental illness (depression, nervous breakdown, etc.).  Because this was your first time, and who knows? It may be your one and only time in this lifetime.  However, before you get off enitrely, you have to get healthy in every way to increase the odds of not getting another attack/episode. I would recommend eating well, exercising, getting enough rest and sleep, and not going through any big life changes or stressful events. But, if you get a relapse, please do NOT blame me. However, IF you do relapse, then you’d learn from the relapse experience and will think twice before getting off it again in the future. I mean, look at me. I got on and off it 7-8 times. You would imagine I’d learn not to get off after a couple of times, but hope springs eternal, as they say. LOL. smile So I thank God everyday because I almost feel like a cat with 9 lives. And taper slowly, very, very slowly. May also be a good idea to look into supplements like vitamin, or Vit-B Complex, etc. Good luck. Getting off is easy (to me - gone cold turkey a few times) but it’s staying off and being normal and healthy that’s hard (for me). Good luck.

8

Lol of course I wouldn't blame you Hun x

You don't know how much I appreciate your response , may god bless you and keep you well.

Ok I'm going to stay on the 25mg for now and see how I get on over next few weeks, if I feel fine in 2 months , I will actually stay on it a bit longer this time, as I'm a single mum of two and work full time, I'm also going through some difficult times with eviction from my property, so not a good time to cut down any more until I'm sorted and stable I think. Then I'll start the gym and I'm trying to start more healthy eating now too. I've noticed since getting well I have no WILL power at controlling what I eat at all, I used to be an acrobat so always ate well and was quite trim not skinny but ok, now I'm a big lump 😞

9

God bless you, too! And thank you. We're here to help each other. I agree with your assessment here. Eviction - goodness, I hope you have that sorted out...in our favor. Choose a good time to do get off. I too can't seem to stop eating sweets when I am well, and I need to work out, too. But one small step at a time. So difficult to stay active in winter. And you are NOT a big lump.

10

Supplements to help you on your journey are omega 3's such as fish oil, magnesium, vitamin b12 and vitamin d3. These have helped me a lot. The magnesium is extremely good for you. We as women definitely need more in our life. I've read that 90% of serotonin is in your gut. So make sure to eat plenty of organic fruits and vegetables . And cutting out sugar helps a lot. Exercising regularly does wonders as well. Knowing more of your history with depression and meds, I think you'll be fine coming off of Zoloft slowly. I wish you the best! smile

11

Hi lattifa u live in U.K.

12

Hi Latiffa, so I have researched coming off Sertraline, and if symptoms like you're experiencing, happen soon after beginning tapering, then it's likely to be 'discontinuation' (withdrawal) rather than relapse, and will gradually improve. If it's relapse it is more likely to occur after having stopped the medication altogether, symptoms gradually come on, make sense? So the flu like symptoms, the loose stools (very common with sertraline!) tiredness etc, are common withdrawal symptoms.

I think I would be inclined to stay at 25 until you feel ok again before beginning tapering again.

I'm going to reduce by 10% rather than the 25mg the doc says to!!!! 10% seems to be a recommended rule of thumb for those of us who have been on SSRI's a bit longer.

Hope that helps hun xx

13

Thank you so so much, I do have a very bad chesty cough too tho, so dont know if thats a coinsidance or not?

I hope i do improve, as long as i dont relapse thats the main thing god willing.

14

yes im in UK.

15

DOESNT VIT B12, MAKE YOU ANXIOUS?

16

ive been crying today quite a bit, have slight anxiety too, maybe its coz im ill with this flu and awful cough? or maybe its being on 25mg for the last week? should i carry on or go up back to my usual 50mg dose, i dont want to relapse omg im getting scared now

17

Crying is natural. It means that for some time now you've had all this sadness bottled up inside you but when you were on your higher dosage the med was helping you control it all. 

This is the one thing that bothers me the most about being on this med, other than the weight gain and insatiable appetite, it is the lack of intensity of my feelings. I remember as a kid, my feelings were very sharp, true and raw, as they should. I am naturally a very passionate person. But over the years I noticed that whenever I am back on this med, after awhile my feelings seem very muted. Contained. 

Then noticed a couple of weeks after I get off of it I would feel very strong emotions, be it anger or sadness or fear. It's good to feel your feelings and yet there's the negative side to it, too. Feeling too much can make you feel out of control.

But right now, all your bottled up feelings are being released. The only advice I can tell you is don't fight it. Feel your feelings, writing about it in a journal may help, and then once the reservoir of feelings is depleted you'll feel a calmness but they'll feel up again. 

If you don't mind me being blunt, the problem I see in your attempt in getting off this med right now is your fear of getting off of it. Until you get over this fear, there's no point in your getting off of it. You have to believe or somehow convince yourself to believe that a relapse will most likely not occur. Please reread my earlier response. You have to believe that you may be one of the lucky few who only has 1 mental breakdown in this lifetime and can recover from it. That's one. Once. Over. But the more you fear this relapse the more control you're giving it and then it's like a self- fulfilling prophecy, does that make sense? It's like a top athlete going into a match believing that they will not win. You have to believe you will come out victorious. May be an ugly bloody battle, but you will win in the end. You just have to prep yourself with all the right tools to succeed. 

Regarding vita b complex, from what I know, vitamin b is supposedly called a stress vitamin because it's supposed to reduce stress, but some dude said it correctly. If your body has enough of it, you'll be p*ssing it away, literally. I know, because whenever I take vitamin b, sometimes I urinate more often and the color is different, like neon yellow - seriously, I could practically smell the vitamin in my urine, not just see it.

Dont go into any battle believing you already lost. Xx. 

18

WOW, you certainly chose the rite username on here smile

your words are so inspiring, when i read it i was totaly absorbed and you are right, i am scared and im not thinking positvly. you are also rite about feeling emotions, before i ever suffered depression, i used to cry, i would cry and sob then i would be ok. now if i cry i think its me getting ill again lol.

im going to print that and read it often.

Thank you. xxx

please please stay in contact with me.? x

19

Hi lattifa , I started the same time you did but I take 100 mg , the med worked very well with me and I can say I'm back to my old self again inspite of some anxiety here and there .

I wanted to be off but actually I feel not ready yet as I'm passing through some difficulties takeing care of my mom she is Alzheimer patient and my dad had a surgery lately adding to that I have my kids and the environment is so stressful .

I don't know if this is my thinking or I should stay with it longer . I'm almost done with my last bottle and as the plan with my doc I should start reducing the dose but I don't know I'm scared to do that at the moment .

I'm confused and scared 😒.

20

Of course I will keep in touch. Anytime you have any questions or need an ear I am here, but only thing is that it may take me a bit longer to respond because I live in the states so there's a big time difference. I really thinks you can do this, but you have to stop being afraid of relapse and you have to get healthy on all fronts so that the odds are stacked in your favor. Take it  very slowly. Xx