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Comming off Sertraline and having an awfull time

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paul89462
paul89462

Sertraline was not working for me too many side effects so on desided to come off it, I am now into my third week off reduction and still feel awful. When I wake my bowel is blocked and uncomfortable until I manage to move it. I had a 4 day headache which has now passed thankfully. Dry mouth and anxiety when I wake up and my appitite is comming back but still not good. I should have mentioned that I have multiple sclerosis and am finding it difficult to function and get out of the house due to tight abdomen and worry about my bowel movements.I have had blood tests taken which came back normal so my worry about every disease under the sun causing my problems is ok. How long do these symptoms last when comming off sertraline? I need a bit of normal in my life

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • maureen75524
    maureen75524 paul89462

    Posted

    https://patient.info/forums/discuss/sertraline-withdrawal-does-it-go-away--175456

    You may find this link helpful.  I have been off sertraline for TWO years and many mornings have to leap out of bed to the bathroom wth loose bowels.  I'm thnkng this is now permanent, most other withdrawals have dissipated.  I was on 150mg for 10 months and withdrew over three months which ws too quickly. 

    I feel your pain Paul but hang in there, it does get better.  We all react differently to these drugs~never again shall I take an A.D.

    • paul89462
      paul89462 maureen75524

      Posted

      Thankyou I did think for a while that I was really sick and it must be something else IBS crones or even worse cancer, to be honest my bowel with MS has not been great for years but never as bad and this evil drug has just tipped me over the edge. I so wish that I had never put it in my mouth and can't wait for it to be over. AD drugs will never be taken by me again, I just can't cope tithe the side effects. New year new start.
  • maureen75524
    maureen75524 paul89462

    Posted

    I think i had every side effect going. terrible gas when first decreasing, blurry vision, ringing in my ears, dry mouth, anxiety, head aches, brain zaps and on and on. Oh yes and gained 30 lbs.

     I wsh you well and may 2016 see you completely symptom free of this toxic med.

  • betsy0603
    betsy0603 paul89462

    Posted

    Hi Paul, what kind of reduction schedule are you following?  Usually people go much too fast, on advice from their doctor even!  What dosage are you coming off of and how long were you on it?  Did you stop completely, or are you having these symptoms while still on a smaller dose?
    • paul89462
      paul89462 betsy0603

      Posted

      On 50mg for about 4 weeks then up to 100mg for another 3weeks. Reduction 100mg - 50mg for a week then 50mg for a week then 50mg - nothing for a further week, then off is what doctor suggested. Now on to 50mg nothing week. Starting to feel a little better but still not good, abdomen, bowel and dry mouth
  • paul89462
    paul89462

    Posted

    I am now off sertraline and feeling so much better, it's like night and day. Only one major problem that it has left me with. I have ms and a slow bowel which needs managed but is ok and I can live with it but after a rough time last year with two family deaths and my dog passing the a very bad car crash,my mood dropped and my ciprelex stopped working, I picked up a 6 week gastro bug and the doc changed me to sertraline. This caused more gastro problems which only got much worse when he upped my dose to 100m.  The sertraline aggravated the already inflamed bowel causing even worse bowel problems. The constant problems with bowel movements have resulted in the worst case of hemeroids that the consultant surgeon had ever seen. He has booked me in for an operation next week, this will take two operations because they are so seviere, and a three day stay in hospital. Oh the joy. When I told the consultant about being put on sertraline he shook his head and told me that his motherinlaw had terrable bowl problems on it and he had told her to stop taking them. Why on earth did my doctor not thing of my recent problems when he put me on sertraline as it was the last straw for my bowel and has left me in this awful situation.
    • betsy0603
      betsy0603 paul89462

      Posted

      That is terrible, Paul!

      We are taught to trust our doctor, that he knows best, but thanks to the internet we see over and over that doctors are not infallible!  And so we must always advocate for ourselves first and foremost and question everything!  The internet can be bad in that we spend TOO much time googling everything, but at the same time it can be our friend to do research on drugs and treatments.  Thankfully there are forums like this one where we can see what others' experiences are!

      I am happy for you that you feel better off the sert.  However, you did a very fast taper and you may experience a "honeymoon" period of feeling great before withdrawal symptoms hit you.  This is another example of how doctors don't know what they are doing with these drugs; they know how to put people on (and sometimes not even that!) but don't know how to get them off, having their patients taper so fast as to be the same as a cold turkey.

      Hopefully you will be one of the lucky ones, and there are those!  Some come off these drugs seemingly with no problem, yet many of them go back on the drug at a later date, which suggests that indeed they did have a problem, but just didn't recognize it as protracted withdrawal!

      So, I just want to prepare you, not to scare you but to give you awareness so that in case it happens, you won't be blind-sided and not recognize what is happening.

      Many will feel decent for up to 2 months.  Then, withdrawal symptoms start, maybe more physical, like brain zaps, nausea, dizziness, sweats, temperature regulation problems, heart palps, increased heart rate and Bp, mental fog, and more.  Over the next months, emotional issues start to pile on, anxiety, depression and insomnia, perhaps panic attacks as well.  These take on a life of their own, far worse than anything experienced before. 

      So, if you find yourself starting to have the physical in the next couple of months, your best bet is to actually reinstate a very small amount of sert.  Reinstatement has the best bet of working sooner rather than later.  The point of reinstatement is symptom relief.  Once stable, then you can do a very slow taper, following the recommendations in the topic "Reducing ADs using a 10% withdrawal method" in this thread:

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

      Good luck, Paul - I hope you don't need this information and that all goes well for you!  I'm sorry to hear you will have to have surgery, but then you can get on with good health!

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