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Are these side affects

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liannecar
liannecar

Hi, looking for advice and piece of mind please. My mum had recently started taking Sertraline 50mg. Going into 4th week tomorrow. Previous to that she was on mitrazapine for 10 years for anxiety and was then swapped to Citalopram as she got depression around 6 months ago. Was crying all the time but didn't know what for. She was on Citalopram for around 5 months. Started citalopram on 20mg, then Dr upped dosage to 30mg because she was like a moody teenager on 20mg. Whilst on 30mg she was so spaced out I was concerned for her going out on her own. So back to Dr to be put on 10mg citalopram, which she was on for about 8 weeks. She was changed again by another Dr to Sertraline 3 weeks ago and the things she is doing is really causing me concern. My mum used to be so energetic and you could not keep her in the house. Always out and about shopping etc. Now she won't leave the house unless I take her. Last time she left the house on her own was over 4 weeks ago. I have to buy all her food shopping and now in the last few weeks she has stopped cooking for herself. She tells me she had eaten but I know she hadn't as I buy the food and know what is in the fridge. My mum lives alone and is only 58 years young. I have to call her every morning from work to remind her to take her tablets and that is a battle, as some days she won't answer the phone. I work 50 hrs a week and takes me over 1hr 45 mins to get from work to her house if I can't get hold of her to take her tablets. I used to visit every weekend. In the last couple of weeks I started seeing her on a Wednesday. This last week I gave been there 6 out of 7 nights. In the last 6 months her memory has been quite bad and she gets very confused. Also find her mumbling to herself or talking about herself like a third person. She has had a brain scan and Dr ruled out dementia and alzheimers but she does have alcohol brain damage as she used to be a heavy drinker. Not had a drink now for over 6 months. I am also worried about the amount of sleeping she is doing. She will sleep most of the day away and the telephone ringing or knocking on the door will not wake her. She has forgotten birthdays even mine her own daughter and had no interest in Xmas at all. I had to take over and arrange everything and she thought I was making fun of her when I put the Xmas tree up and said It wasn't Xmas. Sorry for the big long post. It's my first time posting on a forum. Just getting myself in a state worrying over my mum. So much so that the Dr has suggested several times that I make an appointment with her for help as I am now on the verge. It's a vicious circle as I am making myself ill worring. Thanks in advance for your replies.

1 like, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • Tracy7338
    Tracy7338 liannecar

    Posted

    Hello Lianne it does sound like you have a lot to contend with. The symptoms you are describing don't sound like any I have ever seen or had on Sertraline but we are all different so someone else might have experienced something similar. I think if you don't get the help you so obviously need you are going to make yourself ill and then you will be no use to your Mum. You can't do all this on your own, be kind to yourself and get the help you need. Hope things improve for you and your Mum
  • betsy0603
    betsy0603 liannecar

    Posted

    Oh your poor mum!  She is a victim of polypharmacy and withdrawal!  When a person is on mirt for 10 years, you don't just stop it and switch to another drug that works entirely differently!  She likely is in withdrawal from mirtazapine but things have been complicated by adding and switching other drugs!  They each have their side effects which are heaped on top of the mirt withdrawal symptoms!  It is terrible that p-docs know nothing of this, won't recognize it, and answer symptoms with more drugs!  

    How long has she been off the mirt now, and why was she switched to begin with?  I can guess that it was because of tolerance withdrawal, where the same amount of drug causes withdrawal symptoms.  We also call it "poop out."   The withdrawal symptoms include depression and anxiety, which is why doctors mistakenly see it as a relapse of the old condition and switch drugs.  The proper response is to do a slow taper off mirt, which in itself can relieve some of those poop-out withdrawal symptoms. 

    It it hasn't been too long, the best bet may be to reinstate a small amount of mirt.

    • jeffrey66255
      jeffrey66255 betsy0603

      Posted

      Betsy,

      Poop out withdrawal? Interesting. Can that happen with Sertraline, particularly the withdrawal symptoms?

      I began taking Zoloft 15 years ago. It was prescribed as prophylaxis for a medical treatment that caused severe depression. 13 months later, when I finished the treatment, I did not stop the Sertraline because of its unintended effect - it stopped the panic attacks I previously had been experiencing.

      Recently, over the last 3 years, I have titrated the dose up and down per varying degrees of depression. This seemed to work, at least until recently. About 6 weeks ago, I woke up very depressed, and the rest is history. I have been experiencing severe, agonizing depression ever since. My God, the pain has been unbearable. It does subside in the early evening. However, no matter how good I feel when I go to bed, I know what I will wake to in the morning.

      So, in like in the past when I would slowly titrate the Sertraline dose up, I took the advise of a PCP and increased the dose 50mg quickly to 175mg from 125mg, and what happened scared the bejesus out of me. I became so fatigued, that I couldn't move. I was also nauseous. I thought I was dying. I still feel weak after decreasing the dose a week ago to where it was originally. I can't seem to get all of my strength back, and I'm still scared.

      You seem to have a good knowledge base. Any words of wisdom? More than that, any words of comfort?

      Jeffrey

    • betsy0603
      betsy0603 jeffrey66255

      Posted

      Hi Jeffrey, absolutely this happens with all the ADs, especially the SSRIs/SNRIs and atypicsls from Prozac onward.  All of them cause the brain to remodel in their presence as the brain likes homeostatis of neurochemicals and these drugs actually create imbalance by blocking receptors.  Why poop out occurs, I don't fully understand.  I have read it described as the nervous system becoming intolerant of the drug, and I have also read that dosage increases can go paradoxical perhaps for this reason.  Oddlly enough, for some reason the patient can actually start to feel BETTER by tapering the drug once poop-out has occured.  

