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Hi all, I’m Corn, 30 yo woman, located in Austin, TX. After a few months of just reading, finally joined & taking a tentative step into the world of slow tapering. I’ve been on sertraline 50mg since 2015, put on it while I was in college and suffering from severe depression made worse by the Chicago winter. It did save my life, and I think it was definitely the best choice in the moment. Fast forward to June 2023 - after going through a year of intensive therapy where I tackled a lot of my childhood trauma, PTSD from a recent loss, and taking better control of my life, I decided to go off of medication. I decided this because I was feeling overall better & more hopeful about my life, and this meant that I noticed more of the emotional blunting effects of sertraline. I “tapered” (according to the recommendation of my psychiatrist), from 50-> 25mg per month, and then completely off. Well, you can probably guess what happened from that. About two months after I was on 0mg of zoloft, I started becoming increasingly anxious, severely restless, waking up with my heart pounding, crying spells, hyperviligence, irritation, and severe lack of focus. This worsened over the weeks following, where I was not able to sleep properly, and could not sit still or do any activity required for life. Of course, my psychiatrist did not believe that I was going through withdrawal. I’m currently on a medical leave from work, and have reinstated my sertraline, slowly going up from 12.5mg to 25, to 50mg over the span of a few weeks. I’m definitely starting to feel more normal, less anxious, etc. But the emotional blunting is also obvious. During my period of withdrawal hell, I searched all of the internet for stories like mine, and found SA. I read through the scientific papers, especially of Horowitz, and realized that safe discontinuation of psychiatric medication is a problem that the psychiatric medicine community is currently discussing. I realized that I’m holding onto a lot of internalized mental health stigma, that I wanted to quit my medication as fast as possible to be rid of a “sign of weakness.” I’m grappling with that as I look down the barrel of a multi-year taper. My side effects on medication aren’t severe, and so I believe I’ll be able to manage a slow taper, especially since I will be returning to work soon. I’m going to wait to stabilize for a few months, and then start a 10% (of previous dose) taper, and see how that sits with my nervous system. I'm heartened, though, that even Mark Horowitz and members of the psychiatric community are affected by this, in just the same way as us layfolk. My heart goes out to all of you, and the suffering that you’ve all endured, especially the first few who had to figure this out for themselves. I’m tremendously grateful for all the wisdom & support here. It’s given me hope that I can get through this. tl;dr: 2015: Start 50mg zoloft for severe depression 2023 June: attempts to get off of zoloft, 50 -> 25 -> 0mg 2023 Sep: Terrible withdrawal at the 2 month point. 2023 Oct: Reinstated 50mg zoloft, working up slowly from 12.5mg. Withdrawal ceases. Will wait a few months for brain to stabilize, and will attempt a "10% of previous dose" taper. Thanks everyone, let's go slow and easy together.

Hello, Currently trying to taper off my psych meds particularly Sertraline. I've been struggling so much with tiredness and lack of motivation since being on it. I recently tried to go from 50mg to 25mg and last about 6 days..I've reinstated 50mg today and I'm here for peer support/ advice on next steps. I am based in the UK and want to do the 10% method using Sertraline Oral Solution from the GP. They are very reluctant to prescribe it, can anyone provide me with advice on how best to approach this ? I really don't want to be messing around crushing up pills. Also how long should I sit at 50mg before thinking of starting my 10% taper? Thanks, Nige

Hi everyone. Below is the Zoloft tapering schedule I have followed to the present. I didn't notice any withdrawal until dipping below 25mg. As I've gone down from 75mg towards the 50mg and 25mg marks, I began noticing huge improvements (needing less sleep, better/clearer thinking, more sex drive, caring more about work and meeting deadlines). Now I'm experiencing withdrawal (insane bloating, brain fog, needing way more sleep, vertigo, dizziness, lack of coordination, and irritibility) Schedule I followed: March/April 2017: began Zoloft 75mg November 2017: I went down from 75 -> 62.5mg by reducing by 2.5mg every couple of days December 2017: stayed at 62.5mg all month January 2018: went down from 62.5 -> 50mg, reducing 2.5mg every couple of days February: stayed at 50mg all month March to April: went down from 50 -> 25mg, reducing 2.5mg every couple of days early May: stayed at 25mg for 2 weeks late May to present: went down from 25 ->12.5mg, reducing 2.5mg every couple of days. I've been on 12.5mg for one week. The current side effects are almost debilitating. My question is what you think is best to do now? Should I go back up to 25? Should I wait until I stabilize at 12.5mg and then do the 10%/month taper? My worry is that I probably won't stabilize at 12.5mg because it's not even a therapeutic dose, so if I just wait here for a month I'm just prolonging the withdrawal. Any feedback would be much appreciated as I'm torn on what to do next! Thanks to anyone who responds ❤️

I took zoloft for 16 months came off in march with a way too fast taper. Tried to reinstate and things never got better. Was having bad suicidal ideations that led me to the pysch ward, they upped my zoloft, added buspar and trazadone. My thoughts got way worse and was having internal urges to harm myself. Went back in they yanked me off and put me on zyprexa 5mg. Thoughts got a tad better not a huge difference. Came home, pysch weaned me off put me on lamictal, i got the life threatening rash had to quit cold turkey, restarted zyprexa, on it for 8 days started a slow taper. Now im down to 2.8mg tonight and working on weaning off. But my slow taper is going to take quite a long time to come off. It was making me severely depressed. My mood has improved some since tapering. Any ideas or suggestions? Im doing 10% every two days. But I want to speed it up as I havent been on it long qnd with my slow taper I wont be off until end of July. Thank you!

Hey guys, So i was on Sertaline a few years ago it worked perfectly. Then i came off it. Anytime i tried to go back on it, i had an intense reaction where i couldnt sleep and felt extremely agitated and wired. Then this happened again with prozac (Fluoxetine), and then i panicked and went to the hospital and got put on seroquel for 6 weeks. Following this I decided to stop as it was a horrible drug. When i stopped I could no longer sleep. Now, 6 months later I was slowly getting my sleep back little by little. Until 4 days ago. I was feeling ill and decided to try Prozac again to see if my symptoms were a result of withdrawal from these meds. I literally opened the pill and licked a tiny bit (few mgs probably) then i had an extreme reaction to this and the last 3 nights I have slept 1 hour each night. I feel terrible again and I am so angry that I've done this and worried I've gone back to square 1 with my sleep. Prozac has a long half life, will this go when it is out of my body or have i put myself back to the beginning again with this reaction? Today is day 4 since taking and my pupils are still huge, i still feel incredibly wired and awful. Thanks Dylan

