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Sertraline Withdrawal .. Does it go away?

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meteor63
meteor63

Hi. I just wondered if anyone had been through sertraline withdrawal and got better? I look on the internet and can't find anything positive about ssri withdrawal, particularly sertraline. I guess when people stop posting, it means they've got better. All I seem to see is posts from people who've been suffering for months or longer. I just want some hope.

I was on citalopram last year (first ever anti depressant) and came off it after 2 months because I had terrible reactions to it. A week later I was put on sertraline and reacted terribly to that too (I'm still suffering the side effects).

I took my last sertraline 3 weeks ago. My top dose was 100mg and I was going nuts. I dropped down to 50mg for about 5 weeks, 25mg for 2 weeks and 25mg every other day for a week.

Since then (and during titration) I have been having brain zaps all day every day and every time I move my eyes. I'm more exhausted than I've ever been in my life. I have sweats. I have worse sinus problems than I've ever had. I have loads of pressure behind and around my left eye. I can barely look at the television or read. I have long crying bouts. All this on top of the existing hideous and ongoing side effects which are worse than withdrawal.

I was on sertraline for a total of about 3.5 months and have been off 3.5 weeks. I've heard the average for withdrawal symptoms is around 6 weeks but can be much longer. Given my extreme sensitivity to medication, I'm afraid that I may be one if the unlucky ones. I was much better before I took any meds.

I'm taking loads of fish oil and magnesium, eating healthily and drinking lots of water. I was trying to be positive but am becoming less positive by the day.

Anyone else experienced this and recovered? I can't bear the thought of going on any more meds because I can't tolerate them.

Thank you.

31 likes, 714 replies

714 Replies

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  • courtney88952
    courtney88952 meteor63

    Posted

    Hi,

    It's been a fairly up and down journey for me after stopping sertralin. I was on it for two years after a long time of amphetamine use which left me fairly down on a usual day. I am now about 3 months of sertraline and would say on the whole feel a lot better. As for the symptoms like the head buzz that happens it becomes less frequent and eventually (I'm hoping) will pass. I only get them once every few days. As for oher symptoms, I find myself enjoying life a lot more in general without sertralin, i can feel, I can cry, I can be totally excited. Sertraline took the edge of life and it's only now I get to the point of either sadness or happiness where tears are actually shed. However this comes at a price for me. I have moments of absolute depression and loneliness, nothing there to take the edge away. Maybe I'm just learning to deal with these emotions that have surfaced after the discontinuation of the medication but it's still hard. I still drink a fair bit which may play a part but is something that has become a part of my life since stopping harder drugs. I hope the partial history of my life helps you in some way.

    Lots of love,

    C

  • james75870
    james75870 meteor63

    Posted

    I was on sdrtravine for almost 3 years. It worked well at first but at some point I became exhausted and fatigued all the time. Four weeks ago I quit cold turkey and my energy level immediately increased. Wits drawl went in stages. First I was dizzy for about the first 3 weeks and now I am experiencing flue like symptoms. I'm not sure if I'm actually sick or if this is a withdrawal stage.

  • Anni23
    Anni23 meteor63

    Posted

    Hi Betsy and all you other lovely people helping everyone out.

    I had been on Citalopram for around 10 years and then on to Sertoxat when I was breast feeding my son. When I became pregant with my 3rd child I was back on Citalopram, and was given Sertaline for when I was breastfeeding. My daughter is now 8 months and I am still breastfeeding, but I have just found out that I am pregnant again. after seeing the GP I have been advised to come off the meds completely as no medication is safe for both breastfeeding and being pregnant. I was advised that only being on 50mg I should not have any withdrawal effect. 

    My god I feel awful. My head feels like its lose and wobbly, I feel shakey, really tired but can not sleep, and I feel constantly sick and have even been sick.

    Am I going to be like this forever? will it get better? I can't function.

  • ian72423
    ian72423 meteor63

    Posted

    Currently weening myself off Sertraline at the mo and feeling a bit anxious about it . I had no idea how powerful this stuff actually is and how negative the side effects are & the withdrawal symptoms are !!! 

