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When i started using zoloft and how i became clean. i started using zoloft in 2017 at 16 years old. now since june the 6th i came clean. what i experiences was weight gain . brain fog, and zombie feeling. impossible to break certain patterns. Worsening depression. now spark in the eyes after year 2 hormone imbalance that caused breast growth it was slowly, first i barely noticed anything only after year 2 i started noticing bad things happening. The decrease and tappering of from zoloft was pure hell and nothing more, i experienced depersonalisation, mania, worsening depression, dizzeyness, alot of mental stress, racing toughts. from 25mg till 10 mg i barely noticed anything, only when passing 10 a slightly discomfort until 5. then every mg down was a 2 days of hell. Withdrawl symptoms i got. Heavy mindfog. Depersonalisation and dissacotiation POIS like symptoms after sexual intercourse(mild) no libido or extreme high libido, racing toughs(alot) Autopiloted/impulsive behaviour. now i finally came clean, i noticed slight improvements. Positive outlook on the future, less brainfog (only after dopamine detox) Spark in the eye returned. breast growth decreased alot. Depersonalization goes away sometimes. i started to recognize my toughts again. My libido came back. Extreme rise in testosteron But i'm now about 6 weeks clean but i still suffer sometimes alot of these symptoms mostly because of dopamine rushes or anxiety, and confrontations. Heavy brainfog Racing toughts depersonalization and dissacotiation Depression and negative tought patterns Very impulsive behaviour and emotional. Agression especially towards my doctor or zoloft manifactioner it feels almost as if i became dumber or something. atleast it feels like it. My question is how long until my brain is completly healed, and how long till i can have dopamine rushes again? it goes better but i get these waves/cycles sometimes, but after the waves i see this light path that i hold on to and i feel awesome for a few moments of the day or the whole day. Almost bipolar. This is my first post, and i'm also not from a english speaking country. but i truly want to have advise or tel people my story

6 years ago had baby number 2. Ended up post natal. They put me on sertraline. Wasn't working on me great so eventually went up to 200mg. Since Dec 14 I tapered off. Finishing in April 15. I've been suffering with anxiety and tears negative thoughts ever since. In waves and windows. Now nearing 7 months and going through a wave if tears last week and this. I feel maybe I should go back on but my heart of hearts and also hubby and friends say stick it out as I have good days too. Mornings are bad at times.

My TSH numbers have been fluctuating for over a year and I have had to change my dose of Synthroid several times. At the same time I have been trying to wean myself from Zoloft. Going through a terrible time and wondering if my symptoms are exasperated by dealing with both issues. Also can the Thyroid levels be fluctuating because of withdrawal from Zoloft. hope this is not confusing. I just became a member and this is my first post thank you.

