Try Another SSRI?

I really feel for you bc I am in the exact same place and it is totally debilitating and distracting! I am on Zoloft too and when i up the dose I feel palpitations too...especially when i drink wine, which I do not think I will do again. My dr ran a test on me by mistake and it came up high and the problem is that no one ever runs this blood test so no one really knows what it means! We are the worst person this can happen too. SO, in the last few weeks I have had ct scans, X-rays, thyroid ultrasounds and an insane amount of bloodwork. I cannot le this go bc I am so worried there is something wrong. I constantly google things on the internet. I have tingling in one foot that I'm obsessed with...forget it, the list goes on. I am going to see an endocrinologist anyway, even though my thyroid tests are normal, bc i feel like i have all the symptoms go hyperthyroid or lyme...or ms. I feel shaky inside too...sometimes even like pieces of me are vibrating. I also get crazy leg muscle twiches when I am in bed and even in my feet. Had an mri a year and half ago but this was before this major episode, even though i have dealt w panic and anxiety my whole life. I am def in the thick of it and it SUCKS. If I were you I would consult w a psych or more so a cardiologist. I really tried to hold out on the meds, but couldn't any longer. I clearly have a chemical imbalance. Best of luck! If you want to chat let me know!

So, your original question...no I don't think you should try another SSRI.

I have been an anxious person for about 4 years. I gave up gluten and other foods that a blood test said I was sensitive to, about a month ago. My anxiety has dropped tremendously. That doesn't mean I don't get stressed out or anxious, but the constant anxiety, the twitching, the burning skin, aches, pains, and the shakiness has been considerably less. When I am not careful, or cheat, I notice right away the aches, pains and that tensed up reved up feeling.

It can take weeks and weeks for your body to calm down, and it can take seconds to go back to where you were....but hopefully it won't be as constant. It will lessen a little each day.

I would say, keep up with the exercise, stay away from gluten, possibly get tested for other food sensitivities, do progressive muscle relaxation tape before bed......and you may be able to beat this without the use of drugs. It sounds like you are going in the right direction, and if you can focus on being healthy, and little by little stop worrying about the little symptoms remaining, you will be doing better soon!!

But anxiety will be a battle you may have to fight for the rest of your life. Just know, that if you can beat it once, you can beat it again. Just because you have pesky symptoms today does NOT mean they will bother you tomorrow. Just keep yourself healthy! (And these are things I need to say/do every day to battle my anxiety).

Don't take any more antidepressants!!! Get your Adrenals check out!!! DEHA and Oral cortisol test need to be done. The cortisol HAS TO BE oral as it shows your levels through out the day in 4 different tests rather than 1 random blood draw. Also get your thyroid health check too. TSH is not a good test for this alone. You also need Free T3 and Free T4 along with a T3 uptake. Even if these number come back 'normal', they need to be looked at where they are on the range. You could be working on thyroid issues and not even realize it yet because you are in the early stages. Having a pre existing heart issue is a sign along with IBS symptoms.

I say all this because I've been battling hypothyroid issues since 2008. I've been told to diet, exercise (with no luck in weight loss),nothing is wrong, told I had fibro, had tons of scripts tossed at me for antidepressants. I've refused to fall into the pit of Dr knows best and I've finally found a Dr that is willing to get her hands dirty and help me figure out what is going on. Come to find out it has been thyroid all along and since it has gone so long untreated it looks like I might have Hashitomo's now. I have to meet with an ENT to get a biopsy done because it is enlarged. I too have the random muscle twitching and it is a sign of adrenal fatigue from my body fighting within itself for so long.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I really urge you to do your own research and NEVER take what a doc says 100% for truth! You are your own patient advocate!!

S.

Just want to say, good for you! Taking charge of your life! Let the doc be in charge of the med change.

