Stopping sertraline without medical help

[darlingsweetpea]

I've been taking sertraline for post natal anxiety for 3 months and feel tonnes better and back to myself. Has anyone stopped taking it without seeing their GP? I take 50mg so not sure whether to wean myself off or talk to my GP first.

Before seeing the a GP I always think would I be happy to pay for this or could I resolve myself and with this one I'm just not sure.

Does anyone have any opinions, advice or experience please?

I've taken antidepressants on three separate occasions and each time have weaned myself off, taking less per week (halving a tablet etc) but I'm very aware of the side effects. It may make depression symptoms worse for a week or so, so be weary of that. If you're unsure just check with GP.

But..... you feel better because you are taking the sertraline.

That's why you feel better. If someone had appendicitis and they were hooked up to paracetamol drip and the pain started to subside they wouldn't say "it's ok I feel better now, I don't need any more" because once the drip stops the pain will return because the issue is still there*.

3 months isn't the guided time to come off AD's, 6 months is. You also need help from another source such as counselling and then come off very very slowly or you will end up at square one and sometimes worse**.

*that was me

**that was also me

I've been taking sertraline for post natal anxiety for 3 months and feel tonnes better and back to myself.

But the reason you feel better is because of the medication!

Please dont stop so soon after getting your feet under you again. If you are desperate to stop the medication, please talk to the GP. Otherwise, keep taking them, keep smiling and enjoy life (I was on sertaline for 9 months after DS1, and a year after DS2)

You are feeling better because of the medicine.....

Do not stop taking this medicine without seeing a GP

Please don’t stop the reason you feel better is because of the medication . See your doctor and discuss things and take their advice .

And I'm also on 50mg and have been since November.

There's no way I'd come off them without help.

You should NEVER stop an anti-depressant without seeing the GP first. They will wean you off it gradually. Anti-depressants should not be stopped suddenly, it tells you this in the information leaflet in the pack.

Thank you for your opinions. I appreciate the Sertraline is making me feel better but the things I was anxious about no longer exist as I felt well enough to resolve them. Now I just want my body back after an awful pregnancy and labour/birth and this is the final thing.

I've weaned myself off without seeing a GP. It was nigh on impossible to get an appointment and I can't afford private (everyone on MN's go-to if you can't get an appointment is to go private).

I can tell you what I am doing.
I was on 100mg so I’ve halved it. I felt like shit for a week but then fine. I’m going to stick on 50mg for a month then half again.

Reduce if you can, over a period of time. Tell someone you trust you’re doing it. Yes you should tell your GP, but I told my therapist. I’m having talking therapy. I doubt my GP would give a shit tbh and it would be a waste of an appointment.

@FreedomBird I completely agree with you about a waste of a appointment. I can't see what he is going to tell me that I don't already know about weaning myself off. I think I'm just going to halve it like you say and then see what happens.

Please talk to your GP. As a general rule antideps should always be used for 6-12 months the first time and 1-2 years any subsequent times.

I took myself off sertraline. Just do not go cold turkey. I was on 50mg. I just went to 25mg for a few weeks before stopping. When I halved the dose I felt rubbish for about a week, then felt rubbish again when I stopped completely for a little while. I'd be worried that only after 3 months you're feeling better because of the tablets as it takes so long for them to have a full effect. Consider that carefully before you do anything and if you do come off then and feel bad go back to GP right away.

I'd taper it down more slowly than that. I took 18 months to come off ADs after PND. Bit excessive, it could have been 12 months but I was terrified if going back to the horror. I took it slowly, grading down with the AD eventually prescribed in liquid form using a syringe, coming down tiny amounts over a long period. I may have been over-cautious but see above.

I've seen it too many times where people come off too quickly, or stop altogether, and the result is absolutely disastrous. The kickback is from the actual drugs, aside from the underlying MH condition. ADs are powerful psychotropic drugs, you have to treat them with respect. Yy you feel better for taking them, that's what they do (tranquillisers were the only option back in the day - imagine!).

Do talk to your GP. Of course it isn't a wasted appt! This is serious stuff.

I'm not recommending that you do what I did but I came off twice, just went cold turkey. I was on the lowest daily dose they give. First time I forgot for a few days and then made a conscious decision not to restart. I did go back on them after the birth of my last child and stopped them again about three years later. I found I was quite 'spacey' for a few weeks and suffered jet lag type symptoms. I struggled with sleep deprivation and PND but found that as the children slept better I felt better able to cope which is why I stopped. Interestingly, both times the gp failed to notice I'd stopped asking for prescriptions!

Some GPs can be a bit cavalier about this, sadly

You have becweaned off. I'm on the same drug due to my ds school refusal. I planned to be on it for 3-6 months but in reality I'm staying on it until he finishes his gcses in June. It will be two years. My dr has already had the conversation about coming off. I'm also on 50mg. My dr said it's not worth being in it for just 3 months as you are only just seeing the benefits, then you wean off and start into those side effects. You can snap it in half easily

If you’re able to see a GP, see a GP. It’s not a waste, it’s literally what the GP is there for.

I came off them (same dose) during the second trimester of pregnancy (baby now five weeks old) and didn't have any input from professionals but I do have a good knowledge of how SSRIs work and I've weaned myself off something similar but more hardcore before. I took 50mg on alternate days for a week and 25mg on the other days. Then I had a week of 25mg daily followed by a week of alternating 25mg and nothing, before stopping completely. It wasn't too traumatic.

My advice would be...the length of time you have been on it, aim to wean yourself of in that time. Why? Because it is realistic/less pressure. I was on it for 6 months. I would have stopped sooner but the external stress was still there. It took 4 months to stop and feel fully better (minus withdrawal side effects). I felt when I halved it (I thought I had flu), every drop made me feel like shit physically for about 1-2 weeks and I was left with a woozy wave (google waves and windows) for about 6 weeks. Mentally I felt good, it was just physically so challenging and I had to work on not letting the withdrawal symtoms become a 'oh god everything is dreadful' mindset again, which is ironic as that is what antidepressants help with. Keeping a symtptom diary really helped.

Also take magnesium as you come off, it really helped.

Perhaps my 18 months to come off ADs makes sense then because I was on them for longer than 18 months actually.

I do think 3 months is too short to be taking them. Perhaps go for 6 months and reappraise then?

Just to say my very slow withdrawal meant I had no unpleasant withdrawal symptoms at all.

I'll do it really slowly but another reason I want to get off them is because I am anxious about returning to work from maternity leave and feel dreadful. I want to deal with the withdrawal effects whilst at home as strangely when starting sertraline my teeth hurt so badly that I couldn't eat, drink or talk. I halved the dose last night so I'll take it one day at a time and see what happens. I've got another two or three months until I go back to work so I might take 25mg for a month and then drop again.

Thank you for all your opinions, they have really helped and have made me question if I am doing the right thing.

I meant I'm anxious about when I start work feeling unwell, I'm not anxious about returning to work. That doesn't bother me in the slightest as I'm going back part time.