trying to come off 50mg of sertraline
Posted , 6 users are following.
Hi all
Im trying to wean off 50mg of sertraline, the doc said take one every one day for a week then after a week miss one every 2 days etc, does any one know of another way to come off. ive been on them for 2 years, feel awful on them, swaying in head, numbess in head, ringing in ears etc
1 like, 9 replies
colin878 karen261
Posted
Sounds to me like your doing it to quickly.i tapered off them over a period of 6weeks,starting with 3/4s of the 50mg for 2weeks & then 4weeks at 25mg,the last few days taking them every 2nd day.i had withdrawl symptoms the 1st week or so of tapering then things got easier. You have been on it for 2 years which is a long time so you need to do it very very slowly.i was on it for 6months in total,if i were you I would be looking spreading it out over at least 8-10 weeks.
jGloucs karen261
Posted
I'm right inthe middle of this process myself, and it's an uncomfortable journey. I'd been on Sertraline for 5 years and started to cut down back in February. I went to half a tablet every day, rather than a whole tablet every other day, because the half life of Sertraline is quite short. That means the amount of circulating Sertraline only lasts for about 26 hours in the body so if you took one 9am Mon. and another 9am Wed. you've gone more than that time, and your body is probably craving Sertraline. Going to half EVERY day means you have Sertraline circulating all the time to minimise discontinuation symptoms, but you are still weaning yourself off. I was fine at half a tablet, I did eventually go to half a tablet every other day, and then to a quarter of a tablet every day, then every other day, but I found symptoms severe at that low level, so went to a quarter of a tablet every day to keep some active ingredient circulating. I finally went to a quarter tablet every other day, but by that time I had been cutting down for some time. This amount meant I experienced symptoms, but I tried to tolerate them by taking it easy for a few days. I took my last 1/8th of a tablet last Tuesday and hope I won't need to take any more. Some of the symptoms I experienced are visual disturbance, digestive upset, wooziness, swaying, feeling cold then having hot sweats, breathlessness, feeling slightly nauseous, thirst, aggression, unusual dreams, sleep pattern changes. I've been surprised at the extent of the symptoms. Even last night Sun., 5 days after not taking part of a tablet, I'm still feeling symptoms, but I suppose they're gradually lessening, but definitely not gone. This is over a period of 4-5 months, and I suspect if I'd tapered even more slowly towards the end, I could have minimised the symptoms even further, but I was keen to get off them. As I said, the symptoms are very unpleasant and I found them particularly disappointing as it takes such an effort to wean yourself off. This has only been my experience and it may not be right for you, but I did find taking a small amount each day minimised symptoms better, even if it was only a small part of the tablet, rather than missing out days. I hope you find a way of managing your discontinuation and that your symptoms resolve soon. Best wishes,
J
don45258 jGloucs
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jGloucs don45258
Posted
jGloucs
don45258 jGloucs
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jGloucs don45258
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I didn't feel better for quite some time when I first started taking Sertraline. I was sleepy, dry mouth, anxiety, weird dreams, no lessening of my OCD symptoms. I also felt angry at having to take tablets to help me cope. I was so agitated that I should see some improvement in my behaviour, it was not a good time to try to be patient. The improvements are gradual, so it's hard to say when I felt better specifically, but it was certainly weeks and I don't think the full maintainance effect happened until about 3 months. For all that, they did help me through a very difficult time in my life. Although I complain about the discontinuation symptoms taking me by surprise, I'm not sure I would have done anything different looking back on how debilitating my anxiety and OCD symptoms were. They definitely gave me a rest from my symptoms and so feel 'normal' for a while. At least by starting them I knew each day was one day closer to feeling better, even if I couldn't see the improvement that particular day.
imelda16796 karen261
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david49878 karen261
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I don't post here that often, but would welcome any comments.
imelda16796 karen261
Posted