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My experience of coming off sertraline

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I have found this site very helpful during the period that I was taking sertraline and felt I should share my experiences of coming off the drug, in the hope that they may be of help to others.

I was diagnosed with depression last year and have been on 200mg of sertraline for approx 10 months. I also had some therapy during this period and recently took the decision (with my doctor's support) to come off the medication. Wary of repeating the experiences some other posters on this site have had I resolved to reduce my dosage gradually over a period of about a month (more gradually than suggested by my doctor).

Each week I reduced the dosage by 50mg a day. So week one I went down to 150mg a day, week 2 100mg a day etc. The first two weeks were fine with no real changes. By the end of week 3 I began to feel a bit light headed, with hot sweats and dry-mouth also returning. As a result I remained on this dose another week instead of stopping altogether in week 4.

I have now been 5 days with no sertraline and have found the experience of quitting surprisingly easy. I still feel a little light-headed now and again, but other side effects I suffered during the full dose (yawning, tiredness, sexual dysfunction) have all but gone, and although I kind of miss the 'wrapped in cotton wool' feeling I am glad to be back to life without medication.

For what its worth I would suggest that gradual reduction of dosage is the most effective way to avoid the worse of the side-effects experienced when coming off sertraline and that the good news (for me anyway) has been the speed at which the side-effects disappeared.

31 likes, 450 replies

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  • mary32826
    mary32826 Guest

    Posted

     I am on 200 mg of sertraline and I'm so tired I want to get off of this I have no energy at all 
  • mary32826
    mary32826 Guest

    Posted

    I am going to do this.   It always tired, and am always nausated
  • andie0201
    andie0201 Guest

    Posted

    My experience with sertraline....I was put on it about 8 years ago for mild social anxiety. It helped with my feelings of anxiousness but the experience coming off of it and the problems I have now are far worse than the mild problem it was originally supposed to treat. The only side effect I had while on them was weight gain (~30 lbs). I don't like being on pills and would like to learn to manage my anxiety without them. This is my second time trying to come off of them. Main reason being my husband and I want to start a family. There is a lot of debate about whether sertraline is safe during pregnancy but I don't want to risk it. So onto coming off of it. A couple years I gradually reduced my dose over a few months and had some withdrawal symptoms like the brain zaps but they wore off pretty quickly. I was off of it for 3 months with no anxiety issues, or so I thought when the flood gates opened. I experienced some anxiety and had the worst health experience of my life. I entered only what I can describe as a dark place which I'm guessing is some form of depression. I was nauseated ALL the time, couldn't sleep hardly at all and my heart raced and I could feel it pretty much all the time. The nausea and not being able to sleep was unbearable for me. I started seeing my doctor more, a counsellor, and a naturopath. I was willing to do anything to feel better. The counselling helpede cope with my feelings but didn't cure the problem. The western doctor was at a loss of what to do. When it comes to nausea caused by mental issues there isn't a lot they can do. She prescribed me sleeping pills (zopiclone) which are also addictive and can affect your natural ability to sleep. So I only took them on occassion and the sleep wasn't restful it was a drug induced something of sorts disguised as sleep. I forgot to mention the zopiclone I was on was 50mg when deciding to go off was 50mg. I had the nausea and restlessness for a few months when enough was enough so I went back on it and had to double my dose to 100mg in order combat what I was feeling. Once Infelt better I didn't really think twice about it yet I hadn't fixed the problem and having to increase my dose was not a good thing. I was scared to try to taper off them again but I knew I couldn't bear to be pregnant on them and wanted to be pill free. People reassured me that it was a one off event and unlikely to happen again. That I needed to think positive while tapering off and to do it slowly. Well I did just that.....weaned down to 25 every other day over a 3 month period didn't decrease the dose until the symptoms of brain zaps and eye shakes stopped and the exact same symptoms and feelings have come back a couple weeks ago. Nausea 24/7 and trouble sleeping, heart racing...this time I am determined to ride it out no matter how long it takes rather than going back on it. My anxiety is through the roof and worse than it was to begin with. I relate to all of the posts posted by all of you and wish my doctor could have told me of the risks and side effects in the first place. Have any of you experienced nausea from the withdrawal that is practically constant? I'm so sad, don't feel like myself, and so frustrated with myself. People who haven't been through it don't understand and think I'm being selfish, crazy, or exaggerating. I'm reading self help books and looking into hypnotherapy as I've tried most of the other treatments. Have any of you tried hypnotherapy? Any treatments for the nausea that work? It's so hard to do anything and enjoy it when I feel so sick. Your posts provide me comfort knowing I am not alone in this.
  • emily81526
    emily81526 Guest

