Rob66: happy to have found this site :)

[doxxigirl]

1 minute ago, Rob66 said:

Hi Doxxi,

Thank you for the compliment.  I read your story and it sounds remarkably similar to mine.  We both found this site before we started tapering and did our homework ahead of time.  I think we set ourselves up for success by finding this site early on.  I was very stable and in a good position before I started tapering.  Slow and steady is def the way to victory.  I've followed all the advice from this site and so far have had a relatively smooth taper.  I'm hoping your taper goes as well as mine.  We're all in this together.  I wish you peace and strength.

 

Rob

 

Thank you Rob, I really appreciate it! Have a nice day!

[Rob66]

It's amazing how good I've been feeling the past 4 days.  I've been sleeping good, eating good, been in a good mood and nothing seems to stress me out much.  I have this feeling of contentment that I haven't felt in years.  My brain has been feeling very relaxed but at the same time more "awake" and in the moment.  It's a state of being that I haven't felt in many many years.  Of course there are still the side effects that have been there for 24 years, nothing different in that regard.  This is just something all together different.  Finally getting a feeling that some progress is being made in my brain.  This is probably the best I've felt since I've started my taper.  Praying this isn't just a short lived window and that it continues.  In all honesty, I've been fairly blessed not to have had any terrible waves up to this point.  Discomfort after a cut, yes, but nothing that has prevented me from staying highly functional.  Feeling very fortunate in my journey up to this point.

[doxxigirl]

Just now, Rob66 said:

It's amazing how good I've been feeling the past 4 days.  I've been sleeping good, eating good, been in a good mood and nothing seems to stress me out much.  I just have this feeling of contentment that I haven't felt in years.  My brain has been feeling very relaxed but at the same time more "awake" and in the moment.  It's a state of being that I haven't felt in many many years.  Of course there are still the side effects that have been there for 24 years, nothing different in that regard.  This is just something all together different.  Finally getting a feeling that some progress is being made in my brain.  This is probably the best I've felt since I've started my taper.  Praying this isn't just a short lived window and that it continues.  In all honesty, I've been fairly blessed not to have had any terrible waves up to this point.  Discomfort after a cut, yes, but nothing that has prevented me from staying highly functional.  Feeling very fortunate in my journey up to this point.

Great news!

[Rob66]

This is the longest hold I've had since I've started tapering and it has proven extremely positive.  Last cut was on Feb 4th.  Currently at 36.5mg Zoloft.  Being patient is so hard sometimes.  I have to keep reminding myself that although I'm not tapering, I'm still doing something beneficial.  Gotta keep looking at the big picture.  I haven't had any withdrawal effects in weeks and feel completely normal.  If I had to stop right here forever, I think I could live happy for the rest of my life.  Thing is, I know the med is harming me so I will continue to taper.  You never know if or when your med will turn against you.  I think time on these meds just makes things worse in the long run.  I'm not going to play Russian roulette if I don't have to.  It's looking like I won't start tapering again until the end of April.  Too much going on that month that I need a thinking brain for.  I have vacation in South Padre, TX coming in 2 weeks.  Looking forward to some 80 degree weather and a sandy beach.  We're at the tail end of winter here in Wisconsin so some warm weather will be a huge welcome.  Praying for everyone's continual healing.

Rob 

[Rob66]

A quick update:

 

Just finished a 101 day hold on 36.5mgs Zoloft.  Made another cut today to 32.8mg.  The length of the hold wasn't because I was feeling bad but because life was just demanding for a while.  Didn't want to rock the boat if I didn't have to.  Things have settled down now and I can get back to work on tapering.  During my 3 month hold I've continued to feel good.  Haven't felt any terrible days nor have they gotten any better.  No windows or waves pattern that I could tell.  Just 3+ months of consistency.  Perhaps this means my CNS is still in good shape.  I was concerned with the overload of travel in the last 2 weeks that I was going to have some issues.  I visited 12 airports in 14 days.  Not fun.  This was very unusual for me and glad it's over.   Flying that much sorta wears on a person.  Feels good to get back to my familiar routine.  Take care everyone!

