Sertraline Withdrawal .. Does it go away?

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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.

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  • Posted

    I know you have a few good days and think " that's it", only to return to negativity the next.I was quite despondent until I found this forum, and realized I was not alone! It's easier to cope when you have the support of others that have experienced the same. It's frustrating to be told it's you and not the drug. How do they know they've never been on this " merry go around"!

    I found a cymbalta forum where a medical Dr. noted she could not believe the withdrawls one of her patients experienced! She was aghast and tried all sorts of holistic approaches to help her.

    My husband was put on cymbalta for knee pain. he was on it eight months, the pain subsided, but the side effects were nasty. He quit " cold turkey" FIVE months ago and is still an aggressive BEAR! It's been a total personality change.

    There are many stories out there. I'll try and find the article from this Dr. to share.

    • Posted

      Hi Maureen - don't usually do this sort of thing but I just thought i'd give it a go!  don't know how long ago these posts go back to so don't know if I should ask my questions?

       

    • Posted

      There's some very good info in these posts. They have dates at teh top so you know har far they go back.

      Ask your questions we are all here to help one another.

  • Posted

    Hi

    Hi how are you feeling now ?

    please tell me you got through the withdrawal effects.

    im in a complete mess. Took citalapram for 9 years. Decided to come off them gradually this summer.

    got down to 10g started experiencing terrible withdrawal effects. Went On seratine as adviced by doctor reduced these over a period of 5 weeks. 8 weeks of withdrawal symptoms the worst ever. Put back on seratine - extreme sickness.

    the doctor doesn't know what to do so has left me for a week without anything.

    Evil memedication any advice gladly received

    • Posted

      Hi Claire. I'm so sorry this happened to you. These meds are ridiculous.

      er, I'm not sure my reply will help you much. I wish I could say I was better. Some things have improved a bit. My situation is more complicated though because I had a severe adverse reaction to citalopram last year. It made me so very ill. I was then on sertraline and quetiapine. I was taking lorazepam on and off too so I think I'm getting withdrawal from all three drugs. Not only that, I reinstated sertraine and came off again. I've only been properly med free about 3 months.

      the surviving antidepressants website may be able to advise you better than me.

      everyone says this gets better in time.

      take care.

  • Posted

    Dear Meteor,

    You wrote in another thread somewhere (which I can't find now) asking me if I've ever read Angie's akathisia blog.  I haven't and I don't knw how to find it.  Could you help, please?

    P.S.  My son was on Sertraline for about 10 years and, reading that you were on it and reading about your symptoms, I wonder if Sertraline was the primary cause of my son's akathisia.  You mention your sinus problems.  My son, especially on his worst days, makes constant sniffing, snorting, grunting noises at the back of his nose in his throat.  He doesn't seem to have any sort of cough or cold and he doesn't seem to have any control over these noises and movements at the back of his throat.  It goes with the constant walking and constant pointless moving about.  When he makes the grunting noises I know he's having a bad day from the akathisia point of view.  Is this what you mean by sinus problems or are yours the conventional sort of sinus problems (i.e. not central nervous damage i.e. akathisia)?

    • Posted

      Hi Patricia. I don't know if we are allowed to add links to websites here so I will send it to you in a private message. It may well have been the sertraline that caused your sons akathisia. I am so sorry he suffers with this.

      my sinus problems are definitely not normal sinus problems. I had issues for years on and off with blocked sinuses before taking and psych meds and what I have now is way different. It's a horrible drug induced version. It's drug withdrawal related.

  • Posted

    I'm wondering the same thing, does this ever get better after being on these meds? I was on sertraline since I was 14 due to depression; now at 28 I finally weaned off fo them over the past year and have been med free for 2 months. The really horrible withdrawal side effects of shaking, sudden ourbursts of rage, extreme irritability, and irrationability have gotten better BUT now I'm extremely anxious all the time. I started a new job a month ago which I realize starting a new job is always stressful but it's the same type of job I did before and it's what I went to grad school for and what I'm passionate about but every morning I now wake up with extreme anxiety that I can't seem to talk myself out of. It's almost to the point that I feel I am going to throw up and makes it really difficult to work. Even on weekends I wake up with this irrational anxiety though I don't have to work that day. I'm starting to journal my experience in hopes that will help me track my triggers but I'm just so frustrated. I've never had anxiety like this before and am so afraid that because I was on these meds during my formative years of brain development that I might be screwed up forever and always anxious. I really cannot go back on these meds as I plan on becoming pregant within the next year and do not want to be on medication when that happens. I also don't want to go through the withdrawal symptoms again if I were to get back on it just for a while and then off it again - but I have to be able to function at my job.  On a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being bothers me a bit to 10 being I cannot function, things that used to be a 2 or 3 are now a 7 or 8 and really shouldn't be. 

