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Thread: Off 150mg Sertralene for two months: When do side effects stop?

  1. #1

    Question Off 150mg Sertralene for two months: When do side effects stop?

    Hello,

    Much posting about people on early stages of withdrawal but a question:

    I was on 150mg of sertralene for two years. Suited me perfectly.

    I came off it pretty much cold turkey following ten months of weekly one to one counselling that made me feel stronger and more confident. Basically I wanted to entirely stand on my own two feet.

    Sure, I got the brain zaps and then after a month the tearful weeping tendency.

    It's over two months now and I still get these, which are bearable. What is less so is the insomnia.

    Sometimes I sleep for two hours but then am awake for five hours plus. Then descending into deep sleep about 7am, which isn't great.

    Since going on the Sertralene I've stopped watching tv as found it too 'busy'. I'm still tv free which is not a problem at all, it's just when I was on the tablets I could go to bed early (6pm or 8pm) and just sleep. Now sleep is a real issue for me.

    It's stressing me out.

    I want to scream and bang my head against things and thump the bed. I just want to sleep but can't.

    I never had a negative side effect when I was on the tablets, LOVED sleeping so well, LOVED the improvement in sexual function SO it is very tempting just to go back onto this drug...

    Anyone any idea when I should be over these withdrawel symptoms.

    PLEASE tell me they're not for life!!!

    And I know the 'half life' stats, but clearly there are major repercussions going on in my brain...I just want to know how much longer this could last.

    If another six months or more, I'm just going to go back on the tablets...it's not worth being clean with the reduced quality of life.

    THANK YOU :-)

  2. #2

    Re: Off 150mg Sertralene for two months: When do side effects stop?

    Hi,
    Well done for managing to come off it, I KNOW how difficult it is. I believe it's a great achievement and you should be proud of yourself.
    I have been on Sertraline for 10 years and it took me a very long time to come off. It was a horrible process and what I thought were the side effects never ended completely. To top it off, within 1 year I slipped back into the worst anxiety episode ever, plus a lot of depression. Which I am still fighting with the help of CBT (not happy with it, I feel like I am not bonding at all with my therapist).
    Is it for life? I certainly hope not, however when I was first put on Sertraline the psychiatrist told me I will probably have to be on it for my whole life (I was 20 then).
    I had to come off it because it turned me into this completely different person, lost my spark, became dull and not interested in anything at all. It affected my short term memory so badly that it scared me. I had no sexual appetite what so ever. Plus I always believed that no good can come from taking a pill everyday for so many years. I also hated that I was dependent on this medication and god forbid I missed a dose, the side effects were horrible and would affect me for a week.
    I am now confused in what to believe anymore. Are all these symptoms actual side effects of the Sertraline or is it anxiety that's causing them? Because I had them whilst on Sertraline, while coming off it and after. I don't know anymore.
    You have mentioned sleep problems, I must admit I have never had any issues with that. If anything, I probably sleep too much.
    Have you tried a natural remedy before to help with sleep problems? It might be worth thinking about it before you even consider going back on Sertraline. It is a serious drug that messes completely with our brains. They still can't say what the long term effects of it are, there needs to be more research done.
    Please let me know if I can help with anything.
    I wish you all the best and hope you will feel better soon!

  3. #3

    Re: Off 150mg Sertralene for two months: When do side effects stop?

    Hello hello hello :-)

    Thank you SO much for your reply, it means a lot to me.

    I appreciate the recommendation of not going straight back on the Sertralene. I'm soldiering on with the sleep issue but I think you're right, I should perhaps look at something that might help.

    It's weird for me as I really had zero bad effects from the drug when I was on it, but having had unpleasant effects of coming OFF I don't want to do this again in a hurry.

    Um, re your CBT counsellor, I can only share that I didn't initially click with mine...she seemed to quiet and not directing me enough, but actually she turned out to be brilliant, (certainly the whole ten months was a life transforming process). How long have you had yours and how often do you go?

    Don't kno what to say re your current situation re poss going back on meds. I was v lucky with my first drug being the one that sorted me (albeit I had to ramp up the dose twice).

    Could you go back on it but at a lower dose, so it doesn't take your spark away?

    Thank you again...although I still don't know how long I can expect this sleeplessness to continue (poss forever) I am really grateful for the time you took to post your thoughts etc.

    Best wishes,

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    30

    Re: Off 150mg Sertralene for two months: When do side effects stop?