Rob.

 

 

[Carmie]

5 hours ago, Rob66 said:

A quick update:

 

Just finished a 101 day hold on 36.5mgs Zoloft.  Made another cut today to 32.8mg.  The length of the hold wasn't because I was feeling bad but because life was just demanding for a while.  Didn't want to rock the boat if I didn't have to.  Things have settled down now and I can get back to work on tapering.  During my 3 month hold I've continued to feel good.  Haven't felt any terrible days nor have they gotten any better.  No windows or waves pattern that I could tell.  Just 3+ months of consistency.  Perhaps this means my CNS is still in good shape.  I was concerned with the overload of travel in the last 2 weeks that I was going to have some issues.  I visited 12 airports in 14 days.  Not fun.  This was very unusual for me and glad it's over.   Flying that much sorta wears on a person.  Feels good to get back to my familiar routine.  Take care everyone!

Rob.

 

 

 

 

Hi Rob,

 

Just wanted to say you’re very wise in making a really long hold so you could lead a bit of a normal life. I’ve done the same thing at times.

 

It’s  good for our systems to get a bit of equilibrium at times.

 

Hope all goes well when you taper again, take care

 

 

[Rob66]

7 hours ago, Carmie said:

 

 

Hi Rob,

 

Just wanted to say you’re very wise in making a really long hold so you could lead a bit of a normal life. I’ve done the same thing at times.

 

It’s  good for our systems to get a bit of equilibrium at times.

 

Hope all goes well when you taper again, take care

 

 

Thank you carmie!

[Rob66]

Just a quick update,

 

Not much new to report here.  Still cutting 10% a month and doing well.  Down to 20.3mg Zoloft.  Lowest dose I've been on in over 24 years.  Not experiencing much for withdrawal symptoms.  An occasional day where I feel extra crabby or irritable but that's about it.  Still eating extra healthy and going to the gym 3 days a week.  Hardest part of tapering is yet to come.  Just gotta keep marching forward.

[Carmie]

On 8/6/2018 at 2:49 PM, Rob66 said:

Just a quick update,

 

Not much new to report here.  Still cutting 10% a month and doing well.  Down to 20.3mg Zoloft.  Lowest dose I've been on in over 24 years.  Not experiencing much for withdrawal symptoms.  An occasional day where I feel extra crabby or irritable but that's about it.  Still eating extra healthy and going to the gym 3 days a week.  Hardest part of tapering is yet to come.  Just gotta keep marching forward.

 

That’s great you’re doing so well Rob💚

[Rob66]

Update:  Well, it's now been about 1.5 years since I started tapering from 100mgs.  Still doing very well.  Currently at 10.8mg and getting ready for another cut.  Things are sorta just trudging along in a treadmill pattern.  No new symptoms or anything unexpected popping up.  Just a long stable boring taper.  Which is a good thing!  I still have brain fog, blunted emotions and the usual amount of sexual dysfunction that's been there since before I started.  I was hoping there would be more improvement with all of this as I'm now down to 10.8 milligrams but it all still persists. Only positive I've experienced in symptoms is the occasional breakthrough of emotion.  Not Neuro emotions but bonified real emotions.  Makes me happy that I can actually shed a tear from a tv show once in a while instead of being a zombie.  Means there's some sorta healing taking place.  Perhaps in another year and a half I can actually be free of this stuff and be free for the first time in 25 years.  It would be the best 50 year old birthday present I could receive.

[Rob66]

It's been a long time since I've updated.  I'm finally approaching the home stretch (The hardest part) This week I'm officially down to 5mgs Zoloft and still doing well and feeling stable.  So far a total of 1 year and 10 months tapering.  It's hard to fathom I'd get this far after 25 years on this poison, but I'm doing it.  Yes, it's uncomfortable at times and I do have my bad days but nothing that prevents me from functioning normal. 

