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Original poster

Has anyone successfully gone 'cold turkey' on Sertraline?

53 replies

PennyPinkPineapple · 02/08/2023 13:13

Hi all

I've been on 50mg of Sertraline for nearly 2 years. Yes, yes yes, I know you aren't supposed to go cold turkey and should speak to a GP about coming off them etc., BUT, I went on abroad two weeks ago and forgot to pack my medication.
By the time I got back it was day 8 without them and I decided to keep going. I feel a little bit irritable and I'm experiencing brain zaps throughout the day but it is now day 13 and I'm determined to power through this.

Has anyone else successfully come off their ADs this way? Do the brain zaps go away? I really don't want to start taking them again in order to taper off them properly 😬

Thanks.

OP posts:
pickledandpuzzled · 03/08/2023 06:51

You really should reintroduce a small dose. For all the people here telling you how they managed, there are others who didn't.

As I understand it you won't necessarily get a warning that you aren't doing well, and won't be able to respond rationally at that point. You can get very ill very fast.

Original poster
PennyPinkPineapple · 03/08/2023 10:54

Thanks again for all your responses. @CerberusWoof the brain zaps are a feeling that lasts a second, similar to when you miss a step while walking down the stairs. Someone up thread said it's like a brief feeling of vertigo. So far it's the only symptom I've experienced but then I suppose I wouldn't be the one to notice if I went ka-ka again 😖

@CurlewKate I want to stop because I'm not depressed anymore, I've had therapy and I feel better.

I also started taking lisdexamfetamine a few months ago and the plan was that I would eventually stop sertraline because of the risk of serotonin syndrome, my next review isn't for another 3 weeks. I don't know what to do.

OP posts:
pickledandpuzzled · 03/08/2023 14:05

There's a thread just started where someone has become poorly very fast.

If you don't want to check with a dr, what about speaking to a pharmacist?

Please don't assume it will be fine.

Rollonsummer24 · 11/09/2023 19:25

Op, do you mind me asking how you got on? I’ve also accidentally gone cold turkey for 6 days after being on 50g for 9months.

Original poster
PennyPinkPineapple · 12/09/2023 09:59

Hello everyone.
Sorry for just disappearing - it didn't go well 🐑😐(sheepish face)
About two weeks after I posted this I became very unwell, physically and mentally. I've been back on sertraline for about 3 weeks and feeling much better now, thankfully. @Rollonsummer24 please be careful, some posters above were okay but I definitely wasn't and it all happened very suddenly.

OP posts:
pickledandpuzzled · 12/09/2023 10:15

Ah bless you. I wish it was better known. Someone warned me, so I knew not to be too casual about it.

Let's face it we are warned not to drink, to take with/befor/after food, not to drive, not to have grapefruit juice, not to blah blah and have experienced it being ok to be a bit sloppy.

But not with this one.

popandchoc · 12/09/2023 13:44

Just done another post but have cut down over the last few months and last few weeks have been on just 12.5 mg but feeling rubbish since I stopped last week.

MistyTrains2 · 12/09/2023 21:27

When I came off it I had the 'waves and windows'. It is like a whooshy feeling. It does go. Every drop would take 2 weeks to get used to. Stopping suddenly is about making sure you have strategies in place to support your mental health and what you will do if you experience a dip. Good luck x

Lyracappul · 12/09/2023 21:40

thank you PennyPinkPineapple for coming back and updating us. I’m on ecitoprazolam,10 mgs and I feel well and my shitty nightmares stopped on them, and I’m calmer, so I m not sure I’ll ever come off them..

pepino · 12/09/2023 21:43

I did by accident. I had an operation and didn't take them for a couple of days beforehand as was messed around with dates and wasn't feeling too good anyway. Then after the operation I was too dosed up on painkillers to even think about taking them. I didn't know if I suffered withdrawal symptoms as I was feeling crap because of the op.

morethanspice · 15/09/2023 19:29

I had a hellish experience going cold turkey from 100mg of sertraline and it was in three stages, the nightmares, then a crazy itch which drove me out of my mind, then a terrible plunge into deep depression again
exercise saved me, I got a personal trainer x

DRS1970 · 17/09/2023 10:11

I have in the past come off Sertraline with no tapering. However, the side effects for me were unpleasant for several weeks, especially my sleep and energy levels. I did end up going back on medication some months later, so whether you class it as a successful withdrawal or not I am unsure. That said I was being treated for depression, when I in fact had undiagnosed bipolar. Hope this helps. GL

Original poster
PennyPinkPineapple · 01/10/2023 10:20

@Rollonsummer24 how are you getting on?

