Sertraline withdrawal

[GlowingUpTheHardWay]

I've been tapering off my sertraline meds from 100mg, stepping down by 25mg every 2 months. I've just finished my last pack of 25mg about 3 or 4 days ago and am suffering with withdrawal- feeling headachey and fluey, which I can mostly deal with. What I'm struggling with is the weird head/ brain/ eye sensations- not quite dizziness but when I move my head, it feels like my eyes and brain can't move quickly enough and it's a really disconcerting sensation- like vertigo and low blood pressure and "static" all mixed in together. I have to lie down and stop moving- it's the only way I can cope. Does anyone know how long this phase lasts? I think my GP gave me duff advice- I wanted to wean off by at the end by taking one pill every other day but she said that Sertraline didn't "work like that". 25mg feels like such a low dose and I was made to feel just coming off them (after tapering over 6m) wouldn't be an issue. Anyone any experience of coming off? If so, how long did the withdrawal last?

Anyone experienced this? I feel like I'm tripping, but not in a good way

I came off 250mg cold turkey and the weird dizziness/brain zaps lasted for about two weeks.

I was on sertraline for years and tapered off with no side effects at all. I tapered off them very slowly, though, over almost a year. I basically ended up cutting them up into bits and taking small bits of one tablet in the end until I was taking such a small amount that when I came off them I had no withdrawal symptoms

I came off a smaller dose cold turkey and I didn’t get the brain stuff, but I did feel fluey for about a week

I would honestly advise cutting the 25mg tablet up into half, taking half for a couple of weeks, then cutting into quarters, taking the quarter for 2 weeks, etc. That's what I did, and I was fine

I also got the brain zaps, like my eyes suddenly disconnected for a few seconds. I came off without tapering because I'm impatient and it lasted about two weeks, but it lessened a lot every few days. If it's unsettling you a lot split the tablets in half and do it slowly like one of the commenters above did.

Thanks everyone- yeah maybe I should've cut the tablets up. I genuinely didn't think I needed to as the GP assured me that I'd be fine. Lesson learned. By the time I get a script for another dose, I'll probably be through the worst of the side effects anyway, so I'm wondering if it's even worth it. Think it's been about 3 or 4 days since I stopped. I honestly thought I'd be ok.

Yes- this describes it perfectly. Like my eyes are disconnecting from my brain. Horrible sensation and I just have to sit/ lie down when it happens. It's like in a horror movie/ TV programme when they show static on a screen.

So sorry that you're having this. I agree that tapering off v slowly is the way to go. And do keep your GP across. They need to know the full impact of the drugs they prescribe. Did you watch the panorama programme on AD withdrawal the other week?

I got the brain zaps eye disconnect thing after stopping cold turkey. Lasted about 2 weeks. Just a word of warning after the 2 weeks I had a week of feeling very unwell mentally. Really low and quite scary confusion. I was told it was nothing to do with the sertraline but I do think it was my hormones settling without their back up.

I had a similar experience tapering off from venlafaxine. I took travel sickness pills, which helped with the fuzzy head and nausea feelings.

Thanks @Catskidsandme and @Chocadoddledoo .... I thought I'd turned a corner today and have been mostly fine until the past half hour when the zaps are back. Going to lie down, rest and hope they pass soon. I didn't sleep til about 4am last night - the insomnia is definitely real! Feel like there's light at the end of the tunnel at least. And thanks for the heads up re low mood in the weeks to come... will keep an eye out for that

Ha, so glad I’ve found this feed. I’m on day 5 of coming off 25mg, having tapered down from 75ml over the last month. I have exactly this! It feels like my brain is caving in a bit every time I move my head 😂. No pain, just weird eye/brain/movement disconnect that feels like extreme dizziness.
The previous taperings, I felt very tired and fuggy, as if I’d missed my morning coffee. But nothing like this. I guess it’s due to no longer having any sertraline left in our system. I also have very short temper..

Although to help that I’ve been taking Ashwagandha and Lions Mane supplements, which have been brilliant.

Ah thanks for the tip @Ralphjeffers! I'll try those! Sounds like I'm a couple of days on from you and the symptoms have certainly eased - hardly getting that sensation any more so the good news is you're almost through it!

Following as I also want to come of sertraline after taking it for years.
Good luck OP! X

The GPs don't seem to understand the impact of sertraline.

In a lot of published papers the doses are high because the symptoms are severe, so 25g is considered "not even a real dose"by doctors, whereas in real life I've spoken to so many people (including myself) for whom 25g was the correct dose. And therefore from 25g to 0 was a massive impact.

When coming off the 25g i cut into halves, quarters, alternating days with quarters.... Eventually got there.

If you're having withdrawal symptoms you can just start on the 25g again, that'll get rid of the withdrawal symptoms, and then slowly cut from there.

Good luck.