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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by vslyke on September 18, 2005, at 10:54:47
I had been taking zoloft for 4 years after panic attacks following the death of my mother. During this time I gained over 40 pounds which is probably the main reason I wanted to wean off. At the very least I wanted to wean off to see if I started to have panic attacks again, or if they were a temporary reaction to my mom's death. I started slowly going from 150 mgs to 100 for a whole year. A couple of months ago I went down to 50 mgs and stayed at 50 for about 2 months. Then 25 mgs for about 2 weeks. I stopped completely about 4 days ago. I have been very, very crabby (my poor husband) and I get weird sensations in my head every so often. I guess I am hoping this will all go away eventually so that I can decide whether or not I can live without the Zoloft. I also take a very low dose of klonopin at night, 1/2 of a .5 mg. I will wean off that one next.
Has anyone else had these withdrawal symptoms? Will it go away? Thanks for any feedback.
Posted by anxiousbabe on September 19, 2005, at 22:37:35
In reply to Weaning off Zoloft, posted by vslyke on September 18, 2005, at 10:54:47
Hi Well I am weaning off Lexapro not Zoloft, but it's still an SSRI so the things in your head are probably brain zaps as everyone calls them and I too have gained almost 40 pounds which is the main reason for why I am getting off of the Lexapro, not to mention all the other lovely side effects.
I was taking it for anxiety and suddently starting getting depressed from all of the weight gain no matter how much I excercised and watched what I ate and not to mention the short term memory loss - I would shut my garage door in the morning on the way to work and then get down the street and drive back up my hill and check to make sure I shut it.
I also have no motivation on this stuff and absolutely no sex drive at all. I always had awesome sex drive, but the lexapro killed that (my poor husband too) however I am almost at two weeks at half the dose of lexapro and on Wedneday I will cut it in half again and do that for another 2 or maybe 3 weeks. I have been going to a natural doctor and she had been performing accupuncture twice a week and giving me an anti stress massage on my neck and head along with a body adjustment where she cracks all of my bones or joints.
I have not had any anxiety whatsoever and have not needed to take my xanax, so something must be working here. Either I am happy because I am filled with energy to work out even though I haven't lost an ounce yet, but my mind is telling me that I am going to once I get this crap out of my system. If anyone reading this has weaned off lexapro or any other SSRI and has lost the weight that they have gained since taken this drug or has gained their sex drive back then please feel free to share and let me know so I have something to look forward too.
Any advice is appreciated.
Posted by lando68 on September 28, 2005, at 17:26:49
In reply to Weaning off Zoloft, posted by vslyke on September 18, 2005, at 10:54:47
I don't know if the sensations in your head are similar to the zapping (almost like a mini-seizure with sound effects) that I experienced when my doctor switched me from Zoloft to Prozac, but they can be scary and just plain annoying. The "zaps" went away as soon as I got up to the appropriate dose of Prozac. My psychiatrist, who is no greenhorn, had never heard of such a withdrawal effect--now he has! :-) If you're not replacing the Zoloft with another SSRI, I don't know what to tell you.
> I had been taking zoloft for 4 years after panic attacks following the death of my mother. During this time I gained over 40 pounds which is probably the main reason I wanted to wean off. At the very least I wanted to wean off to see if I started to have panic attacks again, or if they were a temporary reaction to my mom's death. I started slowly going from 150 mgs to 100 for a whole year. A couple of months ago I went down to 50 mgs and stayed at 50 for about 2 months. Then 25 mgs for about 2 weeks. I stopped completely about 4 days ago. I have been very, very crabby (my poor husband) and I get weird sensations in my head every so often. I guess I am hoping this will all go away eventually so that I can decide whether or not I can live without the Zoloft. I also take a very low dose of klonopin at night, 1/2 of a .5 mg. I will wean off that one next.
>
> Has anyone else had these withdrawal symptoms? Will it go away? Thanks for any feedback.
This is the end of the thread.
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