OP posts:
Original poster
PennyPinkPineapple · 01/10/2023 10:21

Are you feeling any better? @popandchoc

OP posts:
35965a · 01/10/2023 10:24

Sorry I’m late to this, I came off sertraline cold turkey (150mg) because I just didn’t want to take it any more. I was on it for a few years. No issues with withdrawal whatsoever but I wouldn’t recommend anyone else do it at this dose because from what I’ve read my experience is not typical.

Gettingbysomehow · 01/10/2023 10:25

I'd never go cold turkey again - I couldn't stand the brain zaps for a start and after a while I started to seriously go downhill mentally. I'm coming off my meds soon but very very slowly, I don't need another breakdown.

Original poster
PennyPinkPineapple · 01/10/2023 10:30

The waves and whooshiness ended up getting worse and worse for me @MistyTrains2 and I ended up feeling constantly car sick. I thought it would improve over time, but no. Then came the black dog.

I had a review appointment on Tuesday with my psychiatrist and I said I think I'll try again later in the year to properly taper off the sertraline. Her response was, "Why?" 🤨 she said there's nothing wrong with the drug combination (also now on 70mg lisdexamfetamine) that I'm on now and if I'm feeling well then I should stick to it.

I think I just find it weird that I have to take drugs to feel normal.

OP posts:
Original poster
PennyPinkPineapple · 01/10/2023 10:33

Gettingbysomehow · 01/10/2023 10:25

I'd never go cold turkey again - I couldn't stand the brain zaps for a start and after a while I started to seriously go downhill mentally. I'm coming off my meds soon but very very slowly, I don't need another breakdown.

What does very very slowly look like?
Months?

OP posts:
FatandRoundBouncingontheGround · 01/10/2023 10:34

I did a taper for about 3 weeks (100 to 50mg) then stopped. Had brain zaps for about 3 weeks. I quite like them though! Knowing what they are made them not scary.

No other side effects.

FatandRoundBouncingontheGround · 01/10/2023 10:37

Sorry, just read your updates!

To be clearer - I was on sertraline for severe health anxiety related to my child (subsequently diagnosed with a serious condition) - I just couldn't take watching her go downhill and how slowly medical wheels turned. So I was never depressed exactly.

I loved being on sertraline except for being so sleepy all the time, and the 2 stone weight gain.

Rockfordpeach · 01/10/2023 10:38

I went cold turkey, I broke my elbow and the only thing that helped with the pain was ibuprofen but the hospital told me I couldn't take ibuprofen and sertraline together because it increases the risk of stomach bleeding. I was in too much pain so came off sertraline to take ibuprofen and haven't been back on since. I do take beta blockers but when I spoke to my GP we agreed to remain off the sertraline as I had been off them a couple of months by then

Guessguess · 01/10/2023 10:41

I went cold turkey off mirtazipine when I got pregnant and had a nervous breakdown, absolute anxious mess unable to function and 6 months off work sick. I think the pregnancy played a part in that too but I still would never ever recommend cold turkey off ADs

AliasGrape · 01/10/2023 10:43

I’d never heard the term bran zaps before but I think that’s what I had - kind of like vertigo or a feeling like I’d been on a boat and hadn’t got used to being back on land! I had them terribly when starting sertraline, every time I changed dose and when trying to come off then.

In the end I did it so slowly - far slower than even a doctor would say. I can’t remember what I did but something like taking my normal full dose for two days then a half dose (may even have done 3/4 thinking back) on the third day, gradually moving to full/ half dose alternate days. Etc etc Took ages over it and if ever I started to feel wobbly I’d slow it down again. For there in the end. They worked great for me but I’d be so reluctant to start again just because of the faff it was. Thankfully I’m on a pretty even keel these days without them

Rollonsummer24 · 01/10/2023 11:00

Hello,
I too had brain zaps. Didn’t know what they were till this post! They only lasted 2/3 seconds, enough to stop and think what was that but short enough to carry on with my day!
I have been ok. I spoke with a clinical pharmacist and my GP. As I had no other symptoms, they didn’t think it was worth starting again, to then taper off.
Since coming off, I have been able to cry! I hadn’t cried for months, and realised I was completely numb to emotions. Which isn’t like me. I had gained weight and had lost all motivation for exercise, some thing I used to do daily.
Sertraline helped me at my lowest, but I am excited to get myself back and feel in a good place to do it now.

moofolk · 01/10/2023 11:01

If you've already done more than eight days without, it seems mad to go back on them just to wean off