      You might want to visit the withdrawal forum I have mentioned elsewhere, Surviving Antidepressants.  There's a link to them in this thread:

      https://patient.info/forums/discuss/depression-resources-298570

      Go to the Reducing ADs using 10% withdrawal method in that thread and it will take you to that forum.

      I have learned by my own trial by fire and am still learning, and believe me, there's much to learn!  If you go to that forum you will stumble across a paper published on occuancy rates of several SSRIs and venlafaxine, an SNRI.  It is in the Symptoms and Self-Care sub-forum, and really explains why we start to really get destabilized once we begin to drop below the minimum effective dose of these drugs.  Very interesting!

    • jeffrey66255
      jeffrey66255 betsy0603

      Posted

      Thank you, Betsy,

      It was kind of you to respond in such detain. What about the extreme fatigue I began experiencing when I increased the Zoloft. Is that usual? How long might it take for me to get my strength back? I decreased the dose back to where it was about a week ago..

      Jeffrey

    • betsy0603
      betsy0603 jeffrey66255

      Posted

      I can't really answer that, Jeffrey.  There is no formula with this stuff, unfortunately.  Everyone is different, there are so many variables, etc.  Drowsiness, dizziness, and tired feeling are listed as less serious side effects of Zoloft.  I wonder if the ups and downs in dosage over the years have sensitized you to it so that this latest updose caused this problem when it hadn't in the past.  

      Changes in dosge, switching between meds, going off and on, long duration, going to a high dose etc. are all risk factors for sensitizing to a drug.  I think I set myself up similarly to you, in that I had gone way up on Effexor, then tapered back down, and then went up again slightly before doing a fast taper off.  I didn't have blatant withdrawal up front; it took time to build up steam, and boy, I NEVER want to experience that again in my life! 

  • paul89462
    paul89462 liannecar

    Posted

    I have just stopped sertraline could not stick it any longer. Anxiety, loss of appitite,weight loss, dry mouth, bowel problems and abdomen cramps. I too could not even get out of the house. I ended up having to see a consultant about my bowel and when I told him I was on sertraline he just shook his head and said his mother-in-law was on it and had similar problems and he told her to stop. The end of the story is sertraline exasperated a problem I have and now I need opperation to sort it out. Why did my doctor not just think.
  • maureen75524
    maureen75524 liannecar

    Posted

    I agree with betsy your other is in w.d from mirt.  sertraline is not compensating for the w.d.  My son must went through a similar situation.  He was on effexor, his psychiatrist switched him to another drug.  He spent the enitre Christmas break in bed with w.d. from effexor.  he made an appt. with his psychiatrist as soon as he returned after xmas.  He told him only 10% of his patients have such a sensitive reaction, thus he never mentioned it to my son.  He then gave him a drug that counters w.d. symptoms.  My son took one and in an hour he was up and about doing things. Your mother maybe needs a similar treatment.  Is she seeing a psychiatrist or a G.P.?   

    I had my own trials on sertraline, ruined two years of my life.  A good link on this forum is "sertraline withdrawal does it ever go away"?  It may work for her though once she gets rid of the w.d. from the mirt.  I have a friend who has been on it 20 years for depression, and it's woprked for her.  

    I know it's a worry been through it with my son, however inquire about the drug to counteract w.d..  if she's not seeing a psychiatrist, try and get an appt.  or have her hospitalized until her meds. are stabilized.  Worry with my son put me over the edge, don't let it happen to you, take steps to improve her life and yours will also improve.  Keep us posted ~ hugs.

    • betsy0603
      betsy0603 maureen75524

      Posted

      Hi Maureen, 

      I'm sorry your son went through that, and I think his p-doc is way off on his numbers!  Anyway, could you find out what that drug is that counteracted the withdrawal?  Many of us would love to know!  Having gone through my own horror story of withdrawal from Effexor, I'd love to know what that was for the future.  It is not something that doctors know automatically, or we'd hear more about this drug!  Thanks!  I'm glad your son is doing better.  Withdrawal from these drugs can really bring you to your knees!

  • mary15481
    mary15481 liannecar

    Posted

    She needs to see the doctor pronto and you need to be a strong advocate. It does take time for the Seratraline to kick in but by three weeks she should be showing signs of improvement. The depression seems pretty bad. I would suggest writing down everything you just said and give it to the doctor ahead of time. They just don't always have enough time during and appointment and you have to be the insistent voice for her. Could she be drinking again? 
  • ilda1982
    ilda1982 liannecar

    Posted

    I was on sertraline for nearly 2yrs and after a few months I was great me again. I stopped last year October 2015. But it looks like I need to go back on themsad yes beginning is not great but it's worth a try. I love them so much that I want to go back on them.
    • betsy0603
      betsy0603 ilda1982

      Posted

      ilda, why did you stop taking them?  You are in the time frame after stopping that you are likely in withdrawal, which mimics depression and anxiety. Yes, you may need to go back on but for reasons other than you think.  If you restart, start at the very lowest dose and give it time.  

      If you chose to come off, you still can, but you likely did a too-fast taper last time.  Once you stabilize, you can then do a VERY SLOW taper.  It is recommended to do 10% of your previous dose per month, only cutting if you are feeling STABLE.  Doctors mess us up with their tapers because they tell us to cut by 50%, which is too much for the nervous system to handle all at once, and then they have us cut TOO OFTEN, usually while we are still having wd effects from the last cut!  Instability on top of instability!  Then, when the withdrawal lasts longer than 2 months they tell us we have relapsed and must go back on.  So yes, hair of the dog that bit you but then get stable and taper much more slowly!

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