Anyone on Zoloft for depression

[ILoveLukey]

My addiction psyc. put me on Zoloft because I am worried about depression returning during the wean from Subs. Just wondering if anyone is on it and their experience. Any side effects, does it help? I realize we all react differently to antidepressants but just curious as to other experiences? Thank you.

[SableZen]

Just wanted to throw this out there in the context of addiction and recovery with antidepressants... thought this was fascinating...

First a little background on what drugs like opiates, amphetamines, and cocaine do to the brain: they either directly alter the flow of neurotransmitters like seretonin and dopamine OR alter/mimic natural endorphins which directly impacts the flow of neurotransmitters - and more importantly messes up the bodies natural production and use of these things.

The problem with opiates for example, is the body thinks that they are naturally produced endorphins and allows them to bind to receptors on cells and alter how we feel, just like endorphins/neurotransmitters naturally do. This in and of itself causes no problem at first - just 'good' feelings.

The problem starts because while naturally produced endorphins are quickly broken down by naturally produced enzymes immediately after they hit a receptor and do their job... opiates are immune to those natural enzymes and aren't broken down correctly - they sit there on the receptor for way too long, interfering with the natural flow of neurotransmitters/endorphins that the body is producing naturally. Over time this also physically changes the receptors and forces the body to try and make new receptors available (tolerance, dependency and addiction builds as a result). Over time the body kind of gives up on producing it's own stuff like it used to and gets resigned to the opiates constantly being there and in the way of things.

So the thinking is that in the wake of withdrawal, the body has not yet begun to start producing it's own natural stores of neurotransmitters or endorphins again at the levels it needs to - it both takes time for the old altered receptors to go dormant from non-use, new receptors to be made, and the body to figure out it needs to start regulating the flow of natural endorphins/neurotransmitters more aggressively again.

So while artificially messing with the flow of neurotransmitters/endorphins is what caused the problems in the first place by taking a narcotic - antidepressants are different from a narcotic in that seretonin and dopamine are naturally occurring substances in the body, have more natural control over endorphin production, and shouldn't cause such long-term damage to receptors on those important cells that make up our brains... compared to introducing a foreign chemical opioid that the body can't break down correctly which results in all those bad things addictions cause.

And considering that a person that has just detoxed from an opioid addiction is going to be severely lacking in correct levels of neurotransmitters/endorphins, depression and anxiety can often be overwhelming - driving up the desire to go back to the original drug and increasing relapse percentages.

I know there is a lot of controversy over antidepressants. And I see both sides of the argument. Antidepressants can result in bad side effects, make some problems worse, not work at all, and who knows what else in the big picture. But there is a lot of evidence that if the right antidepressant, at the right dose, for the right amount of time is given - it can really help a person get through things until the body has healed itself enough to give a person a better chance at making recovery last.

By the way, the newest class of antidepressants (SNRIs) don't cause weight-gain and in fact some SNRIs are marketed as weight-loss pills and not antidepressants. ;D

[ILoveLukey]

WOW! I thank you all for your input. What a variety of experiences on anti-depressants. Just goes to show you how differently we all react to the same thing. I suppose it is just a matter of trying different things until you find the right one for yourself. I do worry about the fact that some mentioned weight gain because, it seems the subs caused some of that with me. Jeez now all I need is to have another pill put weight on mw.. Alrighty then, look for me on Oprah next year. I will be the woman that needs a crane to get her out of the house............LOL

[catmagnet]

Zoloft gave me a pounding headache...but prozac seems to be helping somewhat.

[iloveny630]

I have been taking zoloft for nine years.  It took a while for it to get into my system and work, but once it did I noticed a difference.  I love it.

[desperate1111]

my daughter took zoloft for a couple years and gained a bunch of weight. she now takes effexor and likes it better and has lost the xtra weight. i take proxac,  don't know if it works or not. i love lukey has it right about getting off our tails. excersise makes me feel better.

