unable to get to doctors, mix up with prescriptions etc meant that I was without my daily dose of Sertraline - 200mg a day for nearly 3 weeks!
I became argumentative, aggressive and tearful all the time, everything upset me and I would voice my opinions, sometimes controversial, rather than keeping them to myself. I upset a number of people and am still waiting for the fallout to see if I have lost my job.
It was quite frightening at the time - has anyone else experienced this type of reaction or was it psychological do you think?
Woweee that's a hell of a drop from 200 to nothing all of a sudden. Totally understand that would suffer as you have done. I've had similar just from stopping from 50. They say reduce gradually and I think this is why. Totally understand how easy it is to find yourself without tablets all of a sudden. Its so annoying that doctors won't prescribe more than a months worth. Good luck with your work - if you declared you were on tablets and your circumstances fingers crossed they will be ok about it. They can't discriminate against you have a mental health issue at the moment but they may feel you've not really helped yourself by not taking the tablets. Fingers crossed they will be understanding and good luck with it all x
Hi..I'm not surprised you had bad reaction...very dangerous to go from 200 to nothing I would think. Would your doctor give you letter for your employer stating that medication made you react as you did? Hope all works out for you.
Thanks for your support - I think the fact that it is work that made me start taking the tablets in the first place would probably not help my case - they would say that if I can't cope with the job then I should not be doing it in the first place. And my reaction when I was not taking the tablets at work shows that I am unable to cope. You know what HR are like, twist rules to suit themselves
It is so dangerous to just stop this kind of medication!! As your dose is so high, it sounds like you've been on this medication for a while too? The withdrawal symptoms are awful. You really should have seen your doctor, and it doesn't sound like you've spoken to them in the past 3 weeks since quitting the medication..? You should speak to your GP soon.
I tried to speak to my Doctor but they said that I had to be seen before they issued another prescription.
I would leave messages to see if I could have the Sertraline while waiting for an appointment, asking the Doctor to call me back but no-one ever did.
The receptionists are horrible and useless and take delight in seeing anyone suffering!
I leave my house at 5.30am and don't get back home at night until after 6pm. It is very difficult to get in to my Doctors, and in the end I took a day off work only to be told that my appointment had been cancelled. In the end I went in to the surgery, near to breaking point after having to take another days holiday and insisted that I speak to the Doctor. I was told by the receptionist that the Doctor would phone me back that afternoon.
While I was at home I received a text message stating that an apppointment had been made for 5.45pm that day - as it was 5.30pm I ran to the surgery and checked myself in on their computerised system. I waited, and I waited and I waited and I waited. In the end I went to the window to ask when I was going to be seen and was told that the text message is generated when a request for a telephone callback is made and I did not have an actual appointment!
The good news is that I did speak to the Doctor who was horrifed that I had not been taking my meds and issued me with a prescrption straight away and said I did not need to see anyone - if I need Sertraline in future to leave a message for him - we will see if that works next time I need it.
I cannot believe how horrific it was coming down from taking it. I know that I was stressed before I ever took the medication but never felt as bad as I did without it. It is scary to think I could be on it for the rest of my life.
You cannot just quit these meds. they affect your brain chemistry. I was on 150 mg. for a year. I never did do well on sertaline, too many side effects. My Dr. told me to taper @ 25 mg. every two weeks. It took me three months to come down off them. I've been off them since Dec 23. I still have withdrawl symptoms, after 7 months, nausea, crying, and crabby at times.
There is a forum on here "do sertaline withdrawl symtoms ever go away" that several of us belong to. One lady is still having withdrawl after a year of being off them.
My hubby went off of Effexor " cold turkey". It's been three months, he's still angry, aggressive, outspoken to the point of embarassement. One must always taper and then it isn't easy.
I'm sure your Dr. was aghast going from 200 mg to nothing. It's not much wonder you felt so poorly. I do hope you will be back to your old self soon.
Lol yes I know what HR are like - I am HR myself 😆. Not all as helpful and nice as they could be tho I'm afraid. However even if they are of the darker side of HR you should still be able to tell them that the current working conditions are making you stressed. It is then their responsibility to help you (not sack you it sideline you) I think its always best to work with HR and try and come up with a plan to either re train or just help while you get yourself sorted. At the end of the day if you can't cope with the workload then its their responsibility to help you so that you can. I know its easier said than done with some HR but if you can get them onside and help them understand what you are going through it may help. Really wish you all the best x
I think I will have to take them for the rest of my life - I sound just like your husband and I cringe sometimes when I say things but I can't help it.
