My experience of coming off sertraline

I'm so relieved to have found this forum. I have been on anit-depressants for around 4 years. Started off on Citalopram but after 2 years on increased doses I didn't feel any better. My GP then put me on Sertraline - started off on 50 mgs and was increased to 100 mgs. After around 18 months on Sertraline I still didn't feel great and felt like I was in a bubble really. Was then referred for CBT which really helped address all my underlying issues which were at the route of my depression. I discovered that I'd probably been clinically depressed since I was a teenager. After CBT therapy I felt much more positive, calmer and more in control. However I was still taking 100 mgs of Sertraline a day. Over the last 6 weeks I've been trying to reduce my dosage (without my GPs guidance). While I was on holiday and off work, over a 4 week period I took 100 mgs every other day and felt fine. I took my last pill last Monday Sept 3rd. I have a repeat prescription waiting for me to collect from my chemist. I still haven't picked it up so haven't taken any Sertraline at all since Sept 3rd. Big mistake, I realize that now!! I feel absolutely awful. By Sept 5th I was feeling really spaced out, aching all over and very lethargic. I put this down to going back to work after a 6 week break. This weekend I have felt physically awful and have become more and more emotional by the hour almost. I feel really weird in my head, very, very tired, have felt sick and ache all over. In the morning I am like an old lady trying to get out of bed and then walk around. After reading all the posts on here I am absolutely convinced that I've come off my medication way too quickly and am now suffering for it. I will be picking up my repeat prescription first thing tomorrow and then making an appointment to see my GP to see how I can come off Sertraline without these awful side effects.

So I would definitely back up what most people are saying on this forum - don't come off Sertraline without the guidance of your GP.

Hi Sarah

I used to be on citrapram, i was on it for 9 years, felt rough on it, heaviness in head and head feeling numb. I then changed to sertraline i have been on these since june this year, im sleeping a bit better, but still dont feel great on them, numbness in head, am shatttered all the time.I first was put on antidepressants after my son was born in 2003, have tried to come off them, but its so hard, as you get all these side affects.

I see a councillor regulary it helps to talk, but it doesnt take the feeling away in your head, they cant stop you feeling like you do. I will try and come off the sertraline again sometime.

Hi all. I'm on sertraline also. I have random negative thoughts that I latch on to for ages. I've seen 2 counsellors. First one focused on cognitive therapy, second one on acceptance therapy. ACT so much harder, but better..... Mindfulness.... Takes time, takes practice but, in my opinion, well worth it. Loadsmofnstuff on the Internet on it. Still on the tablets hough!

hi everyone

just an update on how things are going...as i said time reduced my dose to 25g a day( only on 50g to start with)...after 2 weeks of doing this went to 25g every other day...started of great the Friday when i had to take half dose..my god take about spaced out, feeling really weird, the only way i can explain it is when you first start taking these tablets..well the past couple of days has been the same..one minute i feel good then really spaced out, tired and strange feelings in my head which im putting down to these like electric shock feeling..but not sure...im doing this on my own also with out doctors guildence but he said to do what im doing..i feel now i have come this far..i really dont want to have to go back...got to keep going..surely these feelings wont last for ever..but putting that all aside moods seems to be back to normal..x

Hi Sarah here again with an update - couldn't pick up my prescription until after work today - have had another day of feeling completely spaced out, fuzzy head, really bad memory which isn't like me at all. Completely unable to concentrate at work and have felt shattered all day. Have just picked up my repeat prescription and downed my 100 mgs tablet as soon as I got home. I will let this forum know how I feel in a couple of days time after going back on my full dose. Having read other people's comments on here it's good to see it's not just me and more or less everyone else has had problems/side effects when trying to reduce the medication or come off it completely.

Hi everyone.

I'm not really feeling any unusual side effects itch reducing from 200mg down to 100mg. I just taken my lst 100mg tablet tonight. As from tomorrow I shall take just 50mg before going to bed. Taking my doctors advice I shall continue to take that for two weeks and then have another appt with her to see how things are with me losing weight (haha) and to see how my mood has been.

I feel a lot more confident, I can pick up telephone when it rings, answer the door if someone calls and make better decisions. Sounds trivial, but believe me thy were all difficult for me.

Now down to taking 50mg at night and feeling fine. My 6 week gp follow up is on Monday. And at long last my weight is coming down

I cant stay up too long as i need to go to bed. My head is so fuzzy and dizzy.

