My experience of coming off sertraline

Hi, I have also been on Sertraline for at least 14 years maybe more. I too have tried to come off them quite a few times, each time the depression comes thundering back and I go running back to the doc for more pills. Also during one stint of trying to come off them I kept getting pains in my liver, all down my right side, which I presumed to be a de-tox type pain.

I am on 50mg per day, I am quite back at taking them, ie., I do forget sometimes for up to 4 days in a row, but having been on them so long a presume there is a lot of this drug in my system.

They say they're not addictive but they are habitual!

Is there anyone on here who has successfully come off Sertraline after such a long time, and should I tapper off even more slowly because I have been on them so long?

My reason now for trying to get off them is that my Thyroid function is playing up, and soon the doc will try and put me on Thyroxine too. Iam not sure if the Sertraline is related wholly to the Thyroid function but I have googled it and it is one of the less common side effects.

Hi Diane, thanks for your reply. I've been thinking over how to do it for a couple of days. I read somewhere - possibly another thread - that a doctor recommended to someone else that they cut the Sertraline down by half a pill for three months, then by another half for another three months, and so on. I think I'll try it that way, but not start till 2nd January - which isn't far off now. (I was thinking of starting now, but that would probably ruin Christmas for me. Best to be cautious).

Yes I've read it can affect Thyroid function too. It's highly likely with me because my mother, auntie and younger brother all have underactive thyroid. Certainly I'm getting underactive thyroid symptoms - thinning hair, unable to lose weight, exhausted all the time etc - but the doctor doesn't believe me and won't do a blood test for thyroid function for some reason. It's exasperating and I don't know what to do about it.

How did you cut it down before? How long did you take over it?

Hi there, I've been Sertraline free for a couple months now, cannot remember exact day. It's was a very, very gradual reduction and with support of my gp. Sertraline helped me when I was depressed, it helped me get through a bad period which lasted many years. It kept me on a level where I cld function and integrate and socialise. I decided and just knew instinctively that the time was right to come off them and I was strong enough

After my final tablet I did have feelings of light-headedness, but nothing that drinking more water and have plenty of little walks didn't sort. I'm fortunate that I'm at home during the day and cld take things at a pace that suited me, I wasn't rushed to suit anyone's timetable.

I've had one blip, I thought I was having a depressive episode but with help of cmht I worked thru my thoughts with CBT without the need for further medication.

Hi Julie, can I ask you how long you were on them for, what dose and how long did it take you to taper off? How did you do it?

I was reassessed and prescribed Sertraline 200mg about 2yrs ago. Prior to that 8 yrs on Lofepramine.

I started to reduce with gp support in June this year.

Hi Hilary and Julie,

When I tried to come off Sertraline I took about 4 months, I am only on 50 mg which dr says is a small dose and reading that some are on 200 mg I think 50 mg is small dose. I have had to go up to 100 mg at times (like when my mum died).

When trying to reduce I end up back on them cos of headaches and depression or sadness or hopelessness feelings.

I have never had any talking therapy which I feel I should be offered. Drs are very good at just prescribing. I always thought that all the time the dr is willing to do a repeat prescription then they must be safe to keep taking. Now with a blip in my Thyroid I am not so sure. Hope I haven't done any permanent damage to my Thyroid function. Hilary I too am going to get Christmas over with and start to reduce in January. Perhaps taking 1/2 a tablet a day (so 25mg) for 3 months, then 1/2 tablet (25mg) every other day for 3 months. If it takes a year to get off these pills, I think it will be worth it.

All the comments about weight gain, and loss of emotions etc., rings so true with me, although I have managed to loose 1 1/2 stone this year it has been hard and I've got another 2 stone to go.

Perhaps we could support each other in the new year with our reduction programme?

