Coming off Setraline

[strawberry780]

Hiya ,
I’ve been on Setraline since may 2024. I had severe anxiety and panic disorder OCD harm and for some reason developed a fear I was schizophrenic. I also couldn’t feel my body for a while and nothing around me seemed real and I didn’t feel real and I had a disconnect to my own body. HORRIBLE experience. I was so stuck in my own head it was awful so so bad. I started at 50 and been on 100mg for about 18months now. I’ve asked the gp if I can come off them. They’ve agreed to lower the dose over weeks so slowly. Since being on them I wouldn’t say I’m back to normal but they have defo helped. I hardly have OCD thoughts. But I’ve put on 4stone I’m lazy and can sleep all day. That’s not who I am and I’ve never been like this in my life. I’m so fed up of feeling like this. I have night sweats and day sweats so bad , my moods are up and down I still have panic attacks and anxiety. The feeling of not being in my own body kind of faded away I don’t really remember when lol so weird. But I was so wrapped up in how I felt everyday i was in a bad way. But I really want to go back to normal. Whatever that is.
had anyone had the same and what was it like coming off them? I asked the doc to be on a low dose as long as possible because if I forgot to take my tablets for a few days I’ll wake up and have brain fog , dizziness , feel sick and feel like I literally cannot function. But staying on these tablets are affecting my everyday life and my children’s. I don’t want to be on them anymore.

That sounds very hard. I think you need to talk to your gp about an alternative to Sertraline. But it does sound as if you need something.
Whatever you do make sure you get advice from your GP and get a second opinion if you’re not happy with your GP.
I find it hard to cry on Sertraline but in other respects Sertraline has been very beneficial.
I would like to be able to cry when I’m sad though- sometimes I think people think I’m very unfeeling.

Has menopause been considered? It can make any mental health condition so much worse! Night sweats, day sweats, mood swings and panic attacks are all classic menopause symptoms.

I think I am going to see how I go without anything and if it gets bad again I’ll defo be asking for something else. Thank you x

I’m 29

Hi Strawberry

I’ve been on sertraline for many years. I went up to 200mg for a while at a particularly difficult time but have managed to reduce back down now to 50mg.

It sounds like the medicine has helped you a lot, but I quite understand why you want to try to reduce. A couple of thoughts

I’ve always felt terrible if I miss a dose. I think of it as withdrawal symptoms, rather than just not having the medicine iyswim. When I’ve reduced I’ve always done so very very gradually, over many months. And with long plateaus to check how I am. So say 200 down to 175 for a few weeks. Then to 150 and then stay on that for 3-4 months. If all good, then reduce again.

I don’t think going any quicker is helpful, you need to see how you are at each dose rather than seesawing.

Do you have a supportive GP to help monitor? I advise having someone you tell when you are reducing and ask them to keep an eye on you and discuss with you how you are feeling and give them permission to tell you if they think you are declining. I do this with DH. He has seen me through many years of mh struggles and can often spot when I am getting worse before I become aware, but it helps him that I’ve told him he can tell me if he thinks I’m declining as it was difficult for him to do this before.

Another thought is that maybe some of the symptoms you are experiencing are not due to the sertraline, eg sweats. Perhaps worth discussing with your GP?

Another thing that has helped me when reducing my medication is being very proactive in doing selfcare and hobbies which I know make me feel better. If your children are younger I know it can be difficult to find time to do this but its so beneficial to have some time every day doing something just for you.

Thank you so much I’m going to say the same to my partner. He knows me better than I know myself and he’s my rock. Docs have checked my bloods about a month ago & they put the sweating down to a side effect of Setraline.
about my gp … put it this way I started on Setraline in may 2024 I spoke to them in July/aug 24 to up the dosage and then they just left me to it basically. I haven’t got a set gp it’s whoever is there that can take an appointment but there is 1 gp who is absolutely lovely so I might just ask to be assigned to him x

Are you have any sort of therapy? For me, it is not a replacement for medication which I still need but I had some CBT sessions for health anxiety which I found extremely helpful.

You can often self refer (I don’t know if this is true in all areas but where I am I completed an online form and then had a phone assessment and was then offered a series of sessions).

https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/adults/nhs-talking-therapies/

Yes I’ve had 2 lots of cbt hasn’t helped tbh x

That’s great that you have a supportive partner. Definitely try to see the nice GP, maybe ask if you can have a monitoring appointment periodically. GPs can be so variable in how much they know about mh and how proactive and supportive they are and it sounds like you really do need some support as you reduce to check your previous symptoms don’t return.

Ah, I misunderstood I started at 50. No, not likely to be menopause.

I’ve tried coming off it a couple of times now. I reduced from 25 to 12.5 but when stopping I experienced horrendous anxiety just as my period started. I think this is down to perimenopause though. I can’t really see what 12.5 is doing other than a placebo effect

Icame off 50mg , just had to go vv slow. I bought a pill cutter on amazon.

Ive needed ADs a couple of times since but usually go on for about 6 months then taper off. 6 montgs is enougjt to stop the thought cycle. Like you I suffer with low motivstion on them. I did have success one time with starting ADs and CBT at the same time, and using the CBT to implement an exercise routine. I then felt like I made immense progress on physical AND mental health. But lining up CBT at the exact time of needing ADs in a crisis is hard.

Another observarion is my need to take ADs at same time every day or mood and energy is up and down. So having an alarm by the tablets in the kitchen.

It would be ideal to recognise the thought spiral and put in place protective measures. I am a little better at this but not much.