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I went to psychiatrist in beginning of 2020. I couldn't focus, had anxiety attacks usually caused by chronic procrastination. I was also experiencing anhedonia, meaninglessness. I was prescribed Setraline (Zoloft) for depression & anxiety disorder. Started at 25mg and went up to 150-200mg over the course of 2 years. In 2021, I got diagnosed with ADHD and started taking Methylphenidate (Medikinet) - started at 10mg CR x1-2/day. Experimented with Medikinet IR as well. Currently (2024) I'm on 20mg CR in the morning and either a 10-20mg IR, 20mg CR or nothing in the afternoon (depends on day). Every few weeks I do at least few consecutive days of Medikinet "holidays" where I don't take it. Between 2020-2023 I gained a lot of weight, from 80kg (184cm height, male, born 1998) to 120kg. Since 2023, my weight is stable at 115kg. There were multiple potential contributing factors and I have developed stress eating so I don't necessarily think that drugs taken were the main factor. Taking Zoloft led to anorgasmia and making it pretty much impossible for me to orgasm with a partner (still possible through masturbation alone, but also more difficult). My emotional states got very bland, both the pleasant and unpleasant ones. I tried tappering off Zoloft for the first time after a year of taking it (2021). I was at 100mg dose at a time. over a course of 5 weeks went through 100-75-50-25-0. Around weeks 4-6 I was unable to function. I was experiencing crippling anxiety, anger and a general lack of energy (I could only sleep). Relapsed and didn't approach tappering off again until this year (2024). Somewhere over December and January, I started to forget to take it Zoloft (200mg) and was doing so on-and-off for a 1-2 months until completely stopping to take it in February (prescription run out and couldn't get myself to schedule a doctor appointment). In contrast to last time I was feeling good. I was having more motivation. I was also beginning to experience a wider spectrum emotional intensity (in a positive sense). After 1.5 months from stopping to take Zoloft I started experiencing more adverse states that I don't remember experiencing before (maybe only occasionally as a young (<12 yo) kid. I'm getting easily triggered (anger) and irritated over small or unclear reasons. I'm able to see it arise and control it somewhat without bursting out on others (I think it's because on-and-off meditation practice that I was into for the last 5-6 years). Over the last 1-2 weeks I started experiencing more of a wheeping sadness states and crippling anxiety states where I just delve into a deep despair hole of overwhelm over day-to-day life and am unable to function. I had a psychiatrist visit in the second half of March where I mentioned that I more-or-less accidentally went through Zoloft taper. Psychiatrist suggested that we should monitor how it goes and prescribed an optional Duloxetine (Dulofor) 60mg in case withdrawal symptoms intensify. She also said that Duloxetine might help my ADHD (ability to focus) in combination with Methylphenidate much more than an SSRI like Zoloft would. I raised my worries about it also possibly causing anorgasmia and making it much harder for me to slowly go back to normal after dropping Sertraline (Zoloft) [I started slowly noticing that it is easier to reach climax]. She said the chances are not as high that it will cause as with Sertraline, but I'm still hesitant to take another type of drug with my current withdrawal experience.

Hi everyone, I’m new here, (22 y/o Male) and I have been reading all your threads on this forum for quite a while and it gives me great hope. I have a story off my own that I would like to share with you. It’s a long read and I would really appreciate your feedback back on it and where I can go from here. My story starts in 2021. To start I struggle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and have done since I was 11 years old, I am now 22. In 2021 after 8 years of suffering and sweeping my problems under the rug they finally blew up in my face and I had to deal with them. This included horrific intrusive thoughts, rumination and anxiety all day everyday for about 3 months straight so much to the extent that I had a nervous breakdown and couldn’t do anything. It affected my eating, sleeping and work life and I don’t even like talking about it to be honest. I had heard about ssri’s for many years but never considered them until my back was against the wall and I had no other choice. With much hesitation I started Sertraline in August 2021 (at age 20) and to be fair it did provide a lot of relief. I went from 25mg to 50mg and was on the medication for roughly six months, August 2021 to February 2022. Somehow or other the first time went alright and I successfully cold turkey’d off 50mg in feb 2022 because my prescription ran out. I didn’t have any prolonged withdrawal symptoms or sexual side effects. I also once took 25mg for a day or two in August 2022 but stopped because I didn’t like the spaced out and drowsy side effects. Now this is where I’m getting round to the not so great part. In January 2023 I was resuming my college degree after working for six months. I was anxious being in a new house with new roommates, and was looking for something to help me calm down and settle in. I knew I had left over Sertraline from the year prior. And while giving it some thought I foolishly decided to reinstate by myself and treat them as if they were benzodiazepines. This is where trouble began. I started 25mg again in late January 2023 jumped to 50mg and quit them cold turkey again roughly in around mid April 2023. The reason for doing so is because I was having severe headaches which very well may have been an adverse reaction. I feel very foolish about this because I unintentionally did this to myself when I really, really didn’t need to take the medication. And because I successfully quit cold turkey the first time round I thought I could do it again and was completely unaware of withdrawal symptoms. I was quite wrong, I guess this is what I’m getting to now. I have most the textbook PAWS symptoms I.e. poor to no emotions, anhedonia, lack of motivation/drive. Not to mention the sexual side effects numb genitals,watery semen, no real effect on libido however (thankfully). It’s now roughly 12 months since I last took Sertraline and while I see small windows there’s not much real improvement. I guess what can I do now?. I have heard about reinstating small doses of the drug to alleviate withdrawal symptoms but to be honest I’d rather not touch it with a ten foot pole after what happened. I’m probably outside the reinstating period anyway but I am open to suggestions. So what should I do, I’m no stranger to hard times and I know that this is just another bump in the road and will pass as it has for many others, but it’s starting to drag on a bit. I have often heard that it takes between 12 - 14 months for your dopamine receptors to reset so that gives me hope. I know I am slowly healing as I am getting very small windows but it’s still slow, is there anyone else who was in a similar situation as I am currently?. How long did it take you to recover and is there any feedback you could offer me. Considering that I only took it for 2 - 3 months shouldn’t that mean that I should recover a lot quicker and more linearly?. Can I 100% recover from this, and be even better than before?. Like said I’m hopeful and optimistic and know I will get there. I would just like to know where to go from here. Thank you for reading my story and I look forward to hearing your responses.

