Has anyone come off sertraline cold turkey?

[saymynames]

Just as the title says, has anyone just stopped taking sertraline and how did you find it?
I'm on day 3 of cold turkey and so far feeling ok apart from slight detachment.

My older dd did and was okay. But it isn’t really advisable and cutting down is less likely to cause side effects and has the same result.

Id really recommend you don't. Husband and sil both tried this at different times and had awful pins and needle type pains through their brains. It was really unpleasant and at one point quite scary.

Be careful of the 'brain zaps', OP - very unpleasant. I would always recommend discussing it with your doctor first. Take care of yourself.

I wouldn't my sister very recently done this l, she had to get Diazepam from the doctor to help with the withdrawal. Cutting down over time is much more sensible.

I have, twice actually. The first week or so was okay and then I got incredibly dizzy and felt like I was going to pass out the whole time. The first time, I went back on it because I was pregnant and worried that the withdrawal symptoms would mask something with the pregnancy. The second time, the dizziness passed after a few weeks. For what it's worth, I went back on it after a while (and having tried other things) and I'm now having to go up to a higher dose (above the normal max) to get the same benefit which is a bit of a pain.

I wouldn't. The brain zaps and unpleasant symptoms aren't worth it. What dose are you on?
I have struggled with my MH and part of that can be refusing to take medication. At least consider stepping down, even 10mg p week less will be easier

Thanks for the replies. I've been on 100mg for the past 4 years for anxiety and OCD and every time I try to taper off I end up back on 100mg.
I thought it might be easier to go cold turkey after I forgot to take my tablet on Monday. Now I'm not so sure

I've just come off my anti depressants cold turkey and its been absolutely horrible. It wasn't intentional I just ran out. I was awake most of last night in a state of panic. Its just not worth it.

It's always better to taper off, under the guidance of your GP or CMHT. You can get 50mg tablets and take those for a little bit, then I would take them every other day, then one in three, until you can stop without withdrawal.

I tried but it gave me palpitations and made me feel turbo anxious

I really wouldn't. After about a week you're going to feel awful. I would do it very gently.

I reduced slowly and still got side effects. I was on 50mg. I wouldn't cut from 100 to nothing.

ABSOLUTELY NOT. You feel OK at the moment because you've been on a high dose and there's still a lot in your system. When your levels start to get low, you'll feel like shit, mentally and physically.

If it's working for you, don't stop taking it! You wouldn't stop taking blood pressure medication because your levels had evened out! Your body needs the chemicals to function properly, which is why you're taking them. I've been on sertraline for a decade (excepting pregnancy) and I'll likely take it all my life, because when i don't I'm miserable.

Oof. Going from 100mg to 0 you will absolutely have nasty withdrawal symptoms.
Why do you want to come off them cold turkey, lovely?

Im going to be TTC and my psychiatrist is switching me from paroxetine to sertraline as sertraline is considered safer in pregnancy. I don't think I can manage off of medication

No No No don’t even attempt it cold turkey I did and it was awful I’ve never had dizziness like it and felt unstable and that was on 100mg my dose was upped soon after to 150mg

Yes but only because I HAD to. I’d been unfortunate enough to have one of the extreme side effects and could have ended up extremely poorly indeed either fighting for my life or with life changing illness so I had no choice but to go cold turkey.

I’d only been on it 5 months and only 50mg. Coming off it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected however, I wasn’t safe enough to drive or be on my own on stairs etc as I had really bad dizziness, brain zaps and blackouts with little to no warning. I basically stayed in the house for a week and didn’t go anywhere.

Thanks everyone for your advice.
I've started taking it again today. I'm not even sure why I decided to come off. I think I wanted to prove I could cope without it which is silly because I've had anxiety issues my whole life and ocd since I had my daughter 10 years ago.

