Quitting Zoloft Cold Turkey

Thank you! It's been another day off them and im still fine, but I made an appointment to see my doctor!

I agree, tapering down too quickly against doctors orders can be scary.

Stupid idea to go cold turkey!

Why on earth take such a high dose and say you dont think youve been depressed and probably shouldnt have started taking sertraline?

It does sound strange, but to answer your question, I had gone to the doctor after being on 50 mg for a number of months. I had started on it in the first place for some minor anxiety-- not depression. I had started feeling a bit apathetic after a few months on 50 mg, and wanted to discuss with the doctor coming off of it altogether since I thought maybe the sertraline was what was causing me to feel apathetic. Instead, she told me that feeling apathetic was actually a symptom of depression and raised my dose to 200 mg. I said I would give it a go since she's the professional and have been on it for 5 months. However, this high dose didn't make a difference in how I felt compared to the low dose. I've been off of it cold turkey for a week now and have had no withdrawal symptoms whatsoever and am feeling fine.

@sandi77808-- do you happen to know how long it takes for withdrawal symptoms to start? I will be seeing my doctor in a few days to talk about this-- couldn't get an earlier appointment.

I'm going to discuss this with my doctor when I see her, but curious about your opinion. Starting out on sertraline at the very beginning (the 50 mg), I felt heightened anxiety, which went away after two weeks or so. I know that's to be expected. I suppose at this point, after being off of it a week and feeling good, I'm nervous to start taking it again as people are suggesting, because I don't want to go through that initial start-up anxiety when my goal is to get off sertraline completely, which I currently am.

I am glad you are feeling fine, but would have thought discussing it with your doctor first would have been more sensible.

I assume you are aware that the medication will be in your system for up to several weeks, so stopping from such a very high dose suddenly could produce some form of withdrawal. Theres a reason why withdrawal from most medications is done by tapering down.

Obviously its entirely up to you, but rather than ask a bunch of random unqualified members on a public forum, wouldnt it have been better to discuss with your doctor first.

Apathy is a classic sign of depression

You're absolutely right, it would have been, but I was not aware of the danger and risks of withdrawal until I read about it on google. Months ago, before starting the 200 mg sertraline, my doctor wanted to try me on prozac to see if it might help the apathy. I hated prozac and told her so, and she told me I could just stop taking it (no mention of taper) and switch back to sertraline. I was never told about tapering-- I was under the false impression you only had to do that for certain drugs like benzos-- I didn't know SSRIs could also be dangerous. By the time I discovered this info on google, I had already been off of sertraline for four days, very luckily with no symptoms. I immediately made an appointment to see my doctor, but the earliest she had was this Tuesday, hence why I asked for advice on a public forum until I can discuss with her. Thanks for your response.

You mentioned that it was a very high dose-- I just googled it and had no idea until now that I was basically on the max dose at 200 mg! I've never complained to my doctor about feelings of depression, so overall this sounds really wrong to me. I originally went in to discuss work-related stress, and the anxiety really wasn't so bad in the first place!

Yep 200mg is basically the maximum dose! Poor you. Obviously the higher the dose, the longer it stays in your system. Hopefully you wont suffer withdrawal.

I have an appointment with my doctor next week too! Told her i wanted to stop both sertraline and nitrazapam. i have had to make a double appointment to discuss a tapering plan.

My doctor seems to think withdrawal is a big thing, yours just told you to stop. I hated prozac, put on a lot of weight and didnt really do much.

Good luck with coming off it.

I don't know, not a doctor but I do know that it is very dangerous and an cause a relapse. You are only supposed to taper off with a medical professional guiding you.

just a quick update: My doctor had to cancel our appointment so I will be seeing her tomorrow. Almost three weeks now and all is still well-- hoping that at this point my doctor won't tell me I have to go back on the meds.

You would not suddenly start experiencing withdrawal 8 months after stopping medication. It sounds like you relapsed.

Yes thanks if I could go back in time or if I ever have to go on/off again, that will be my plan