Tulalip's story

[Tulalip]

Hi everyone! Been a bit of a lurker for a few days now so thought I would make an account to post my experience

 

I am 20 years old male and live in the South of Wales near Cardiff

 

I have Asperger's syndrome and have been using my councillor and the love and support of my family to help deal with my anxiety and obsessive thoughts.

 

Unfortunately my Grandad died three months ago who I was very close to and found very hard to deal with.

 

I had a nervous breakdown and ended up in hospital because of a panic attack, where they brought in psychologists to talk to me and try and calm me down.

 

They referred me to a personal psychologist to see weekly.

 

I was really finding these first few weeks very hard to deal with-Mainly because of the bad anxiety I was experiencing so my psychologist offered to take me down the medical route as a coping strategy. 

 

I was offered 50mg of Zoloft to take once a day and didn't thin much of it that I had nothing to lose and could stop whenever I wanted to.

 

I took them for a very short period of 4 weeks because of how I felt on them.

 

Although It helped the anxiety I felt like a zombie while taking them and couldn't think straight.

 

I then stopped them abruptly after only 4 weeks, Without telling my psychologist although my family knew. 

 

The first two weeks I experienced minor withdrawal, headachy, dizziness e.t.c which soon went.

 

However the is the 3rd week I have been off them and have been experiencing some very weird side effects.

 

I have a slight ringing in my ears, along with muscle twitching. I also feel understudy on my feet like I may fall over? I am also very hot?

 

Thank you for reading my post-please do not hesitate to ask me any questions!

 

 

 

 

 

[Jemima]

It sounds to me like you're very sensitive to antidepressants. The symptoms you're currently experiencing are typical of antidepressant withdrawal. Four weeks of taking 50 mg. of Zoloft isn't a lot and many people would be able to stop with no problems (assuming no prior history of antidepressant or other psychiatric drug use), but people vary a great deal in their reactions.

 

Your best bet for alleviating the withdrawal symptoms is to reinstate a very small dose of Zoloft, perhaps 5 mg., and see if that relieves the symptoms.  Give it four full days to take effect. Once you're stable on a small dose, you can then taper off very gradually.  Please see:

 

Tips for Tapering Zoloft

 

Why Taper By 10% of My Dosage?

 

The window for relatively safe reinstatement is only about a month, so if you choose to go this route, please do it soon.

 

Welcome to the form, Tulalip.  I'm glad you found us.  You'll find lots of solid information here and friendly support for the journey off antidepressants.

[Tulalip]

Hi Jemima,

 

Thank you for your advice.

 

It was a short period and their Is a short time window If I were to reinstate so may leave it I'm not sure, Will have a think about it.

 

Wouldn't want to confuse my body anymore!

 

Thanks again

[Jemima]

It's your decision, of course, but be warned that withdrawal can get a lot worse than what you're currently experiencing.  If I were in your place, I'd definitely reinstate a small amount.

[Tulalip]

Yes may be best, I must be sensitive after how I reacted.

 

After it having an adverse effect on me am just happy I'm not doing this a year down the line.

[Tulalip]

Am starting to feel much better, balance is better and less twitching.

 

However although my ears are ringing less they feel sensitive to sound and still a bit of dizziness.

 

My cognitive ability is becoming shaper to-here's to the recovery! 

[Tulalip]

Hi people

 

Been having some new symptoms. Have become emotionally drained? 

 

My Asperger's syndrome makes me experience very strong emotions which at times are hard to control but I feel as If my emotional response have been weakened.

 

For instance I went out last night and In general I'm a bit of animal and get quite excited going out however last night was a complete different ball game. I was quite passive and withdrawn spending the majority of the time on my phone. My friends understand I am withdrawing so understand why was acting like that.

 

Would be a really great if anybody could share their experiences of being affected by this and just some friendly advice that things will ultimately work out for the best and be alright!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tulalip]

Anyone else experience these similar symptoms? Don't leave me in the dark!

[andy013]

I've experianced something like this. When I get depressed a big part of can be social. I feel like I don't or can't socialize with people like normal. It's like the social part of my brain is turned off. I just want to avoid people. During withdrawal I have experianced this without the feeling of depression. I guess that is simailr to what you are experiancing.

