Cold Turkey off 100mg Sertraline day 6
Posted , 29 users are following.
I have read so many blogs and took the courage to go cold turkey myself, but it is different for me so I thought I should post a blog to help others. It is day 6 off 100mg sertraline (been on them for two and a half years)
I didn'd understand what the brain 'zaps' were - I do now - it is like being connected to a very slight electrical current - not anything too bad 
When I move I get a slight electrical feeling in my hands, I feel a bit like my reactions are slow (when I get up to move it feels like it takes a nanno second before my brain cathes up) I am lucky as I am not working at the moment and have not children so I can take it easy. I have had some great dreams and am sleeping a lot too. My mood is ok and I am eating, slepping, looing and everything all ok. Day 6 shall post again daily - hope this helps others
5 likes, 37 replies
Ice61040 Guest
Posted
I hope you are doing well. I wanted to reach out as I too am thinking of quitting cold turkey. How long have you had withdrawal symptoms and are you still having them?
nicole73512 Guest
Posted
I can't express how happy & relieved I am to have come across this discussion.
I haven't taken my usual 100mg of sertraline for a week now. I struggle to explain to everyone around me how i feel but everyone on here has summed it up perfectly for me.
I have recently met someone who has been on the same medication and her support and understanding and the support and shoulder to cry on from my boyfriend has made the process slightly easier for me.
Before sertraline I was on 50g of citalopram and cold turkey'd off them, after about 4 weeks I loved feeling like I was connected to everyone around me again... unfortunately I agreed with my GP to go back in medication due to my anxiety affecting my studies.
Just seeing that people have got through it makes me feel so much more positive about the situation. I've have always suffered with headaches but I cannot explain the pain my in now, I slept from 3:00am - 6:00pm tonight and I still feel like I could sleep for days.
I've struggled with severe low mood but I'm starting to learn triggers to avoid them.
Does anyone have any tips on how to get through this? I barely eat, drink, I sleep constantly but all I want to do is get on with my life.
Thanks,
Nicole ?
yvette56575 Guest
Posted
hello I hope these are still active 🙈 I'm on day 3 of going cold turkey and I feel awful, I was weaned down to 100 and it took so long that I decided this must be better especially after being told I seemed so indifferent to my children (by my husband) he's concerned about me. so we decided it was time this ended. how long on average did it take everyone to stop getting the bad side effects. I wasn't able to walk my youngest to school today xxx
tonyfla Guest
Posted
I am quite surprised there isnt a medication to help offset the brain zaps and speed up recovery and dependancy of sertraline. Has anyone weened off sertraline with minimal side effects and effectively taken control back of their life?
I literally feel like Im pharma doped all the time and do not like it at all. Id rather work on anxiety issues through working out or other methods than this terrible sertaline.
How long does it take to quit cold turkey and how long to ween off?
Tashaz89 Guest
Posted
Hi guys just wondering how everyone went?
I've been on sertraline since February this year.
It's been found that I'm extremely sensitive to these medications and after a breakdown I ended up in hospital and was started on 25mg and have recently been taking 100mg.
I was bumped up tp 150mg as it was doing nothing for me and surprise surprise I reacted badly to the increase.
Was instructed to go back to 100mg and as of today it is day 2 cold turkey resulting from feeling like the drug is doing nothing for me and that I'm not being listened too from my treating team.
I'm also on quetiapine and propranolol.
I suffer bpd, ptsd, chronic anxiety and major depression.
I'm sick of putting yet another drug into my body that isn't helping.
Every other antideppressant I've reacted horribly too and sertraline was the first I didn't react badly too but I'm also gaining no good from it either 😒
tammie67872 Tashaz89
Posted
Tashaz89 tammie67872
Posted
Hi Tammie!
Yes still detoxing, I was changed to yet another psychiatrist and that appointment didn't go down well so I went to my gp and he gave me valium to help with the brain snaps and it has also helped with rapid mood changes thank God.
I've been given a referral to go and see my original psychiatrist so hopefully once I see him it will all be sorted.
I flat out refuse to put anymore zoloft in my body though.
Can't say I'm feeling any better though unfortunately.
jodie05526 Guest
Posted
How is everyone getting on?
Has anyone gotten better?
stef29612 jodie05526
Posted
Hi Jodie! I was on 50MG for about 3 to 4 months for anxiety. My doctor said that I could quit anytime as I was on a small dosage. I decided I wasn't getting benefit so I "quit" (I still had about 30 pills left).
I simply stopped taking them and forgot all about it...until day 2 I noticed weird little "zaps" that weren't going away, and by the end of day 3 they were severe and frequent enough that I had a pill to make them stop.
I noticed that the pill did make the zaps stop after about 5-6 hours.
So while *SOME* people can quit cold turkey...others simply CANNOT.