Hi all, I am 29F and trying to end my relationship with Sertraline/Zoloft but have been having difficulty in that I seem to be able to get to 3 - 4 months of 0mg before my mental health falls off a cliff and I become very mentally unwell. I don't know if this is some sort of delay in my brain realising it is without the additional serotonin and whether it is a temporary adjustment thing or permanently how I will feel without medication. By way of background, I was put on 50mg of Sertraline in 2017 for anxiety. Minimal discussion with my doctor about any side effects or how long I would be on the medication for. Stayed on the medication for 3 1/2 years until decided myself to taper down in 2020. I did research on how to taper and tapered over a number of months, reducing by 50% each time by splitting my pills until I got to 25mg and couldn't split the pills any smaller. During this time, I had minimal withdrawal symptoms, some headaches and digestive upset but nothing too debilitating and they usually went away after a week or two of the reduction in dose. Then in March 2021, following 3 months of 0mg, I had an intense mental episode where I became extremely anxious, depressed, intrusive thoughts and was very unwell. Looking back I notice that the mood had been dropping over the 3 months of 0mg but the symptoms worsened very suddenly. Following a month of difficulty, doctor advised restarting sertraline 50mg. Noticed some improvement upon restarting and then spoke to a Psychiatrist in July 2021 who advised increasing to 100mg and told me 'I could be on this medication for the rest of my life no problem'. The issue was now I didn't want to be on this medication and felt like I couldn't come off it. In particular, I noticed that I am flattened and blunted somewhat on the medication and had worries that this was stopping me feeling attraction or starting a relationship with anyone (don't know if anyone else has had issues or worries about this? I don't mean sexual symptoms in that I don't have no feeling in my genitals or difficulty orgasming - this is more in terms of actually having a romantic interest in someone in the first place). Maintained 100mg for about a year and then decided to reduce again, following the same pattern and again with minimal withdrawal symptoms. The same thing happened again, was largely fine for 3 months but then went away travelling in February 2023 and was struggling and ended up returning home early. From February to March 2023, I was struggling with anxiety and depression but not completely debilitating. Then in April 2023, again it was like my mood fell off a cliff and I had another severe mental illness episode with depression, anxiety etc. I suppose I am coming here looking for advice and support and to see if anyone else has had similar symptoms as I am not able to get answers from the medical community so questions as follows: - has anyone else had minimal symptoms throughout the tapering process and initial 3 months or so of being on 0mg, only then for severe psychological symptoms to set in around 3 months? Due to the gap of time where I am ok (i.e. the 3/4 months), I think most medical doctors view this as a resurgence of original symptoms rather than withdrawal but the symptoms are much more severe than they were before I started medication. My issue I suppose is that I don't know whether this is a temporary thing as my brain is freaking out at no longer having the extra serotonin available and whether it will eventually adjust to the lower levels and therefore whether to push through and try to cope with the psychological distress in the hope it will pass or if I need to go back onto Sertraline. I suppose I'm looking for hope that if I just try and cope with the anxiety and depression, it will eventually lift and I'll get through it and I'll come out the other side but I can't seem to find any advice or information to give me this hope. Thanks, KF2694

When I was 19 I had a terrible break down. Abusive boyfriend, fear of parents, fear of life. I ended up in the hospital. Just a regular hospital under the care of my gyno for what appeared to be anorexia nervousa (however it's spelled). That doctor was smart. He said i was too young for pych meds and had me to start taking b complex. I slowly began to return to normal. If I had ever been normal that is. I had always had a low depression i felt like. I turned to drinking and smoking for social validation and this carried me through college and through my 20's. When I was 28 I left my job to stay home with my baby. My husband and I had just bought a house but thought is was too important to keep our child close. After some depression surrounding a miscarriage, we had a second beautiful son. The isolation was not good. I remember watching Oprah and she was talking about lead in window blinds and how bad the was for our children. I looked over at the blinds in my bedroom with the teeth prints in them from my son standing there waving goodbye to his dad in the mornings. That's when the hot flash of anxiety hit and did not leave. I was testing everything for lead and yes it was everywhere. Then the asbestos. Then on the news, ecoli in the apple juice and meat then worst of all was the women who caused harm to their own children though pychosis. Was I that crazy? Could I be the danger to my babies?? I was sooo terrified!! A doctor put me on xanax and I was told to take it when I needed it. Of course I needed it constantly. For around 2 months I lived in a stupor. Then one day I said forget this and stopped it ct. I was then put on Effexor. Never great but not as anxious. So a different doctor(because the one prescribing me xanax was in a drug treatment facility) added a few things when I mentioned my fears. He added wellbutrin, resperdal because I must be bipolar, which I only took one of thank Heavens, then zyprexa. My world turned upside down again. It was a horrific spiral for several months before I was admitted to a Behavioural Health center. I stayed there for 3 weeks while they ct me off all meds then put me back on zoloft and klonopin. When I left I have to say I was feeling better. It only improved over the following weeks. I even called my klonopin my Hakuna Matata pill. For 17 years all was well, I thought. My mother passed and I had to take care of my dad who had dementia during lockdown. My dad then passed and I got sick after his funeral. The doctor told me if I didn't take the med Levaquin for my pnuemonia I developed after the virus, then she would just have to give it to me intravenously when I was admitted to the hospital. So I took it and it chemically ct me off klonopin. I was a mad woman. Terrified and holding the grief from losing my parents and fearing going down that rabbit hole again 17 years earlier. I started to even out a few months later and decided to come off meds. I found Benzo buddies and Benzo warriors on fb and started my klonopin taper. That had only taken a year since I had only ever been on .5mg. That was two years ago. In March I began my Zoloft taper. 100 mg. will take a whole lot longer. I'm down to 53mg now and the bottom has fallen out. My therapist and sister asked me to go back up to 75 but they don't understand. And now I can't understand. I'm pretty frightened that my life is just circling back to those terrors except this time it's all new fears. I hope I didn't share too much but I wanted to let you know my history. Have I got a chance? Sometimes I think I should just stay on it. I'm 57 and would be tapering maybe 8 more years. I could really use some friends. I feel so alone in this. Although my family is great none of them have any idea what it's like. Thank you,

Well, who knew you weren’t supposed to just stop taking this stuff when you felt like it? Back in January 2020, I had gone to the doctor 3 times over a one month period swearing I had kidney problems based on some symptoms I had. After the third appointment and all tests coming back normal, the doctor diagnosed me with anxiety and prescribed 25 mg Sertraline. I started taking it immediately and within a few days I had developed limb pain. I didn’t relate it to the medication and actually thought it was a symptom of anxiety. Another week or so went by and limb pain spread to joint paint and then to this feeling of being bruised or punched in my thighs, stomach, hips and chest, even though bruises never surfaced at that point. I also had an off and on lump in my throat and my voice would randomly go hoarse. By end of March, I had rigid muscles, had gained 30 lbs and clusters of red dots and small bruises were forming all over my body. I thought I was developing a serious blood disorder and since I had seen a hematologist in the past for iron deficiency anemia, I was able to get an appointment without going through my gp. A few weeks before the appointment, around mid-April (so 3 months on Sertraline), I read online that bruising was a rare but possible side effect of the medication. I quit immediately to see what would happen, and within about three weeks the bruises, red dots and some of the pain disappeared. Everything was normal at the hematologists. However, even though the bruises went away, I had started getting these other issues like “restless arm syndrome” (only way to describe it), dizziness, numbness in feet and hands, muscle twitching, panic attacks and other things I can’t remember. After my appointment, since my blood tests were fine, I reinstated the 25 mg Sertraline in early May. I had no clue these were withdrawal and assumed I had developed either a severe neurological disease or Somatic Symptom Disorder. I still can’t believe I went back on the meds, but as soon as I did all hell broke loose. The withdrawal symptoms went away but I developed horrible muscle cramping to the point I couldn’t hold a phone, pain in response to any kind of touch including my pants rubbing against my legs or someone touching my hand softly. I had pain in my ears, eyes and throat. The bruises and red dots came back immediately and with a vengeance. At this point I knew it was the Sertraline. And I was only on 25 mg!! I managed to stay on for around three more weeks then quit cold turkey again. Right away I got a plethora of symptoms: -restless feeling all over -Muscle twitching all over body -muscle weakness -this weird warm feeling that started in the back of my head and spread down my spine (I no longer have this) -loss of coordination -pulling in my thumb, forefinger and cheek on my left side like they were trying to move themselves (This doesn’t happen often anymore) -brain zaps - not really sure if that’s what it is since it feels less like a zap and more like someone holding an electric razor up to my head in different spots. -Numbness/tingling in feet, lower legs, hands (I no longer have this) -Nausea -panic attacks -short of breath -forgetfulness -dizziness -loose feeling in joints like they won’t hold my limbs together -joint pain -cracking joints -muscle pain -buzzing in legs and feet -palpitations -feeling like I would fall down (I no longer have this) -this feeling in my sinuses like they would tighten and then clear up (this is rare these days) -general soreness -lump in throat -insomnia - often only getting 2 or 3 hours of sleep at night -acute fatigue (this feeling of intense fatigue that feels like I spent hours working out in the sun that will last maybe 20 minutes to an hour) -heartburn There were so many more I can’t think of. I’ve been off the medication around 4.5 months now, but not much of this has improved. A few of the scariest symptoms seem to have gone away, probably around the three month mark, and with the remaining symptoms, I have gotten a few windows recently. The body pains used to be constant, but now I get a few days off per month. This encourages me. At the same time, I’ve developed new symptoms recently like intense stomach discomfort, palpitations and the lump in my throat, although I had this when I first started the meds too. Many symptoms have gotten less severe/intense and that helps a lot. The craziest thing about all of this is that my highest dose was 25 mg! Not to mention I was only on it 4 months total. I’m really hoping I’ll be back soon to post a success story. I remember reading a post from a success story poster that basically said whenever a symptom would go away temporarily, even if it came back and hung around for a while, they knew it would be gone eventually because it had shown its weakness. I wish I could remember who it was because it’s completely true and that has really helped me get through the last few months. I'm not sure how to post my timeline in the signature, but it’s pretty short so I’ll leave it here. 25 mg Sertraline from January to mid April. Cold turkey mid April to early May. Re-instated 25 mg Sertraline from early May for next three weeks then cold turkey again. Have been off for 4.5 months and take no meds or supplements at this point.

