coming off Sertraline after 8 weeks
Posted , 4 users are following.
hello all ,
i have decided to come off sertraline after 8 weeks after being prescribed for panic attacks and general anxiety .. feeling completly numb with no emotion , constantly having to think about the right word to use when speaking and overall feeling quite dumb
in conjunction with this i have been seeing a phych and eating well /exercising , aswell as mindfullness meditation
i have now been off it for 5 days - getting a few brain zaps but the above side effects are what really bother me .. sleep is fine also
can anyone please advise with their experience and how long it took to get back to their ' old self ' after stopping?
any advise would be greatly appriciated
stay well
0 likes, 12 replies
Daisy121 jamesmichener
Posted
Hi James
I'm currently slowly coming off sertraline I was 100mg and now I'm 50mg I've been on theses for 18 years and want to come of them .i have all them symptoms too .but my sleep is bad .i worry that I've been on them so long if it had coursed me harm and that I will feel like this forever.
jamesmichener Daisy121
Posted
vicky20903 jamesmichener
Posted
jamesmichener vicky20903
Posted
Hi Vicky, the first two weeks I was only sleeping an hour or 2 a night .... And yes I now have what's called " eye floaters " and vision was quite blurry to begin with.. Starting to get better now .. How about you?
vicky20903 jamesmichener
Posted
I can't sleep at all can't concentrate eyes blurry and dry I've onli taken one 12.5 dose
jamesmichener vicky20903
Posted
you just need to weigh up the pros on cons.. remember sleep is very important for recovery .. how long hacve you been taking it?
Ranger507 jamesmichener
Posted
jamesmichener Ranger507
Posted
around 6 weeks before i noticed a real difference ..
but in regards to coming off it, the brain naps are short moments of dizziness ...
steveromo jamesmichener
Posted
I'm also coming off 8 weeks. 50 mg for maybe 8 months or so. I cut cold turkey and it sucks. Mostly flu like symptoms fatigue, dizziness, inability to concentrate or think straight. I'm a writer so it really sucks feeling so affected.
At this point, I don't know if it's better to power through it and try to just get to the end of the tunnel or go back and start tapering properly. I feel like I've outlasted some other withdrawal effects, not able to fall asleep, anxiety etc, but this mental and physical fatigue is getting really hard to deal with. It feels like i've been sick for a month and a half straight without any signs of getting better. So now i don't know what the best thing to do is.
Part of me wants to go back even at a much smaller dose just to try and stem some of the side effects but another part of me doesn't want to take a step back and just wants to stick it out until the end. Problem is, I don't know when or where the end is. any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Daisy121 steveromo
Posted
I'm with you it's horrible I don't no how I'm meant to be feeling anymore.but determined to carry on and not go back .i also can't go wrong ff to sleep have horrible thoughts and am waking through the night .im having hot sweats too .
jamesmichener steveromo
Posted
yes it is a tricky one, what did you doctor say?
coming off cold turkey is probably not the option.. remember this medication is essetnaily changing your behaviour and thoughts.. so when it stop suddenly , your body will go into panic mode...
are you taking any other steps to improve your physiology ? eg - exercise, good diet , mindfullness ?
please let me know , the support is here !
steveromo jamesmichener
Posted
Thanks James,
I've been trying to maintain a healthy physical and mental lifestyle, it's just been tough feeling so sick.
Looking back, I definitely wouldn't have gone cold turkey and would have tapered instead. But my big question is: Now that I've come this far (about 8 weeks) is it worth it to just keep pressing on through the withdrawal symptoms until they finally stop or does it make more sense to backtrack and start tapering?
If I knew these symptoms would only last a couple more weeks I know I could get through it, but if I'm looking at months and months of feeling out of whack, I don't think I could handle it.
A couple weeks after I stopped, I could definitely feel my body reacting to the shock of withdrawal and it sucked, but I just tried to tell myself to be patient. I feel like I've made it through certain symptoms and don't want to take two steps back on the progress I've made if I'm almost out of the woods.
My problem is I just don't know where in the woods I am. Am I halfway through? Am I almost out? Or what I'm scared of, is that even after 8 weeks, I'm barely getting started. So I don't know if it's faster to just try to keep going without anything and try to make it to the end or if ultimately, the better option is to turn back and start tapering and then work my way slowly through.