sertraline withdrawal

[R4963]

I just had to register with this site and post my experiences of withdrawal. I'm okay at the moment but when i was going through the worst of it, threads like these were the only thing i wanted to look at, as I felt so alone so thank you to everyone who has shared their experiences. There must be so many people out there going through the same thing. I started on 50mg sertraline July 2011 and in December 2011 i suspected I was pregnant. I immediately decided I had to stop taking it but knowing I should wean off, reduced my dose down to 25mg. It turned out that I wasn't pregnant but as I'd already started reducing I decided to continue. Even though i'd reduced my dose by 25mg only, I felt the worst I;d ever felt in my entire life. I couldn't eat for 3 weeks, had the shakes, dizzy,migranes, tingling legs, woke up with numb arms and legs and had stabbing pains in my chest and stomach. Before taking the drug I'd never actually experienced a panic attack but these came regularly and boy are they AWFUL. I asked my husband to take me to A and E in the middle of the night one night. I had to go off work sick for 2 weeks and really really struggled to look after my kids.Anyhow i stabilised after about 3 weeks and then decided I couldn'y cope with anything like that again for a while. So a couple of weeks ago I ordered a pill cutter and cut the 25mg into 4 and have been taking fish oils and i have been reducing by i guess 6.5/7mg a week and so far the only thing i'm experiencing is the numb arms and legs in the middle of the night and a mild headache and the ear pressure thing which is manageable. I'm on 12.5mg at the mo so i really hope in a few weeks i'll be off completely. I have never written on any health forum at all before this i just can not believe I was never told about these potential withdrawals. If you look online i imagine people do get through eventually- there are some who say they are having problems years down the line but hopefully the majority of us will be okay. Good luck everyone

[carlos2011]

Hi all,

Hope you don't mind me bumping this post. I won't bore you with all the details..It's just a quick question to anyone still on here who's recently come off them.

I stopped taking them 2 days ago, I was on 100mg for 8 months, Doctor told me to take 50mg for 2 weeks (all good), I then did 25mg for a week. The side effects (I assume) are starting. I just feel really hot, like I'm coming down with something, burning ears. Like a hangover feeling too, headaches, a bit of health anxiety. I assume this will go eventually? I nearly gave in and had a tablet tonight.

Is this normal?

Any advice would be great..Shall I just tough it out? I stopped taking them as they weren't doing a lot for me, and they caused me massive insomnia. I was only on them as I've an eye condition (bad bad floaters from PVD) and suffering from lightheadedness, doctor thought it was anxiety..usual story. I'm having eye surgery in a couple of months, so I figured the problem should be solved so I no longer need to rely on tablets.

Cheers

Carl

[Gotagetthroughthis]

Hi guys, hope you don't mind me bringing this thread back up.

I have recently starting coming off Sertraline and I am on 25mg day on day off now after coming down form 75mg. I will stop taking it completely in the next couple of weeks.

My anxiety is still at bay, no major panic or severe anxiety, generally calm most of the time. I do have quite a foggy head though and I feel like i'm becoming increasingly down and depressed.

I don't want coming off the meds to cause me to become depressed instead of anxious. Has anyone experienced feeling really low as they come off there meds?

I suppose it is understandable as there will be less Serotonin (happy brain chemical) in my system. Just hope its not permanent.

[AmyVick]

Not sure anyone will still be reading this. I just wondered how people had got on now it's been over a year since the first post. I came off sertraline 2 weeks ago, cold turkey. I've previously tried tapering the dose but the effects were the same so I figured I may as well just come off them completely. I must admit, I feel awful! Headaches, sickness, anxiety, insomnia etc - literally every withdrawal symptom they list in Wikipedia I have! I'm going to my docs tomorrow as I read somewhere that taking a tablet such a fluoxetine (with a longer half life) can actually intervene with these symptoms and is easier to taper the dose. Has anyone tried this? I'm so close to caving in and taking sertraline again as I can't cope with this is and it's interfering massively with my life. Any assurances would be great right now!

[babsbythebay]

I have been taking Sertraline 50mg once a day for about 8 years. My prescription ran out, and my insurance plan changed, so I decided to give it up cold turkey.
Mood wise I feel okay. The "brain zaps" are quite annoying and it's been about three weeks since I stopped taking it. I am hoping my moods stay even and my anxiety stays in check.

[Select]

Hi I am getting brain zaps from coming of an anti depressant and someone mentioned trying fish oil with high DPA and EPH. I thought why not and do you know it actually has worked