Sertraline Withdrawal .. Does it go away?

How long have you been off

I'm so glad I found your post.  I thought I was going crazy!  I weaned off 150 mg of Zoloft very slowly over a 3 month period.  My last pill was Dec 23. After four months Z free I still have nausea, body shakes in the a.m. which I attribute to low blood sugar.  I disolve into tears daily for no reason!  I knew it was w.d. but thankfully you people have confirmed it's thus!   I also have trouble concentrating, my memory is terrible now.  I'm mid sentence and can't remember what I was saying.  Suffice to say I will NEVER again take an A.D.  Thanks for confirming I'm not CRAZY!!! 

Dear Maureen, 

You might find it helpful to take some supplements. The Omega 3's are great for memory. Make sure you get a high quality/easy absorption. There may be other supplements that would be useful to get you on track to building back your own immune system. Lots of fresh water can help cleanse your body of the med toxins. 

It's worth a try! Good luck!

Maureen these are all withdrawal symptoms, trust me.....you are not going nuts...I am off Zoloft 11 months and still have side effects....and they WILL go away...we must be patient.....these SSRIs are terrible and I am sorry you are going through this.....but it will PASS....takes time....your brain has to have time to heal. 

Be strong and don't let fear win....do what you have to do even when you don't feel like it.....that is what I do.....Love to you Lee

Thankyou for your reply.  I am on Omega 3's, don't know about the absorption though.  I'm also going to start taking magnesium.  I just don't feel the same as I did pre Z.  My blood sugar is always low in the a.m. which is a side effect of this crap.  I awake each morning the past ocuple weeks with nausea.  Very frustrating but just have to realize what it is!  Thanks for your reply.  I so appreciate!

From someone who has come off more phsyce meds than I care to count, tranquilzers, and four years of pain meds, I can tell you you WILL feel better. No one can tell you how long it will take since everyone is different. So hang in there and keep a weekly comfort and discomfort journal. As you go back to look where you've and how far you have come you should find relief in seeing the progress. Knowing there is an end is a worthy goal!

Thanks Lee Z has really blown my self confidence!  I'm so happy to have found I'm not alone in this journey.   I am much better than previously.  I knew it was w.d but my Dr. of course wanted to put me back on.  She was determined the anxiety/ depression was returning.  I knew it wasn't, as I've been through this nightmare before!  Another Dr. decreased cipralex too quickly and I returend to his office in tears, immmediatley he put me back on!  I knew this time it was w.d.  I was perscribed them two years ago for SAD ~ never again! 

I am able to carry on with life again, going to the gym 3 mornings per week etc.  I do however get frustrated when the " old feelings" pop up!  The ear ringing, cloudy vision, brain just goes blank, mid sentence. I've had to get a diversion instead of focusing on self, when before I could just carry on and relax with my daily chores!  These are all issues I never had before Z.  I never thought I'd be facing this challenge in retirement! 

Many Thanks again ~ I so appreciate your reply as my family and my Dr. made me feel it was "me"!   Drs. tick me off, if you've never taken these meds how would you know?  They know only what they read in their medical books.

You didn't say how long you were on this med before you started coming off. After reading your symptoms I believe you are suffering an adverse reaction FROM the med. I would not go back on it to fix it. It is why you are having nervous system issues. 

If you look at the side effects you will find everyone you've listed and more. The longer you are on the offending med the more likely the symptoms will become permanent ever AFTER you stop taking it. Ask your doctor if he can treat the symptoms WITHOUT any phsyc meds!

Your symptoms can last a long time but they will likely still be temporary. Your body needs months to start replacing the natural chemicals in your brain that calm you down. Some vitamin supplements can help repair nerve damage over time if it's not too late.

Dystonia and Tardive Dyskonisia can be devastating. They are a result of taking primarily psych meds. (Other meds can cause them, too) SearchTerm them to see what your options are. Try to relax and accept as much as you can.This can take awhile to recover from so long as it has not become permenant.

Good luck!

Resigned2B thank you so much for your kind reply. I really appreciate it. I just typed a long reply but it got lost. So I'm trying again.

You are right. I am suffering an adverse reaction. It started last year when I was put on citalopram last September for anxiety, which I hadn't had for very long and which I could and should have worked through on my own. Prior to this, I had never taken a psych drug in my life. Very soon after starting the citalopram, I developed 24/7 suicidal ideation, terror, inability to function, sweats, jerks, twitches, bruises, swollen eyelids, adrenaline rushes, 2 hours sleep a night, fast heartbeat, the list goes on. I called the doctor who said these were startup effects and I should wait for the meds to kick in. So stupidly, I did. Two weeks in, I got a bout of delirium and couldn't hold a thought for more than a few seconds. Despite this, I was not told to come off the drug. I got worse. I became cognitively impaired and couldn't keep still. I had severe inner restlessness and a constant need to move all the time and pace. I was losing so much weight. I started to get numb patches in different parts of my body and got an internal tremor. How stupid was I to stay on it??