Thanks for your support and I hope things work out wel for you and your husband. All the best
Thank you for your reply and I will certainly take your advice now that I am back on the meds and not snarling at everyone. I did have the HR Manager contact my Manager to say I had upset one of her staff so I have a bit of making up to do! Best wishes to you x
Not necessarily alinwunterlant, you had these withdrawls because you quit taking the med altogether. If you taper down ,the withdrawls aren't so severe. Many people taper off them. My husband should've done a taper, as it's been hell for him. He's determined to never go back on a psyc drug. Hopefully his brain chemistry will return to normal in 6 months lol!
Just wish I had never started with them. To think that a job has stressed me out so much I had to take 200mg a day and now I am addicted. The message from 'itsonly me' says about mental health issues and I had never considered myself in that category before. Actually that has made me feel worse like I am some kind of psychiatric freak and really made me determined to get off these drugs. I am off work next week on holiday so I am going to my doctor to get this sorted out once and for all - I am going to get myself off these drugs and never take anything again.
I know how you feel alin. i had many stressful times at work also. I took medical leave once for a month. The Drs. then wanted to put me on A.D.'s. i wouldn't go on them. I went to see a therapist. He said to me " it's just a job" don't let them stress you. Each time i began to get stressed i'd recall his words.
I went on the A.D.'s two years ago due to stress at home. Hubby had heart surgery was depressed and miserable. I also have a 38 year old son at home with medical issues. I tried three different kinds of A.D.'s and the side effects of each one, affected me worse thatn the condition.
I went to my Dr. after 9 months on the sertaline, as I was suffering from insomnia. She wanted to add a sleeping pill and increase me to 200 mg. This is when I said NO, enough. My pharmacist told me if I was suffering from insomnia, I should probably decrease the sertaline! The pharmacist was CORRECT, quite often they know more than the Drs., about drugs. My Dr. then agreed and I didn't care at that point if she did or not, as I knew how I felt. I was going to taper down!
It hasn't been fun, but I feel so much better, more like my old self. Most drs. have never taken the drugs so don't know the side effects and how they make you feel. I am very senisitive to drugs. This is my story. I kow many people have gret success with A.D.'s but I wasn't one of them.
Take care, try and relax and don't stress at work.
Ooh no I didn't mean to upset you by saying mental health I'm really sorry. I said it because it protects you in terms of employment law.
I personally feel that depression is a mental health things because its a chemical imbalance in the brain. Being on AD just helps with the imbalance you sort the route cause out. I also wish I'd never been prescribed these tablets too because although they got me through my pnd I have been made to feel like a drug addict when ran out and needed some whilst away. I've not had any for a few weeks now and still suffer side affects and I was only on a low dosage so I really feel for you having to drop from 200 suddenly x
Hi Alinwunterlant...doesn't mean u will b on them for rest of your life..as someone else said u only had that really bad experience because u went off them so suddenly. I am now on my 2nd day of trying to taper off..going from 75mg to 50mg .. ok so far but I know that may change. I plan on doing it very very slowly. Interesting what Maureen said about insomnia cos I too suffer from that..didn't associate that with sertraline! Hope it improves now. I agree that docs don't know everything..last time I saw my gp (who I have great faith in in general) I mentioned the dreadful sweats I had & she didn't even suggest it could b related to Sertraline even tho I can see now that it is a very common side effect. Hope all goes well for u Alinwunterland and hope your job gets sorted out to your satisfaction. Take care
Hi Alinwunterlant, yes that is a normal reaction when coming off or missing a few doses, I raged for about 6 wks. when I came off and still 31/2 moths later I still have my moments. Hope you feel better. Kim
No please do not feel that you have upset me, it just brought the whole thing into perspective - no job is worth making me feel like I have been.
I am feeling better now that I have started to take the Sertraline - only 100mg now my Doctor says. I suppose it is because I can off them so quickly that I can take a reduced amount now but I fully intend to rid myself of them as soon as I can. Thank you for your words of support, I really appreciate you coming back to me x