-
For doctors to cut rx intake by 50%, for those that have issues quitting, is absolutely out of order. That's draconian and borderline inhumane.
Here is how I've lessened my dose:
I noticed that I could go 2-3 days without the zaps getting really bad. So that's what I did.
ON, off, off, ON, off, off, off, ON off, off, off, off, ON, off off off off off.
Now I WISH that I had done this even slower than I did. I WISH that I had gone:
ON ON ON ON off.
ON ON ON off.
ON ON off.
ON off.
off off ON.
off off off ON.
off off off off ON.
But the bottom line is, the zaps take longer to come back each time, but when they do, they get really bad after 2-3 days just like when I first tried to quit.
-
Right now...I'm ON, off, off, off, off, off, off, off, off, off, ON
I went 9 days last time, and on day 10 I had 1 pill.
I'm 10 days since that last pill, and tomorrow will be day 11 and I'll need one again.
Zaps came back about 2 days ago, so they're right on queue. But I had a week free and clear of ANYTHING. I completely forgot all about it aside from noting in my journal that I was symptom-free.
I just try to stretch it an extra day each time if I can. So I'll be trying to push through until tomorrow if it doesn't get too bad by tonight. If I can't and I have to go 9 off and 1 ON again, so be it.
It's a lot better than it was...because now I literally go a whole week without a single zap, but then it starts back as strong as ever on day 7-8-9 getting worse and worse, until I have a pill.
Long story short, I'm taking 1 pill every 10 days right now.
-
Be patient with yourself. This is unlike anything I've ever seen in my life. The withdrawal is absolutely absurd, and I've read horror stories of people thinking that they can tough out withdrawal symptoms across spans of over a year. CLEARLY...this is unlike anything else.
I would consider that this drug does brain damage to some people, and some people need to have a whole lot of patience with the process of SLOWLY weening off.
This is why I say, for any doctor to prescribe a 50% decrease is absolutely insane for some people.
With my process, when symptoms get bad, I eat a pill and they disappear for days at a time. So I ALWAYS have that egress at my fingertips any time that I need it! This is GREATLY comforting in my process.
I can't imagine what it's like for someone to take a 50% hit and not get to ever take a full dose again. That's perpetual withdrawal, and like I said, people are YEARS and counting trying to re-normalize like that.
Play the long game, have patience, know that you're not alone, and consider yourself LUCKY if you find yourself 100% symptom free in a year's time.
-
From what I hear, after even a month's time, you can tell if someone can come off of it normally or not. Doctors should start prescribing a break after 3-4 weeks to see how the px will react. If wd symptoms persist, they should not be kept on this drug. There is something very wrong about it for some people.
jodie05526
Posted
I'm beheaded into my 7th month of withdrawals. Things have gotten a little easier.
Over the last few months I've had:
- Awful head pressure (like having your head in a vice)
- Ear, eyes and nose pressure
- Joint and muscle ache
- Blurred vision
- Panic attacks
- The sweats
- The shakes
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Clenching of the jaw
- Grinding teeth
- Burning skin
- Numbness In random body parts
- Fatigue
- Constant headaches
- Cramping/Pinching sensation in the brain and on the scalp
- Muscle twitches
- Tremors
- Blackouts
- Mini seizures
- Bouts of rage
- Suicidal/Homicidal ideation
The list goes on.
What I will say is sleep & nutrition are key in recovery. Try to exercise as often as possible. Even if it's just walking - it helps. Drink plenty of water.
If you have Facebook, join the group "Zoloft (sertraline) should be illegal"
They have been my life savers and main support system these last few months.
DO NOT QUIT COLD TURKEY. JUST DON'T. DON'T RISK IT. IT COULD KILL YOU OR DO SOME SERIOUS PERMANENT DAMAGE.
terri04327 Guest
Posted
I have been taking 200 mg of sertraline for 8 years. I havebeen off it for 4 days and I'm not sure I can continue. This womp womp crap in my head is reallytoo much. Any advice please.
stef29612 terri04327
Posted
Check out my advice do Jodie in my above post.
For you, you'll want to go back on your 200MG full dose (not sure if 4 days is enough for you to go 150 MG for a week before stepping back up to 200MG?? Check that out...)
But basically you'll want to go back to 200MG until your symptoms are all gone, (about 3-4 weeks.)
Then, you'll need a 150 MG px along with your 200MG.
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Etcetera.
I know, it seems unbelievable.
I know, it seems illogical.
I know, that there is no rational thought-process that would have a normal person thinking that this kind of taper is necessary.
All I can tell you is my own empirical findings on the matter, and the fact of the matter is, I'm symptom free for 7-8-9 days until the come back as strong as ever and I need to take a pill to make them stop.
