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anxiety

Posted , 4 users are following.

tracey11164
tracey11164

Been on 200mgs of sertraline since Aug gradually cutting it down to 100 today had a not bad couple of wks but this morning anxiety is high any help pls

1 like, 16 replies

16 Replies

  • don45258
    don45258 tracey11164

    Posted

    Hi why are u cutting down ?
    • tracey11164
      tracey11164 don45258

      Posted

      Cutting it down cause was dizzy all the time the doc said it wasn't the sertraline but since I've cut it I'm not dizzy anymore but just seem to b a bit more anxious but I suppose that's cause reducing it
  • betsy0603
    betsy0603 tracey11164

    Posted

    When you say gradually cutting down to 100 mg, how are you doing that?  When did you last take 200 mg and what was your method of tapering?  I'm not familiar with this drug but I am familiar with withdrawal from psych meds, having gone through protracted WD from going off Effexor last year. I ended up on Mirtazapine due to the insomia, anxiety and depression, which were unlike any I had ever experienced before, very "organic," not based in reality.  I ended up reinstating a small dose of Effexor, which did the trick within an hour, a sure sign of dependency.   I had been on Effexor for 12 years, so my body was really dependent on it's presence and I went way too fast.  I since have learned tons about withdrawal from psych meds and tapering.

    Ironically, anxiety and depression are withdrawal symptoms making it tricky to recognize it as WD.  When we take these pills, the nervous system adapts to the action of the drug (blocking re-uptake of serotonin for instance by occupying receptors) by remodeling, increasing the number of neuron receptors to try to regain balance.  So, when you cut your drug by 50%, that is a huge amount of adaptation back again!  It takes time for this physiological adaptation to occur, in this case pruning back the number of receptors.  Meanwhile, side effects occur.

    There are people who take these drugs for reasons other than depression, yet they have depression when tapering down or going off.  Likewise, there are peoiple who take these drugs for depression, not anxiety, but have anxiety in withdrawal.

    So, if you could share your method of reducing, that would help.  Pretty sure you went too fast, though.  

    I found that Zoloft comes in 25 mgs, so ideally if you could ge a script for those, you could updose to 150 mg, stabilize for a few weeks, and then reduce by 25 mg every few weeks.  It may be that WD does really start until 14 days out for you, so you'd want to see how long it takes to feel good again, and then not reduce until you've felt good for at least a week before cutting again.

    Of course, you could just wait this out and see if your system adapts.

    I follow a 10% reduction schedule recommended by authorities on psych drug withdrawal; the purpose of this is to reduce discomfort.  I still get withdrawal symptoms, but they are far more tolerable.

    I hope this helps!

     

    • tracey11164
      tracey11164 betsy0603

      Posted

      Well I had a nervous breakdown 20 yrs ago and was sectioned for 6wks and have been 9n 100mgs of sertraline since then but bk in Aug my doc gave me hrt by accident and it sent me into panic attacks anxiety u name it so he told me too go straight to 200 which I did but made me feel awfull so after a mth I brome the tablets in half and reduced by 25mgs every 3wks and havnt been to bad till last few days and anxiety high again x
    • betsy0603
      betsy0603 tracey11164

      Posted

      That taper wasn't too bad, then.  You were on sert the last 20 years?  I would say that you are experiencing withdrawal, and to know that it may take some time but that you should return to how you were on 100 mg.  This may have sensitized your system, so in future, you should be very careful about adding any new meds or making changes.  One drug doesn't replace another.   The HRT threw your system into chaos, and then upping the dose by 100  mg added even more chaos, so it will take a bit of time for you to settle out. 

      I think the best thing you can do is calmly accept this, reminding yourself that this is not YOU, it is your body trying to recover.  Do you know what Newton balls are?  They are the series of balls on strings in a row, that when you pull the last one out and let it swing into the next ball, the force travels through the balls causing the last balls to swing; the balls in the middle stay relatively still.  Changing one element of our nervous system can have such reverberations, affecting a bunch of other hormones and neurotransmitters, enzymes, etc., and it will take time for the waves to settle down to normal.  Sorry for the geeky explanation, hope you followed!