    It it has worked wonders in reducing my anxiety ! But I'm trying to get off due to the side effects Messing with my relationship ! ??

    Im rather shocked tbh !!  

  • ann55375
    ann55375 meteor63

    Posted

    This does seem to be a very powerful drug and trying to come off it when it has given you such bad side effects just makes it so much worse.  Some people just cant take ssri meds and need to look for a different drug or solution.  Its awful knowing all this, its a horrible illness and not given enough funding to allow better treatments.   I started it thinking it would make me feel better but no such luck.  What were your major side effects, mine - huge anxiety unable to be controlled by diazepam, nausea being controlled by buccastem.   If i had known all this i would have asked for something else.
  • jennifer87096
    jennifer87096 meteor63

    Posted

    Hi there. I was put on the dreaded Sertraline over a year ago. I was put on 100mg but also at the same time I was experiencing a lot of upheaval and loss in my life and when I noticed I had a recurring sore throat I thought it was due to the stress I was under not a side effect of the medication and I kept taking it. What a mistake.

    By the time I realised that Sertraline was not for me I had a constant sore tongue and throat, swelling in my throat, light headedness, upset stomach, extreme tiredness and feeling very down.

    This is my third and final attempt to get of this stuff and this are pretty rough. I still have all the above symptoms two weeks after taking my last 25mg dose. I am determined to tough it out and will let you know when things start getting better.

    My CPN suggested I keep a diary of symptoms which I have. It has helped because I know that after being on Sertraline for over a year, I'm not going to be clear of the dratted stuff in two weeks.

    Good luck to you. I hope by now that your system is clear and you're feeling a lot better.

  • emma29133
    emma29133 meteor63

    Posted

    Hi there,

    im on sertraline and have been for around 3 years now. Having read this thread I have realised that stopping sertraline straight off isn't a good idea.

    im really reluctant to start taking it again but I think I will have to and I'll have to come off slowly.

    ive seen people mention a head zap.... can someone please explain what that is.

    my head feels really strange it's like if I turn my head to the left and or right and back there's like a delay in my head and it feels like my brain is swishing around, this feeling is actually making me feel quite nauseous. 

    Anyway hope someone can answer my question lol hope everyone is well. Xxx

    • jennifer87096
      jennifer87096 emma29133

      Posted

      Hi Emma, it sounds like your experiencing 'brain zaps'. Sometimes moving your head or even just your eyes can trigger this feeling and can leave you feeling quite nauseous. The positive thing is that what you're experiencing is quite common so you're not alone.

      Coming off Sertraline straight away, especially as you've been taking it for quite some time would probably make you feel really ill so Coming off very slowly over a log period of time should reduce withdrawal symptoms.

      All the very best and good luck to you.

    • emma29133
      emma29133 jennifer87096

      Posted

      Thanks Jennifer

      I really was feeling quite horrible and yucky, my anxiety was through the roof I felt sick bad and like I said before my head was just really odd.

      Anyway as reluctant as I was to start taking themy again I have and feel so much better.

      Lesson very much learnt the hard way.

      Thanks again x

    • jennifer87096
      jennifer87096 emma29133

      Posted

      Good luck, Emma. It's really good to hear that you're doing better.

      Jennifer x

    • 84SLK
      84SLK emma29133

      Posted

      Hi Emma , I just wondered how long it took for you to feel better once you went back on sertraline? I started with horrendous side effects from withdrawal, a week and a half ago. I then started taking sertraline again last week. Still feeling rubbish and just want to know when I will feel my normal self again! I just need to keep telling myself that I will improve ...it's the thing getting me through. I was on ser for about 5 years so I think its hitting me pretty hard. 

    • emma29133
      emma29133 84SLK

      Posted

      Hiya it took a few days for all of the symptoms to go but now getting the nausea again for an hour or so after taking my tablet. I can deal with that though .

