Sertraline and Zypreza Withdrawel

Hi I would like to know if after three years of taking low doses of sertraline 25 mg and 2.5 mg of Zyprexa the nausea, gagging reflex with NO throw up and dizziness I feel can be due to the discontinuation of the meds. I was told to stop cold turkey since it was such a low dose that I was taking I was prescribed due to a depresion and chronic anxiety conduct. I also experience a bit of tingling in my hands and feet that goes on and off switching around and some disconfort in my armpitas that has been checked by two doctors and I have been told there are no swollen nodes, it must be muscular, they only hurt when I strech or doe something with my arm. I know I am a Hypochondriac wich does not help me at all.Since the anxiety and depression feelings have been coming back after these 30 dias of withdrawel I have been told to start again with the same dose and taper down every fifteen days half a dose. Does this seem correct?  How long can this last? I am on Alprazolam 3 mg daily in three doses.Thanks to all

[TheOther_One]

Hi Jorge,

You posted this a long time ago, but I'm here with similar concerns to the ones stated in your post, and maybe this will help anyone else looking for answers to the same questions.

I too am going cold turkey from sertraline, I've been on it for about a year and a half at 200mg daily, I was on Zyprexa for 2 months before I moved to zoloft, and I'm five days into kicking the drug.

When I got off of Zyprexa I didn't have feelings of nausea, but did have some paranoia mainly from knowing that I didn't have the drug in my system to fall back on when I started to feel stressed about my mood.

With Sertraline, I'm still going through withdrawal symptoms which include gagging, nausea (no throw up, don't feel like I'm going to throw up either, just nausea on its own), headaches, light-headedness, speech slurring, a bit of disorientation, and general aches and pains in my hands, feet and calves. The symptoms aren't very consistent and seem to just kind of free-flow into each other. Speech slurring is minimal, and if I just take a sort of mental breather it goes away quickly, lightheadedness seems to come on after I've been walking around and it dies down if I take a seat or lie down, I get disoriented if I move quickly- like if I turn my head quickly to the side when in conversation with a group or something, the headaches and nausea don't seem to have a trigger for me, and it's something that I just ride out. As far as the effect on my mood, it takes a bit of extra effort to keep my spirits up compared to being on the drug, but if I keep the schedule and goals in mind that I had while on the drug, it's not too difficult to find a happy groove mentally and emotionally (ie I make an effort to bring about my own happiness til I catch my stride).

Also, I take this a a symptom of withdrawal from sertraline but not a negative one- my appetite's ferocious. Kind of like with a seasonal fever (feed a fever, starve a cold), so I think it's a positive sign that my body is doing its job. I also have been sticking with an exercise routine which keeps my mind off the bad, and keeps me with a positive outlook on the future.

I'm trying to go cold turkey to determine if this drug is likely going to be a more permanent part of my life or something that I can move past, and that goal gives me a certain sense of pride in what I'm doing since kicking the drug isn't essential to me, whether I stay off the drug or not is not what's at stake in this attempt, and that has kept me from turning back to the drug so far.

Good luck everyone,
The Other One