    Has anyone else had this experience for months afterwards where you have become overly anxious due to the withdrawal? Does it go away? 

    • Posted

      Sorry for the late reply Nicole. I am so sorry to hear you are suffering. How are you feeling now? How is the job going. I'm told it does get better, it just takes time. I think what you're experiencing is common in withdrawal. I do hope things improve for you soon.
    • Posted

      Hi Meteor63, 

      I'm doing a lot better now, thank you. I've been journaling and keeping track of my anxiety levels and what seemed to cause my anxiety. The job is going well and I think for the past week I finally got into the swing of things and am feeling a lot better. The crazy thing is I started having anxiety only when I was at home, mainly in the morning, and not while at work. I really think it was my brain still reacting to not having sertraline in my system anymore, and the anxiety would happen more so in the morning when I woke up (that's when it was the worst) and then sometimes when I wasn't keeping myself busy. This is the first couple of days that I've been able to actually relax and not wake up at an 8 out of 10 feeling nausous. I believe there is hope, it's just getting further and further away from being on these meds I think. I hope you're feeling better as well! 

  • Posted

    I'm so glad I found this thread, I took my last Sertraline pill around 3 months ago and for the most part the side effects have gone but the ones that have stuck around are insane idigestion which makes me feel really sick in the evenings and exhaustion, sometimes I don't know where I'm going to find the energy to go about my day. Before finding this thread the worrying was making it worse but I feel a little more relaxed in knowing that these damn things might just be taking a while to exit my body.
    • Posted

      Hello laylanadine. I am sorry to hear you have these symptoms. I had dreadful exhaustion and this is improving. I hope it all settles down soon for you.
  • Posted

    Hi. Im really sorry to hear of what you are going through, but believe me, you are not alone. I have had the most terrible time as I had seratonine syndrome too and the effects are just terrible. I thought I was dying at one point, with the zaps in my brain being so bad I couldnt see properly. At one point, I lost the colour in my vision and everything was grey - I thought I had lost the plot. My doctor just did my obs and then sent me home without any information, so anything I have found out I have found myself..no help at all as they wont acknowledge that its the sertraline which causes it. Thank God I found your post - at least I know that Im not the only one and that Im not mad!! The worst part of things were for me was the VERY heavy sweating - I lost a stone in a week as I sweat so much and my thyroid, which I was having trouble with before, has now started to cause problems too. I dont know which way to turn to be honest, but its good to know that there ARE other people out there with the same condition. I was on Sertraline for years and then the dose was increased - along with amytriptiline and this was the major problem. They interacted with each other and this was the result. I just hope that things get better as time moves on, but its 10 weeks now since I had any meds and Im just about feeling better of myself, but the depression is still with me. Let me know if you have any tips for beating this as Im not getting any information from anywhere and its awful to feel so alone when its not my fault that I have ended up like this. Good luck and hope you feel better very soon.
    • Posted

      Thank you for your message, Marie. Gosh, I'm so sorry you've gone through this too. It never ceases to amaze me that we are so very obviously reacting to the drugs and yet the doctors won't admit it and keep us on the drugs!! I still have terrible depression too, from the meds. I wasn't depressed before I took them. It will get better in time. I just can't say how long it will take. People say it does get better. It's early days for us both. I've not long been off they 'meds' either. Good luck.
  • Posted

    Omg after reading all of this I am so scared to go off my meds been on z for 3 yrs and take 200mg a day...if I forget two days in a row this all starts. 
    • Posted

      Hello, a lot of people withdraw with not many side effects. Unfortunately for some it is awful and they have a terrible time but everyone is different and will have a different experience. 

      There are other conversations on here which are more of a success story. 

      I am currently weaning off my sertraline and am finding it fine, a lot easier then I thought. I was scared after reading things online but actually it's been ok. I have had a couple of side effects (numb teeth & irritability) but nothing compared to before I went on them or the first few weeks on them. X

    • Posted

      Don't be afraid.  It is a process.  I posted some pretty horrible effects but my medical history is very long and complicated and I think the worst of the effects were from Cymbalta, not Zoloft.  I have taken every anti out there and Cymbalta seemed to really be the most difficult to stop and I didn't wean properly either.  You have to add some "reason" and logic as to why you want to stop.  For me I have the desire to know if I can live well without them. And that applies to all drugs period.  Weaning is the only way and you have to take really good care of yourself.  Eat well, exercise, (yoga even for me with full spinal fusion works) ,and patience which is probably the hardest part for me and probably a lot of others that post. Everyone is different and only you know what is best for you. It takes time for your brain to make what it needs and it can be scary yes, so surround yourself with people who care and will support you regardless of how you feel or behave.

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