Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 56952

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Zoloft withdrawal symptoms

Posted by Tanya on March 19, 2001, at 21:53:57

I've been on Zoloft for about 14 months now and have recently tried to wean myself off of it. I was taking Prozac for eight straight years before that - I started when I was sixteen years old - I'm 25 now. I have been taking these medications for depression and OCD. I think I have been kept on this crap by my doctor for way too long and don't want to take mind/mood-altering chemicals forever. As far as the Zoloft is concerned, I was taking 100mg daily for over a year, then went down to 50mg daily for one month, but when I went down to 25mg daily the horrible withdrawal symptoms began. As you can see, the decrease was gradual and within the recommended limits.

These are the withdrawal symptoms I have experienced:

- extreme anger for no apparent reason
- very short temper
- terrible fits of rage where I have thrown things around out of extreme anger and frustration
- generally miserable
- negative
- critical about everyone and everything
- uncontrollably mean and hostile towards others (normally I am an extremely kind person)
- irritability
- impatience
- fear
- sadness
- nervousness
- lightheadedness
- nausea
- headaches

There has been no increase in my OCD symptoms (which are mild right now anyway). All of these withdrawal symptoms were MUCH WORSE during my monthly bout of PMS.

The strongest and most upsetting feelings have been the anger, short temper, being terribly miserable, and acting mean and hostile towards others, all of which are out of character for me. All of these feelings have been uncontrollable and I feel very guilty, embarrassed, and ashamed for being this way. I've had to go back to 50mg daily because the symptoms were too horrible to stand and my loved ones were suffering as well.

My main fear about all this is that my brain is so used to being stimulated by a chemical after all these years that it no longer has the ability to produce and properly distribute the necessary chemicals on its own. I fear I will never feel normal without taking something. I'm afraid that I'm really a miserable, nasty, depressed, nervous person and I need to always take something so I won't be that way.

Can anybody tell me anything more hopeful than this?

Has anyone experienced similar withdrawal symptoms? If so, have these withdrawal symptoms gone away after discontinuation?

Is there a special diet or nutritional supplement program which can help me get over these withdrawal symptoms?

 

Re: Zoloft withdrawal symptoms

Posted by KARAsweet on March 21, 2001, at 17:41:51

In reply to Zoloft withdrawal symptoms, posted by Tanya on March 19, 2001, at 21:53:57

I had some similar withdrawl symptoms.. my main ones were:

short temper
moody
light headed
dizzy

now I am back on celexa and am just getting through these side effects.. does it ever end? :) I hope you feel better!

 

I totally relate...

Posted by Christina on March 23, 2001, at 8:15:45

In reply to Zoloft withdrawal symptoms, posted by Tanya on March 19, 2001, at 21:53:57

Tanya;
I think what you're experiencing is fairly normal.... expecially after having been on psych meds for so long.
I am weaning off ADs/Mood stabilizers after 6 years and I sometimes wonder if I've suffered irreparable brain damage!


Are withdraw symptoms because our body really needs these drugs to control the rage, depression, fear, etc.

Or if we can give ourselves enough time after withdraw, will we find that our brains function more normally?

I think I'm going to start a support thread on this very subject.

> I've been on Zoloft for about 14 months now and have recently tried to wean myself off of it. I was taking Prozac for eight straight years before that - I started when I was sixteen years old - I'm 25 now. I have been taking these medications for depression and OCD. I think I have been kept on this crap by my doctor for way too long and don't want to take mind/mood-altering chemicals forever. As far as the Zoloft is concerned, I was taking 100mg daily for over a year, then went down to 50mg daily for one month, but when I went down to 25mg daily the horrible withdrawal symptoms began. As you can see, the decrease was gradual and within the recommended limits.
>
> These are the withdrawal symptoms I have experienced:
>
> - extreme anger for no apparent reason
> - very short temper
> - terrible fits of rage where I have thrown things around out of extreme anger and frustration
> - generally miserable
> - negative
> - critical about everyone and everything
> - uncontrollably mean and hostile towards others (normally I am an extremely kind person)
> - irritability
> - impatience
> - fear
> - sadness
> - nervousness
> - lightheadedness
> - nausea
> - headaches
>
> There has been no increase in my OCD symptoms (which are mild right now anyway). All of these withdrawal symptoms were MUCH WORSE during my monthly bout of PMS.
>
> The strongest and most upsetting feelings have been the anger, short temper, being terribly miserable, and acting mean and hostile towards others, all of which are out of character for me. All of these feelings have been uncontrollable and I feel very guilty, embarrassed, and ashamed for being this way. I've had to go back to 50mg daily because the symptoms were too horrible to stand and my loved ones were suffering as well.
>
> My main fear about all this is that my brain is so used to being stimulated by a chemical after all these years that it no longer has the ability to produce and properly distribute the necessary chemicals on its own. I fear I will never feel normal without taking something. I'm afraid that I'm really a miserable, nasty, depressed, nervous person and I need to always take something so I won't be that way.
>
> Can anybody tell me anything more hopeful than this?
>
> Has anyone experienced similar withdrawal symptoms? If so, have these withdrawal symptoms gone away after discontinuation?
>
> Is there a special diet or nutritional supplement program which can help me get over these withdrawal symptoms?