Dear everyone, I am truly grateful for finding this site in my search for answers and support! Let me fisrt introduce myself and my story. My name is Nathalie, I am 27 years old and live in Belgium, Europe. When I was 21 years old, I was a little lost and sufferd mild anxiety. I came into the cabinet of a well-meaning young psychiatrist who prescribed me Sertraline (Zoloft in the States I believe). I cannot exactly recall the dosage I was on but I do believe that I was on between 75-150mg (gradally increasing then decreasing the dosage) for the frst three years. The the last three years I was on from 50mg down to 25mg. The last three years I did not see the Doctor, the prescription was renewed every time just lke that.The last two years I was on 25mg. He also gave me Xanax 0,25 mg to 'take when needed", however I think I only finished one box during the 6 years so I took it very sporadically, maybe once or twice a month if I was a little anxious. I want to stress that I have never had clinical depression, severe anxiety nor sleeping problems nor have I EVER experienced migraines in my life. I do believe, in my heart, that I never needed these medication. However what is done is done and I cannot undo the past. So, this summer, I decided to taper down on my own. I did not know about WD syndrome, the only thing I knew from experience was feeling dizzy and headachy if I ever forgot to take the Sertraline during a few days. So I began cutting the pill (25mg) in half, then in fourths. I cannot recall how long I tapered, maybe during two months. I took the last quarter of 25 mg in the beginning of september 2014. I felt just normal and nothing changed until mid november. In mid november I had 4 days of headache and what I try to describe as dizzyness but which is also sort of a brainfog, seconds of feeling like falling in a black whole and loosing sensation of stability. Then these symptoms passed for two weeks. Begin december, I was walking to tango class one sunday and a violent headache struck me. This headache went on for a week and gradually I began feeling this 'dizzy" sensation again and nauseated. It would fluctuate day by day and during the day aswell. For about a week I hade muscle pains (mainly in ly arms) and joint pains and sensation of pins a needles somtimes in legs, feet, arms and hands). It lasted about 4 weeks and during this time I saw a neurologist and had a scan and an IRM of my brain and bloodtest done. All results came back normal. AH, I also began feeling pressure in my nose and sinuses, sometimes very severe, sometimes nothing. Begin of january I had about 3 weeks of feeling more or less fine again, heaache subsided and I only felt the dizzy feeling a few times. Two weeks ago, the symptoms hit me like a freight train. Severe headache on one side of head/face/ear. Severe severe pain like throbbing in head and ear (to the point where my hearing diminushes for a little while during the pain, and I have ringing in y ears). Pressure in my ears and sinuses and forehead. Feeling like knives in my head. Nausea comes and goes, headache comes and goes but is always present in some degree. Sometimes one sided, sometimes unilateral. Pressure over nose, eyes and in ears is present, also fluctuating during the day. Same ith the feeling of dizzyness and foggyness in head.The muscle pain/ins and needles sensation is only presnet lightly and does not bother me. These headaches and dizzyness is beginning to get the best of me. BECAUSE of these symptoms, and the severity of them, I get extremely anxious. For the last week, I can only sleep for about 2-5 hours/night because of my heart racing at 200/hour. The symptoms are frightening me, are making me anxious and depriving me of sleep. The lack of sleep makes me so very very sad and depressed. It is a vicous cycle. I have a job that I love, a family that I love and I am getting engaged next year. I imagine that these symptoms will be going on forever, will make me mad. I am normally very positive of a person but at night, when I think too much and try to sleep but cannot even though I am exhausted, I get very dark feelings. I imagine I will get internated in psychitrist hospital and that my boyfriend will leave me because I complain of headache all the time every day. I need reassurance, tips on how to manage these symptoms and how to manage the anxiety that comes with it. I am afraid I am doomed for a lifetime of this... I am in a fog and cannot see clearly and objectively. I do believe it is withdrawal because I connot find another medically logical explanation (nor can the doctor). Is it what they call a wave? I did contact the head of unit psychiatrist of a big university hospital in the town I live, to know if someone specialized in antidepressant withdrawal. She basically told me that no such thing existed and that my previous anxious state was returning. I am afraid to go to a psychiatrist because I know in my heart that I am not depressed nor mad, although the SYMPTOMS are making me anxious and depressed. Let me precise that reinstating the drug is NOT an option for me, as I am almost 5 months off and decided that I will never go back on. I kindly ask not to suggest this. I need positive stories, support on coping and a kind listening soul in the midts of this madness. Am I going mad? Can Sertraline withdrawal occur like this, few months AFTER stopping the drug? I have been to a chiropractor to help with headaches and I try aromatherapy for sleep, since I refuse to take also the Xanax. I take omega3 and magnesium supplements and I have a healthy diet, lots of water and herbal teas and no alcohol nor caffeine. I apologise for any error as english is not my mother tounge. Faith and hope to all of you warriors out there.

Glad to be apart of a page w people like me! Quit cold 🦃 a month ago. I'm passed the brain zaps, yay! 🙌 Current symptoms: Bouts of anger & crying (quick bouts then back to my calm self) Nausea Difficulty sleeping Restlessness I have a prescription for lorazapam which helped w the withdrawal. (.5 mlg). Stopped taking that a few days ago. I don't want one dependency turning into another one. Smoke marijuana occasionally. Drink often, but that's always been the case. Going to cut down on that soon too. The good: I have emotions again I'm making it to work everyday Look forward to working with you all!

Hi, very happy to have found this community. Last November 2013, I went to a water fasting clinic where people go to heal from various ailments and often get off meds. If been on Zoloft for 18 years, never diagnosed as needing it, and in addition to wanting to lose weight, I wanted to get off. I'd done unsuccessful tapers in the past. I now know why they were unsuccessful after reading here. At the clinic they have me Peter Breggin's book and Anatomy of an Epidemic. I immediately dropped from 100 mg to 50 mg and over the course of the 10-day fast, could not sleep until I tapered completely off Zoloft. Boom. Sleep was back. I was euphoric. No brain zaps. I thought if won the battle. They sent me off with amino acids (take 16 a day) and off I went home for the holidays. It was tough being around family, and as the weeks progressed, I got more and more agitated. I white knuckled it through the holidays and through January, buoyed only by my rapidly declining weight. But January was very stressful work wise, and I finally buckled down and returned to Zoloft on Jan 23. It worked immediately. I took 25 mg, then up to 50 mg. I never went back to 100 mg. but my weight started immediately rising, and I was more disturbed than id ever been about my weight in the past. I couldn't take it and went back off by Feb 5. I believed at this point that it was my particular chemistry at fault -- and I just needed to find the right med. I found a new doctor, jumped through tons of hoops, and requested to be put on Wellbutrin. I've been on Wellbutrin XL 100 mg since Tues Feb 11. First side effects were debilitating insomnia, but that seems to be subsiding. I just couldn't stand to gain all that weight and Zoloft wasn't really working on my anxiety. The other side effect I'm having -- aside from terrible anxiety, recursive thoughts, obsession with my antidepressant saga, and nearly divorcing my husband of 13 years -- is acne. Embarrassing facial acne like I've never had before. I suspect, after reading these forums, that I've wreaked havoc with my nervous system. I've been meditating, doing yoga, listening to tapes, and trying to keep my work life calm. But my question is this: now that I'm this far off the Zoloft and have gone on the Wellbutrin, should I just stay the course for a while, or should I go back on Zoloft? Or should I be on nothing and endure the withdrawal symptoms? I know in the forum on Wellbutrin it says it is not a effective to use when suffering other withdrawal symptoms, but that is essentially what I'm using it for -- to get through the Zoloft withdrawal. I'm not sure but I think it's taken some of the edge off, though I still have the anxiety and irritability. Thank you for reading and listening, and for any sound advice. No doctors understand, nor do family/friends who tell me just to get back on, and I doubt myself constantly. I need to pick a treatment plan and stay the course. For now, I was hoping that could be "stay on Wellbutrin till I stabilize ... for at least 6 months." I just know that Wellbutrin is probably not addressing the Zoloft seratonin withdrawal, it's just messing with my dopamine and norepinephrine now! Namaste.