It's irrational that someone could need 2 pills in 20 days. Why not just QUIT? Because these withdrawals are unlike anything that I've ever seen. I don't think that we can even call it "withdrawal" at this point. "brain damage" is what I would liken it to. This isn't normal. This isn't simple detox. There is something severe going on.
It hasn't escaped my notice that the people that had symptoms for over years don't come back to let us know that the matter is resolved. I'm not saying they went insane and jumped off a bridge...I am saying that there are suspicious few success stories pertaining to people that had months and months and even years of withdrawal symptoms coming back to let us know that everything worked out.
So HAVE PATIENCE. Keep a journal. And plan on this being a long term plan for stopping this medication.
The bottom line is, in my process of quitting, I get to have egress after a few rough days of symptoms. This "cut by 50% nonsense" or "cold turkey" method doesn't allow for those few days of peace.
Any of you people trying to cut by 50% or go cold turkey, you people must be going damned near insane with no end in sight.
Hopefully this alternative process of quitting, helps.
laetitia_1 stef29612
Posted
Hi stef. I was on Zoloft for over 15 years. When I weaned off (from 50 mg to zero), I did so very gradually, over the course of about 2 years, and I experienced no adverse effects whatsoever. I'm not saying the Zoloft is great; but I think that it's not worse than most antidepressants: the response to most antidepressants varies from person to person.
karen74226 terri04327
Posted
I have also been on 200mg of sertraline for 8 years and want off but I’m down to 150mg and on day 7 of these and feel awful at times just with 50mg drop in dosage. The brain zaps are the worst for me. Dreading going down another 50mg and even thinking of going back up to 200 mg. badly want off of them
stef29612 Guest
Posted
I was on a measly dose of 50MG for a measly 3 to 4 months (for anxiety). My doctor said that I could quit anytime as I was on a small dosage.
I decided I wasn't getting benefit so I "quit" (I still had about 30 pills left).I simply stopped taking them and forgot all about it...until day 2 I noticed weird little "zaps" that weren't going away, and by the end of day 3 they were severe and frequent enough that I had a pill to make them stop.
I noticed that the pill did make the zaps stop, completely, after about 5-6 hours.
So while *SOME* people can quit cold turkey...others simply CANNOT.
-
For doctors to cut rx intake by 50%, for those that have issues quitting, is absolutely out of order. That's draconian and borderline inhumane.
Here is how I've lessened my dose:
I noticed that I could go 2-3 days without the zaps getting really bad. So that's what I did.
ON, off, off, ON, off, off, off, ON off, off, off, off, ON, off off off off off.
Now I WISH that I had done this even slower than I did. I WISH that I had gone:
ON ON ON ON off.
ON ON ON off.
ON ON off.
ON off.
off off ON.
off off off ON.
off off off off ON.
But the bottom line is, the zaps take longer to come back each time, but when they do, they get really bad after 2-3 days just like when I first tried to quit.
-
Right now...I'm ON, off, off, off, off, off, off, off, off, off, ON
I went 9 days last time, and on day 10 I had 1 pill.
I'm 10 days since that last pill, and tomorrow will be day 11 and I'll need one again.
Zaps came back about 2 days ago, so they're right on queue. But I had a week free and clear of ANYTHING. I completely forgot all about it aside from noting in my journal that I was symptom-free for 7 straight days.
I just try to stretch it an extra day each time if I can. So I'll be trying to push through until tomorrow if it doesn't get too bad by tonight. If I can't and I have to go 9 off and 1 ON again, so be it.
It's a lot better than it was...because now I literally go a whole week without a single zap, but then it starts back as strong as ever on day 7-8-9 getting worse and worse, until I have a pill.
Long story short, I'm taking 1 pill every 10 days right now.
-
Be patient with yourself. This is unlike anything I've ever seen in my life. The withdrawal is absolutely absurd, and I've read horror stories of people thinking that they can tough out withdrawal symptoms across spans of over a year.
CLEARLY...this is unlike anything else.
I would consider that this drug does brain damage to some people, and some people need to have a whole lot of patience with the process of SLOWLY weening off.
This is why I say, for any doctor to prescribe a 50% decrease is absolutely insane for some people.
With my process, when symptoms get bad, I eat a pill and they disappear for days at a time. So I ALWAYS have that egress at my fingertips any time that I need it! This is GREATLY comforting in my process.
I can't imagine what it's like for someone to take a 50% hit and not get to ever take a full dose again. That's perpetual withdrawal, and like I said, people are YEARS and counting trying to re-normalize like that.
Play the long game, have patience, know that you're not alone, and consider yourself LUCKY if you find yourself 100% symptom free in a year's time.
-
From what I hear, after even a month's time, you can tell if someone can come off of it normally or not. Doctors should start prescribing a break after 3-4 weeks to see how the px will react. If wd symptoms persist, they should not be kept on this drug. There is something very wrong about it for some people.