advice and experience dropping sertraline please

[darjeelingdarling]

I'd like to try and go from 100 to 50. Dr says just go straight but I'm nervous as seroxat was awful! he said the half life of that was short hence the issues.

from what I can tell the half life of seroxat is 21 hours and sertraline 24 not much difference?

shall I be super cautious and go 75/100 then 75, then 75/50 etc?

any experiences gratefully received!

Did your doc mean go cold turkey? This is very bad advice . Sertraline has a short half life which means it clears from your system quickly leavingvyou wide open to SSRI withdrawal. Prozac/ fluoxetine has a long half life which meand discontinuation symptoms take longer to appear.

I would see another GP for advice TBH.

well not good turkey, but to go from 100 directly to 50 without any taper. I've experienced seroxat withdrawal which was awful so don't want that!

*cold turkey

I'm thinking I be super careful and taper really slowly.

I had to have a liquid form to get off seroxat; it took ages

I would do 75mg for a few weeks then drop to 50mg. There is a line so you can snap them in 1/2. I have always weaned down this way & never had any withdrawal symptoms.

I agree that super-careful is the way to go. I think GPs and others often underestimate the dependence these drugs create. I'm a long-term veteran of SSRIs and they have done me good but coming off I've always had to manage carefully. And usually without much medical guidance

yes the more I think about it the more it makes sense, thanks for your advice

There's loads of info online - much from users tho so treat with care - about tapering schedules.

Good luck

I have been on Sertraline for many years (too long probably!) and was initially on 150, dropped to 125, then 100. Want to drop to 75 but will be very cautious and drop slowly as before I rushed it and felt absolutely horrendous!!

Good luck x

thanks friendly, how long did you stay at the next dose for each time? I was guessing 2 weeks?

Months!! I really didn't want to feel like I did when I tried reducing too fast. Went down to 100 last Sept so ideally would be looking to start reducing to 75 soon (tho lots of ups and downs with personal circumstances at the mo, so kinda waiting for a bit more of an even keel!).

I guess because I've been on them so long, I am realistic about how long it may take to get off them - if that makes sense?!

ah ok! seroxat was a bugger and iirc I think I spent longer coming off it than I was actually 'on' it for!

I'll do my super slow taper plan. thanks for your advice! x

hope things settle for you soon