Good morning, my name is Franco. I have been avidly reading information from the forum on discontinuing antidepressants for months (specifically, I am also undertaking the enormous challenge of discontinuing and deprescribing a drug with psychotropic action, Sertraline). First of all, my native language is not English, as I am a Spanish speaker. I hope you can understand the imperfections in the composition (I will undoubtedly have help from translation programs, plus some rudimentary knowledge of English grammar). I started taking sertraline in August 2023 (to this day with total regret, although presumably it is a common denominator in the sample of people "treated" with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and I would not be surprised at all that this feeling of restlessness would also extend to people being treated with drugs from other pharmacotherapeutic configurations). For some time now I have completely removed myself from arguments regarding "diagnosis", since the arbitrariness governing diagnosis in the territory of psychiatry is so vast that talking about it is more ludic-comical than rational. I will limit myself to testifying to my behavior during each of the reductions, and whether they are compatible (or not) with a slow-taper paradigm, by virtue of reducing the intensity of the discontinuation syndrome. I wanted to say thank you to those people willing to read and provide me with advice on the tapering program. Perhaps it is also pertinent to thank all the administrators of this community, who open the door to the formation of an instruction space for those people who have had the misfortune of facing a discontinuation process. My reduction strategy, so far (since I am at 50% of the volume originally prescribed to me) is to divide the tablet into eight units, and remove ⅛ of a unit every 21 days (say, remove ⅛ of a tablet, create a space of stabilization of three weeks, and then proceed to withdraw ⅛ of the tablet again). In this way, I have already removed 4/8 of a tablet in total. Is it a fast or slow rate of reduction? The originally prescribed dose was 50 milligrams of sertraline, so I am currently taking 25 milligrams per day. It is also pertinent to note that I asked about seven psychiatric professionals (seven consultations with different professionals) about a liquid formulation, but presumably they did not consider it necessary, or they were not familiar with a liquid prescription, or there is simply no liquid form for that medication in my country. Will there be any possibility of manually making a liquid formulation of a pharmaceutical product that is sold in tablet form? All the best.

I took 25 mg Zoloft about 12 years ago for just a few weeks. Decided it wasn’t for me. “Officially” started Zoloft 7 years ago for the first time for post-partum anxiety. I was a mess. Jumping at every little movement of things, miserable and anxious. I actually had an elevated TSH with my first pregnancy so that definitely could have contributed to my anxiety/arousal post partum. Now I have been on and off Z throughout those years to some degree or another for anxiety that is triggered by health-ocd. Feeling good this year during a busy work season, I reduced my 100 mg dose to 75 in October. Didn’t feel any different. Until I started getting low iron symptoms or so I thought (weak and shaky legs, shortness of breath, cheat pain). These were anxiety symptoms that I took for iron deficiency. So instead of getting anxiety under control, I took a BOAT LOAD of iron. I had had iron definitely in the past so I thought I knew what I needed. Also increased my Zoloft back up to 100 in November. But had an anxiety relapse on 100 mg (Dec 2023). Had iron levels tested. They were beyond fine (even highish ferritin). Looking back, it was likely side effects from upping from 75 to 100 that caused the anxiety. So naturally, didn’t feel well, so I increased to 125 and never got better. Started therapy during this time. Went up to 150 after 125 didn’t work. Each increase made me horrifically worse. Boarderline psychosis (this was in February). Started buspar 2.5 mg 3x per day. Thank heavens, I never went up on the buspar. (my GP confused side effects for anxiety) Reduced to 125 for a week the same day I began buspar. Then down to 100 one week after 125. Sat at 100 mg for 4 weeks. Started to feel more stable after 2 weeks at 100. But then became erratic with my buspar dosing (it also likely just starting to “work” which was likely too much medicine with the 100 mg Zoloft). Started getting withdrawal from buspar, but confused it for Sertonin syndrome. Then stopped the Buspar cold turkey approx. 2 weeks ago today (March 22). Had 3+ days of INTENSE withdrawal. Tremors, extreme anxiety, and feeling blank in my head. Had a few “normal days” then was having random bouts of anxiety and bad days, so I thought my Zoloft dose was still too high (stupid). Thankfully only went down to 87.5. Currrently tappered down to 87.5. Most recent taper was from 100 to 87.5 5 days ago. Many of my psychosis-like symptoms went away after coming down from 150. But then the withdrawal hit. Ive been experiencing many severe withdrawal symptoms intermittently throughout dose these past med changes including waves of brain fog, fatigue, exaggerated fears, feeling “flat,” intense anxiety over daily tasks, tremors, twitching and dizziness. Doing the work for my health OCD in therapy. Planning to come off with a slow taper in the next year or two. Tips welcome! I haven’t begun tapering as I just officially this week have been “saved” by SA. I have no idea where to begin even after reading the tapering guide. But I’m off to go read it again.

Hi I'm Moe. I'm a 29 year old male. I work as a neurology RN. I never would have thought that a reaction like this could come on from taking a medication for 4 days but here I am. I have about a year long history of health related anxiety. I had a pain in my throat that would not go away. Everything checked out and it was safe to assume it was anxiety induced, but my mind wouldn't accept that because the pain was still there. I took Lexapro in increasing doses up to 15mg over 6 months. My anxiety stayed and I became tired throughout the day so I stopped it. This was February 2023 to July 2023. February 2024 The anxiety was annoying but under control. It did not effect my daily life. The throat pain persisted. I decided to try another medication to see if it would help with the throat pain. I started Taking Zoloft mid February. I was to be on 50mg. The first day I took it I noticed no difference. The second day, I felt nauseous. I then realized I had forgotten to take half tablets. The third day I started taking 25mg. I became so depersonalized it was nothing like I have ever experienced. Later that night I started having intrusive thoughts that I needed to harm myself. I pushed it out. The fourth day the nausea had become way worse, and I was getting thoughts of harming myself throughout the day. This was not me. I have never had that issue. I decided to stop the medication then and there. The following days everything became much worse. I felt so nauseous I could not eat or drink. I was shaking, I had chills, I had thoughts I needed to die to end this, I could not enjoy anything, I could not focus, I could not work, and I could not sleep. After 2 days I went to the ER. They gave me fluids and Droperidol to help with nausea and calm me down. I had a dystonic reaction and left the ER traumatized after it was resolved. For the next week and a half, I experienced the worst thoughts, nausea, despair, and hopelessness that I have ever endured. I truly thought my life was over. I had family over every day. Without them I have no idea if I could have survived. After a week and a half, this went away. I felt like I was back to my normal self. One night I awoke at 1am to the same chills, despair, panic, hopelessness, sweatiness, sadness, that I remembered from the first week. Since then, I have been dealing with waves of despair and hopelessness, trouble concentrating, nausea and loss of appetite, lack of motivation, general weakness, and anhedonia. It has not been as bad as the first week, but many are the same feelings. I feel overwhelmed by simple tasks of the day at times such as dropping off things at the post office or thinking about what I have to do in the day. It has been 43 days since I took the last dose of Zoloft. I have started therapy, I exercise daily, I am taking fish oil and multivitamin, I keep a journal of my good moments, I make sure to plan my days out, I am meditating multiple times a day, I am reaching out to family, and always looking for new things. The last 3 days in particular have been better than the previous days. I feel more in control. I have had one wave each day 1-2 hours long. I will likely regress and have a really bad day, but you can't dwell on it. Its easy to have a really bad day and think you're regressed. I think I am making progress, but it is certain that this experience and medication has changed my life. I'm here to get better. I want to work this out. I am not losing my inner peace and life due to some medication reaction. I am stronger than that. If you're reading this, you are too. We will break through the waves. Positive outlook is how to beat this. Of that I have no doubt. Don't stop looking for healthy ways to get through the day. Meditation and exercise made all the difference for me. Medication breaks the cycle of "Am I feeling bad" or "when will I feel bad" thoughts. Exercise can give the boost you need. Power through the weakness, you're stronger than you think.

