EXTREME Nausea, dizzy, sharp pain, been off Zoloft for 8 months!

[RebeccaGaluppo]

Help!

I took 50mg Zoloft for 10 months.
Weaned a week, then cold turkey.
Within 4 wks, SEVERE NAUSEA, Dizzy spells and sharp pin-pointed pain in the abdomin (abdomen).
Told by an Internest it was Zoloft withdrawls probably and would end soon.
Well I have been to Opthomologist and Internests, they dont' know when this will end, want to run EXPENSIVE MCI CT scans to rule out other things...PLEASE it is soooo obvious its Zoloft.

Never have taken anything else, was intensified with exercise but now its so BAD...I feel that pregnancy nausea so intensely I cannot hardly care for my 2 boys ages 18mo and 31 months!
I am not pregnant. Blood work is normal.

My real wake up call was when I got so dizzy I fell from top of our staircase, almost breaking my neck!

When does this drug stop with the withdrawl effects?
Doesn't 8 months seem extreme?

What about Detoxing?

This was never disclosed by Zoloft, just a 4-6 week period, but seems to be the problem.
Have you heard of anyone with such symptoms lasting this long?
I am concerned as it has created hostitality in me and I have been angry and irritable and do not want to have this affect my family more than it has already. I am VERY concerned, but not sure the next step. Seems doctors don't know either.
Also, I was told it was safe to nurse while on it. Now I am concerned for my 18 month old...clearly its not as safe as they claim.
Please give best advise as I am seeing my gynocologist this week again...
8 months...no drugs or anything else and look at me...

Thank you so much...
~R
29 year old caucasian
Texas

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

Although it sounded like a Zoloft withdrawal, eight months is much too long and the dose you were on was too small to account for this.  If you are having daily symptoms, you might do a test by taking small doses of zoloft for a short period of time and see if that gets rid of the symptoms. If it does, then you can wean slowly from that.

[KEV78]

Hi EVERYONE...I'm new to the forum.  Ive got tons on my mind and many questions to ask.  Seems as if my probs started one day when i used cocaine.  Just that morning I suddenly freaked out and was afradi my heart was going to explode cause of how it was beating etc.  Had used the stuff for two months on weekedns with no probs.  EMT's told me everything seemed fine and that it was prolly a panic attack.  But deep inside i thought for sure i may have screwed up my heart or something.  Few weeks later i tried it again and a few times after that and each time i freaked out swore I was gonna die.  Anyhow i stayed clean and didnt mess with the stuff anymore. However then i starteed to get thesee weird episodes like I had trouble breathing like a smothering feeling and concentrated alot on my breathing cause thought if i didnt i would stop also a slight abnormal feeling or i guess sense of sight was weird or seomthing not sure how to explain it.  Suddenly one day i had a panic attack i guess again and that was the end of that afterwards i think i fell into depression.  Then started to get these weird heart skips..alot everyday for about a month and a half all day long really scarey.  Bad thing is i was afradi i messed up my heart and now it was doing all that weird stuff.  got my heart checked out and doc said everything came back normal maybe just stress.  Ive got alot of symptoms including sleep disturbances like i wake up suddenly in a panic i guess doesnt last too long and i go right back to bed easily but very scarey.  I still worry about my health alot..just wondering if something is being overlooked etc.  get tons of muscle twitches all over my body..in the mornings when i wake up i feel shaky inside and out..i also kinda feel off balance like i feel like i sway alot when standing straight up or light my head or body rocks back and forth when i am at rest kinda goes along with my heavy pulse rate.  I am taking paxil 37.5mg CR.  I am alot better than I was but still have tons of doubts.  Can somebody help me with my questions or have any responses..please email me at ***@****  THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!!

P.S.  also a little more depth about my history..previous to this all the only thing I can think of that has some importance is i ised to take alot of Ephedra dieting pills also drank lots of coffe and smoke cigarettes...and did have a bit of a stressfull realtionship too...dont know i was thinking maybe all that had to do with it too...who knows?

[mcarter]

So sorry to hear about your stuff, it's hard enough to be a mom of 2 little ones but...I hear ya...I too am having trouble with really bad dizzy spells from this ZOLOFT. I know that that's what it has to be. I have been off it sence Feb.22. It took a few weeks for it to set in, I thought I was home free, NOT. I just went to the ENT today to have a test done for Meniere's Disease.
My hearing was just fine. My nausea comes mostly at night so I just get the kids in bed ASAP and head there myself fast.
Go to the web site:www.drugawareness.net it has all kinds of nightmare-ish stories about the stuff.
I thought mine might be a tumor...
Good luck, Does yours seem to be tapering off at all? I can't deside if mine is or not.
mcarter

[chrismary]

I am having this problem 6 months after stopping prozac. I am eating like hog so not having digestive problems but that is because I started forcing myself to eat on the advice of my chiropractor friend. Eat toast and jelly and lots of green veggies jello and cranberries and a little at a time. I am having the sharp pain too and then are giving me 2 klonopin per day to relax me. actually I cold take the whole bottle because the pain is real. Stretch, raise your arms over your head and move slowly left and then center and then right, and do isometric things like tighten your face up and your neck etc and then relax ... your back too. I had a chiropractor adjust my back and it increases blood flow to my head and changes the pattern of the pain. Lay on the floor and do something like that. It helps to be moderately physically active. I hope that helps. I think we will get better but it won't be today.
I think the answer lies more in doing stuff than in meds for this.
Chrismary

[Baadsie]

I have had alot of experience getting my wife,off Prozac, two daughters off celexa and paxil and my oldest son off Effexor. With the help of Dr. Ann Blake Tracy her book "Prozac,Panacea or Pandora" she has been warning about these drugs since prozac came out. Nobody would list, but now their beginning to listen. It took my son's arrest to meet Dr. Tracy and learn about these drugs. She suggests that a person should take as long to wean off the drug as they were on them. In your case it's too late but one thing that helped my girls was lots of sleep and relaxation. A simple detox was one day a week only drink a gallon of distilled water in which you mix 1 cup of real maple syrup and 1 cup of real squeezed lemon jiuce. The syrup keeps you blood sugar up and the lemon helps with taste and is also a natural detoxifier. My second daughter also found it good to drink the few days before her period is expected to come. She said it seems to eliviate her PMS. Hypoglycemia could be the cause of your depression or anxiety. www.alternativementalhealth.com

[summg]

oh man--this sucks!! I am just thankful to know I am not alone in this misery!! I thought I had a brain tumor or cancer...I am trying to get off Zoloft(for some time now) and am having VERY unpleasant withdrawals too. No, its not addictive--you just cant stop taking it!! I was feeling like I was dying or something--it helps to know it is not just me!! But how creepy!  Just don't let them put you on more drugs!! The wicked cycle is never-ending...good luck to y'all--peace

[DarleneL]

The correct web address for information on the warnings and other people's experiences using drugs like the ones mentioned here is at: http://www.drugawareness.org/home.html