I have been on sertraline 50mg for 6 months . Had terrible diarrhea for months so went to dr. She advised

cutting out one on alternate days. I did this over 5 days. Then reduced to 25mg over another 5 days and then alternating for 2/3 days. Dr said no need to reduce. just stop them. So i did, that was 6 days ago.

WHy do they say such things when clearly it is the wrong thing to do. I feel bloody awful. Emotional again,

moody...but worse than that my head is spinning and i feel dreadful. I have a 4yr old to look after and im a

lone parent. Does anyone have any sound advice as to what i should do next? WHy have i just taken these

tablets for 6 months if coming off them so quickly could push me back to where i was???? IM so annoyed

about it all. But mostly i want to feel physically ok again. HELP!

Hi MRapple - I know how you feel as that was exactly how I felt when I tried to come off 100 mgs of Sertraline a day. I had exactly the same symptons when I went from taking 100 mgs every other day for a month and then tried a week not taking any!!! Big mistake. Felt just like you did - awful!!! Went straight back on 100 mgs every day and felt 100% better within 2 days. I saw my GP today and she's suggested I reduce to 50 mgs a day for a while and then take 50 mgs every other day. I'm going to give this ago from Oct 1st and see how I get on. I will update on here to let the forum know if it works for me. I would urge you to maybe see a different GP and think about reducing your dosage over a slower time period. Hopefully this way you'll feel better too. Good Luck.

It is such a relief to find out I am not going mad! In the last month I have cut down from 150mg to 100mg after being on sertraline for 2 years. I have done it gradually by alternating 100 and 150 for two weeks and then just taking 100mg for the past three. I felt fine at first and felt nearly ready to go to 50 and 100 alternate nights but have been feeling dreadful for the past ten days. Flu-like aching, headaches for the whole time, night and day sweats escalating to terrible anxiety and crying, sensitivity to noise and exhaustion. I have taken 150 tonight and feel like I have gone backwards. help!!! I also gained over a stone but didn't link it to the tablets. Any suggestions?

For yr own safety give yr gp a call in the morning to discuss how yr feeling. I agree a slower reduction prog may be necessary to get u thru this. It's just a blip, we all react differently, and I've been so fortunate to have the support of my gp. I'm now on my 2nd week if just 50mg at night, and will continue like this for two more weeks. I've been fine, no side effects and feel really well. I've lost 4kgs in the last six weeks too. My intuition tells me that this is the right time to come off Sertraline after two years on 200mg at night

I have little faith in GPs now and feel very reluctant to go and see another one. Im sure i will be just

patronised and fobbed off.

A blip lasting 5 days rendering me a physical wreck when i have a young child to look after is not something I can have!!! I accepted i may feel a bit yukky but how i have been feeling and it was getting worse was too

much last night and so i took a 25mg and felt better this morning. (Sorry my grammar and tenses are all

over the place!)

It was a big decision to go on these tablets in the first place and I am very reluctant ever to go near these

type of meds again, should i ever need them.

It has been very helpful to have these responses though and to have found this site....Im not finished with it

yet!

reading all your comments has helped so much, i wasnt even expecting any side effects when coming off sertraline, i just assumed i would be grand... well im not so grand and been experiencing some seriously painful headaches, dizziness that i have never felt before in my life, im kind of a bit scared to drive its been so bad! my whole body is so itchy and sensitive, my moods are all over the place, crying one minute and excited the next. im so worried this is not going to end, and its making me think i should go back on the meds, been on 100mg for 18 months, and down to 50mg for 2 months before doing the one day on one day off, now from reading all the reponses i know that was the wrong way to come off them but sure im here now and i want to be drug free! how long will these side effects last, ive been so tired the last few days dont know how much more of it i can take. the side effects are making me anxious and worry more and then my thoughts spiral out of control, i feel like im going back to where i started and that is not what i want!

I can sympathize with everyone going through coming off these tablet. i was very reluctant to go on these tablets in the first place also, after seeing my husband go from one anti depressant to another..no way was i going down that road. but i did and it did help me through a tuff time but coming off them is the hardest ever. with the side effects you have and also getting your mind back into the real world is scary.

i have been tablets free for 2 weeks now with lots of ups and down, feeling very teary and emotional but i expect it to be like this for a while but im determined not to go back on them..the thought of doing that and to have to come off them again scares me stupid..so my heart goes out to everyone on here trying to get hold of there life again...