So I was first put on sertraline (an SSRI) when I was 10 years old. From when I was put on the medication, whenever I would have a strong relapse in symptoms, the most common response of my psychiatrist would be to increase my dose. When I was about 23 I was also put on propranolol (a beta-blocker). I'm now 34. Currently, my mental health is ok, but for a very long time I've suffered from a bunch of related symptoms: - Inability to sleep - Extreme difficulty getting up in the morning - Fatigue - Unexplained chronic pain These come and go and occur along with anxiety and low-level depression which the medications are supposed to treat. Doctors haven't been able to identify a cause, and they don't really respond to the standard things people recommend to help treating these symptoms (e.g. eating healthy, etc). Taken as a whole they can make it very difficult to make improvements in my life. I'd like to come off the medications because I think that the symptoms listed above (not the depression and anxiety) might be caused or exacerbated by my medication. But the trouble is, I've been on the medications so long I don't really have any idea if the symptoms I have experienced really are being caused or exacerbated by the medications. I managed to reduce my sertraline dosage from 200 to 100mg and I couldn't notice a change in these symptoms, which indicates that maybe they are completely unrelated to my medications And the severe episodes of anxiety and related symptoms I have experienced have been a living hell. If coming off the medication results in a return of that then I don't want to do it and will end up really regretting it. So I'm not sure what to do. Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated.

Hello, first time poster here. Six months I wasn’t tapered properly off Sertraline after 6 years of use. I foolishly cut my dose from 100 milligrams to 50 without a taper and was then cross tapered to Venlafaxine about a week after the initial dosage cut. I was already experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms and had warned my doctor multiple times but she insisted on the taper to a different drug. After a few days of dropping from my dosage even further as ordered from my doctor and heavily dealing with withdrawal symptoms I started developing tingling and mild numbness in my feet which over the course of a week had taken over all my limbs. Long story short, I completed the tapering process and switched to Venlafaxine, but still 6 months in I’m going through multiple bouts of horrific neurological symptoms and my neuropathy symptoms have turned to debilitating full body burning, aching, severe pain. I now have an extreme heat intolerance, I sweat excessively even when I’m cold, I have full body tremors and jerk in my sleep, I run a fever across my entire body and feel like my CNS is completely fried. I have an appointment coming up to see a Neurologist to get testing done in case this isn’t anything to do with my medication history but I firmly believe my issues are linked to severe case of AD withdrawal syndrome. Or at least it’s morphed into severe protracted withdrawal. I have never reinstated my previous drug but I only realised when I was in tears the other night in severe pain that I’ve still got the medication on hand and was tempted to try reinstating. I don’t think I can fight this any longer and the big ‘S’ word has passed my mind quite a few times. I’m so scared I’ve completely fried my system due to my own negligence as well as my doctor completely screwing me over and if reinstating gets rid of these debilitating symptoms than I’ll do it, but I’m scared I’ll kindle and further damage myself. It is possible to be stuck in severe withdrawal syndrome whilst actively still medicating via an antidepressant? I was on Sertraline which is an SSRI class drug but now I’m on Venlafaxine which is still an antidepressant but under the class SNRI, I’ve never heard of anyone else going through this experience besides me, it’s always people who have removed the drug entirely. I need some help guys if possible, at least some insight that I can pass onto my neurologist in a couple of days… I’m dying here.

Hello I took a antidepressant called sertraline for 3 months at 50 mg.Although it made me feel better I had to come off it as the change in brands was making my mental health deteriorate badly and I could not be guaranteed a steady supply from the same brand.I have come off the medication and have experienced horrific symptoms which I presume to be withdrawal which I didn't even have before taking the sertraline and these symptoms include severe anxiety, anger,rage,electric shocks and brain zaps,body being jolted, really bad low mood and this has gone on for 11 months after I stopped which is shocking.Gp's in England do not seem to be aware how bad antidepressants can be. I would like to ask if any people from England are going through withdrawals from antidepressants as Gp's deny withdrawal, and whether there are any private doctors or Gp's who believe in antidepressant withdrawal and could maybe give a diagnosis.Does England even have any support or services for antidepressant withdrawal? Thanks

I came off 50 mg Sertraline almost from one day to the next. Then threw away Vyvanse from one day to the next. Now, I am trying to come off Seroquel, but I am struggling. Went to the hospital twice in the last couple of weeks because I have a severe lung infection, but the doctors cannot understand why my body won't take in enough oxygen for my oxygen saturation in the blood to be normal. I suggested that it might have to do with the fact that I JUST came off several kinds of meds that had a severe impact on my breathing (I was hyperventilating all day every day), but they just looked at me funny. But it does make sense to me that I am now "hypo ventilating" because my body is out of balance? Am I totally off here? Right now, I wish I could just find a doctor who could let me know whether it is dangerous to "hypo ventilate". I have to sons, and I don't want to die...