    • Mrs.M
      Mrs.M betsy0603

      Posted

      Great explanation! Thanks 😊 I'm on 100mg sertraline and want to come off so am going to taper real slow ...
    • tracey11164
      tracey11164 betsy0603

      Posted

      Thanku makes really good sense u explained it really well cause I was beginning to think I was losing my marbles x
    • betsy0603
      betsy0603 tracey11164

      Posted

      Like I said, WD tricks us!  I hope it all settles out for you soon :-)
    • don45258
      don45258 betsy0603

      Posted

      Hi sounds like u have experienced this be for I'm on the withdrawal at the moment I went fro 100 to 50 for 3 weeks then 25 for 4 weeks then 12.5 for 3 weeks now 12.5 every other day feel a bit low and dizzy at times but anxiety better any advice please
    • betsy0603
      betsy0603 don45258

      Posted

      Hi Don, each cut you've made was a 50% cut, and now that you are at the lower end, the 50% cuts have a more dramatic affect.  It has to do with the fact that at the minimum effective dose, your receptors are still blocked by 80%!  The minimum for sert is 25 mg.  At 10 mg your occupancy is only around 35%, so you can that a huge drop has occured that your system must adapt to at 12.5 mg!  Alternating days is not a recommended reduction strategy because it causes too much chaos - withdrawal, then back up, then withdrawal, then back up - your system doesn't have a chance to down-regulate!  I would recommend going back to 12.5 mg daily, settling out, and then doing a smaller taper from there.

      See if you can get a script from your doc for the liquid version.  With a proper dosing syringe that measures mls and 10ths of mls, you would now want to take no less than 20% of your previous dose.  

      I will send you a link in your messages to a support forum that can give you help specifically with how to proceed with your taper for the greatest chance of success with minimal withdrawal effects.

    • don45258
      don45258 betsy0603

      Posted

      It's so nice to meet someone that knows what their on about thanks so much what do u think about sertraline?
    • betsy0603
      betsy0603 don45258

      Posted

      Thank you, Don - my pleasure.  I don't have an opinion about sert since I have no direct experience with it.  I have been on Prozac, Wellbutrin, Effexor and Remeron (mirtazapine).  I can tell you that the experience of withdrawal is similar no matter what drug.  They all affect receptors by blocking re-uptake of serotonin (the SSRIs) or blocking secretion of neurotransmitters, etc.  Any interference with neurotransmitters, no matter the mechanism, causes the nervous system to remodel in an effort to restore balance, true when starting/increasing the drug, and true when reducing or going cold turkey.  Cold turkey is of course not recommended, ever, for the reasons I have explained.

      Just spend some time on the forums here for your drug and you will see all kinds of threads about the side effects on start up, as well as the troubles with coming off (usually too fast).  Interestingly, the side effects on start up are often similar to the ones coming off! 

      The main point in all of this is that these drugs are very powerful, and the doctors pass them out like candy but really have no understanding of withdrawal and the proper way to get people off.  The drug companies certainly don't educate them about this!  The drug companies want us on them for life - $$$!

      Sorry to blather on and on - I feel very pationately about this and want to help folks avoid grave suffering of coming off too fast!

    • don45258
      don45258 betsy0603

      Posted

      Thanks you are a very intelligent person and you've given me a positive vibe you are what I've been Loki g for for a long time I was on citalapram for many years then it stopped working 2 years ago since then I've tried Prozac matrazapine lexepro ecitalapram now sertraline with no joy it's been 2 bad years gp was just giving me different ones when nothing seemed to work so I've decided that after trying all these med in such a short space of time can't be good for my brain so I've decided to go med free and do it the natural way eat good exercise and Cbt thanks again keep in touch I'm guessing your from the USA hopefully I will be their 1 day I have 2 brothers in Miami in in the UK
    • betsy0603
      betsy0603 don45258

      Posted

      So very much my pleasure to help! Yes, I'm in the US.  Definitely check in at surviving antidepressants because you will get all the help you need there from people who have been dealing with this and advising for many years! You won't be alone on your journey from here on out.  Forget if I gave you the link - my brain still doesn't work very welll LOL!

       

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