[GoingToMakeIt]

I have been on Zoloft for years. It has helped with the moods tremendously. At 60 days clean I had to up the dose due to extreme PAWS. There are side effects but happy is better.

[WANTOFFYESTERDAY]

Hi-- I have never taken Zoloft, but I did take Paxil and Lexapro and neither worked well for me.  I gained about 40 pounds and felt like a slug.  I now take Effexor which is in adifferent class and helps with my anxiety and depression and I have actuelly lost weight, I know everyone is different but it has been great for me, the only side effect I had was short term nausea when i tapered up.  If the Zoloft does not work for you you might consider Effexor or Cymbalta, they are in the same class of drugs.  For me, the biggest help is sleep and excercise.  my shrink is of the opinion that the rampant depression epidemic in the us is due to lack of sleep and sitting on our butts too much, i hate to admit it, but he might be on to somthing!  Good luck!

[LIZZIE LOU]

i took zoloft for about a year...and i LOVED the fact that i didnt care about anything going on around me.   hhhuuummm...maybe i should go back on it :)

i dont suggest doing it...but i c/t'd from it and had no side effects.  lucky me!

[worried878]

I guess everyone has different reactions and it depends on ur cheical make up...most have made me wired a bit and difficulty with sleep.....my daughter takes zoloft and it helps her tremendously...i pretty much dont take them but did take lexapro for a couple of months around detox...after my divorce i took elavil and it helped me sleep at the time...i was very depressed and stressed and i stayed on it for 2 years... got off without any problems...i think there has to be a chemical imbalance that matches the AD to be of benefit to you

[Chi_Chi_Lover]

I took zoloft for several years earlier in my life. It made me have no energy and not care what went on around me. I then tried the Paxil and gained about 12 pounds so stopped it...I really don't get the anit-depressants. Everyone I know takes them except me now. They make "me" feel very tired and have no energy. It's like they make you down instead of up and feeling good so I just didn't ever get it.
Too many people take them for them not to work so good luck.

[strugglingmomma]

i have been on zoloft for years now.  when i first started taking it, it made me a little jittery and kind of wired.  but after a while my body got used to it and it really helped.  It took about 2 weeks for it to kick in though.  The only thing is like the previous person posted you can't just stop taking it or you will get depressed BAD.  Just be careful on anti's because it took me a long time to find the right one for  me because alot of them made me more depressed than I already was.  Good luck to you

[coconuts27]

I been on Zoloft and Paxil. I didnt like either one. Zoloft never did anything for me, good or bad. Paxil did make me sleepy and helped with my anger and anxiety. It also helped me gain a lot of weight. What I really didnt like was that those are drugs that you cant stop cold turkey, you have to wean yourself off. When I stopped ct my depression came back 10x worse. I havent been right ever since.

[kim715]

My husband was on Zoloft a few years ago,it didn't work for him,but that doesn't mean it won't work for you.I can remember his doctor telling us he would need to be on it for 2 weeks before he would really be able to feel whether it was working for him or not.I think the important thing is to keep good communication with your doctor and if the medication is not helping you the way you wish to be helped by it let him/her know as soon as possible.My husband had to have his antidepressant switched twice before he found the one that worked for him and once he did it worked wonders.Goodluck to you.I will pray that the zoloft does the trick for you,but if it doesn't don't get discouraged,it just means that something else might work better for you to help you through this. Peace..

[SableZen]

I was on Paxil which is also an SSRI (same type of antidepressant). But I only took it temporarily... I didn't experience any negative side-effects like a lot of people do in the first couple of weeks and my anxiety level did start to noticeably drop after the second week. Around the third week I think it really started to help with depression.

But overall, I think the thing that helped me the most was just the lowering of my anxiety level in the wake of withdrawal as I started sleeping better (a complete eight hours straight finally), and eating better (Paxil made me HUNGRY!). Those two things alone made me feel so much better and got me out of a bad cycle I was in. I recently stopped taking it to see if I can continue to sleep well and eat well - and so far so good.