    Hi Choccie_Lab
    I don't want to scare you but WD symptoms can go on for a long time.I cold turkeyed off 25mg zoloft in march 2012 and i'm still going through WD. If you want any more info, please let me know.
    R x

  5. #5

    Re: Off 150mg Sertralene for two months: When do side effects stop?

    Hey there.

    Thank you for your message.

    That's fine. You couldn't 'scare' me, but I guess good to be wished up to reality of withdrawel

    Best wishes.



    Sleepless in Shrewsbury, Shropshire

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
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    767

    Re: Off 150mg Sertralene for two months: When do side effects stop?

    SSRI withdrawal, for some people anyway, can persist for months after stopping abruptly. There seem to be three possible options you can take.
    1) Try to fight through the withdrawal - you may be free of withdrawal symptoms in a few more weeks, you never know. Exercise, regular sleep, limiting caffeine/alcohol is key here.

    2) Switch to prozac temporarily. Prozac has a longer half-life than sertraline and can be used as a substitute. To quote wikipedia:

    Substituting fluoxetine in the final stages of SSRI discontinuation, or post discontinuation, provides a rate of reduction of antidepressant which can minimize or eradicate withdrawal symptoms in the patient. Fluoxetine migrates slowly from the brain to the blood. The active metabolite of fluoxetine remains a long time in the brain because it is lipophilic, with a biological half-life of 4 to 8 days (the longest of any SSRI). Therefore the level of the drug in the body falls slowly at a rate to which the brain can adjust when the dosage is reduced. Fluoxetine is also available in a liquid formula, allowing the physician to titrate the drug with greater ease (e.g., with an oral syringe).
    3) Go back on setraline at a lower dose, say 50 or 75mg, stablise for 2 months, then come off it very slowly, over the course of 6 months to a year. There is a well-known website, 'paxil progress', which originally provided help for people coming off paroxetine, but many people visit it seeking withdrawal tips from other antidepressants. People there would recommend going back on the SSRI at a lower dose, stabilising, then coming off it very, very slowly.

    Good luck whatever route you decide to take!
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  7. #7
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    Re: Off 150mg Sertralene for two months: When do side effects stop?

    hi choccie lab- as Emphyrio says, wd can last a long time for some people. I ct'd off 25mg sert in march 2012 and i'm still having waves of WD symptoms in jan this year. Noone is sure how many people will struggle with this type of withdrawal problem. A lot of people think their original symptoms have returned and go back on the meds when it's actually withdrawal. For me I knew it was a WD issue as I'd been prescribed sert for depression and my wd symptoms were anxiety symptoms. In general the advice is to back on the drug which caused the wd problems. If you continue to have issues, as Emphyrio says, Paxil progress or surviving antidepressants.org are good sites to offer advice about reinstatements and weaning. Good luck x

  8. #8
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    Re: Off 150mg Sertralene for two months: When do side effects stop?

    Why did you decide to c/t off 25mg R4963? Did you never fancy going back on and doing a slow taper? Or have you switched to another anti-d?

    Its funny, because since 2003, the longest I've been off meds was 8 months. Looking back to how I was, its like the anxiety/depression/OCD thoughts have always been worse than they were before I went on medication. That's despite generally putting in place more positive lifestyle changes. I wonder how much of it was protracted withdrawal and how much was simply the background anxiety returning?

    I've been off meds for around 2 months now (bar a small period mid December when I tried to reinstance 5mg prozac, took it for 3 days, felt really agitated, so stopped). I've generally been doing better than thought I would, though I do sometimes have days where I feel my life would be better if I were on something else.
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  9. #9
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    Re: Off 150mg Sertralene for two months: When do side effects stop?

    hi Emphyrio
    My ct off the25mg sertraline was completely ridiculous. I'd had bad wd's coming down from50- 25mg and eventually stabilised for 3 months on the 25mg. I did buy a pill cutter but tapered down from 25 to 0 in a week for some crazy reason. What was i thinking - oh yeah get the hell off this stuff.The wd kicked in about 2 months drug free so i thought i could 'ride it out'. The thought of going back on to the drugs which caused the wd issues seemed crazy to me but was really what i should have done. Oh well hind sight is a wonderful thing! I know all my issues are wd. I was presecribed the sert for mild depression -no physical symptoms at all, but now i have all the classic symptoms of anxiety - body aches, raching heart, chest pains, pins and needles, numb limbs. Oh what fun!! Anyway from this cold turkey i'm looking at potentially 18 months to 3 years of this while my brain rebalances.
    If you decide to remain drug free bear in mind that any strange or really sever symptoms might be the WD not your native anxiety but it sounds like you're doing ok at the moment so fingers crossed for you x

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