Hi to everyone, First time I write in S.A. (I'm from Barcelona, so please forgive my poor English skills). I've been on and off antidepressants (Celexa, Lexapro, recently Zoloft) for the past 10 years. Combined with benzodiazepines, they were initially prescribed to me in order to control insomnia, which my former doctor thought was brought on by anxiety issues (sounds familiar?). At that time, I never had had a real bout of depression. Only then, when I decided to withdraw and quit Celexa for the first time, I knew what the word Depression truly means. Had to reinstate, and... well, you know the rest of the story. Now I've been 7 months free from 50 mg. Zoloft, which I tapered down very slowly, and still having issues --mainly psychological ones, and above all, of course, insomnia. I don't know you, but in my case the ADs worked generally pretty well at managing the anxiety I felt at night. So the question is: why on earth did I decide, again and again, to quit them? In my personal experience (I'm a highschool teacher and a freelance writer), besides the very known sexual side effects, I found that SSRIs numbed my ability to read and to write creatively. I mean, I still could read a good novel, of course, and enjoy it, but in a way I couldn't get deeply into it. Nor could I write anything with the freedom, depth and verbal fluency that I once had. So the process is always the same: I start taking the AD, feel emotionally better (and important: I need to take less benzos), but then I begin to sense that my creativity and writing skills are somewhat impaired, and I want badly to withdraw. I've read a lot of the posts in this site, and I truly can relate to many of the excruciating withdrawal stories that people tell. But there's something most of the people just don't explain: the reason why they decided quitting their AD. Since many people benefit from the effects of ADs, and quitting them is so awful, what were the reasons that took you to take the plunge? Cordially

Hi, I am so happy to have found this site. I started taking zoloft in July of 2011 at 25 mg and worked up to 100 mg by early October. I had developed chronic nausea following "routine" gall bladder surgery and the only treatments offered were anti-psychotic meds or antidepressents. The nausea and other symptoms had also left me depressed so I chose the antidepressents. For about 3 weeks in October of 2011 things were great; no more nausea and no more depression. Then zoloft side effects began but I stuck with it because the nausea was still gone. In December, however, the drug itself started to make me nauseous and by February I had started gradually tapering. I got down to 4 mg by late July of 2012 and was ready to to discontinue when I developed chronic pain due to another bit of "routine" surgery. Unfortunately, I decided I couldn't face the pain without an antidepressent so I started lexapro gradually working up to a maximum of 16 mg in early November. By then the side effects had set in again and I began tapering off on January 1, 2013, getting down to 4/10 of an mg by the end of February, with no side effects. My doctor and I figured it was safe to stop completely. Wrong again. I went through 3 really bad weeks with pretty much every withdrawal symptom in the book except for brain zaps. Each night I'd think that things would get better the next day, but eventually I had to stop because if anything the symptoms were only getting worse. Going back to 4/10 of an mg didn't stop the symptoms so I went to 4 mg and again worked down more slowly this time to 4/10 again, but when I went to 2/10 the whole thing started again. At that point I made another poor decision. I decided that because I had gotten down to only 4 mg of zoloft in 2012 that I'd replace the lexapro with 20 mg of zoloft and start down again. I dropped 1 mg per week from 20 mg down to 10 mg with no problems. Then when I went from 10 to 9, I started getting dizzy so after 3 days I went back to 10. Sad to say after about 10 days the dizziness was just getting worse so I jumped back up to 13 mg for no particular scientific reason other than it was higher than 10 and my doctors really had nothing better to offer. That was on July 10. The dizziness got better but never went away completely so I didn't want to risk dropping any further until it did. Now its getting worse again so I have no idea what to do. I look forward to reading about the experiences of other members and hearing from anyone with similar experience.