Hi folks i found this site quite by chance when I was trying to find some information about reducing doses. Ive been on 150mg sertraline for about 5 1/2 years. I started on 50mg after becoming paralysed by anxiety after a few traumatic events over a few years. I started on 50mg but quickly stepped up the dose for what I realise now were probably side effects. Recently I had 2 weeks off due to me being crap at ordering my prescription and there been a mix up at the chemist. i didn’t intend coming off them but when I went back on the 150mg then the numbness that had lifted during the 2 weeks off was back, and I now realise that the numbness and apathy that comes from being on them is preventing me moving forward in my recovery from anxiety. So after a couple of days I dropped to 100mg and that’s what I’ve been on for the last 3 weeks. I’m planning on sticking at this dose for a bit until my withdrawal symptoms settle and then I’m hoping to drop down slowly. There are some amazing people with inspirational stories here, and I’m looking forward to being drug free! B.

Hi everybody. Finding this group is like being raised by robots and then stumbling into a human encampment. Suddenly, things make more sense. I've been taking Sertraline continuously for 15 years for anxiety, panic attacks and IBS. It was originally prescribed by my primary care physician just for the panic attacks, which were triggered most often by over-stimulation by continuous loud noises, physical jostling and/or strong flashing lights. The worst would happen while driving, in crowds or on a boat or plane. Within a few weeks of taking Sertraline 50mg, the IBS miraculously abated (as did the panic attacks). I'd suffered with always uncomfortable and frequently debilitating IBS since 1980 and had been to numerous specialists and had numerous medical tests with no effective relief until the Sertraline, so to me it was like a miracle. I credit the Sertraline with saving my career and possibly even my marriage. After almost 10 years on the Sertraline, I began to feel apprehensive about taking it for such a long period of time and curious to how much I still needed it. I tried tapering on two occasions, about a year apart, but without support or a plan, failed. Usually the stomach issues make themselves known before the anxiety and then the IBS drives the anxiety even harder which makes the IBS worse; lather, rinse, repeat. I'm in my 60s now and found I was able to move into a lower paying but much less stressful job and kids are grown and out on their own so less demand and worry. With changes in my body from aging and the less stressful environment, I began to feel I had a better chance of eliminating the Sertraline with a slower, more methodical plan, support of my Primary Care physician and of people who understand the process and problems. And that's how I find myself here, today. I've been taking the "recommended" 50mg dose but I'm very sensitive to all medications so it may have been more than my body actually required all this time. I've been tapering for 6 months now. I would cut my dosage in half, suffer through the worst of the withdrawal symptoms for a few weeks, then if symptoms decreased or at least didn't get any worse after another 3-4 weeks and were tolerable, cut it in half again, etc. I recognize now, that's too fast. I'm still experiencing frequent brain zaps (I didn't know what to call those; I was calling it "elevator head"), mood swings and easily-triggered bad temper. I can actually physically feel an internal tornado of turmoil in the core of my body when I get angry. It's awful. I feel like an emotional ping pong ball. And I don't even get to be The Hulk. Anticipating the stomach and mood issues, I got a medical cannabis card. I have to say, a combination of CBD and low-THC cannabis has kept the stomach issues at bay. I microdose .5mg to 1mg of a 3:1 mixture of CBD to cannabis daily; that's about 3 hits. If I get twisted up in knots over something, a hit of indica does settle me (vaped organic dry flower only). I tried ingesting CBD tinctures but they kill my stomach. My physician didn't object to this approach, although he thinks I'm too concerned about the long-term effects of the Sertraline. I think this struggle of just trying to get off of the Sertraline is justification enough. The 50mg tablets are too small to cut into more than fourths, so after 5 weeks at 12.5mg, I stopped altogether; that was 30 days ago and the withdrawal symptoms still persist with no further reduction. After spending some time here, I now recognize I'm going too fast. I need to slow down a lot and seek wisdom from those who have made it through this. I've just sent a request to my physician to change my Sertraline prescription from tablet to oral solution so I can dilute it and get finer resolution on the tapering dosages. My current plan is to restart the Sertraline at 12.5mg, where I left off, stabilize or slowly increase until stable for at least a month (more?), and then reduce 1mg at a time for as long as it takes. Thanks for listening. I've got no one else to talk to who will understand. I'm so glad to be here. PapaSmurf (my son called me that after he grew taller than me, and it stuck)

