zoloft withdrawal anyone?

[babydollhead]

my mom is RETURNED since going back on. brain zaps. insomnia, eyesight failure, excessive mucous production...gone. It's addictive, and ruined the quality of her life without it.

[sandnsea]

1. You can't just quit that

You have to reduce gradually, over a period of many weeks. Did she do it that way?

[babydollhead]

4. yes.

she was very careful. She tapered off and was completely of since October. Her health has been slipping and no one considered the Zoloft withdrawal as a reason for all of these thing. She began it again and ...came back.

[sandnsea]

8. Uhm, the alternative view would be

She needs the Zoloft because she has a chemical imbalance. Some of that doesn't go away - ever.

[Liberal Veteran]

10. That's a very good point.

It's one of the oddities of medications used to treat psychological issues.

[uppityperson]

14. Yup, rather like a diabetic getting worse after stopping insulin.

Sometimes a body needs a chemical it isn't producing.

[Crunchy Frog]

15. No. The withdrawal side effects are real, and are a separate issue

from the depression. You can get withdrawal effects even if it hasn't been effective against the underlying condition.

[PhilosopherKing]

2. how long was she off it before going back on?

It takes some time for the body to "right" itself again.

[babydollhead]

6. since October...until yesterday

[Red State Rebel]

3. Been there...

Withdrawl from Lexapro and Effexor. You HAVE to withdraw from these very slowly and will still have some symptoms. Mine were dizziness (brain zaps), etc.

If you reduce over a course of weeks by 1/4 dose at a time for a period of days or a week then it helps.

Effexor was the worst for me - I was cold turkey and even after 4 or 5 weeks was still a mess. The day I went back on it, everything was fine.

[dem629]

5. Done it. As the others have said, you have to go very slow with those things.

Good luck.

[MADem]

7. I have heard that you have to titrate down from those drugs--NEVER stop cold turkey.

It can eff you up. That's probably why she was having trouble.

Check with a doctor re: the titration schedule. I would guess it varies by the dose the person is on.

[nashville_brook]

9. there's a much better word than "addictive" -- your body becomes dependent on it

physical dependence is serious business, and yes, Zoloft withdrawal is a horrible thing to go thru. i wish i had some rocking advice, but i don't.

[Tampa Rob]

11. Echo the advice of others here. I took Zoloft for almost 10 years -

and flipped out when I quit - stupidly thought I was "better". Brain zaps, incredible tingling down my spine, etc. - and it's taken 5 more years for me to replace it with another regimen.

I'm going to go BACK on Zoloft as soon as I can taper my current meds under a Doctor's supervision. Been chasing the magic pill for 5 years - but Zoloft was the best for me, and now that it's Patent has run out, it's more affordable. If I lose my job now, with what I take - no way to pay for those chemicals.

TR

[leftchick]

12. I have been on 200 mg for a year

I dread having withdrawal if/when I stop. I do know you need to wean off slowly.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

13. Could it be that she slipped back into a clinical depression after stopping her meds?

[Warpy]

16. SSRIs should never be stopped suddenly

because of all the symptoms you listed and worse. They need to be tapered off slowly.

It isn't addictive. It does produce dependency, a very different phenomenon. It can be withdrawn, but has to be done slowly.