Have a good Christmas

Hi Diane and Julie,

Oh that would be brilliant to support each other! It's so hard to come off these drugs. I'm not normally a patient person, but I'm willing to give it as long as it takes to get off the Sertraline. I agree Diane, I was reading through this thread and thinking 'That's exactly how I feel!' about people's side-effects. I've just been thinking I've been getting iller and iller over the past years. I would go to the doctor and they'd do blood tests but wouldn't find anything wrong. I couldn't work out what was wrong with me. I just thought I was going to carry on declining and then die before my time. It's good to hope that I can come off the sertraline and feel better, perhaps recover some zest for life and lose a lot of weight. I only hope I can do it. It would be wonderful to be able to support each other, we'd have more chance of success.

My neighbour's mum took 5 years to come off Valium after she'd been on it for about three decades, and my daughter had a terrible time coming off Seroxat. But they did it.

I would be good to know if the side-effects are reversible.

Well done Diane for losing so much weight while on these pills. I haven't been able to lose any. So many of these side-effects negate the original purpose of the pills. Yes, maybe they help you get over a bad patch, but I wish to God doctors wouldn't just give you a prescription for them and then forget about it. Surely they have reminders on their computers to tell them to call you in after a few months and help you come off them. They shouldn't leave you taking them forever.

All the best.

I was put on sertraline about 10 weeks ago, just 25mg to start with, after 6 weeks I went back to doctors explaining they my symptoms were getting worse and particularly having even more trouble sleeping. She increased my dosage to 50mg a day and put me on sleeping tablets. The sleeping tablets had no effect what so ever and my sleeping got even worse I am surviving on around 2 hours a night. I have also put weight on since taking these and suffer aches and pains. I have not driven for 3 weeks as I do not feel safe.

I actually feel worse than before I was put on sertraline. I tried to make an appointment with doctor this morning as I wanted to come off the them but they have no appointments until the new year. I found this forum and have decided to gradually come off them by myself from today.

For the first week I plan to be taking 25mg then 50mg alternate days. Week 2 I will reduce to 25 a day. Week 3 I will take 25 alternate days, then week 4 and 5 just every 3 days. And hope to be completely off by week 6

I learnt a lot from reading this forum, thank you all it has been a great help and good luck to those that are trying to come off. I shall update you all in a couple of weeks.

Hi Ray33406, best wishes with coming off them. Be careful not to do it too quickly, though luckily you have only been on them for a short time. Hope it goes well for you.

Thanks Hilary, I have never felt so bad as I have the last few weeks, I was reluctant to go on them but after a few weeks gave in. I so wish I read this forum first.

After making the decision to come off these damn things this morning I feel so much better already. I want to feel normal again.

Good luck yourself, we will get there

Ray, I'd book that appt for gp in the new year or alternatively see any doctor u can at yr surgery

Just to get a note on yr file as to what u wld like to do is a big step

Rather than a week at a time extend that to a month at a time

I learnt from my gp that any reduction, must be done on a very gentle and slow style

Do yr first reduction over a month. In the long run you will reap the reward.

Book that appt tho

I have been taking SSRI's for about 14 years now for panic attacks and GAD. For the first 9 I took 40mg Paxil and in recent years, switched to 200 mg Zoloft. In the last month I have slowly weaned myself off Zoloft and was surprised how well I came off of it. No brain zaps, and only mild headaches in the first weeks of decreasing dosage. I was actually feeling great for the first couple of weeks after being off of it completely. But, for the last 9 days I have been EXTREMELY irritable, edgy and short tempered with everyone around me. I snap at my kids and husband for the smallest things. I have also been waking from sleep feeling short of breath. No panic attacks to speak of, yet, though. I have also found that I will start to cry over almost anything. Any and all feedback would be very much appreciated.

Hi Keriann, wondering what GAD is? Just curiosity, I haven't heard of it before! I would suspect you came off them too quickly. The trouble is, sertraline is stored in body fat, so when you stop taking them, it doesn't just leave the body in a few days, like eg alcohol. So the fat carries on releasing the sertraline into the system over a long period. Also, if you come off them too quickly, the withdrawal symptoms can mimic the condition that they were given to you for in the first place. Maybe you know a friendly pharmacist you could ask about it? Pharmacist know a lot more about the action of drugs than doctors do.

All the best, hope you manage to come off the stuff.