Introduction topic: ☼-mranxious-3-months-off-effexor-xr-6-years-on Heyyyyyy 😊 I am alive !!!!!! Out there living a life that I am proud of and comfortable with. Pheww I am one of the blessed ones to have breached the other side and lived to talk about and YOU WILL TOO !! That was one hell of a ride. One that is FAR FAR FAR in the rearview mirror 🙃 If you have read my story, you will know that I went through literally the most traumatic event in my life and that was "Effexor Withdrawal". From start to finish I was unsure I would make it through this time, but here I am and let me tell you "Its a process". This will not happen overnight...BUT if you make the right moves, eat healthy and take your vitamins, time will heal, only time BUT everything you do in the mean time will make the difference in the end. Here is what I did : -Increased Omega 3:6:9 daily -Lots of purified water -Maximize sleep if you can and set a goof environment to be able to sleep(No sleeping drugs) -eliminated processed foods and to a whole food plant based lifestyle(THE BIGGEST GAME CHANGER for me and healer I believe* -Cut out all toxic people -light walks/bikes/swims daily(Key word "light". -meditation- daily(Prayer as well daily) -Church -daily mantras "I will heal" "I will get better" "I am getting better" -Reading books, occupying my time -Multivitamin and mineral support tablet I went from being a very anxious person once off Effexor for months and months of withdrawal , to now years later, a fully functional human being again 😎 I fully believe that in order to fully heal, you need to be fully off any pharmatheuticals (Per doctors orders of course, my disclosure) ughh 😋 Oh yes and find a good doctor that will listen to you and meet your needs "YOUR NEEDS". I have found a wonderful doctor and he is all about my plant life and healing and he is all about me living my best life drug free. Whatever you are going through right now, just know it gets so much better. It can takes months to years to recover. Realize this is your journey and a special one. Myself personally believes that god has transformed my old life into my new life and I can't be ever more thankful and grateful. One hell of a adventure but "hey" I love who I am more now and have grown exponentially since this ordeal. I have days where I cry happy tears over the smallest things, butterfly on a flower, old person smiling, to the breeze blowing off the lake , to the food on my plate. I never appreciated it before Effexor and I took it for granted, now it just happens and i love it 😊 I guess it all depends how you look at it, but when things get grim and they will, come back here, read my story and just know you are all in good hands😊 The effort you put out now in the throws of this awful withdrawal, will eventually become the reward you see in your future !!!!! YOU ARE GOING TO RECOVER MY FRIENDS, ALL OF YOU !!!! STAY CALM AND SOLDIER ON, stay safe and always consult your doctor before making any moves and if they don't listen to you : FIND A NEW ONE !!!! But always stay in close touch with them please 😎 This website has been a game changer and so are all the admins* Beautiful hard working volunteers 🧡💛💚💜💖 *Taper, taper, taper your mediction , this is most important, don't rush a taper just because you start feeling good. It will catch up to you, stay the course 😎 or possibly suffer grave setbacks * *Feel free to message me* MR. A

Hello everyone! I'm writing this because I told myself I also wanted to be of help for those struggling one I made out of the mess psych drigs withdrawal is. While I still struggle with anxiety and some ocd, therapy is currently my only prescription haha along with a few other natural supplements like cbd, magnesium chloride spray, pregnenolone, and a few others. My main objective with this is not to say mental illness is not real and that the meds don't work, because they do sometimes and when we decide to come off them is not like our traumas and mental struggles will disappear. But I hope to say with this that it is possible to overcome ssri withdrawal and start a drug free life along with different coping strategies and a good support system. I was put on sertraline 25 mg along with buspar 10 mgwhen I was 15. I was never very consistent with it, but would experience the effects every time I'd try to come off it. I kept going on and off until 21 when I went cold turkey and my life was almost paralzyed from the withdrawals, I was then put on sertraline 50 mg and aripiprazole. The sertraline game me horrible side effects at first and most of the time i was on it. I believe it was giving me mild serotonin syndrome. I then tried to come off and again withdrawals so I was put on prozac and buspar. Stayed on it until 25. I decided to come off, but did a very small tapper compared to what is needed. The withdrawals were manageable at first, but then they came full force. I was throwing up, head spinning, brain zaps, you name it. I thought it'd never end. that's when I found this group and a few other people hwo have through the same on intagram. The success stories in here gave me so much hope, and that's why I wanted to create mine. Yes, it was horrible. The worse was aroound 6 months, then took 18 months to feel almost close to normal, and now its almost two years, and my nervous system is no where near where it was when I came off the drugs. I'm able to drive, exercise, run, wake up with energy in the morning, go to the store without feeling like my world is spinning, and so much more. For me prayer, supporting my body, and believing I was going to be ok, were huge in my recovery. DUring my worst times where I'd feel hopeless prayer became my strenght and usually something would come that reminded i'd be ok. i also found the work of Dr. Ray peat on serotonin. OS when we come off these drugs our serotonin receptors are all over the place and we actually need to lower them most time. This why I decided to go bakc to the doctors and asked ot be presribed Vistaril, hydroxizine, which is a non addictive, take as needed anciety med. Its simply a potent antihistamine, so there is no withdrawals from it. It realy was of huge help at my very worst to bring some stabiity from the nausea, dizinness and racing heart. I really recommend anyone going through withdrawal to try this if they feel like they can;t simply handle it before going back on the ssri's. I no longer really take it as I now take cbd, but it is usually considered a safe drug free of withdrawals if given at small doses as is simply once again, a potent antihistamine. Apart from that, I worked on bettering my thyroid, nutritional level, and make sure to stay hydrated with mineral water and coconut water to help my nervous system. I also impletened a lot of grounding which is supper healing for the nervous system. AT my worst, I'd simply wake up early in the morning to sit on the grass and take in some sun while sipping on coconut water and listening to worship music. That was very healing for me. But I really encourage anyone here to check out the Walsh protocol and perhaps work with Walsh practiciner as they're expect in treating mental illness naturlaly and healing the many hormonal imbalances and nutritional deficiencies behind long lasting withdrawal symptoms. Please also research mind syndrome and german new medicine so you can learn more how your brain has the ability to keep creating symptoms even after the withdrawl is over and also to learn how the body has immense healing abilities and if taken care of and supported it is very well capable of healing from psych drugs withdrawals. To anyone reading this going through the worse right now, please hang in there, it gets better, it truly does! But makes ure you're getting enough rest, being gentel with yourself, and supporting your body with sunshine, minerals, and plenty of grounding if you also wish. I truly think constant grounding was huge in shortening the duration of my nervous system breakdown. Also find your grounding stone, by that I mean that something that gives you a little hope when it all seems lost. I remember when I was barely even levaing my room, I had a lttile picture with a Bible verse letting me know God was in control. I'd look at it everytime i;d feel panic and repeat myself the words in it. I also hope with this post inspires some to find their support in The Faithful father we have in heaven. As you go through this, I promise you, that you're not alone. I remember reading another srri success story on instagram and how at her worst moment she pleaded with God and a humming bird suddenly appeared on her window. She also beautifully stated how most times when she'd feel low the humming bird would suddenly appear. For me it was an orange butterfly and owl. Many times when life just felt hopeless i'd go to my backyard and boom an orange butterfly would come to my greeting. other times, an owl would literally appear out of nowhere, and my mom also oftentimes saw it, so I wasn;t hallucinating form the withdrawls haha! But I hope this encourgaes you and reminds you that this universe is huge and there is a purpose and a reaosn why you're here. You're loved and cared for, trust that. With a little faith and time you'll be an even stronger and better version than you were before all of this. Oh! I also found @cherellethinks page on instagram very helpful. HSe had her own journeyw ith anxiety, a truly life changing one and also took psych drugs. SHe does one on one coaching and can be of huge help for many in here! @brookesiem is also extremely knowledgeable and has her own encouragng story! SHe also answers dm's and helps answers questions you might have, Last one is @livingrootswellness. Theresa is awsome and also usually answers questions about her withdrawal story. SHe also has an eft tapping group and offers incredible information on improbving withdrawals symptoms! Hang in there my friends! This is truly horrible what you;re experiencing. But with some faith and dedication from our part it gets better! Also, I;m sorry for the many errors. I'll come back soon to fix it. I'm very sleepy but felt liek it was alreay time I wrote my story to hopefully help someone out there. I;m not anit psych drugs by any means, I knwo there were likely of help for me at a time, but I do find there are many alternatives to try before putting somoen on a drug cocktail. ALso, i feel like there is no medical training or experience when it comes to tappering patienst of these drugs. Hopefully, with time this chnages.

Hello, I was on 50mg sertraline (SSRI) for 18 months. I have young children so I guess would call it postnatal depression. I felt stable and that things were getting easier so spoke to the doctor. They suggested cutting down to 25mg for 4 weeks then stopping. I seemed OK at first and was pleased. I was experiencing brain zaps but they werent to bad and my mood was fairly stable. It's now 3 weeks after stopping and I've been having very dark thoughts again. Im also struggling to deal with my children again, the constant fighting, demands, ita so full on, I have read on here you need to minimise stress but I can't do this with two small kids. So I don't know whether to stick it out or go back on 25mg and taper more slowly. Thank you for reading.

