View Full Version : Coming off of Sertraline
Hi guys and girls thought I would make a new thread on how I'm getting on so far now than I have been slowly coming off of my tablets.
I started off by taking one tablet every other day, I did this for a week. Since then I was planning on continuing this but totally forgot to take the tablet that night, it has now been 5days since I had a tablet and I would say other than a few mildly noticeable things I am coping ok.
The main thing I have noticed is that my dreams have become more and more vivid, last night being the worst. They do not affect me once I wake up as I feel in myself that they cannot hurt me. That aside I feel quite yukky right now, it may be something to do with only getting 4 hours sleep last night but I cannot just sleep if and when I feel like it atm like I could when I was on the tablets.
My body is also twitching here and there, mainly in my legs which is what used to happen before I started the tablets. I feel like I constantly have sorta heart burn but its more of an annoyance than a worry.
I'm not sure what else to say currently, I start a new job 2moro so hopefully even without being on my tablets now I am able to work with no problems.
I will continue to post in this thread until I feel like I am totally free of the tablets as I hope this will give a good insight to what to expect for other people that are stopping there tablets :)
Quick update.
Still not had a tablet and am feeling totally fine tbh. Last 2 nights my dreams have been non-existent as far as I tell. Nothing out of the ordinary is happening and I am now working so thats getting me tired and ready for bed which is where I am planning on going now.
I dont know if this thread is helpful what so ever, but even if it gives just an ounce of self belief to someone planning on stopping there tablets then I would say this thread has done its job. Will only post in here again if things change for the worse at any point otherwise just assume I am ok :)
Hey Brownin, glad to hear all is going well with stopping sertraline. I'm sure this diary will be very useful for other members to read x keep us updated x
Update:
Had my first experience of anxiety since I started the tablets a year ago. I managed to stop it before it stemmed out of control and still managed to win the game of fifa I was playing lol. Other than this hick-up I would say everything is all well. Currently enjoying life tablet free :)
ive been doing a slow taper and took my last tablet 2 weeks ago. I have never felt better, all my friends have noticed how much happier i am too.
i havent had no withdrawal effects (well not that bad) but i i did start using 5htp to help with any withdrawal and loads of omega 3/6 oils
When i came off them i felt excited and jittery for a week or two after it. My anxiety and depression is back but i don't want to go back on the pills. They left me feeling like a zombie, not happy or sad.
Yer I get the odd jitter sometimes and have a few more bad thoughts here and there but overall I'd say I'm coping fine without the tablets. Feels good to be tablet free. Have managed to drink and face a days hangover with no problem atal. Starting back at uni end of September lets hope I can get on top of things before they get on top of me otherwise the tablets will have to make an unwelcome appearance...
Whitetrash
07-08-12, 16:57
I gave up Sertraline as i felt derealised all of the time and struggled to find emotion in things... however a couple weeks on and im wrapped with anxiety it sucks :-(
So Brownin you've been off a month now and all seems to be okay? That's great news. Good luck starting back at uni and have fun! I remember those uni days (vaguely).
Whitetrash how long have you been off the sertraline and how did you come off them? Did you taper? I experienced AWFUL anxiety during wd 10 X worse than anything i'd ever experienced before. Seemed to last about 1 month then the anxiety faded (i'm still having WD issues though 5 months after my last dose). PM me if you need support x
I am on 25mg every other day after doing 50mg every other day for 2 weeks, going to drop to 12.5mg (approx) next week every other day then hopefully off fully for the first time in 16 months by the end of August. Been having a lot of sweats, nausea and generally not feeling well since withdrawing, not nice but not staying on these meds anymore as always exhausted, dr told me my meds won't be making me tired but I am certain its these
Hey Cat80, I tried something similar to you (taperwise) but to be honest i think the taper schedule the docs suggest is terrible. I don't think our bodies like messing around with the doses especially with a drug like sertraline which has a short half life. This means it doesn't stay in your body for very long and your body sometimes reacts badly to a sudden drop which you get when your dose isn't consistent daily during tapering. I've been off Sert coming up to 6 months and unfortunately am still having physical withdrawals(hip pain, anxiety, arm pains, terrible headaches, nausea, nins and needles, numb limbs cramps) but i think that's because I tapered too quickly at the end. I went from 25mg down to 0mg in 3 weeks which was too fast for me. It sounds like you have a pill cutter if you're going down to 12.5mg, but i'd suggest cutting it up even more if you can. From my reading on this, (and it has been a LOT over these months due to this suffering) I'd wait until your current WD symptoms subside before making a further drop in dose. Take care and good luck- I;m sure you'll do fine, R xx
