Coming off sertraline

[merryandbrightdelight]

Hi all

I was on 50mg sertraline around 2 years ago for 6 months for health anxiety, felt loads better so came off myself cold turkey (in hindsight now I know I shouldn't have done this as the brain zaps and rapid eye movements were awful!). Had no issues with it when taking it.

After a bad health anxiety episode I'm now back on 50mg sertraline and have been since September. However my body just doesn't seem to like it anymore! I'm feeling dizzy shortly after taking it which disappears after about 30 seconds, and the brain fog is crazy! Not to mention the night sweats that are intermittent but still horrible. I've had two lattes today (with cinnamon syrup - I am a secret elf even in February!) at a kids party in the space of an hour and I feel like I'm totally on edge which I'm guessing is the caffeine. I've decided because I'm not getting on with it anymore, I'd rather knock it on the head altogether and try therapy instead.

I do have a phone appointment with my GP on Thursday for something unrelated so will mention it to him, but in the meantime, I feel I need to start tapering off, so will look at taking it every other day.

Any advice anyone?

I came off sertraline last year although I had been on it a lot longer than you have.

i tapered by buying a pill cutter at first, then reducing the dose, and the taking a reduced dose other day. It took a while and I had some extreme symptoms, but it was fine while I knew what to expect.

The thing was not expecting was that the withdrawal side effects continued for about 4 months after I stopped taking the pills. I had physical and mental health side effects including depression.

then one day it just went, and I realised that it had been the drugs. So my advice would be to make sure you have support in place for the weeks or months after you come off the pills as well as during the withdrawal itself.

feel free to DM me for more info

Ps like you I felt sertraline was no longer working and coming off it was a great decision. I hope it turns out to be really positive for you too

Sorry for typos - fat fingers on my phone!

It wouldn’t have reached your bloodstream 30 seconds after taking it. Don’t think it’s that causing your dizziness.

@Snuggleyou the dizziness lasts for 30 seconds, not happens 30 seconds after taking it

This is really helpful, thank you! I've messaged you

I have been on 100mg of sertraline for a while now, I take it before bed rather than at the start of the day mind.

I had a horrific sickness bug last December, which hospitalised me and I couldn't keep anything down. I felt the withdrawal symptoms of sertraline very quickly and it was horrendous - no sleep (regardless of how exhausted I was), twitching, overly anxious.. the first night I was able to keep fluid down in hospital I begged for sertraline and the relief was unreal.

If you are going to stop, don't go cold turkey, take it easy, use a pill cutter and make sure GP is aware, look after yourself OP.

There are alternatives to sertraline if it isn't right for you, might be less horrific than stopping altogether! Over the years I tried a few, tried sertraline, felt great, stopped, stared again, felt great, stopped, I'm sticking for now until I'm ready to drop to 50mg.

A clear mind is a better one.

Fuck the stigma that goes with it all, if it works for you, do it, if it doesn't, change it - just make sure you speak to a GP, please.

Thank you for your insights into this, and sorry to hear you were in hospital, sounds awful! I bet the insomnia was terrible - there's nothing worse than not being able to shut off when you really need it.

I have an appointment with my GP next week so going to see what alternatives are out there just out of curiosity- I know people who have had sertraline and it's been awful for them so have switched to others. It's all about finding the right balance that works for you individually I suppose

I would say you have had sertraline before so you know what to expect BUT your body is not agreeing with it this time. Don’t let the GP tell you to give it any more time, as sertraline can have some very nasty effects and make things much worse on rare occasions. Since rare is not the same as never, I would say ask to try a different one, Setraline is no longer working for you.

In my case the insomnia under Sertraline was so bad (45 minutes of sleep tops in 24 hrs for a few weeks) it really made me start thinking that life was not worth living. Have it changed.

I went cold turkey. I was suddenly on other medication (pain relief for a different issue) that clashes with it and can cause horrific side effects so I just stopped. I didn't plan to stop that way.

I had awful dreams, insomnia and dizziness for about a week and then it just ended.