Hi there First of all I want to say "sorry" for my english - I try my best to make it as clear as possible! I'm a 38 yo woman with no significant psychiatric prehistory. In january 2022, after Covid-19 hit me, my life, as many others, turned upside down. 10 days after my initial infection (from one day to another) I felt completely depressed, couldn't sleep anymore, was in a unhuman state of panic and my whole sculp was tingling. I ended up for 5 days in an psychiatric hospital. Even the strongest sleep medication couldn't send me to sleep. I really thougt "this was it" and the only reason for not "bringing it to an end" were my beloved two girls. Please note at this point: I had NEVER EVER suicidal thougts my whole life. Doctors told me, that I have Long Covid and put me on Escitalopram. I felt weird and unnatural high on this drug and had a lot of side effects. More and more symptoms appeared and I never knew if this was due LC or due the SSRI. But I didn't care. I was in a such dark place, physically and mentally and was thankful for being at home with my family and slowly my sleep improved. After a few weeks "fight or flight" hit me again and my psychiatrist forced me to updose to the max. After that the nightmare continued and I ended up in hospital for two weeks with what I think is known as "serotonine syndrome". My whole body was shaking and I was completely agitated and over the edge. I felt like going into psychosis and had accustical hallucinations. The only thing I knew at this point was that I have to downdose my medication. I felt completely disturbed. I felt agitated, extremely tense and had the worst mood swings, which I never had before. My sleep was ruined again and they wanted to put me on Z-drugs but I refused and took 25 mg Quetiapin known as Seroquel/Sequase instead. After maybe six weeks something like stabilisation happened but still on a very bad baseline. I never felt like me and couldn't except that I have to be on these drugs now. So I decided to come off. There was nothing to loose. After every try of reduce I got new symptoms plus the old symptoms came back fullforced and lastet for a few weeks. I still never knew what was LC induced and what was drug induced. After months of tappering my psychiatrist decided to wean off from 8 mg in about 4 weeks and put me instead on 25 mg Sertralinum. For about 4 weeks I felt great and during this time I had 4 H.E.L.P. apharesis for my LC symptoms. Then we got the flu and I felt like I was hit by a train and completely new symptoms appeared. Since then a had only a few weeks where my symptoms were manageable. Current symptoms: • morning anxiety • diarrhoe • panic attacks • anxiety spikes/adrenal rushes • intrusive thougts • shakiness • internal vibrations • Tingling/burning sensations • extreme moodswings • short term depression (only a few minutes/hours/days) • brain zaps when falling asleep • electric jolts in my body when falling asleep • anxiety after napping • catastrophizing • heart palpitations • blurry vision • very dry eyes • light/sound sensitivity • extreme tense neck muscles • sharp ear pain • twitching muscles • in fight or flight about everything • fear of everything • nausea + headache • extreme PMS Current intakes: • 25 mg Sertralinum • 25 mg Quetiapin • 1 mg Lorazepanum if needed (maybe 1-2 / months) • some supplements like magnesium, fishoil, turmeric, ... Please note: All these symptoms are changing over the day. They come to go and go to come again. Do you think that it's possible that I'm withdrawing or was it Covid-19 that ruined my nervous system ? Thanx 1000 for your ADVICE 🙏🙏🙏

Hello everyone! I started on 25 mg Sertraline in April 2021 and increased the dose to 50mg after two weeks. I got prescribed the drug for premenstrual syndrome, which is ridiculous given to what disaster happened. I took this med for 2 1/2 months and decided to taper down again, as Sertraline made me anhedonic, emotionally numbed an decreased my libido significantly. When I told my psychiatrist about these side effects, she told me that they could persist. Okay, thanks, why did she not tell me that before I took the drug? Would have been nice to weigh risks and benefits myself. Of course these side effects did not resovle after discontinuation, they just improved a little. Unfortunately I made the mistake to start taking Saint Johns Wort (900mg) in September 2021 as I could not find any information that it can make PSSD worse. So gradually my libido decreased even more and in Winter 2021 I got panic as I recognised that my genitals lost their sensitivity. In despair about this fact I needed to go to the psych ward in April 2022. Because of my bad experience I did not want to take any more meds, but I got forced by the professionals and by my family. So I took Wellbutrin 150mg for 2 weeks. This made very anxious and increased my resting heart rate to 120. Because I could not sleep like that and did not feel tired at all, they gave me Tavor and Promethazin to calm down. Even after stopping Wellbutrin, this symptoms persist. Furthermore I suffer from extreme emotional numbness (can not cry properly) to a point that I feel like a zombie. I dont have any positive emotions left, neither can I feel connected to my surrounding, family and friends. Beside these debilitating symptoms, I suffer from complete genital numbness and zero libido/ feeling of attraction. The emotional symptoms did improve a little over the last weeks, but still I dont feel alive. I is so scary what happened to me. I can't make sense of that. I was a highly emotional, sensitive young woman (who even did not have depression) and ended up like this. I can't imagine going back to my master studies, neither can I work in my job as I am a social worker, because I can't feel empathy. I would be very grateful to hear from people who had similar experiences with a severe form of PSSD and got better or improved to 100%. I know Violet who fully recovered, but she is the only one and I guess recovery is on the rare side. I wish nothing more than getting my life back. Thank you and thanks for reading Malu

Hello, I've read this forum for a while and it has helped me much. I've been putting off creating my own thread as getting my thoughts straight has been quite difficult. I will attempt to be as accurate as possible but some dates are estimates. I am a 24 year old male. To be brief, as a young teenager I had some trouble fitting in and this presented me with emotional difficulties, Due to prevelence of the idea in the culture, online especially I was led to believe this was something called 'depression' and the treatment was pharmaceutical drugs. At around 15 years old when school was becoming difficult I presented to mental health services seeking allieviation of my struggles. I believed I had ADHD due to difficulty concentrating and this was a popular meme online when researching difficulty with applying yourself to schoolwork and studying. Naturally I pursued medication for this also. After some tests I was diagnosed as having this condition. I was prescribed 100mg sertraline and 50mg vyvanse after some medication trials. This kind of quieted down my negative emotions for sure and it did help me concentrate somewhat on schoolwork. I took these drugs for 7-8 years. I did take a year off sertraline when going to university, but reinstated due to severe difficulties a year later. I switched this to 15mg escitalopram shortly after this reinstatement. this was roughly 2020 I think? I was on the escitalopram for a year or two but it's foggy. And I came to the conclusion it was harming my ability to feel emotions and have meaning in my life so I discontinued after a short taper. For 9 months there were tolerable symptoms such as simple low mood. Something changed at around 9 months in and I started to experience severe distortion of my cognitive functions. I was hence unable to perform but the most simple daily tasks. This was In april 2023 (this year) I believe. I found this forum and related to many of your experiences. This gave me hope for improvement. I am posting here because I am hopeful to one day find the cause of this disease and promote awareness to doctors and the public alike to the systemic changes these drugs can induce. Afterall serotonin mediates processes throughout the entire body, it is not simply the happiness switch but a key player in keeping all the systems of the body functioning properly. One idea I have had is some of these symptoms could be the result of an alteration of blood flow. Serotonin influences blood vessel tone. Reduced blood flow in the brain could explain reduced cognitive ability many experience and potentially reduced blood flow would also result in reduced erection function and PSSD. My blood vessels for example have adapted to a certain serotonin signalling over 7-8 years so it seems feasible to me. I also struggle with exercise, becoming light headed after a simple walk. My reaction time is substantially slower in video games also for example. My hands and feet are constantly cold. I can go into details with symptoms but really they are very much in common with those details by most people who are brought to this website. Anxiety and head pressure, over stimulation etc. I hope this is reasonably coherent, it is difficult! Thank you.