 

Re: I totally relate...

Posted by roo on March 23, 2001, at 9:01:34

In reply to I totally relate..., posted by Christina on March 23, 2001, at 8:15:45

I totally relate as well. I'm 32, and have been
on prozac since I was 23--nearly 10 years. Whenever
I try to go off, the depression returns. But maybe
it's not "depression", but withdrawal, b/c my
symptoms are much like the first posters--and I can't
endure them b/c I'm normally such a nice person and very
relationship oriented, so it's just too disturbing
to be screaming at my loved ones and feeling so irritable
and paranoid and negative. All these symptoms seem
worse than the depression was. I don't know...going
off meds is scarey, but the thought of staying on
forever is even scarier (especially since they wreck
my sex life. I'm a very sexual person, and I've really
been grieving this loss.)
I don't know....I don't have the answers...I can just
tell you what i've been thinking about...
I've been doing a lot of cognitive type therapy lately,
which really helps, and I"m going to start a meditation
class--all of which I hope will help my depression.
I think withdrawal is less intense with prozac b/c
it dosen't leave your system so abruptly, and I know
they sometimes give it to folks trying to withdraw from
drugs with a shorter half life to ease their symptoms.
I would withdraw SLOWLY, not abruptly. I've also thought
of acupuncture to deal with the symptoms. I would try
and get as much support as possible. Tell friends and
family what you're doing and to try not to take you too
personally while you're trying to withdraw. Ohhhhhh...
good luck....and please stay in touch with this board
to let us know how you're doing b/c many of us want to
do the same thing, and are in the same boat. Just make sure
you don't just quit cold turkey without finding some way
to support yourself emotionally (friends, family, therapist),
and medically (natural medicine, herbs, going down on the drug
slowly, maybe taking lower and lower doses of liquid prozac
to get you through slowly...)

Good Luck, Ruth

 

Re: I totally relate...

Posted by Snuffy on March 23, 2001, at 10:00:38

In reply to Re: I totally relate..., posted by roo on March 23, 2001, at 9:01:34

> I was on prozac for over seven years. The doses kept increasing until it reached 100mg. I felt numb to everything. My pdoc took me off prozac and replaced it with celexa + wellbutrin. I experienced all of your symptoms and added sever paranoia and anxiety. I'm back on Prozac + Wellbutrin + Seroquil + others. I'm still living with my depression but it has been tolerable. I am so scared to go off Prozac that I don't plan on doing it again. I wish you all of the luck in the world.

 

Re: I totally relate...

Posted by Mr. Scott on March 23, 2001, at 13:03:14

In reply to Re: I totally relate..., posted by Snuffy on March 23, 2001, at 10:00:38

> > I was on prozac for over seven years. The doses kept increasing until it reached 100mg. I felt numb to everything. My pdoc took me off prozac and replaced it with celexa + wellbutrin. I experienced all of your symptoms and added sever paranoia and anxiety. I'm back on Prozac + Wellbutrin + Seroquil + others. I'm still living with my depression but it has been tolerable. I am so scared to go off Prozac that I don't plan on doing it again. I wish you all of the luck in the world.