I hope you are well. I am on Escitalopram 10mg reduced overnight from 20mg. After being on this specific medication for 7 months and having been on Citalopram from the age of 22. Meaning I have been on an SSRI for 22 years. Last year after my breakdown in April (I’m actually thinking it might have been my medication stopping working that caused all this) I was put on Venlafaxine immediately without any tapering off citalopram for 2 weeks (Actually wanted to commit suicide due to that drugs side effects) I was then put on Sertraline without any tapering off Venlafaxine. That caused incredibly unpleasant side effects. In August without tapering again I was put on Escitalopram 10mg then two months later upped to 20mg to “give it a go” by psychiatrists. Not one of these medications have worked and have made me worse. Come more recently I suggested I wanted to wean off Escitalopram because I felt constantly in fight or flight. That was about a month ago. I was then prescribed buspirone 5mg x 3 a day and had my Escitalopram reduced to 10mg overnight, no tapering. A week into that regime I stopped Buspirone of my own accord and am currently on just the 10mg of Escitalopram that hadn’t been working in the first place. I actually think I’ve been withdrawing from all the antidepressants since April in some peculiar way. Since I first started antidepressants in 2002 I haven’t once had a doctor review my medication, not once have they asked me about coming off, the only time things changed is to up my medication or “give another” on a go. Today I have chronic muscle twitches, that don’t stop. My mind is clearer bizarrely and less brain fog but my physical symptoms are another matter, I’m aching considerably, I wake up shaking in the morning, and the cold makes my body shiver uncontrollably. The muscle twitches in my legs are 24 hours a day every minute. I try to go to the gym but it’s hard as my calves cramp. I have contacted a nutritionist as I’ve had dozens of blood tests thinking something must be out of sync, deficient. I’m on a good diet plan of protein and high fibre. And supplements. I currently don't know where to turn or what to do, as I am now on 10mg Escitalopram only, I don't know whether to go up gradually to try and resolve these physical constant muscle spasms/twitches even though the medication itself offered me no relief from anxiety/depression etc and actually made me 100 times worse, or to taper down. Either way I'm stuck. My body is a mess, that was once absolutely fine, it's now all over the place. Something that’s keeping me going is knowing someone is highlighting the daily struggle of these drugs and the complete disregard for the patients that are prescribed them. I hope this email reaches you all in good health.

I am tapering venlaflaxine at 5% monthly and I am at 17.50mg now. Been on antidepressant for 30 years

I have been taking Zoloft for 20 years for panic disorder. I started taking it when I was 18, and tried other medications as well. Nothing worked accept Zoloft. I still have breakthrough panic attacks and anxiety sometimes, but it’s manageable. I want to get off of Zoloft, but I’m terrified of the panic coming back. I’ve tried getting off of it 4 other times, and suffered greatly for years, becoming agoraphobic for months, and not driving by myself for 6 years the first time I tried to stop, and then severe depression, with suicidal ideation, extreme panic attacks I couldn’t calm down from, and constant debilitating anxiety the other times I tried to stop. One time I was off for a year, and they came back 1,000 times worse! I’m thinking of tapering slowly this time, but terrified that the panic attacks will come back full force again, and I will have to suffer going back on the meds until they kick in again. I have two young children, and I don’t want to suffer with withdrawal symptoms. I want to be able to get off of the meds easily, and with little side effects. I’m just so scared that the panic attacks and depression will come back if I stop the meds, and I won’t know if it’s withdrawal, if it’s legitimate panic attacks. They are so severe and terrifying that I almost want to stay on the meds forever and deal with the side effects than go through life the way I’ve always felt off of them. Any tips, advice, or thoughts?