      Hope u feel better soon xxx

    • 84SLK
      84SLK emma29133

      Posted

      Thanks Emma, hope you're doing ok too. It's so comforting to know we're  not on our own! I've been taking sertraline again for about 5 days now but not much improvement so far sad just trying to ignore it and plough on but it's pretty hard. 

      Suzy xxx

    • daniel81683
      daniel81683 emma29133

      Posted

      There is not alternative to some of these physical symptoms when coming off sertraline. Its a game of medications. If you want to be off them and you can deal with life in your emotions and thinking then be prepared for mind zapping head aches and emotional unstabilty. So basically life. I have stown everything at my symptoms to get me through it and its tuff. Sertraline is a brain drug. It stabalises how you think and feel. If you are able to have sufficient control over yourself to deal with the symptoms then you are ready to deal with them and come off the drug. So do you want help and are you ready for it. I have been off it after tappering for about 4 weeks now. What you describe is not uncommon. Thats the deal for coming off it.
  • madi02217
    madi02217 meteor63

    Posted

    I just came off cold turkey from taking 50 mg of Zoloft for about 2 years now. It has been a week and a half now, and I feel like s**t. I have been having intense headaches and feeling nauseous. However I feel better emotionally, than I have in a few years so I am not keen to start taking it again. I was wondering how long the withdrawal symptoms  lasted for other people and if any supplements or medications helped ease the headaches and nausea. I have tried ibuprofen and excedrin, neither of which have done much to help. I have also drinking a ton of water in order to pee more, which I have heard helps to clean Zoloft out of one's system faster. I've also heard that the withdrawal symptoms can happen in stages, I was wondering from people who have experienced it already what these stages are like. 

    • madi02217
      madi02217

      Posted

      I wish my doctor had also told me about the difficulty of withdrawing from Zoloft before I had even began taking the medication. I would have thought much harder about starting on the medication had I known. 
    • jennifer87096
      jennifer87096 madi02217

      Posted

      Hi. I know exactly what you're going through. Coming off cold turkey will make you absolutely ill as your whole body will be in uproar.

      I was on 100mg for about a year. At the time when I first went on the dreaded Sertraline I had a lot of stress and unhappiness in my life and when I developed an intermittent sore throat, I put it down to maybe getting a cold. I never for a moment thought I was experiencing side effects. Then I noticed that my throat felt like it was swelling up and my tongue felt like it was burning.

      I put these symptoms into Google and was horrified to realise that they were side effects of Sertraline! I went to my GP and started weaning myself off them but the withdrawal symptoms were so awful I had to back on it. This is my third attempt of withdrawal and I am experiencing the same problems that you are. Nausea, headaches, brain zaps, light-headed, lump in throat, sore throat, sore tongue, insomnia.

      I am in my third week of being off Sertraline and it is very hard and I have been tempted to go back on them but I won't. My CPN encouraged me to keep a diary to record the withdrawal symptoms. It does help as you can feel that you've felt ill for months when it's only been a couple of weeks.

      You could maybe try flat ginger beer or lemonade for the nausea and , if your able, apply a cold flannel or hot water bottle to your forehead.

      You WILL get better, it really is a question of time. Remember that you're not alone.

      Let me know how you get on.

      Jennifer.

    • madi02217
      madi02217 jennifer87096

      Posted

      thank you, hope we are both able to get over the withdrawal soon. I will try the cold flannel it might help with the heat flashes I have been getting. I found that eating pickled ginger helps a bit with the stomach aches. Right now I just have very intense headaches and (knock on wood) seemed to have gotten over the nausea part. I am trying sudifeds right now for the headache to see if it helps and so far it has worked better than excedrin and ibuprofen but it does not stop the headache as much as I would like. I'm coming close to the second week of withdrawal and the headaches or more intense than last week but seem to come and go.  

    • jeanne21680
      jeanne21680 madi02217

      Posted

      I absolutely will not go back on this drug !! I want to know if there is anyone out there who has gone through this and has gotten better or will it ever get better or do I just get used to being like this forever ?? The depression, anxiety and irritability is horrible. I need someone to talk to try to get through this....anyone out there ?
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