Tapering off sertraline

[Krussty]

I’ve been on 50g for a year and decided to taper off them, my doctor said it should be ok just to stop!! I’ve not done this, a week ago i cut the pill in half so have taken 25g I intend to do this for a month. Then try and cut them in half again for about a month but what would I do after that? Is it at that point I just stop ??

Ask your doctor? I went from 50 to 25, was on 25 for ages, and went off 25 recently. The 25 to 0 was more difficult than 59 to 25. It’s been 2 mo now and I’m still fragile and get teary a lot.

You definitely need to taper. I found doing a quarter of a tablet (so 12.5g) every other day for a week helped to finally get down to zero without too many side effects.

I think rather than cutting a half tablet in half again you could take them every other day for a month (or whatever you’re comfortable with), then leave another day out and so on.

My GP advised me to wean off them over three months to avoid issues.

When I just stopped I found myself feeling very lightheaded and suffered with brain zaps. I would advise cutting in half to start with.

I went from 100mg to 50 then quit and didn’t have any issues :) hope this helps x

Gosh yes, the brain zaps if you withdraw too quickly are awful. I reduced the dose first for a few weeks, then I took one every other day for a while. When it felt right I cut it down again to one every few days. I think you'll know what feels right for you. Just don't suddenly cut the whole dose out. It won't feel good- I don't know why your GP told you that!

It took me months with the guidance of the pharmacist. Then started getting withdrawal again, about two months after stopping completely.

I basically started to forget to take mine. I was on 50mg, so was basically taking them every other day or every 3rd day. Eventually I realised I hadn’t taken any in a month when my online pharmacy reminded me I was due a repeat. I honestly didn’t have any noticeable side effects doing that, but am very obviously side effect free from all the weird neurological symptoms they gave me. I wasn’t planning to come off them, but once I was off I was done. I’ve been totally fine since and that was probably 2 years ago now.

I’m not fully off yet but nearly - suggest going slowly. I had no trouble reducing from 100mg to 75mg to 50mg to 25mg (each 2 weeks apart) but 25mg to zero was truly awful, so much so I had to go back onto 25mg after 3 weeks (after consulting with the Dr).

Since then I have done a much slower taper with complete success - no adverse side effects with each stage and have spent several weeks between stages. I cut the 50mg tablets into 2 to get 25mg, then into 3, then into 4. I’m now doing 8 (they fall apart a bit so one has to pick out similar sized pieces). Might be unnecessary but after last time I’d rather be over cautious. Intend then to stop.

That’s why I thought I’d take it to 12.5
i hope you’re ok now, the thing is, I think… you’ve got to tell yourself it’s the medication and not you .. that’s if you were feeling strong and positive when you decided to come off xx

Thanks, I think I’ll do it this way too ..

Taper and space them out. So reduce dose more slowly but every other day etc. It helps the brain adapt more gradually

Odd GP advice - I think I'd be looking for a new GP - even if seeing a different GP in the same practice

Stopping or coming off antidepressants - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

I did it slowly. 50mg then on to 25mg for about two months, then down to 12mg by cutting the pills in half (did this for about 2 months) then took 12mg every other day for a few weeks before stopping.

Worked well for me but do it slowly.

A GP saying it's ok to just stop is utterly bonkers and completely wrong!

Once you've cut the 50mg in half, drop to every other day, then 1 day in 3, one day in 5, once a week. I found a slow taper essential to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

Doctor told dh to taper. He decided to stop cold as he wanted to make sure he had some left just incase.

He was fine and still is years later luckily. I dont think its one size fits all though and i probably would have tappered off

Thank you for all your kind replies
I do know everyone is different but I’ll take the tapering slowly .. it’s only been a week of 25g but I feel so much better mentally
that I’ve finally did it , almost proud of myself.
good luck everyone, xx

Well done! It does feel brilliant to be off the meds. ☺️

I know, doctor was off the opinion .. it’s only 50 shouldn’t be a problem.. I don’t want to take the risk
so I’ll do it safely I think…. Don’t ever want those debilitating feelings back, ever..

Weird of your GP to say that! I've had a few missed days cos our pharmacy is so bad at filling prescriptions (at least 5 days!) & by the end of day two I start feeling really strange & day 3 I feel awful. I'm on 50mg too. I'd taper off exactly as you are.

Good luck & don't feel bad if you discover you want to go back on them at some point.

I've been on Sertraline for 3 years now, previously I was on it for 6 months and tapered off fairly quickly without ill effect, but in that 6 months my situation had changed and I felt I no longer needed it as a crutch.

At the moment I'm not out of the woods with regards to the reason I'm taking it any kind of tapering wouldn't help as I have nothing positive enough to replace it with IYKWIM.

But when I am ready, I agree with you and I'll taper but probably not drag it out.

Definitely taper off and reduce dose, I have 2 friends who went cold turkey the side effects were awful one friend just couldn't function at all the dizziness was that bad .

I'd do it even more gradually. So 6/7 days on old dose 1 day on the half dose. Then 2/7 on half dose and work your way up to 7/7 on half dose. Then I'd half the tablets again and start again. Slowly works for me

And have others have said it can be that last little bit that causes issues