Update: Been a good few months now since the tablets and I am still overall getting on okay. The problems I had pre-tablets are here but on a much smaller scale. I have bad thoughts, these are mostly controllable and do not stem into a panic attack. I have noticed the anxiety really taking effect when I play games sometimes. I started playing WoW again on mists release and all was well until I started raiding. If a boss got to roughly 20% I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, my body would go into hyper mode, I'd literally be dancing on my office chair trying to press buttons coz my heart would be racing. After the fights my guild knew I would have to take 5minutes to walk around my house and calm down. I have recently quit WoW again as this is not healthy for me. I also get this in a milder form when playing LoL or Fifa, only when in a tight situation though. I have bordered on a panic attack a few times but I am happy to say I have managed to control it before I have gone into a full on attack. I even managed to go dentist for a filling a few weeks back. I hate injections and when they said they'd be giving me 3 well lets say I wasn't the most rosy red cheeked person in the building. They could see my body vibrating while they was doing the filling and all the colour had gone from my face but I managed to endure it enough to get through it. I've never seen a dentist look so scared in my life lol, she looked more worried about me than I felt in myself xD
With regard to university I have just finished my 1st term, havent had any problems with anxiety to do with my work so much, only had one hand in though which I got a 2:1 in, so happy with that :) Big test will be the next few months, hoping I will not need the tablets but I'm starting to think they might be of use coz I can't retake final year of university. Will post in this thread again with an update, realistically end of January as thats the time of 3/4 hand-ins.
Hope this thread is giving someone out there a bit of self belief that life does go on without the tablets :)
So it is a new year xmas, bday and new year has past and overall I would say I experienced no problems at all. The hang overs were no fun but I didn't get anxious like I have done in recent months. I have been getting on with university work with not to much stress and even playing my games isnt overly getting to me. So all in all times are good atm.
Next test is 2nd term on university, need to make sure I keep on top of it all before it gets on top of me as this will be the deciding factor as to whether I get a degree or not. Will post here again soon with an update as how its all going on :)
Gotagetthroughthis
03-01-13, 16:22
Hey, great to here your doing so well.
I am just slowly coming off Sertraline aswell at the moment and this thread gives me some confidence. Hopefully I can do as well as you and not fall straight back into anxiety/panic as soon as I come off the tablets.
I have come down from 75mg to 50mg and now to 25mg I will stay on this for a couple of weeks and then come off completely.
Thanks for making this thread, its a great help. Hope things continue to go well for you :)
Hiya, glad to see you find this thread helpful. Nice to see it is helping you with the process of stopping the tablets, I really hope you manage it and the panic stays away for a long while :)
I am still coping absolutely fine currently, next few weeks I have 4 deadlines so as long as these go well I am sure I will be panic free. Gotagetthroughthis let me know how you are getting on soon. Take Care :)
After a good while away I thought I would show my face and give a heads up on what has gone on since January.
I actually went back on the tablets for a few months as the anxiety started to get to me again. They actually hindered me in other ways though. The main problem being when I was on them I would randomly get really tired and have to sleep, this did not help me get my university work done. Luckily I got to the point where I felt okay in myself again and stopped taking them.
The morning of my hand-ins would get really stressful and I found having a shower helped to calm me down. If I hadn't used that as a calming method I would of had a panic attack for sure.
Thankfully I managed to finish university without any real problems and am now just looking for work. I am now living a much happier life in general, without the problem of anxiety or panic :)
I still get times where my anxiety picks up but I can easily control it and after a bit it goes away. Life is definitely better off the meds, I hope you can all live a med free life very soon!
Sooo this thread hasn't been touched for 3 years now.
Back after a long time away from the website and thought I would just post a little update.
So, I finished university and started work. Shortly after I moved into my first house with my now fiancee.
On the whole, if I think back over the past 3 years, they have been a world apart from the 3 years I had previous in terms of anxiety and panic.
I've been tablet free since, not once feeling like they would be needed.
The anxiety still comes and goes and I do still have bad days but thankfully the anxiety 'touch wood' never stems into a full blown panic attack.