I took myself off the drug. I was on it 8 weeks total. Including titrating off. The psychiatrist did not recognise all the above as side effects. He said it could not possibly be from the drugs and had never seen anyone have those reactions. He said it was me and labelled me with agitated depression. He then prescribed two more drugs. I protested but he said I was very ill and I should take them. They would be my way out and make me better.

I had about ten days after stopping citalopram and was starting to sleep again. Some side effects were dying down. I then started the new drugs .. Zoloft and quetiapine (this could be contributing to the withdrawal I'm experiencing now). I developed a severe tremor, my heartbeat went crazy again and I was more suicidal than ever. I was begging to be helped off the drugs by now but had been assigned a crisis team who were keeping a watchful eye on me and kept telling me I must take the drugs. No one would believe me. I ended up in a psych ward and my doses were upped..I had no choice. After I left there, I researched what had happened and realised I was right all along. I had akathisia from the drugs and severe side effects.

I took myself off the drugs. I was on quetiapine 3 months including titrating off and zoloft 4 months, including titrating off. I started zoloft at 50mg for 2-3 weeks. I was then on 100mg for 2-3 weeks. I went down to 50mg for about 5 weeks, 25mg for 2 weeks and 25mg every other day for 2 weeks. I didn't realise this was a rapid titration and practically a cold turkey. But I'd only been on it a few weeks.

My adverse reactions were never picked up by the psychiatrists although when I told the last one I was certain I had akathisia, he sort of semi-admitted it in a round about way but still wanted me on the drugs!! My GP recognises I have adverse reactions and withdrawals. He said my best bet would be to see a neuropsychiatrist but he couldn't refer me, a psychiatrist would need to do that. So I have an appointment on Thursday but don't want it. I know exactly what he will do. He will say it can't be the drugs. He will say it's me and make up an exotic psychiatric label for me. He will try to push more drugs on me. And he won't refer me to a neuropsychiatrist. I won't take anything he offers me but I just hope there's no way they can slap a CTO on me if I don't. The only thing I might take is something that may counter the side effects.

I'm on nothing now. I tried reinstating which was no good. I've been med free this time a few weeks. I don't have tardive dyskenesia or dystonia. I no longer have the tremor (except an internal one, in my legs), am no longer having jerks and am not twitching very much now. I do have akathisia (a compulsion to move my legs all the time..voluntary, a severe and awful inner restlessness which makes being still unbearable, severe suicidal ideation, terror and doom). I'm told akathisia does go away as long as you stay med free and in most cases, clears up within 18 months off the drug. I just wish the psych team would stop interfering and leave me alone to heal.

My CPN thinks my withdrawal symptoms are a return of the underlying condition (which I never had in the first place). I fail to see how brain zaps and double vision are symptoms of depression.

I want to discharge myself from the psych team. I've since learnt that I can do this but they can still make me have an assessment which can lead to a CTO, so I'm completely stuffed.

Not a day goes by when I don't regret taking these ridiculous drugs. If I hadn't, I would have worked through my anxiety and be living a normal life now. Instead I'm bedbound and threatened with the prospect of more drugs and hospital. I used to be very, very happy and loved my life so much.

These drugs are an absolute joke and the drug companies know a lot more than they are letting on.

Dear M.,

Your story is terrible and all too familiar! If there is a way for you to read my past posts I would encourage you to do that.

The doctors have a vested interest in keeping you attached to the meds. It is VERY upsetting that you were having SO many classic side effects, outlined by the pharmaceutical company's own website, and yet they didn't catch it and forced even MORE meds on you!  

This only helps these providers with their own bottom line. So while they're swimming in their pool you are suffering from unnecessary symptoms that virtually disable you and become permanent as well! 

Many times people are depressed or anxious for good reasons. I have lost ALL our retirement money with no way to recover due to my spouse's spending behavior and lying to me about it for YEARS! There's a GREAT reason to be both anxious AND depressed. The thought of living under a viaduct in our golden years is not so great! Even worse, is living with permanent side effects of psych meds on top of no income! Talk about depressing!!! 

In your case, it sounds like you really could have taken another, more effective path to mental calmness. Instead, you have lost more than you ever dreamed was possible. Least of all your confidence and your credibility and reputation with others. (And that is huge!)

You can do this. It will be very tough at times. These doctors do not have a magic pill for what ales us every time life is tough. Some people have no choice. But ALL of us have the choice to exhaust other treatment options before we start popping these meds!!! Meds designed to affect the nervous system. So when they damage it, as in your case and MANY other people's, the docs don't know how in the world to undo that nervous system damage. Only God, Himself does.

