Posted by 49er on January 15, 2011, at 8:31:38
In reply to Re: Quitting Zoloft After 15+ Years, posted by Sanguine on January 11, 2011, at 13:32:20
Hi Sanguine,
As an FYI, I haven't read the whole thread so forgive me if I am missing something relevant.
If you decide in the future to taper again, you might want to consider tapering very slowly. As an FYI, I successfully tapered off of a cocktail of psych meds after 15 years by tapering going mostly at the rate of 10% of current dose every 4 weeks.
Good luck to you.
49er
> Thanks to everyone who offered information and support over the last few days. I went back to taking 25mg after visiting my doctor and being (gently) reprimanded. I am very sensitive to medication and this may have something to do with the extremes of my withdrawal symptoms. The reason for all of this was I had just hadn't been drug-free in so many years I wanted to see if I was functional without anything, if only for a short time. I admit it was stupid. I am also aware there are people far worse off than me and there is no cause for hostility.
>
> For what it's worth, I was started on Zoloft when I was 14 for 'social anxiety disorder'. I do not recall what dosage I was on at that time. This was about the time I started self-mutilating. Then after one attempted overdose I started seeing a different psychologist specializing in teens (the previous one specialized in children and had a penchant for napping during out sessions; my psychiatrist was some geriatric pseudo-Freud that only seemed to want to know about my sex life). After one session where I apparently made a statement that was cause for concern I was admitted to a treatment center and my Zoloft was upped to 150mg and I was put on Lithium (again, I can't remember the dose, just two pink capsules). I was on that for several years until I decided that I was tired of being in that shaky, sensory-deprived limbo and that perhaps a psychiatrist who used mood lighting and incense and couldn't remember my face or name had misdiagnosed my condition. I did ween myself off of that very slowly so I did not have major withdrawal issues, although I have been left with an enlarged thyroid from taking it and I am being observed for any problems that may eventually stem from that. I also stopped seeing my psychiatrist as I was no longer covered by insurance. I had another attempted overdose at 21 and was Baker acted and admitted to a local hospital. Since then I have gradually dropped my Zoloft dosage to the 25mg I was at before this episode. I also began taking Xanax within the last two years for anxiety on an as needed basis; I have also had problems stopping this if I have taken it for more than a few days at a time and have been given Valium to help me come off of it (though it really made no difference for me personally.) At this point in my life, the anxiety is a much bigger problem for me than anything else, and I hope to someday be able to obtain insurance so I can find a therapist. I may try again to come off of the Zoloft, but my family has seen me at 12.5mg and thinks I am better at 25mg, so if that's where I'm at, that's fine. Depression and anxiety do run on both sides of my family, so I cannot deny that this is probably a lifelong issue for me. Again, I thank you all for your support, guidance, and perspectives. I hope my information in turn holds some value for others.
poster:49er
thread:976279
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110115/msgs/976845.html