I am willing to put this down to the tablets helping me. I remember back when I was taking them after having days upon days of panic attacks, that just would not leave me alone. I finally after weeks and weeks plucked up the courage to finally take the plunge and take my first sertraline tablet. (Due to my anxiety being very much health related I was worried what effect they would have on my body.)
After being on the tablets for maybe a week or two I vividly remember my anxiety sky rocketed and I was there helpless just waiting for the panic attack to happen, when after what felt like an age(probably 5 actual minutes but when you're in the moment it does feel like a lifetime, as I'm sure people reading this would know) the panic attack had still not started. I remember sitting there for a few minutes thinking what is going on, where is the panic attack? I then spent a few minutes mulling things over and thought, maybe the tablet stopped it...
I remember each time since then when the anxiety picked up that I need not worry as there was now a glass ceiling put in place by the tablet that stopped the anxiety turning into a full blown attack.
Having since been off the tablets for 3 years, I can safely say the one thing that's stayed with me since then is the glass ceiling, I still have bad days where I do get really worked up but each time it hits that point and never manages to escalate further.
I am so grateful as you can imagine!
Needless to say although I am a lot better than I was, I am still by no means 'cured'...
As I am writing this, I am sitting in my bedroom on a Monday afternoon, where I was meant to be at work but the stupid thing decided to get me this morning, while in the shower getting ready for work. Felt like my heart was going to explode out of my chest and next thing it's just another sick day...
I haven't had weeks and weeks off because of it but I've definitely had more days off than my colleagues at work. Thankfully my manager is understanding but I know there's only so much understanding they can do until they start to lose hope on me.
I had heard from a few sources that meditation is a good shout to try, well being that I'm not at work today I thought I would use this as day 1 of meditating me.
I have just signed up to headspace and done the 1st 10 minute session. I have to say I feel like I've had a nap after that!
I am going to stick with it and hopefully it helps me further.
Well that's a not so short update on my past 3 years, people need not reply, I just like to vent every so often and this seems like a good a place as any to do it.
Have a good, clear free mind day people! :)
So I tried the 10 free introduction sessions on headspace and decided not to take the plunge and pay for it.
My reasons are as follows:
- It is asking me to sit there and assess how I feel in my body and this was just bringing the anxiety on as I would feel the slightest of twitches and the anxiety would start.
- It was asking to take these deep breathes and to concentrate on them but again this is something that is just a trigger
I've been having moments occur a bit more frequently as of late, so have decided to give counselling a go. Going to meet with a family friend tomorrow, she going to assess me then recommend who she thinks would be best for me to try.
Will update this thread with how I get on :)
Hey!
I had psychotherapy alongside my medication, when I first started. I believe I had ten sessions in all. It really helped me. How did you find your physical withdrawal symptoms from sertraline?
little scientist
30-01-17, 11:32
Hi Brownin, great to hear you have managed to stay off the tablets! Before Christmas, my GP and I discussed reducing my dose in the new year towards feb/march time when the days are getting longer. I'm on 150mg, so we don't have masses of room for manouver if I find I need an increase in dose. She'd emphasised March, but over the past few weeks I have been thinking more and more that I want to start the reduction sooner rather than later, but I had been having one major reservation - it's approaching the 1 year anniversary of my Dad dying.
But at the weekend I weighed it up and decided to start the reduction - I take 3 x 50mg tablets, and decided to start by reducing my dose by 25mg, ie half a tablet, so here I am on day 2!
I know my Dad's anniversary is coming up, but it is one day, and I am so proud of how I handled the death itself. Grief is a strange thing - I had visions of it being like how we see it on the TV - people wailing etc, but that's usually in the case of sudden deaths. Dad's deterioration was so gradual, that I think I mentally prepared for it way before it actually happened, and once it had happened, I found ways of expressing my grief. I chose to blog about it because one thing that struck me is no one tells you how to grieve as an adult. I don't think many people have read the blog, but it was an outlet for me. I know I helped one friend as she lost a grandparent, just by talking to her and explaining the processes (both physical, and procedures such as care plans) of someone dying. Knowing I helped just one person made me feel so much better.
Sorry for the long ramble!
Hey!
I had psychotherapy alongside my medication, when I first started. I believe I had ten sessions in all. It really helped me. How did you find your physical withdrawal symptoms from sertraline?
