Need Help. Trying to Go off of My Zoloft

Hello there. I am sorry you are having such a rough time! I am not a psychiatrist, but I am a mental health therapist and the first thing I would say is that you are moving kind of fast. Zoloft is a drug classified as an SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor). They take a couple of weeks to really metabolize into your system and even longer to wean off. Folks can have some very dangerous effects doing it too quickly, commonly know as "serotonin withdrawl". It can make you feel exactly like you are describing. I have had some clients check themselves into the hospital because they did this so fast. My best advice to you is to talk to your doctor (I ALWAYS suggest a psychiatrist because frankly I think other physicians have NO business prescribing a psychotropic medication) and go off the drug SLOWLY. If I remember correctly, a therapeutic dose of Zoloft is 150 mg. (I might be remembering wrong here). So if youare taking 300 mg, go down to 250 for a couple of weeks and then to 150 for a couple of weeks and then down to 50 for a couple of weeks. Still be prepared for some withdrawl symptoms, but not nearly as bad if you do this slowly, get plenty of sunshine and exercise and have lots of support.
Hope this is helpful!
ANother P.S.- I strongly feel like OB/GYN's are passing out SSRI's waaaaay tooo quickly. True PPD is serious but really a patient shold wait 5 to 6 weeks before going on such a medication to see if things really get better. There is other Post Partum Support available in the area (as I needed a bit of support myself)!
Take care!

Hi W.,
I have been on anti-depressants for about 7 years now for anxiety. I used Paxil for the first 2 years and after gaining 25 pounds, I decided I had to go off of it. It took me almost another year to completely wean off of it even though I went very slowly. I was so sick and then I felt like I had panic attacks all day then major depression followed. I ended up having to take a different anti-depressant plus an anti-nausea medication to get off Paxil. I have been on several since then , but Wellbutrin XL has been the best by far. I lost all the weight I gained and I don't see any adverse side-effects. After I had my daughter (I did not take any drugs while pregnant), my nurse in the hospital said she had taken it after her pregnancy and said she would highly recommend it. She was right...it really helps me feel normal and does not make me tired. I hope you have been to a doctor by now and will be feeling better soon.

Yes I have Zoloft you have to very slowly go off so you do not have the withdrawls that will literally make you think you have a worsening mental disorder. Takes about 2-3 months to go off it safely or you might end up in a mental hospital. Please becareful.

S.

Please be very careful, you should have your health care provider help you wean yourself off of the Zoloft. That way your body isn't thrown into severe withdrawl symptoms.

I was on anti-depressants for years and about a year before I got pregnant changed my diet, started doing yoga and lots of biking top get off the meds. I had a bad reaction to Zoloft and Paxil so I finally ended up on Celexa. I weaned myself by reducing the amount I was taking each day until I wasn't taking any at all. In the final month of my pregnancy I had severe depression and the doctors talked about putting me back on something and feared that I would have severe ppd, I refused and just avoided anything at all that caused even a smigen of stress. My daughter is two-months and other than days then normal baby blues, so far so good. I would highly suggest yoga or some other type of relaxation exercise that is as much about the mind as the body.

~M.

Tina is right. I was on Paxil for 2 years and Zoloft. I weaned very slowly off of both. At the time when I was taking Paxil, my doctor told me it would be no problem to go cold turkey. He was so wrong. Just one day cold turkey was awful. I would sit and stare for hours. Very despondent, my body ached and I didn't think death was too dramatic an option. I ended up cutting my pills in half for a week, then in 1/4ths on down to 1/16ths.
I also started practicing a vigorous form of yoga called Ashtanga, which I think was very important to my being able to get off of the medication. I wasn't practicing Yoga when I got off of Zoloft, and though I was in a better state of mind; I would say I had a harder time adjusting after I weaned off the Zoloft than the Paxil.