Ari415 Posted November 9, 2022 Share Posted November 9, 2022 Hello everyone, I can’t begin to express how much I appreciate all of you for sharing your story and struggle/successes. I recently quit sertraline 50 mg CT as I was misinformed by my psychiatrist that the amount of time I tapered for would not have any effect on me and was not important. It’s been a month and a week since I stopped the medication and my withdrawal symptoms are taking over my life. I have intense anxiety, an inability to tolerate anything other than laying down and resting without triggering my nervous system to react with panic. I wake up with intense heart palpitations everyday and that triggers a vicious cycle of anxiety for the duration of my waking hours. I am wondering if it’s worth it to go back on sertraline to try to manage my symptoms and to do a sloooow taper instead of what I did. I am really not a fan of the idea of returning to a drug that was harmful to me but I am at risk of losing my livelihood/relationships/etc. what is everyone’s take on this? thank you in advance for your input! Link to comment
Moderator Onmyway Posted November 11, 2022 Moderator Share Posted November 11, 2022 On 11/9/2022 at 8:09 PM, Ari415 said: Hello everyone, I can’t begin to express how much I appreciate all of you for sharing your story and struggle/successes. I recently quit sertraline 50 mg CT as I was misinformed by my psychiatrist that the amount of time I tapered for would not have any effect on me and was not important. It’s been a month and a week since I stopped the medication and my withdrawal symptoms are taking over my life. I have intense anxiety, an inability to tolerate anything other than laying down and resting without triggering my nervous system to react with panic. I wake up with intense heart palpitations everyday and that triggers a vicious cycle of anxiety for the duration of my waking hours. I am wondering if it’s worth it to go back on sertraline to try to manage my symptoms and to do a sloooow taper instead of what I did. I am really not a fan of the idea of returning to a drug that was harmful to me but I am at risk of losing my livelihood/relationships/etc. what is everyone’s take on this? thank you in advance for your input! Hi @Ari415, welcome to SA. Yes, it is OK to reinstate your medicine but we recommend a very low dose reinstatement - 1-2mg of your previous dose. You can read more about reinstatement here. Reinstatement is the only thing we know that helps with withdrawal symptom. But because your body has already made adjustments we recommend to start low. Sometimes our nervous systems are very sensitized during withdrawal so a higher dose might actually make your symptoms worse. Once you stabilize from that dose you will then slowly taper down. Reinstatement doesn't always work especially after a while but you are still in the window in which it has a good chance of working. About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms - Symptoms and self-care - Surviving Antidepressants Can you please list your drug signature so that we can get your history at a glance and can give you better advice. How to List Drug History in Signature - Introductions and updates - Surviving Antidepressants We recommend not tapering by more than 10% of your previous dosage once you reach stability from reinstatement (weeks or months) Why taper by 10% of my dosage? - Tapering - Surviving Antidepressants You will recover from withdrawal symptoms but at a very slow rate - months and years rather than weeks. Here is what to expect during recovery The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization - Symptoms and self-care - Surviving Antidepressants What is happening in your brain? - Symptoms and self-care - Surviving Antidepressants How psychiatric drugs remodel your brain - Symptoms and self-care - Surviving Antidepressants The terror wakings are due to your body's sensitivity to cortisol. There are a few tips on how to improve those. They are buried a few pages down in the thread sso keep reading - best one is blackout curtains but there are other things to try. This is your intro thread where we keep your history to which we can easily and quickly refer and can provide advice. Hope you start feeling better soon, OMW "Nothing so small as a moment is insurmountable, and moments are all that we have. You have survived every trial and tribulation that life has thrown at you up until this very instant. When future troubles come—and they will come—a version of you will be born into that moment that can conquer them, too." - Kevin Koenig I am not a doctor and this should not be considered medical advice. You can use the information and recommendations provided in whatever way you want and all decisions on your treatment are yours. In the next few weeks I do not have a lot of capacity to respond to questions. If you need a quick answer pls tag or ask other moderators who may want to be tagged. Aug 2000 - July 2003 (ct, 4-6 wk wd) , citalopram 20 mg, xanax prn, wellbutrin for a few months, trazodone prn Dec 2004 - July 2018 citalopram 20 mg, xanax prn (rarely used) Aug 2018 - citalopram 40 mg (self titrated up) September 2018 - January 2019 tapered citalopram - 40/30/20/10/5 no issues until a week after reaching 0 Feb 2019 0.25 xanax - 0.5/day (3 weeks) over to klonopin 0.25 once a day to manage severe wd March 6, reinstated citalopram 2.5 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 mg for sleep 2-3 times a week Apr 1st citalopram 2.0 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 once a week (off by 4/14/19- no tapering) citalopram (liquid) 4/14/19 -1.8 mg, 5/8/19 - 1.6 mg, 7/27/19 -1.5 mg, 8/15/19 - 1.35, 2/21/21 - 1.1 (smaller drops in between), 6/20/21 - 1.03 mg, 8/7/21- 1.025, 8/11/21 - 1.02, 8/15/21 - 1.015, 9/3/21 - 0.925 (fingers crossed!), 10/8/21 - 0.9, 10/18/21 - 0.875, 12/31/21 - 0.85, 1/7/22 - 0.825, 1/14/22 - 0.8, 1/22/22 - 0.785, 8/18/22 - 0.59, 12/15/2022 - 0.48, 2/15/22 - 0.43, 25/07/23 - 0.25 (mistake), 6/08/23 - 0.33mg Supplements: magnesium citrate and bi-glycinate Link to comment
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