I apologise for the self indulgence of this but I'm upset at the moment and really wanted to just tell people about everything that's happened to me - it's a really, really long story. I appreciate its very TL;DR... I've been on and off various antidepressants since I was 14 - so for most of my life. These have included SSRIs, SNRIs and mood stabilisers. By age 27 I had decided I no longer wanted to take any medications for my presenting condition, which at that point was anxiety. I felt that the years I'd spent on medication was "lost time" because the emotional numbing effect of these drugs promotes a kind of apathy - because I didn't care about anything, I didn't do anything and so my life would wither around me. Every time I came off them I would look at my life - now able to feel the emptiness of it - and feel motivated to be proactive and improve it. My social life was better when I wasn't on medication, my memory was better when I wasn't on medication, I was more productive when I wasn't on medication. A very clear 'boom and bust' pattern had emerged in my personal history where when I was unmedicated I was a whirlwind of activity, taking positive actions to improve my health, and when I was on the pills I sat inside in my pyjamas. Another pattern was clear too - every time i weaned off my pills, i would leave my unfulfilling relationships with boyfriends because I could no longer tolerate the loneliness. I would look for something better. On pills, I just stayed, and those relationships over time would erode my self esteem. With all this evidence behind me, I decided none of this was worth it and I'd rather just learn to live with the anxiety. A couple of months after deciding I would never touch another pill, I woke up feeling something I hadn't felt since I was a teenager - a voracious sex drive! It had been so long since I'd had a libido that I hadn't realised it was gone and I found myself now constantly interrupted throughout the day by thoughts and fantasies about sex. My pleasure in sex also increased and my orgasms improved. My vulva even changed, appearing 'fuller' with increased lubrication, as if the bloodflow down there had suddenly increased. Initially I worried something was wrong and consulted my GP to ensure this swelling and wetness was not an infection, but everything was normal. This was just how I was *supposed* to be. I enjoyed this sex drive and pleasure for four years. Unfortunately, during those four years, my mental health snowballed. I developed severe panic disorder with agoraphobia. I was determined not to take medications so I tried everything else - therapies and self help, anything I could do to change my thoughts and feelings without a prescription. By age 31, now mostly housebound for two years, I gave up. Although the first two years of my unmedicated life had been more active and fulfilling, it was now the illness rather than the medication that had trapped me inside in my pyjamas. It was time to choose the lesser evil - Sertraline. A few days later, towelling dry after a shower, I realised I couldn't feel my genitals. Initially my drive for sex - which had continued to be high throughout my illness - remained and I was in the frustrating position of feeling an urge to satisfy that need and no longer being able to because my clitoris was completely numb. I was about to throw the pills away when, almost overnight, something amazing happened - the panic attacks stopped. I could go outside. I could do anything now. I booked a last minute flight to Portugal and went on holiday! Now came a tough decision - life, or a sex life? That probably doesn't sound tough to most people but when you've been trapped inside your house for years, your sexuality becomes very important to you. There's a window in every day where you feel excitement and pleasure, where you feel alive again. And frankly, one of the big motivators to get back outside was to have sex - something I now couldn't do! I was upset, but I told myself I was being silly. Of course it was more important to go outside than to masturbate! And it was only going to be temporary - I told myself that the moment my life was back on track I'd lose the pills. I quickly met a man and started a relationship of sorts, but it was an odd experience. I had no idea if I liked him; I just couldn't tell. I'd speak to friends and try to work out logically if he were a good fit for me but there was no emotion to act as a compass. I felt nothing - about anything. The sex, now that I had lost all feeling in my genitals, was like a prolonged smear test. I still had sexual urges - although I didn't know if I loved him, I definitely found him sexually attractive - but once we got started it was like my mind and body were completely disconnected. Nine months after starting sertraline, with panic attacks completely resolved, I decided the only way to know if I even wanted to go out with this guy was to find out how I felt without the pills. Weaning off was initially like weaning off any psychotropic drug. With each step down I had vertigo, electric shock feelings in my nerves, insomnia, agitation, intense emotions that came out of nowhere. I'd been through this a million times before so I continued with the scheduled taper, knowing a couple of weeks after I hit 0mg I'd feel fine again. But 48 hours after I took my last pill, chaos broke out in my body and mind. It was by far the most extreme experience I've ever had in my life. There were 1 million thoughts racing through my mind but I couldn't catch any of them. I had the bizarre feeling that I was thinking very obsessively about something but I had no idea what I was thinking about. The vertigo grew intense and I started vomiting. I would continue vomiting for the next three weeks. An excruciating and unrelenting pain developed in my gut. It felt like an emotional anguish, but what about? I didn't know. Unable to look after myself, a friend took me in. We had a long conversation about the biggest thing in my life at that time - I'd realised I definitely didn't like this boyfriend and I was leaving. "You should just tell him exactly what you just told me" my friend said, and i suddenly realised I had absolutely no idea what I'd just told her. I knew we'd been talking for hours, but I couldn't remember a single word. I felt very confused. I decided not to make any major decisions while I felt so chaotic so I didn't immediately break up with the man. Over the course of the next few weeks, strange things would happen. I would come around half slumped on his bed to him shaking me and pleading with me to wake up. I had no idea how I'd got there or what had happened. He would report back to me that I screamed in the night - a blood curdling scream, he said, but I had no memory of it. The confusion got worse and one day I couldn't speak. I just couldn't form words anymore, like where my mind used to be was a big blank, white space. My boyfriend took me to hospital where a doctor said he'd make sure I was referred for therapy and perhaps in the meantime I could join a choir. I went back to the GP and asked her to give me anything but sertraline. The strange thing was, despite every painful and extreme experience that was happening to me, my sexual function was great again and I didn't want to go back to that numbness. The doctor prescribed Prozac, which made everything worse, and a week later I gave in and took Sertraline. The symptoms vanished in less than a week - no more vomiting, pain or cognitive confusion - but my genitals disappeared with them. I left my boyfriend, which initially made me feel happy and motivated, and I told myself I'd give my brain a break before weaning back off the meds. Not long afterwards, the pandemic hit. I wasn't going to have sex anyway, so why go through discontinuation? When lockdown ended, I realised i had no sexual or romantic feelings anymore and was struggling to find a partner. I was now 35 and wanted to have children, but dates led nowhere. I couldn't feel a thing. I phoned my gp and started weaning down. Afraid of discontinuation syndrome, I took it very slowly and weaned over about 18 months. 48 hours after my last pill, vertigo emerged and I started vomiting. I vomited for six days but there were no cognitive symptoms so this was fine by me. A day or so after I stopped being sick, I put music on in my car and it was like I was on ecstasy. The sounds were thrilling, my brain was lighting up, I felt completely alive. But my genitals were still numb. After a couple of weeks, I started to panic and went online where I found out about PSSD. But every forum I saw helpfully stated that if you have been off the pills for less than six months, don't condemn yourself to PSSD. Go out, forget about it, it'll come back. Reassured, I did exactly that. About nine months after discontinuation, I felt a change in my brain. I felt intense emotions, I felt alive, I felt motivated to do hobbies I'd dropped years ago. I started to think about sex, but when I did I felt nothing. My clitoris is almost entirely numb, my vulva feels dry and shrunken. But my ovarian function has been tested and is fine - neither do I have any of the other conditions that can reduce oestrogen (such as thyroid disease). It's now been a year since I stopped sertraline and my sexuality is still as it was when I was on the pills. I feel old and past it, like I'm 87, not 37 . My doctor is being fantastic. She's investigating every possible physical angle. I haven't told her yet that I fear it might be iatrogenic. We're currently approaching it like a coincidence - at some point during the course of treatment, something else happened that caused exactly the same symptoms as the side effects of the pills. Something about this feels desperate and delusional. I worry that I'll never feel that sexual urgency that I once did and that I might never enjoy sex or masturbation again. It's a devastating thought, but I don't want to tell myself this is permanent without evidence. It could still be temporary, and I want to act as if that's true. If you read that far then my God you're a hero - thank you!

Hi! Glad to have found this community. I was out on 25mg Sertraline after a stressful life phase caused burnout that ended with me at the hospital. The psychiatrist raised the dose to 50mg within two weeks of starting. After a couple of weeks of extremely weird new ‘electric’ sensations in my body that the doc assured was just my anxiety, I slowly over three months or so got used to the medication and started to feel better mentally. The life trigger that resulted in the burnout ceased being there around month 6 on Sertraline, and I worked with the psychiatrist to begin tapering as I believed then I had developed other coping strategies through therapy, exercise and mindfulness practices. I was advised to taper to 0 within two weeks, but I intuitively felt that something that took 3 months to make the effect felt is likely not going to leave my system to pre-medication days in just two weeks, and decided on what I then thought was a slow and effective taper (I unfortunately did not come across this site before my taper attempt started 😕). Tapering to 25 mg from 50 and then to 12.5 and finally 0 all happened within a span of four months, with no symptoms whatsoever during the taper. It was about three weeks after the last dose that I started feeling funny physical symptoms— brain zaps, vertigo. These slowly faded away and mental ones took over along with new physical ones— irritability, low bandwidth for stress, thoughts that get stuck on a loop. Through therapy and mindfulness practices I learnt during my time on Sertraline, I am able to cope with the mental symptoms as of now. It’s the physical ones that are bothering me and reigniting my health anxiety— would appreciate input on these— chest pains, pain along nerves in limbs and torso, getting fatigued more easily from workouts. Docs have dismissed this as anxiety related, but I was pain-free before the meds. Ugh. I read about reinstating on the site but feel like my nervous system is overreacting to everything right now, and the mental symptoms I am able to cope with so far. What worked for you to survive the physical symptoms of withdrawal? Help!