It was over two years ago that I finally weaned off of sertraline and trazodone, which I was prescribed to get through a "short" rough patch in 2019. I tried to get off a few times prior, which I now understand probably "kindled" my system. I thought I was being cautious. When I did finally get off of these things, I experienced sensations and emotions that I never could have imagined: my first panic attack (and I've been stuck in a low-grade state of panic ever since) suicidal thoughts each morning, when I jolt awake and have trouble breathing (still the case) DP/DR set in, and I have constant tension on the right side of my body, probably a sympathetic nervous system malfunction (though the DP/DR has resolved, thank god) irritable and oversensitive to just about everything -- movies, music, other people, the news (this is unbearable and makes it hard to function) tinnitus very loud; lights are so bright I feel like they're passing through me (this alone is enough to set someone over the edge -- and has not resolved at all) I'm so tired in my soul, it's impossible to convey. I have held on this long and tried many things. Somatic therapy, other drug therapies, rTMS. I'm staying with friends in Switzerland to try a new social context that gets me out of bed every day. They've been encouraging but I'm suffering tremendously. I'm just not going to last in this condition. It's such an unbelievable waste. Any advice you can give this late in the process would be so very welcome.

Hello. In February 2020 I was a new mom and was prescribed domperidone for lactation: 50mg/day. Which affects dopamine. I took this until April 2020 and then tapered by 10mg/week until off. During my taper I became extremely anxious and was started on sertraline 25mg increased to 100mg in June 2020. In July I fell and hit my head and sustained a concussion. Sertraline made me feel weird so I tapered off over 4 weeks. then the headaches started. I blamed my concussion but in hindsight I think it was the sertraline withdrawal took nortriptyline 10mg and sertraline 25mg for 6 weeks (nov-dec 2020) . Headaches resolved and I weaned off because of dizzy spells and I didn’t want to hit my head again. Headaches back by December . in January 2021 I had had daily headaches for 6 weeks so dr recommended nortriptyline 10mg alone daily. I did and felt great no headaches. Then by March 2021 I got tachycardia and the doc suggested I wean off. I opened capsules and did a wean over 4 weeks. A week after stopping I got leg cramps so bad I couldn’t stand it. Restarted nortriptyline at about 4mg and weaned it over 2 months. Stopped it may 12. may 18-25 extreme anxiety out of no where. Doc started me on escitalopram 5mg which I took for 6 days and stopped. It made my anxiety horrible! Maybe caused kindling? Then 4 days later I felt like myself for about a week. After being off escitalopram for 10 days the anxiety and headaches creeped back in. is this all still nortriptyline withdrawal? Do I reinstate ? Will this get better ? My dose of nortriptyline was so small. Down to 2mg at the end.