    Posted

    Been in half does (50) for a month and although I have been feeling fine the last 2 weeks, now have spaced out feeling again. Had a panic attack yesterday and have been off work last couple days. Still want off these tablets. Has anyone else had symptoms return?
    • andie0201
      andie0201 emily81526

      Posted

      Hi Emily, I have had symptoms return a month to three months after cutting down the dose or going off them completely.  Try sticking with the half dose for a little while longer before cutting down further.  We are not alone in our journey to being off these awful pills!
    • emily81526
      emily81526 andie0201

      Posted

      I was going to wait another month or two before dropping again. Just want to be symptom free. Is there anyone who's come out the other side from these ?
    • SoSoRI
      SoSoRI emily81526

      Posted

      I'm the odd one out. I was taking 100mg for 3 years, came off cold turkey with no side effects. That was 2 years ago. I got horribly sick when I took my first one for about 3 hours and that was it. Lucky me.

    • hans82434
      hans82434 SoSoRI

      Posted

      Can you perhaps comment a bit on what it is about you that may have lead to an easy withdrawal? 
  • vanessa81528
    vanessa81528 Guest

    Posted

    I have been on 100mg serterlin for over A year, tried to come off slowly as advised but really didn't work for me was feeling ill just taking 50 one day then 100 the next. Felt all over the place, so resigned to taking for the rest of my life. Had a sinus infection for weeks ago and made me no relief in fact I had been feeling such highs and lows it was an idea that suddenly came to me maybe my brain has had what it needs and I no longer need serterlin! So I read lots of articles and alike on Google. And decided to go cold turkey. It's early days 5 in fact and I feel no different but happy to use serterlin again if the need arise. I have also been using progesterone cream as am in my change and it is wonderful. Stopped the hot flushes and mood swings so maybe anyone in there change who like me can't use Hrt should have a word with their Dr.
  • ria46844
    ria46844 Guest

    Posted

    I've been on 100mg of sertraline for 3 years.about a month ago I had to try reducing them by half as I was getting terrible night sweats, after refusing to 50 mg and taking 15 mg of mitazipine at night the night sweats got better then a few weeks later there back again so my doctor decided to stop the sertraline and up the mitazipine. It's been a week now and the withdrawal symptoms are some what making me feel slightly crazy, a feeling I cant describe other than when I move and move my eyes it feels like some one is jolting me which sound like a loud clapping img in my heAd or a zapping sensation, feelings of anxiety and paranoia are the feelings I'm experiencing and I do hope it passes 
    • hans82434
      hans82434 ria46844

      Posted

      Zaps suck. I am still getting them but I am managing. It has only been a few weeks since stopping sertraline. I do find that as long as I stay engaged my zaps are minimal.  Driving home from work is when I get more and on into the evening.  I also notice more zaps just after big meals. I t must have something to do with how the body allocates chemicals to various tasks.

      ​I think diet is important as well as engaging the brain.  I also rarely feel zaps when I am exercising.  I have yet to try fish oils but plan to as I have read it may help. 

      ​If anyone has a chemistry background, I would love to hear your thoughts.

       

  • rebekah52814
    rebekah52814 Guest

    Posted

    I am very glad that I have looked on this site. My doctor has advised me to go from 50mg a day to nothing, having been on 50mg a day for 15 months. As a result, it is starting to get pretty tough after six days, and I'm starting to get a lot of side-effects of withdrawal. Think I will be contacting a pharmacy in the morning to discuss whether going cold turkey is the right option
    • jodie89676
      jodie89676 rebekah52814

      Posted

      Hi Rebekah, I had been taking 50mg sertraline for about 14 months and decided that I was well enough to come off of them so went to 25mg every day for 2 weeks, I felt amazing for Rhodes 2 weeks with no side effects and then suddenly it hit me. That was 3.5 weeks ago and I am only just starting to feel better again. My anxiety went crazy, feeling sick all of the time, heart racing etc, I've spent the last few weeks crying on and off and ending up in a complete state. I've been told that the problem was that once you lower/stop your tablets, you get a flood of serotonin as the tablets inhibit this and keep you at a constant level so you feel fab for a while before your levels drop back down. I really wouldn't advise to go cold turkey, if you are adamant about coming off of the pills then you need to do it over a course of months to give your brain a chance to adjust to each dosage change. I for one have accepted the fact that for now, I need to take them and if I need them for another 5/10 years then so be it, I'd much prefer that then to experience what I have done recently. Hope this all helps, good luck in moving forward x
    • m59611
      m59611 rebekah52814

      Posted

      Hi Rebekah, did you take yourself off zoloft? How did it go?
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