[Altostrata]

Withdrawal syndrome can make you hypersensitive to all kinds of stimuli. You may have retreated into yourself to reduce stimulation.

 

Also, withdrawal syndrome can include a feeling of not really being present, called depersonalization or derealization. Everything seems far away and nothing is engaging. You might have a touch of this.

[Tulalip]

Andy,

 

Yes that really accurately describes my situation. Sometimes Its as If I put together a mental script in my head of what to say for social engagements. Very frustrating

 

Alto,

 

Yes that makes a lot of sense what you wrote. I feel a lot more passive-like my emotional bandwidth has been blunted. 

 

Finding it very hard to stay motivated at work :/

 

Physical symptoms associated with withdrawal are practically non existent. However physiologically as discussed am still suffering but has improved.  

[Tulalip]

Have felt much better the last few days, Can feel my emotions coming back slowly.

[Tulalip]

Been calling in sick for the last week. Just feel very peculiar indeed, Very much feel out of my body and simply cannot function at work consistently and if at all to a poor standard after horrendous mental exertion. Feel Like I'm actually going to pass out at times I'm that detached. I'm catching up on some work from home but theirs only so much.

Generally quite worried being mildly debilitated down to the vegetative state of my mental ability. Looking at patterns, numbers and sequences in my line of work which comes naturally are becoming progressively more difficult but notably more time consuming for even basic calculations.

 

I certainly don't have a high stress tolerance mainly down to the fact of my Asperger's which results In me bending and buckling under stress without much aggravation. So yes I'm in a situation of a lot of pressure at the moment.

 

However I'm inclined to think If I notified my work for the real reason of my absence which is of course Is ssri withdrawal syndrome I might as well ring up and say that I have CFS or M.E :/

 

Would be interesting to see how other people are dealing with work.

[Kachna]

Hi there, coping with work is hard in withdrawal., i asked a fried of mine to come to my office every hour and we did breathing exercises together and short relaxation. I could not speak clearly sometimes, it sounded like a blabber, like someone was squeezing my brain. I was trying to do walks during lunch etc. if it was bad i took xanax - lowest dosis. Good luck . We will all get there!

[bubble]

Dear Tulalip,

 

I wrote about the very recent period of working while going through a bad withdrawal in my introductory post.

 

It was a very scarry experience but I felt that behaving as if everything was in order and business as usual would help me pull through.

 

The important think is that the kind of work I do allows me to have what I call sick leave at work: I reduce my activity to the minimum and just do the necessary tasks. I'm not sure many jobs would make such an approach possible. But mostly I lower my expectations from myself.

 

However, I think it is good you stayed at home and fully focussed on your recovery. My approach caused me some awful suffering: I simply wasn't all there  and my cognitive abilities got significantly reduced so i simply couldn't do some things and felt my anxiety increasing. I say it's like running with a broken leg.

 

Whatever you do, be gentle with yourself.

 

All the best,

 

bubble 

[Tulalip]

Greetings again people

 

Been a while since I have updated this, Have just been so busy with work.

 

In terms of condition with my withdrawal, I've been experiencing erratic fluctuations in my emotional spectrum.

 

Its intriguing really and quite revealing, Like I'm rediscovering more of my personality although hard its to cope with it at times.

[Altostrata]

Where are you with your taper, Tulalip?

[Tulalip]

Im on about roughly 10mg currently. I'm inclined to think however im reducing my doesage to fast resultling in the unplesent withdrawl symptons, For instance now im experiancing trouble sleeping down to, and this may sound like an exaggeration an overwhelming feeling of impending doom. Its intresting in a way observing how i feel while consicoulsy having no affilliation to me being the protagonist of the emotion. Its dawned on me strongly that my body is crying out that something is wrong, This isnt neuro-typical mental processes. What a misreable existance indeed.

[Altostrata]

Did you reinstate to 10mg Zoloft?

[Petunia]

If you put your withdrawal history in your signature, it helps us to understand what might be going in with your situation and offer suggestions.

 

For example, it sounds like you reinstated, but how much and when?  Have you made any cuts since you first reinstated?

 

Instructions for adding details to your signature are here:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/893-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/