ADMIN NOTE Farmgirlworks's Introductions topic is here. A pickle-and-cheese sandwich marked the beginning of the end of this trip to hell. At 25 months, I stopped in at a neighborhood yard sale. While my friend looked at a carpet from Mexico, I was drawn to an older man sitting on the front stoop and eating something. I looked closer and saw that it was a pickle-and-cheese sandwich. And I realized that I *wanted* one. I craved it. Bad. It was a strange feeling after months of forcing myself to eat and often could only stomach potato chips dipped in butter. I walked over and discussed the sandwich with him. Havarti cheese, bread, lettuce, and, of course, pickles. He told me that the brine of pickles is good for cramping. “I come from a long line of crampers,” he said. I could not get it out of my mind. I actually had a CRAVING. Next stop was the grocery store and I got all the ingredients. I dressed it up a little by making it into a grilled cheese and pickle sandwich with lettuce, mayo and mustard. Cut it into little triangles and, well on the eighth day, God made a pickle-and-cheese sandwich. And it was good. Best of all, I knew I was going to heal in time. The corner had been turned. . . . For every person who is in withdrawal -- wherever you are in the process -- you will heal!!! Know that, deeply breathe it in. Healing is inevitable… unfortunately the pain is too but it will eventually end. Hang in there. I didn’t “think” I would recover but always “believed” it because of the Success Stories. I have gone through so much high stress the past 3 years -- some of which was withdrawal but a lot was situational family dramas, auto near death experiences, and meeting my biological father less than a year ago. It’s been, well, "a lot." However, I am grateful and humbled to be on the other side. Yes, I still trend toward depression and anxiety but not at sky-high withdrawal levels. I now have tools to cope. Creativity is increasing each day and my motivation and cognition, while lagging a few steps behind, is coming back as well. And while anger is hard-wired into my DNA, now I am more of a firecracker than a bomb. ~~~ Drug: sertraline (zoloft) 50-75mg Time on drug: Jan 2012 - April 2017 Kindling: cold-turkey (CT) multiple times including once in 2015 for 6 months Fast-tapered sertraline 5ish weeks Complete end on April 1, 2017 Age/sex: 50yo female Recovery: 33 months, 90+ percent Supplements: magnesium powder, fish oil, aspirin. I used others ($$$) but nothing with regularity. ~~~ I was put on sertraline because I had just come back to Seattle from a six-month stint in an isolated, tiny rural town as a funeral director -- not stressful at all. I quickly fell into physically painful depression and high anxiety because I had no job, no place to live, and a new dog -- not stressful at all. No doubt I had PTSD. If I knew then what I know now, I should have splurged on therapy, quit drinking, and gotten a gym membership. But I did not and after two months asked my GP to prescribe anything to make the pain stop. After a couple weeks on Wellbutrin which created such anxiety, I quit and switched to Zoloft. And it worked. At least for a while. But there was breakthrough depression and I did not want to be dependent on a drug for the rest of my life. Of course, the GP gave me the lines about “it’s just like insulin for a diabetic” and “you have a chemical imbalance.” I went rogue several times and tried to stop cold turkey because this stuff isn’t addictive, right? I finally decided in spring 2017 that I wanted to stop for good. I decided to attend an ayahuasca ceremony for Easter -- hippie! -- and knew I could not be on an SSRI to do it. So I did a fast taper for Lent and in 5ish weeks stopped. The ayahuasca was transformative and I felt great… until I soon did not. My therapist at the time, with no medical knowledge, advised I switch to Lexapro because “it worked” for her. I dumped her immediately because my soul knew this was not right and was beginning to sound like a medical pharmaceutical conspiracy. After a couple months of suffering and quitting drinking, I found Surviving Antidepressants and saw that indeed this pain was REAL and experienced by others and I could lean into the expertise here. I’ve never looked back. The moderators said it would take time and indeed it did. Here is my thread about it. ~~~ The following helped me stay alive… I was going to say “and hope” but, frankly, there were several months when I didn’t have a shred of hope. It is the absolute worst (insert every curse ever uttered) hell. And I say this as someone who survived brain surgery. Yes: this is worse. And you will get through it. What kept me alive: - information - peer support - Success Stories on this site - acceptance - rage at pharmaceutical companies I obsessively read most of the “symptoms” threads to find out what was happening and get information. I needed proof that I wasn’t a freak of nature and that others had experienced the exact same thing… and recovered. The information on this site is invaluable, I learned so much. We are lucky to have such a comprehensive resource. I also watched YouTube videos, Baylissa Frederick videos, and read Beyond Meds and Inner Compass Initiative. The peer support on SA is exceptional -- I am reading over my thread and moved to tears (I can cry now!) by the compassion of members. I briefly hosted a Meetup for other withdrawal folks and could only do it a few times because I was still ill (apologies to The Smiths). I could not hold space for the misery and sad stories that people appeared with. One dear girl came with a handwritten letter in pencil on lined paper about her experience -- I am still haunted and inspired by her courage. I bow to the moderators here and what they do daily. Their knowledge and compassion blow my mind. It is a strength not many of us have. Part of my diet was reading the Success Stories over and over and over. There are some that I read at least a dozen times, eating up every single word and ingesting the message that “it does get better, hang on.” Do good writers get afflicted with withdrawal? It seems so based on the Success Stories. Seriously, I cannot recommend these enough to give you the strength to make it through one more day, hour, minute, second. Acceptance came late in the game because I couldn’t believe this might go on for years. I had to hit rock bottom first: unable to work, “friends” disappearing, and the possibility of never feeling any semblance of joy again. In the beginning, I resolved to go on by giving myself deadlines. “If you make it one year and everything still is this bad, go back on drugs.” “If you make it 18 months and it is still this bad, you can kill yourself.” “If you make it 24 months and it is still this bad, then you can storm the office of the CEO of Pfizer.” Yeah, immature crap, I know. But it helped me stick it out. Then at 2 years, my bio-father unexpectedly entered my life and deadlines were no longer viable options -- that relationship means the world to me. I think that was when I truly started to “accept” that I’d be sick as long as I was sick and get well when I got well. Yes, rage is not zen, not productive, and probably wasted energy. But it was the spark in my darkest hours that kept me going. I don’t mean homicidal rage, just the desire to add to information about how real and bad this experience is. There is a rage that comes with not being “seen” and this illness is definitely not seen except by those going through it and a few compassionate people. Every time I read “discontinuation syndrome” in media articles, I wanted to pull my hair out. Still do. I firmly believe that it will be seen eventually and want to support that however possible. What has helped me, but is not in the category of keeping me alive, is first and foremost kundalini yoga. I am now taking a training course in kundalini and am developing a class for people going through withdrawal. It is a trauma unto itself and the focus on the glandular system and, especially, strengthening nerves has helped immensely in healing. AA for honest sharing. I wasn’t able to get into the personal soul-searching until half way through the second year as what I was experiencing was chemical and no amount of soul searching was going to change that. I was legit envious of those who recovered from alcohol or opiates in months and here I was suffering from prescribed medication for years. And, I had reservations -- sometimes explosive anger -- at the members on psych drugs. However, now I am getting so much from AA, seeing patterns, changing my behavior going forward, forgiving myself the past. Hydrotherapy in the form of pools, hot tubs, and saunas were a big part at the end of year 1. Especially the sauna. I religiously do a cold rinse at the end of showers. This stimulates the parasympathetic system through the vagus nerve. Check out Wim Hof on YouTube. I do it because of kundalini but this method is a widely accepted way to strengthen nerves. And taking epsom salt baths a couple times a week calmed my body especially during bouts of akathisia. Acupuncture: I still do this regularly and she followed the NADA protocol for drug withdrawal (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5153313/) Art! It took a good year before I began to have glimpses of ideas for art projects. My thread has the work I did. Sometimes just sitting and slowly stitching was all I could manage. The last piece was drawn from quotes here and I am proud of it as a piece of activism. Timed gratitude lists for 10-15 minutes each day. Did this for a few months in the second year. I got this from a site about combating anhedonia and there is a neurological basis to strengthen the “wires” of positive connections in the brain. The gratitudes always have to be different to strengthen your “mind muscle” to see more positive events. Yeah, it sounds hokey... and it also helped. ~~~ Symptoms, I’ve had a few but not too few to mention (if you think “My Way,” please make it the Sid Vicious version): black depression, sky-high anxiety, neuro-emotions, anhedonia, daily suicidal ideation, headaches, severe head pressure, low appetite, panic attacks, leaky eyes, facial nerves tingling, akathisia, cortisol morning spikes, fatigue, tense shoulders and neck, cognitive decline (cog fog), depersonalization/derealization (DP/DR), no creativity, impulsive rage at people on the street, catatonia, intrusive thoughts, unmotivated, no confidence, no self-esteem, and emotional dysregulation (a later symptom). Had short windows but mainly months of waves. Triggers: fluorescent lights, caffeine, processed food, crowds, unsupportive family/friends, and above all else, high situational stress. ~~~ Admittedly, I am nervous about big situational stressors that are marching down the pike in the form of aging parents (now I have three), financial security, and vocation. Then, there is the “3 year relapse.” My memory is not good and focus is difficult. But both are steadily improving. I do wonder if this experience has made me less resilient to depression and anxiety. However! I made it through and if that doesn’t take serious resilience, I don’t know what does. So screw the nervousness: I’ll survive yet again. You will too. ❤️ . . . It just wasn't like the old days anymore No, it wasn't like those days... Does the body rule the mind Or does the mind rule the body? I dunno – THE SMITHS, "STILL ILL" ~~~ Book recommendations The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth by Gerald May Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker Own Your Self and A Mind of Your Own by Dr Kelly Brogan Death Grip: A Climber's Escape from Benzo Madness by Matt Samet Blue Dreams by Lauren Slater

hello! i've been reading this site for awhile now and finally decided to contribute. the information here has helped me immensely as i've been going through this. hopefully i can add something that may help someone else as well in college i was put on zoloft in 1996 for generalized anxiety disorder. i also have traits of a highly sensitive person. i tolerated zoloft well except for some side effects that i learned to live with. i stayed on lower doses ranging from 25mg-50mg. i went up and down in those ranges over the years unsupervised and never noticed any issues, although if i forgot the take my pill the night before i would get brain zaps in the morning. in january 2013 i decided to try to get off of zoloft after 17 years to see how well i could tolerate the world med-free. before doing so, i learned CBT and mindfulness meditation so i thought i had it under control. i met with a psychiatrist who put me on a taper plan. while going down, i did have bouts of being very emotional, depression, anhedonia, anxiety/cortisol spikes, brain zaps and other feelings I've never experienced before and are hard to describe. the psychiatrist told me it was normal and would go away in a few days. the smaller increments under 10mg were the hardest. i had the worst brain zaps (hundreds a day) and i did slow down the taper a bit but she again said it would go away in a few days. at that point i was just trying to power through it. funny, i remember thinking "this can't be normal and must be causing some damage." too bad i trusted her instead of my gut and didn't research or find this site sooner. my symptoms at first 6 months: - constant painful headaches - brain zaps - physical "headaches" (which i call "ickiness"- head pressure like i have a heavy wet blanket on my head, hard to concentrate, depression, fuzzy, hard to focus, painful stiff neck and fullness in ears) - daytime cortisol spikes - sensitively to sound that makes me want to cry - an eye twitch on my right eye lid - lack of motivation - waves of anxiety, depression, anhedonia and the other feelings. symptoms that developed after i had an anxiety attack 6 months in: - all symptoms above - very strong cortisol/adrenaline spikes mostly starting between 2-4am and cutting in mid morning - nerves feeling like they are supercharged - underlying anxiety reoccurring with some ocd - fatigue - tinnitus - exhausted when i talk sometimes - struggling with real depression - twitches in finger of right hand (about once a month it will pick a different finger) currently, 10 months since last dose, I'm in the worst and longest wave I've even been in. i believe i had a paradoxical reaction to some supplements i was given from a naturopathic doctor last month. i was also very very stressed out and at the start of a wave so it may have been that too or a combo of both. after months of thinking some of my symptoms were healed or drastically weakened, they've all come back and incredibly strong. in the earlier months i actually had 1-2 weeks a few times of feeling normal between a few weeks of feeling bad. it gave me the illusion i wasn't that bad and kept expecting the windows to get longer. i haven't had a full week of feeling better since august. now I'm lucky to get a full day or 2. frequently i feel better in the evenings so i don't want to discount that. I know i shouldn't have expectations but i really hope after this bad wave ends (or "if it ever ends" is how i feel right now) these super strong symptoms will subside and i will feel like I'm making progress once again. i can't wait. is anyone familiar with recovering from paradoxical effects? its been over a month now for me and when i feel its getting better it just morphs into something else. i just started to see a psychiatrist who is familiar with withdrawal and is trying to help me but its a slow process. i'm on a low sugar, high protein diet. i'm still learning how to do better at this. i don't drink alcohol or coffee. i walk at least 30 minutes every morning and try to do yoga and pilates once a week. i go to acupuncture weekly as well. i try to be mindful and meditate but not very good about keeping it up. somehow i've managed to keep my job but worry i may need to take a medical leave. what i currently take daily: - 2400mg omega 3 (the red label from trader joes) - 200mg magnesium (calcium magnesium citrate in a bottle, if someone recommends something better, let me know) - multi vitamin pill - i just started l-theanine under doctor's orders as needed: - i take advil when i have the headaches or the ickiness headaches. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. - i used to take a little bit of espresso to help cut the headaches and that would help sometimes but i haven't done that for awhile. when cortisol is high: - vitamin c pill - some homeopathic drops (i have 2 different ones i alternate, Relaxtone and a tincture my naturopath made) - i have lavender pills my naturopath gave me but i'm not sure if they do much so i stopped taking them. i'm curious if anyone has experience with these - tulsi/holy basil tea (you can get it at whole foods) i guess that is it for now. thank you for reading and happy healing!