My introduction post for the forum.. short story I have been prescribed SSRIs since I was about 18/20 and now they are no longer helping me. The long story. I started on my antidepressant journey when I was around 18 or 20 years old (now 29), but I never recorded what brands I tried or the exact date of starting antidepressants. I sought out antidepressants as a way of dealing with depression and anxiety which emerged about a year or two prior. I attended counselling. Unsuccessful. This led me to the Dr and going on a mental health care plan to get bulk billed psychology and subsequently started taking SSRIs. I believe I tried Fluoxetine and the side effects scared me so much I needed to switch to something else. I ended up on Paroxetine as that gave less severe side effects. So going forward, Paroxetine was doing a good job of getting me 'functioning' as an adult. I got my first job at 20 years old, was getting over social anxiety and I generally started progressing enough to come out as Transgender and be treated for that as well. Unfortunately though some side effects of paroxetine never subsided, and as time went on I felt myself being affected by SADs every winter. This was combated with increased dosage of paroxetine. Since I am such a small human being, I didn't tolerate the increases well and it lead me to sleeping over 12-13 hours a day. I could barely wake up without falling back to sleep and was diagnosed with OSA. This is the paradox of Antidepressants. I ended up successfully reducing my dosages every spring and somehow I still managed to go to work, be a normie, save money.. Did the things I wanted to do. Then after around 8 or so years on Paroxetine, it finally pooped out. I had gone through some big life shifts not limited to moving house, having a sibling leave for overseas, and finishing up a uni degree after three years of somewhat stable routine (as much as you could get with covid). So I succumbed to a relapse in depression and since that time in 2021, my life has not been the same. Due to said intolerance of dosage increases, my doctor switched me to escitalopram. For about a month it improved my mood but then stopped working. Dosage increase. Same mood improvement then failure. New drug time! Venlafaxine. Oh boy! An SNRI! Started on a small dose then worked up to a bigger dose. Same thing.. Mood improved for a bit then dropped off and these stupid drugs aren't helping me! I was then referred to a psychiatrist. Convinced I have some sort of ADHD, because why else am I having all these problems and can't focus on a life path for myself? He said that he didn't believe I was ADHD.. That I am just affected by my anxiety which impacts decision making. He suggested back onto SSRIs since Paroxetine worked so well for me. So that lead to Sertraline.. The dreaded Zoloft. So right now, having been through the normal 'mood is good for a while' stage, time to go back into the familiar low mood phase. Okay. Dose increase. On to 75mg every other day. So now I am experiencing the wonderful side effects which I had forgotten about SSRIs while I was on Venlafaxine. They are: Stomach/gastroesophageal pain (is that an ulcer or GORD? No! It's just antidepressants!) Brain fog and being spaced out ie. Feeling like I'm one drink in without having consumed alcohol Diplopia Trouble waking up in the morning and/or waking up but feeling tired through the day Emotional blunting and anhedonia Mood swings Increased tinnitus No appetite at all And this is a new one: EXTREME ITCHINESS! (no it is not the dreaded drug rash, it is hives.. Wonderful itchy hives) So now with all this bullsh*t I have been through, I just really want a break from these meds. My life has scarcely moved on from where I was in 2021 when I relapsed. I am sick of the side effects and I'm sick of being on these bloody drugs. Obviously something deeper has affected me because I am no longer having success on antidepressants and the side effects are not encouraging me to stay on them. Well done if you read to the end! I have no reward for you. Or maybe the reward was the story we read along the way?

Hello dear wonderful forum of SA ❤️ My name is Ana (and English is not my first language ) , my story about ADs has been a long one. I have been on and off them for many years ,starting 14 years old (now 32) when I took them for 2-3 days and due to side effects I didn’t take them anymore. Years later after my intrusive thoughts and scary ones emerged, I took ADs for a couple of months and dropped them. And after some years later I took them for a year and dropped them (Circa 2016-2017) I have been on different ones: Escitalopram , Zoloft and others I cannot remember. In 2022 after 4 years of battling my anxiety ( anxiety non stop, headaches, racing thoughts, vomiting, neck, head and terrible body pain at the point that I barely could stand up. Which may have been caused because of me experimenting with my on/off drug use ) I decided to try another psychiatrist. She prescribed me Abilify 10mg explaining that I was resisting the ADs and needed something else(poor me for believing this) I cannot explain how I survived the beginning of taking this drug. I stayed on it for 1.5 year and my anxiety still continued(no improvement whatsoever). Me and my psychiatrist decided to add Zoloft so maybe I could feel better. After a year and a half on Abilify I decided to drop it and went from 10 to 5 and from 5 to 2.5. Then cut it off at the end of November 2023. I had terrible Withdrawal symptoms but also had a little sparkle of determination and hope that I will survive it(this was my 4th attempt). I survived somehow. At the end of December I decided to cut Zoloft from 50 to 25mg (bad mistake, don't do it please) and ended in a terrible situation. Then went back to 50mg in January 2024. I have decided that I should try the 10% method. My question is when should I start ? How should I cut the doses? (in my country no liquid is available). Should I buy a scale and a pill cutter? Please help to start my safe (hopefully) withdrawal. Right now my symptoms are: Fatigue, brain fog, memory problems, allergy like symptoms : watery eyes, overwhelmed easily, anhedonia, depression, anxiety but not at big levels (after cutting off Abilify anxiety has really improved). At the moment I am trying to stay on track with a healthy diet( mostly I cook by myself healthy meals). I try and walk every 2-3 days a week and do 10-15 minutes of stretching/exercises every day. I am trying to add prayers to my daily routine but don't know how to do it ( I believe that a greater force has kept me alive so far and thus I need to create a connection with that) I have a full time job and don't know how I have managed but I still do work these 6 past years have been a nightmare and I don't really know how I have been able to work, I am married and have a 3.5 year old daughter ( she is my light ❤️ and mostly I am doing this because of her because I don't want her to be without a mother and I really do want to come to the other side ). Being a mother during this time of my life has been exhausting to say the least but I still have tried to keep a smile in front of my lovely daughter. My family is very supportive and they really have helped me be alive so far and for this I am really grateful. What has also kept me alive so far is the thought that I was not born like this and I clearly remember how I was such an active person, very alive and creative one. I am crying while writing this and am so sorry we all have to go through this season. Today I join this wonderful forum which I found after so many years of questions and no answers. I found my people ❤️ Note: Today's my father heavenly birthday (68 years) and I am really happy to join in a remarkable day to this remarkable site ❤️

I’m unsure on the right terminology because I’m not sure what I believe anymore so please bear with me. last year after ten years on citalopram I had a sudden relapse in depression and anxiety (you could say I pooped out but who knows). The relapse has crippled me and it’s immeasurably worse than the first time around. It’s consumed me and I feel like I’ve lost my identity. Through this period the doctor changed me to sertraline and again to venlafaxine. Both of which had zero effect. I wanted to look at exploring more naturalistic remedies (not sure how appropriate it is to discuss this on this format so I will leave that there- but happy to hear people’s stories and experiences of doing that) but I’ve had a really tough Fortnight and when I went back to the docs this week he wanted me to try mirtazipine. I have taken that for two nights but after a chat with my therapist this morning who’s very critical of medications and the role of seretonin in all this I’m questioning if it’s the right thing. It’s all so hard when you are extremely desperate and just want relief really interested to hear everyone’s views and experiences