I have recently tried to come off of Zoloft and switch to a different class of antidepressants (Selegiline). Now I'm back on the Zoloft, because the Selegiline was even worse for me. I wonder sometimes what would have happened if I had just never taken anything and tried to work through the issues or even just get used to being depressed and try to find creative ways to deal with it even at the expense of productivity & pleasure for a while early on. Now I know, that these AD's probably do cause permanent Brain Damage or that at least it takes A LONG TIME off of all meds to get to a point where one can really know if they are capable of living without them. So much has been made about the benzodiazepines like Valium and Xanax, but as an experienced user of all of these drugs anti-anxiety and Antidepressant alike I'm quite sure there is not really any difference in safety at all. I seemed to be able to deal with life on my own until I was 16 (now 26). I wish I had been more patient instead of rushing to the quick drug fix. Now I think it is unlikely I will ever go without psychiatric drugs again. And yes the depression or withdrawal is eased by taking the drugs, but the side effects often make me wonder.

I would really love to take a year off of life and get off all the meds and really see if I could handle it. But this is impossible, I have taken on a great deal of responsiblities the least of which is a successful. So every day I just patch myself together and try to pretend it's all okay. I don't have passion for anything anymore but the Zoloft numbs me up so I don't even care. It cause me muscle pain which I relieve partially with another drug. My greatest pleasure is lying in front of the TV, while I used to be quite the athlete and full of spunk. I don't know what to do any more than anyone else does, but I know it is time for a change.
Scott

 

Re: I totally relate...mr. scott

Posted by roo on March 23, 2001, at 13:31:39

In reply to Re: I totally relate..., posted by Mr. Scott on March 23, 2001, at 13:03:14

Mr. Scott--I've had that same fantasy...wishing I
could take a year off life so I could just withdraw,
go crazy, and hopefully get better, find peace again.
I do feel like my depression going off drugs is worse
than it was before drugs. I don't know if that's because
I got used to what it feels like to feel good, so I
have less tolerance for feeling bad, or because the drugs
change your brain chemistry in some ways that make it
worse to go off. I wonder how long you'd have to go
through withdrawal hell to get to a more normal place.
I've only been able to make it 1 or 2 months at the
most before going back on. And then you can never really
know if you ever WOULD get to a better normal place
after awhile, you would just be guessing. It would be
one thing if you were going through withdrawal hell, but
you KNEW that if you could last for another 3 months
everything would be okay. I wonder how long it takes
heroin users who have been using for years to completely
withdraw--and then do they have to go on AD's just
to cope? I'm really rambling....I just wish we knew
more about this stuff. I'm grateful for the peace
that drugs have given me--and I'm grateful we have
the option of taking them. I just never dreamed I
would have to take them for this long, that it might have
to be a "forever" thing, or that getting
off of them would be so hard. *sigh* Sometimes
I do feel hopeful that a permanant, non-drug cure
will come about though...(just to add a positive note).
have been users for years and years and get clean

 

Re: I totally relate...mr. scott

Posted by Mr. Scott on March 25, 2001, at 22:23:10

In reply to Re: I totally relate...mr. scott, posted by roo on March 23, 2001, at 13:31:39


Thanks Roo!!
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one thinking along these lines. For now I guess I'll just wait and see.. Sometimes enlightenment can come out of nowhere.. Maybe just talking about it will bring about an answer one day.
Scott

 

Re: I totally relate...mr. scott

Posted by versagus on February 26, 2008, at 14:02:37

In reply to Re: I totally relate...mr. scott, posted by Mr. Scott on March 25, 2001, at 22:23:10

It seems that sometimes one must go through hell to reach their paradise. I'm sorry to hear that for you, your hell has come from the psychiatric medications that intended to bring your to happiness. I've come to learn these long days, that these pills were not intended to cure depression, only to profit off of it.

I too was put onto an antidepressant, I did not need since I found the biological cure for my problem, now the only thing standing in my way is antidepressant apathy/cognitive problems.

It comes down to a philosophical question. If you had to shave one atom of your anti-depressant pill each day to finally reach emotional-spiritual freedom what ever that may be, would you do it?

I refer to casanova who was eventually captured because of his exploits and imprisoned for life. He thought of nothing else save freedom. He surrendered to it like he did so many other times in other occassions. Whethor he had to crawl underneath stingy floorboards, or scrape through prison walls with nothing but a eating utensil to follow where his heart led his he did.

Withdrawal is hell, and possibly fatal. There are safer ways through this maelstrom. If you want to be free, take my advice get a nailfile and shave that pill.


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