Hugs for you @saymynames
I know the feeling but dropping the meds is a sure way to head for a crash.
If taking meds is the right thing for you and keeps you healthy, that's the most important thing

I have unintentionally in the past couple of weeks.
I kept forgetting to take them and the. Decided to just stop after 3 days of forgetting.
I was on 100mg for about 18 months for PND and anxiety. So far I haven't had any physical side effects.
I have slept better than I have since before I started taking them and my mood is definitely lighter.
I would not recommend what I have done because I am EXTREMELY lucky to not have suffered any withdrawal symptoms

I did. I was prescribed it years ago when it was first released and gp wouldnt take my side effects seriously. Looking back I wonder if she was getting a kick back to prescribe it. She wouldn’t even consider Prozac which had worked well for me before and insisted that this was the only one I should take. I was getting vivid suicide ideation (never been suicidal before), palpitations, my jaw was locked on one side and I felt horribly numb and detached.
She wouldn’t take me seriously (it was just my anxiety talking ) and as I was getting brain zaps and dizzy spells if I was even a half hour overdue, I couldn’t see how I’d be able to tolerate reducing the dose gradually. So I went cold turkey to get it over and done with, went through 2 weeks of hell and battled through the kickback for the next couple of years.
Looking back I can see that my reasoning was way off-kilter. I needed a better gp or a psychiatrist but I was projecting one bad experience onto a whole profession. I was also afraid that a doctor would put me back on it, seeing as it was the only one suitable for me, according to GP.
I had a good outcome in the end, but I wouldn’t recommend that road. At the time I needed a better gp or an advocate.

I wouldn’t recommend it. Most healthcare professionals advise you to wean off very very slowly. I tapered off over spring & summer, I’d say over about five months. Really slowly and gradually. To the point where I was taking 12mg every other day, then just bit the bullet and stopped. No side effects at all. Have you tried tapering really slowly?

I disagree with some of the comments on here re staying on them. I started taking sertraline because I was really depressed and anxious. Whilst I took it I also had weekly therapy and did a bit of soul searching if that’s what you’d call it. After around a year I felt noticeably better and decided to try and go it alone. It’s not been easy at all, I still get anxiety and of course have down days. But I feel really good to be off them.

Good luck. Let us know how you get on!

Hi everyone. I found this thread through google search and I’m hoping some of you who have come off Sertraline cold turkey can help me.

How long did your symptoms of withdrawal last?

I’m on day 4 of not taking 50mg of Sertraline and the side effects of brain zaps, headache, loss of balance, fatigue are pretty brutal to the point where I can’t move my head or eyes without getting brain zaps.

I was prescribed Sertraline in 2007 to help with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and have been trying to get off it since 2012 through several failed attempts of weening myself off it. The withdrawal symptoms didn’t get any less with weening over the course of months and I’d pretty much resigned myself to being on Sertraline for the rest of my life.

However, being on the medication for this long is damaging my memory (apparently this happens with people who take Sertraline but don’t have depression) so with my doctor giving me the ok I’m trying the cold turkey method as I have no other option and a few weeks of withdrawal side effects seems preferable than 6 months of withdrawal symptoms with no improvement.

Please someone tell me how long the withdrawal symptoms will last? 😢

If anyone has experienced memory problems after being on Sertraline for many years did your memory get better after coming off it? I used to have a phenomenal memory but it’s terrible now. I’m really worried that it’s given me brain damage

Isn't the memory issue more likely to be from the chronic fatigue? I have Fibro and a poor memory.

Don't do cold turkey. The impact comes later, which is why you end up back on.

If you are struggling with reduction, do it slower. I reduced by tiny amounts a month at a time- I only reduced again if I'd felt no symptoms. I halved tablets and took them every other day, every third day etc. I had no withdrawal side effects at all.

hi im looking for some advice so basically i was 8 weeks pregnant and on sertaline i desided to stop taking it then at my 12 week scan my baby had no heart beat i feel its my fault for stopping sertraline :( the baby was fine on our 8 weeks scan me we are just trying to figure out if it was me stopping sertraline or just one of those things :(