Sorry it's taken so long to reply, I've not been on here since I last posted until now.
When I stopped the tablets both times, I just went cold turkey and tbh I didn't have any noticeable withdrawal symptoms I can think of. If anything I just gradually noticed improvements in myself in general. The side effects I had from being on the tablets went after maybe a week of coming off the tablets and I felt more human again.
I'm not saying going cold turkey is a good idea and I'm sure it's probably best to slowly come off them but I did this as I felt in myself I was ready and wanted rid of them asap.
Good luck with getting off of them and hopefully you don't need them again in the future. Life is much better without tablets :)
---------- Post added at 16:32 ---------- Previous post was at 16:23 ----------
Hi Brownin, great to hear you have managed to stay off the tablets! Before Christmas, my GP and I discussed reducing my dose in the new year towards feb/march time when the days are getting longer. I'm on 150mg, so we don't have masses of room for manouver if I find I need an increase in dose. She'd emphasised March, but over the past few weeks I have been thinking more and more that I want to start the reduction sooner rather than later, but I had been having one major reservation - it's approaching the 1 year anniversary of my Dad dying.
But at the weekend I weighed it up and decided to start the reduction - I take 3 x 50mg tablets, and decided to start by reducing my dose by 25mg, ie half a tablet, so here I am on day 2!
I know my Dad's anniversary is coming up, but it is one day, and I am so proud of how I handled the death itself. Grief is a strange thing - I had visions of it being like how we see it on the TV - people wailing etc, but that's usually in the case of sudden deaths. Dad's deterioration was so gradual, that I think I mentally prepared for it way before it actually happened, and once it had happened, I found ways of expressing my grief. I chose to blog about it because one thing that struck me is no one tells you how to grieve as an adult. I don't think many people have read the blog, but it was an outlet for me. I know I helped one friend as she lost a grandparent, just by talking to her and explaining the processes (both physical, and procedures such as care plans) of someone dying. Knowing I helped just one person made me feel so much better.
Sorry for the long ramble!
I'm sorry for your loss but it's good to hear you're not letting it beat you and are strong enough mentally now to take the steps to lowering your dosage. I personally didn't change the dosage, I was just on the tablets and then not. It's now April, have you managed to take the plunge?
The point about starting the blog, I completely agree. If you even help one person in the slightest by sharing your experiences then in my eyes it's been a success. It also works well as an outlet. It might not be counselling it but definitely helps you get it off your chest. Same reasons I started this thread a few years ago.
Keep up the good work and hopefully one day you will look back at this time, tablet free and remember it for the good times and not the bad :yesyes:
---------- Post added at 16:51 ---------- Previous post was at 16:32 ----------
Anyway, I said I would post an update after seeing a family friend about some counselling. In the end I attended 3 sessions, each being between 1-2 hours.
It was mostly just me getting a lot of stuff off my chest.
The main thing I took from the sessions was the fact that although I was going to work everyday and was doing fine in general life I had no outlet for stress or anger.
This was clearly building up inside and never being released.
I spoke to a friend who has the same type of anxiety issues and he agreed that if he doesn't go to the gym regularly that his tends to flair up more frequently.
It's now been 2 months since I last went to the counselling sessions and on the hole I've been a lot, lot better.
I have been going to the gym 3-4 times a week with football on a Sunday and have been a lot happier a long with a lot less stressed.
It's clear that my mind isn't good at dealing with stress and I'm easily angered, so need a regular release.
In the end we always find some sort of fix for the issues in hand.
Here's to the rest of this year anxiety free :winks:
Back to this thread again after all this time.
Well I've not touched a tablet in years now and have used other methods to help me.
This being said, it's still an on-going battle of many months being great then one day suddenly spiralling out of control and then the bad days returning again.
I spent a good part of last year bad and was off work for a good few months due to this.
I eventually got on top of things with help from counselling, my close ones and exercise, no tablets whatsoever.
I then had maybe September - June being great, touch wood no issues.
I then had a bad moment the start of July where I had a proper panic attack out of the blue while at work.
I went home for the day then missed the day after and since it's been really prominent on an almost daily basis.
I have contacted my counsellor for some more sessions in the hope that will help.
This may not be the cure this time but I'd sooner try counselling and/or other methods than resorting to going back on the meds.
I will post how I'm getting on over the coming weeks, once the counselling has started.
Fingers crossed!!!
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