Congratulations on coming to this realization before too much damage has been done. You could be on this thread talking about 20 years of this rather than a couple of years. After reading your extended post, I think you have a great chance of healing and putting this in your past. 

No experience we have in this earth life is wasted. If I had not gone through much trauma I would not be able to try and help others like yourself. It is why I take the time to respond!

Come back to the thread as often as you need to. There are many here who, like myself, try their best to help! God bless you. 

Thank you resigned2B. It sounds like you've had a TERRIBLE time. I don't know your story but I will try to find it on here. I hope you've recovered enough now to be able to get something out of life. My heart goes out to you.

Hello Resigned2B & to all members of this Zoloft withdrawal forum. Today I am new to this forum about Zoloft withdrawal. I've been searching online all morning, looking for some valid information regarding my recent Zoloft withdrawal symptoms. I was so fortunate to find this forum, & I have been reading it for hours. All the posts I'm reading are so helpful & true, & from very honest & courageous people. So I had to join (something I've never done before), to offer support & to get support. One of the biggest "aha's" for me was to learn that my 'brain waves', as I've been calling them, that often sudden surge of dizziness in my brain, was not the flu coming on, like I thought. Every post I read stated having the same dizzy feeling. It was a relief to finally understand what was happening to me, though I was discouraged at how long this 'short life' drug may take to leave my body. I began increasing my daily Omega Fish oil this morning, as I also read (on several other informative web sights before I found this forum) how much our brains need the Omega's to begin to heal back to its 'natural state'. I've also used Essential Oils for the past year for sciatica, healing skin ailments, calming myself during stressful times, & sleeping, which is my next search for the best Oils to use to help with these withdraw symptoms I've now learned about, thanks to all of the members of this forum. Thank you all for being such a caring & kind group. 

Hello Marynoz

I'm sorry to hear you're getting the brain shocks and going through withdrawals from these ridiculous drugs.

I hope the fish oils help and you feel better soon.

 

Thank you for your compassion & response, meteor63 :-) I'm so glad I found this forum. It not only helps me understand why I'm so dizzy (which concerned me) but it also has reenforced my beliefs about how, too quickly, doctors want to, will, & sometimes insist on prescribing medications. Everyone in the forum has been so honest & courageous in their struggles to withdrawal symptoms to this 'supposedly' harmless, non-addicting anti-depressant. The support for one another that I've read in this forum made my feel less alone. Now I hope I can also offer support & hope to those dealing with this. 

Again, I am new to this kind of communication. I'm 57 years old & still trying to learn all this modern technology. So, to everyone who reads what I write, forgive me if I'm not doing it correctly yet. And feel free to advise & redirect me where needed. Thank you! 

I think I'm only experiencing the withdraw symptom of dizziness right now (unlike some others who unfortunately seem to have more side effects) because I'm still taking a low dose of Klonopin (Benzo drug) for my anxiety. I've been on & off both Zoloft & Klonopin since 1999, when I experienced the tragic death of my dad. Certain triggers brought back depression & anxiety since 1999, leading me back into counseling & onto medication to cope. As I weaned off the 50mg of Zoloft 2 months ago, I thought I was doing fine, until the dizziness began a week ago. 

Curiously, I researched withdrawal symptoms from Zoloft & found this inspiring forum going on. I remember something someone wrote, not sure who because I read so much of the forum, but they said, 'even if you don't feel like doing anything, do it anyways.' That was great & I followed that suggestion that very day. My Essential Oils have also helped balance my 'brain waves', nature's remedy instead of a doctor's. I highly recommend people researching more natural ways to cope with depression & stress. 

Well, this is basically where I'm at right now. Thought it to be fair for me to share more with others who have been so open  themselves. 

Yes, I had always taken fish oil but I was taking only one every morning until I read online that we can take two at a time, 2-3 times a day if needed. I believe that the Omega in the fish oil will help supply our brain with better health. So far, it's helping me with those dizzy "brain waves". I hope this helps others who read this as well. Thank you!!! 

Hi meteor I know it's a while since u posted this but ur wds r identical to mine I've been off sertraline about 3 months now and feel exactly the same as u did also terrible insomnia can't sleep at all did u also suffer with this and how r u now?

Hey Mary! What essential oils are helping with the dizziness? I'm in a similar situation. I was on Zoloft for 4.5 years and have weaned off, while being put on Wellbutrin. I've had so much dizziness and light sensitivity

Hi Mary,

I've been feeling flu symptoms for weeks and mental fatigue/forgetfulness/dizziness. Does it go away? How long did it take?