First post here - thanks for all the information you've all provided to me before. This is a truly valuable website. Just re-iterating the importance of transitioning from a tablet to a liquid before tapering (well for me anyway). Every time I've tried the home-made liquid taper using a syringe, even extremely slowly, I've had awful withdrawal and had to re-instate. This time however I've followed this protocol first (which took about a month): 3/4 dose of tablet, 1/4 dose of liquid (10 days) 1/2 dose of tablet, 1/2 dose of liquid (10 days) 1/4 dose of tablet, 3/4 dose of liquid (10 days) I'm now stable on 25mg of liquid Sertraline. What's even more unusual is going from 25mg - 50mg was very easy. Anything less than 25mg has been almost impossible until I found this website. The usual story, Dr's have told me to "just stop taking it". One Dr even refused to give me 25mg tablets saying that "50mg was the lowest dose, and that stopping it abruptly wouldn't yield any side effects". I've never been more convinced of a monetary agenda at this point.....but I digress. Other important tools which I feel are worth mentioning are: Gut health (probiotics). Low inflammatory diet (especially limited bread and sugar). No coffee (tea seems to be fine). Magnesium. B Vitamins. Buteyko breathing. Of all the mindfulness/meditation/breathing techniques - this one cuts through all the nonsense and gets the parasympathetic nervous system working almost straight away. Very important for people like us with potential nervous system damage. Good luck to you all, and again, thank you for helping me.

Hi people, I am kind of desperate as I feel really weird for the last week or so and it is not the anxiety or the depression that I started the antidepressants for (at least this is how I perceive it). As you can see in the signature, there were a lot of changes and adjustments since I started the antidepressants. My current doc (will have a meeting with her on Wednesday) recommended to go up to 150mg of zoloft and so I did, in December. But by the end of December I started to feel super anxious again and upon google research (doc not available during the holidays), I decided by myself to drop back to 125. A week after that I started to feel really good, maybe best I've been since I started the medication. It lasted about until around 20th of January when I started to feel another increase in anxiety. Contacted the doc and she recommended another drop, to 100 mg. About 5 days later I started to feel a bit better, but only for 2-3 days. Then the weirdness started. I now have a feeling that I haven't had before (of course, I might perceive it like that since the mix of depression and anxiety with OCD and health anxiety on top is a BOMB cocktail), like I am not the same anymore, a dreamlike feeling, a bit dissociative, a bit emotionally numb, a bit of confusion, ability to focus on something dropped a bit etc. Feels a bit like the derealization I had when I felt into depression, back in summer 2023, but without that severe depression. I fear that my brain got permanently "damaged" (a bit illogical, I know, but the fear is there) from all these meds and adjustments. I feel this new state to be even scarier than the anxiety attacks I was having in Autumn (at least I was feeling better after an attack, for the rest of the day, optimistic and hopeful) because I am in it the whole day, with minor ups and downs. Can I actually feel this way because of the last drop in dosage? If so, why I haven't feel this way when I dropped from 150 to 125? Lately I was thinking that upping the escitalopram dosage from 10 to 20 mg, back in September (I had a rough week right after I returned from holiday, anxiety was through the roof the week before I went up on 20 mg) was a mistake and maybe I just had to push through and stay on 10mg. I have the feeling that I have been overmedicated since then. I actually dropped back to 10mg mid Novemeber (and then switched to zoloft) after I complained several times to my doc that I started to feel a bit weird, mood shifts during the day, like feeling great in the first half and like **** in the afternoon. Also, I am seriously thinking in the last few days to start weaning off the poison, because I started to believe these meds are actually doing more wrong than good (of course, these words may come out just because I feel super off lately) I appreciate your thoughts and advice. Thanks!

I am going through withdrawal from setraline zoloft used for 22 years, have tried to quit but failed, hope to find help here and help others Haven't drank alcohol in 2 years, haven't had a problem with alcohol like that but drank too much when I did. Going to a psychologist Have not used other drugs only zoloft. When I took zoloft my highest dose was 100mg, withdrawal was if I remember 6 weeks 50mg and 25mg 4 weeks if I remember correctly I have made a suspension of 2.5 months with the end of the last tablet of 25mg 2023-11-06 But now I have severe anxiety and compulsive behavior. Have I made too short a delay? Anyone have any tips on how I should do it? Thanks have nice day

My story in a nutshell: Always been anxious but got really bad in 2015 Went to see the doctor and was told I didn't have depression but had GAD Was prescribed Sertraline and GP told me coming off them meant “mild to no symptoms” Started 50mg Sertraline 1 Jan 2016 but also quit coffee and alcohol at the same time Brother on 200mg told me you feel better after six weeks Had blurred vision, dry mouth and increased appetite but was otherwise fine (but still anxious) Six weeks to the day (more on this later) I felt more relaxed, clear-headed and less anxious Decided to come off after nine months as to me medicine is a last resort and I felt okay Tapered off over three months Withdrawal started and it was indescribably bad — I can barely even put it into words Went on for a while and I went back to the doctors, was dismissively told it would right itself and that I could always go back on them if I wanted to Didn't have many people to speak to about it but those I did said it was my depression coming back and I need to go back on the meds I knew it wasn't as how I was feeling was an order of magnitude worse than I'd ever felt in my life the the most depression I'd had before that was likely dysthymia as I was always functioning and never missed any work from it (interestingly I don't think the NHS recognise dysthymia and I was never diagnosed with it but in hindsight while not feeling hopeless or worthless I likely have had anhedonia for a lot of my adult life) I suffered alone for about 7–8 months, easily the worst I have never felt in my life: hopeless, worthless and angry in a way that is so extreme as to be difficult to describe After about 8 months it eased up Still with anhedonia I would function okay for a few weeks then my emotions would fall off a cliff and it'd be like being in mini withdrawal for about a week, passive suicidal ideation This went on for 6+ years while I tried to explore alternative methods of recovery (exercise, supplements, etc) As well as this cycle I get constant nose bleeds in my right nostril, I get hand tremors (never had them before Sertraline) if I am stressed and sometimes my memory and thinking goes haywire (not blackouts but difficulty forming and retaining memories even though my recall and clarity of thinking was good before, e.g. once when stressed, I forgot which side of the road cars travelled on and found myself unable to remember quite recent conversations) Exercise and eating well (esp. cutting out sugar) helped but life was still a slog Kind of got sick of fighting this thing about a year ago and had a bit of a breakdown and realised I was on a continuum of passive to active suicidal ideation Hit rock bottom and swore to myself I would never act on intrusive thoughts and started fighting back with renewed vigor Slowly improved through supplements, light therapy, cold shower, lots of exercise and a particularly the Human Givens approach — basically it shows that your thinking affects your sleep and your sleep quality determines your mental state A couple of months later I started taking Moringa powder and within a week the “blackness” had gone (not sure how/why but it is rich in tryptophan) After about a month of taking Moringa I actually started to feel happy; after an 8 year battle, I'd finally beaten this thing However… All was good for a few months until some things in life went badly all in a row and my stress levels ramped up and I've had a few bad months. I am being asked to look at medication by my family but this time a different SSRI. It seems crazy to me given what I've been through but I have promised to at least look at other SSRIs, hence this post. Here are my questions: How different are SSRIs? Can any of the more well-informed members here take a look at my history and let me know what taking a different SSRI might look like? Fluoxetine (Prozac) looks like it is less likely to cause withdrawal symptoms but I've also read if you have had suicidal ideation before it can make that worse. Am I likely to have the same experience coming off any SSRI? I can't imagine being on them life as a) it doesn't address anything and b) I have heard they stop working eventually. I am also very concerned about the data surrounding them, particularly the lack of evidence for the chemical imbalance theory and their ineffectiveness in mild to moderate depression. I know SSRIs work as a placebo for some. I found it suspicious that I started feeling the benefits on the exact day my brother said they'd start working. Almost like my brain expected it. And if I ever got serious side effects like I had before…I honestly don't know what I'd do. And finally, the irony of having had to deal with all this depression simply because I took an antidepressant is not lost of me.