I have been on several SSRIs and had the anxiety thing to begin with, but it NEVER lasted that long. i don't think it can hurt to inquire about it. i switched from zoloft to celexa and finally to Lexapro, which i've been on over a year. at first it made me twitchy and anxious as well, but the combo with Klonopin helped with that. if you want to avoid narcotics to help, i would maybe see about trying another SSRI, IMO. of course, when you think about it, it comes back!! i understand!! i also have heart electrical issues and felt my heart pounding at times, especially when i was trying to sleep. they eventually put me on a combo of Lexapro (SSRI) and Seraquel (antipsychotic/mood stabilizer) and i'm doing pretty well on it. As a diabetic, i seek out gluten-free foods anyway, but I have to honestly say i've never had any blood work done, as you have, to test for food intolerances. exercise certainly helps with depression/anxiety/heart issues; really helps with everything! if you don't want to switch - if you feel the zoloft is helping you - i'd suggest keeping your current regiment for another couple of weeks and then re-evaluate where you are. but for me personally, zoloft was a terrible drug. but be careful switching - i had one psychiatrist who never tapered my meds, she just changed them, and it wasn't until much later i saw a doc who told me it is very dangerous to just SWITCH without tapering your dosage first!! good luck..!

I don't speak from personal experience as such, I do know that you are right that the physical/ nervous system may have a lag time.

I remember that when my DS first started sleeping through the night, I continued to get up at the old intervals, despite the fact that I no longer needed to do so. Sometimes it takes the body a while to catch up with what the mind knows/ understands/ accepts.

You have a lot of change underfoot. Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

I would personally keep trying. My Psych doc explained like this: there are different systems in your brain that react to different chemicals: serotonin, epinephrine, and norepinephrine to name a few. What YOUR brain needs is different from mine or the person next to you. So, what might work for them might not work for you.

I was on Zoloft for about 12 years and it finally quit working so I switched to several others before I settled on a cocktail of Cymbalta and Wellbutrin. My Wellbutrin is so low that my doc said I could stop it, but my husband says it is what keeps my from flying off the handle at him all the time, so I stay on it, which my doc is fine with.

I think in my list of ones I tried: Zoloft, paxil, Effexor, Lexapro, amitriptoline, vijbrid, and a few others. So, keep going and trying. You may get to the point where you don't need it anymore if you can keep doing counseling and working out, but in the meantime, you don't have to do it alone. And good for you for going gluten free. I'm to chicken to try it myself.

Hi lady, sorry I have been MIA.

What does your doctor think? Are they offering you another SSRI? I have been recently diagnosed with PTSD and my 'fight or flight' has also been stuck on, or so says the doctor (we really are like the same person :), I was given Klonopin (a benzo) but it didn't work for me...something I have been given that seems to help *slightly* with my anxiety is Clonidine, it is Rx for High Blood Pressure (which I don't have) but it is also given for anxiety and it does seem to help with getting my racing heart to relax a bit and cut down on all my shaky-ness and over-all sense of stress/anxiety...it's no where near good enough but it is the first thing that has made any noticeable difference yet. I am sticking with the Zoloft, on day 5 and the diareah has subsided but the random headaches (which I never get) are still here, which makes me SO nervous!!

I am in the exact same boat as you, so I am sorry I can not be more helpful. If I were you, I would go with your gut...if you feel like you are feeling better that is great, if not talk with the doctor again and see what other direction you get?

As always, feel free to PM me...I don't get on here as regularly as I used to but I check in every few days!

Because you had a serious medical reaction to the medication, I urge you to talk with your doctor about whether or not a different medication has the potential to have the same affect.

If you're not seeing a psychiatrist or a psychologist or other provider who has specific training in medications I suggest you see one. The subscriber needs to have an understanding of your physical condition as well as your emotional condition. I suggest a primary care doctor has not been trained specifically in regards to psychotropic medications.

If another SSRI is not likely to cause the same symptoms then, yes, try another one. I've had to switch from one to another because one will stop helping me. They do not all act in the same way.