I've been on various antidepressants since around 1985(?), not continuously, but nearly so. First Imipramine, then Prozac, then Lexapro, and in recent years (since about 2010) Sertraline. Last prescribed dose was 50 mg. I've tried stopping several times on my own. I'm 58 years old. Today is my birthday. I tried to taper off Sertraline in 2017 over a period of 5 months. A few months after stopping, the depression and anxiety symptoms came back (along with other weird withdrawal symptoms) and I assumed it was relapse and restarted the Sertraline at dose of 50 mg. It was a very difficult period and I didn't realize I was suffering from withdrawal and not relapse. After several very difficult months back on the Sertraline I seemed to recover. I never knew about this site or withdrawal issues until recently. Last year I tried tapering the Sertraline (too quickly) again. I tapered for about 5 months again starting in late December 2022. I took 25mg for 3 months and didn't notice any changes. I then tried to cut the Sertraline tabs into 1/4 pieces (12.5 mg) and took each day for 1 month. After that, I mistakenly tried to skip every other day with the 1/4 sertraline tab (12.5 mg). This lead to anxiety attacks on each day I took the 1/4 Sertraline tab, so I stopped them completely in early May 2023. Withdrawal symptoms arose again in Early August of this year, but they went away after one week. They returned again in early September (the 8th) and I've been dealing with severe withdrawal symptoms ever since. I found this site in early September as well, approximately one month ago. Based on what I've read on the site in the past month, I've reinstated Sertraline in an attempt to ease the withdrawal symptoms. I mix 1/2 of a 50 Mg tablet (25 mg) in 25 ml water, and have been taking 5 ml (5 mg Sertraline) each day for the past 11 days. I'm not sure if this has helped with the withdrawal symptoms yet, but the anxiety seems to have subsided a bit and I feel a bit more sedated.

Hello everyone. Im thankful for this forum, it has really helped me understand what im doing through. Here's a short-ish decription of what im experiencing: Im hyper sensitive to noise. Normal and even low sounds do a 'thud' in my ear. After Zoloft, i hear more acutely and at the same time am more bothered by sounds. My own voice is overwhelming, its like it resonates in my head. When people around me speak normally, it sounds so loud. Im like Varys in that Game of Thrones scene where Joffrey yells 'I am the King'. Thank god my family is understanding and they whisper around me. Going outside is a challenge, especially in places with car noise. When i get home, its like my senses are overloaded and i need at least 30min of total quiet in order to relax. I constantly hear the thuds of neighbour's footsteps in other apartments and generally alot more neightbour noise - something ive never noticed before. Other effects i feel: some painful and tingly fingers for the last month, anxiety Ater skipping days for two years(my own uninformed way of slowly cutting dose), ive been doing a regular dose every day for the last 3 months. I feel like its time to start taper, especially since the noise sensitivity has been getting worse with time. I need some advice. Is is safe to start tapering at this point or should i hold more? Has anyone had similar sound sensitivity stuff? Even knowing others have had it helps. Has anyone had their effects get worse with time, rather than with dose?

What is the best way to taper from 25mg of Sertaline/Zoloft after being on it for 5 months.

I have been on zoloft since age 8. I'm now 39 it's been 5 months since I was forced to quit cold turkey do to loss of insurance and now I'm consumed by anger, outbursts of rage, and suicidal thoughts. I'm scared of ruining relationships. Please help what should I do ?

Hello, first of all, excuse me for my English, which is not my language. I’m a 50 years old man, long term SSRI/SNRI user who is trying to survive after a lot of mistakes made with this poisons. First SSRI was prescribed me in 1998: a psychiatrist decided to solve my panic attacks, anxiety and fears to be sick with a 20 mg of paroxetine. My journey with SSRI began: I took paroxetine from 1998 to 2008; then escitalopram from 2008 to 2010; venlafaxine XR from 2011 to 2016. During this period, 3 or 4 times I attempted to stop but after six months free I reinstated the drug; my doctor said that the difficulty to stop was a problem of mine because “SSRI don’t give dependence” and anyway said “if necessary you can use it for all the life”. For sure from 2006 for me was IMPOSSIBLE to decrease paroxetine under 10 mg!!! From 2017 drugs seem not work as in the past: my doctor tries firstly with escitalopram (from december 2017 to august 2018), sertraline (from november 2018 to july 2019) and finally vortioxetine (november 2019 to february 2020). On february the 6th I took for last time vortioxetine which was giving to me just problems More than nine months have passed since then during which I experienced extremely heavy symptoms that reduced my mental energies and threw me into a profound discomfort that makes it increasingly difficult to carry out my normal activities. Some of the symptoms are those that I have already known in the past (although they present themselves in a more severe way): agitated anxiety; insomnia (I have occasionally taken xanax which fortunately I have used very rarely in these 20 years) and sudden and agitated awakenings; obsessive search for information and explanations about my malaise (via the internet). Others are new: an unbearable mood swings; a certain emotional lability (I get very easily moved and angry); physical symptoms such as fatigue with pain in particular in the legs and frequent palpitations. In the background then there are distressing thoughts for the future: evolution of my malaise (fear of irreversible damage to my nervous system induced by prolonged use of drugs). What seemed surprising was requent change in symptoms from week to week. At the end I found this site and with it a little hope: I have learned many things, even about my mistakes, and discovered that I’m not alone. Now I’m just surviving and my days are (very) often hard to pass, but there are moments (1 or 2 hours in a day) when I feel this journey through the hell is a long and necessary way to live again, to see the stars again. My long journey to healing has started, and I hope you would support me with your advice.