Hey everybody, I’m a new member, so please let me know if this is not okay or goes against anything. I will keep it as short and sweet as I can. Many years ago, I was put on Sertraline. I was quite young and I can’t remember anything negative about it. In December last year, I was put on 50mg of Sertraline (28th), and I tapered off 25mg of Notripyline and stopped completely the day prior (27th). I was on the Sertraline for 2 weeks, and 4 days when the itchiness started. It feels like a light tickle, or as if something has brushed against my skin, like a hair. It can be anywhere on my body. Once I scratch it, it stops, and then will move elsewhere. I’m not frantically scratching, it’s not keeping me awake and I’m not damaging skin, but it makes me anxious, agitated and restless. I will often bounce my leg or do something. The itching stopped for a few days (27th Jan until 31st) and then returned. I did develop a rash on my stomach on the 27th, which was itchy and red. I’m unsure what caused this, but it was near my injection site where I inject Ajovy (a headache/migraine medication). I injected that on the 21st of Jan, rash appeared 27th. I don’t think it’s related to my itchiness, it happened to settle when I first had the rash. The rash is no longer itchy and is fading with hydrocortisone cream. I am also on 25mg of Quetiapine, which was increased to 50mg on the 27th of December last year to assist with any insomnia that weaning of the Notripyline may cause. I guess what I want to know, is this a side effect of Sertraline/SSRIs? I’m very worried I’m developed some sort of compulsion or health condition. I’ve read in a lot of places that itchiness can be a side effect due to the serotonin increase. I also smoke marijuana. I’ve never had any other drug reactions. Thank you in advance

Hi, I just signed up today. Started taking sertraline February 2021. Was initially on 50g and after a few weeks put up to 100 mg. Developed stiff hands, jaw and throat to point it affects speech when really tight. Also memory loss etc but not what is bothering me as much as the physical symptoms. Severe bruxism even with mouth guard. Stopped taking abruptly after 6 months as wanted to see if jaw and hand problem went away. It’s been over two years and still no different. Has anyone experienced similar. Thanks

I am a 70 year old man who has been on Zoloft for about 25 years and wants out . I take 100mg daily and I do not trust my current medical practioner to help me to finally get clean.

Hi everyone, Wanted to introduce myself. I am no stranger to these bizarre symptoms often associated with withdrawal: dizziness, brain fog, hypersensitivity to light & sound, DP/DR etc having suffered with an awful case of chronic vestibular migraine after having my 2nd child 7 years ago, brought on by a case of PPD / anxiety. I had all those symptoms 24/7 for a good 3 years, then started to see upward improvement. Got myself to a very good place through nutrition, 4 days per week of strength training & supplements (including 5-htp) for the past 4 years so aware these neurological symptoms can take time to heal. Then just after Christmas, had another attack of anxiety & severe depression. Interestingly a lot of the symptoms I had before started coming back...dizziness, feeling disconnected from everyone, feeling like I was seeing the world behind glass, brain fog, couldn't organise my thoughts, migraines, no motivation for anything & sleeping a lot. I work full time & with 2 children, I needed to get back to functioning. So went to the GP who prescribed me Sertraline 50mg. I was desperate to feel back to normal again. I stopped taking my 5-htp (was on 80mg before bed at this point) for a coupe of days prior, and Knowing my sensitive nervous system, I started Sertraline by titrating slowly; cutting the 50mg in half to 25mg, then cutting that into quarters. I started by taking a quarter of 25mg, then over the course of 7 days, worked up to 18.75mg. From the first dose & for the whole week I suddenly just could not sleep like before. It was taking me hours to fall asleep & when I finally felt I had drifted off I would be in a very light half sleep, being awoke by the smallest thing. Though the small dose of Sertraline had actually taken away the dizziness & brain fog, the lack of sleep had me feeling like a zombie. It was not a trade off I wanted. So I stopped at 18.75mg cold turkey at day 7. Sleep did not improve. This was 2 weeks ago now. A couple of days after I stopped, I decided to try re-instate a low dose of 5-htp seeing as previously this had always helped me sleep. It did not help & in fact made things worse. I had sweating, racing heart, tremors, awful anxiety, dizziness, brain fog, depression came back but worse. Appetite went, I really don't feel like getting out of bed at all, I force myself to keep working out & it takes an enormous amount of effort, knowing that if I don't work out at all I will feel even worse (not overdoing it but doing something at least). So now I'm back to square one, I feel the same, or maybe slightly worse than when I first got hit with vestibular migraine symptoms 7 years ago. Daily life was an exhausting struggle back then, I couldn't believe how disabled one could feel whilst looking 'normal'. With all the weird derealization symptoms, light & sound sensitivity, brain fog & dizziness & couple of new symptoms this time - insomnia & weakness. Knowing how long it took to feel better last time scares me, but I am also comforted by the knowledge that I did get better, much better & know I can get there again. But this time it feels like there's a lot more on my plate in terms of responsibilities - maintaining a job, 2 kids who need me etc & it does scare me. I'm also struggling to differentiate between what might be a return of my old symptoms & what may be due to any withdrawal symptoms as there are many which are identical. I've just ordered melatonin and planning on taking a low dose of this to see if it helps my disrupted sleep cycle as finding it so hard to function on barely any sleep! Anyway, hello to all who have to walk this rocky path. I will post updates as I go along with anything that I have found that helps. Also looking to connect with anyone in particular who has taken a low dose SSRI for a short period of time...