Low dose Zoloft was getting increasingly hard to work with so I went to my doctor last week and convinced him to prescribe me a liquid instead.  Of course he gave me grief about why I need to taper so low and basically told me to cold turkey my remaining amount.  I held my ground and told him he works for me, not the other way around.  They're all the same I swear, grrr.  Anyway, the liquid is 10 times easier then filing down tiny chunks and I'm happy I did the switch.  Hopefully I'm now done with tablets for life.  For now I'm keeping the tablet stockpile on hand in case something happens in the unforeseen future.  You never know what might happen.  Hope everyone is doing the best you can.  Peace..

[Rob66]

Topic title:  I no longer perceive a change when reducing my dose. Sorta concerned.

 

It's been a long time since I've posted.  I haven't updated my signature in a very long time.  I'm currently at 0.8mgs Zoloft and doing relatively well.  You just get on that monotonous tapering treadmill and forget to post things.  I've been tapering for 28 months.  Anyway, my tapering pattern has had a major change and I'm not sure what to make of it.  Since around the 1.5mg mark, I no longer seem to feel any effect from a cut.  This has been the case from 1.5 to 0.8mgs over several months time.  From 100mgs to about 2mgs I always had a fairly predictable pattern.  Make a cut, feel it about day 4ish, then slowly get back to "tapering normal" by week 3.  Make another cut during week 4.  This went on for almost 2 years.  Of course windows and waves would be sprinkled in the mix at any time.  So....now I'm sitting at 0.8mgs and haven't experienced any sort of pattern like that since 1.8mgs.  I'm no longer having windows and waves either.  I'm just sitting in a very stable place.  Not terrific nor is it bad.  "Zoloft normal" is what I would call it.  Maybe "tapering normal" would be better.  I'm just a little paranoid that I haven't felt the usual small discomfort when cutting.  Like maybe the drops from 1.5 to 0.8 are just waiting in limbo to pounce on me all at once.  Like something is delayed perhaps.  Dont know.  All I know right now is I'm in a really good place and hope it doesn't change.  No depression, no anxiety, no irritability and I'm sleeping good.  If anyone might know what this means feel free to chime in.  This is uncharted territory for me.  I always thought it would be excruciatingly hard at this point, not the opposite.  I have no plans to jump anytime soon.  Going as low as I can before that happens.  Thanks for listening.

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by ChessieCat
added topic title

[Dejavu]

Sounds like this might be a good time for a nice long hold, especially since you're not in any hurry. Just to be safe.

[ChessieCat]

WDnormal (withdrawal normal)

 

If you post your reduction amounts and dates we can assess them to see what you have been doing.  Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

You have a few options:

• hold on your current dose and enjoy feeling okay for a while before making another reduction, which would also make allowance for possible delayed withdrawal
• make another reduction but make a smaller reduction than you have been doing, which would keep you going in the "right" direction but cautiously
• if you aren't already doing it, you could do the Brass Monkey Slide
• make the same reduction you have been doing

 

 

[Rob66]

BIG UPDATE!

 

After 2 years, 3 months and 12 days, I finally took my last dose of Zoloft on August 12th!  I've been off for 42 days now and things couldn't be going better.  Forgive me for not following through on my signature.  I havent followed the forum very much in the past year and frankly I wasn't keeping record of my taper anymore.  It would be impossible to recall all the different dates and doses since my last entry.  I was simply going as fast as my CNS would allow me too.  Sometimes this was faster and sometimes slower.  Overall my taper was very trouble free.  I wouldn't call it pleasant by any means but I could still live a highly functional life while making reductions.  I jumped off at 0.1mgs feeling very good with minimal issues.  The only residual symptoms I'm experiencing is low level brain fog and some mild sexual dysfunction.  Otherwise I'm feeling very good.  I sleep excellent, dont have any anxiety, no depression, no mood swings and feel very happy majority of the time.  The first 3 weeks were no different from when I jumped.  At 3 weeks to present I can feel the brain fog slowly getting better.  I feel like life is regaining color and motivation is increasing by the week.  Compared to when I started my taper, I feel like a new person!  I've waited for this moment for a very long time and its finally here.  I'm completely filled with joy and happiness!!