Zoloft Discontinuation and new diagnosis

[reedsgr1]

Hello-
I am a 37 year old male who has suffered from anxiety (GAD) and mild depression since 1987.  I was on Prozac for a 9 month period in 1989 and then stopped with medication until 1998, when I was having anxiety attacks, and the GP prescribed me Zoloft 50mgs.  I stayed on the Zoloft, somewhat unchecked for 6 years.  I have had counseling on and off (one year on, a few off etc) for the last 10 years.

My current situation is this:  I hadn't had any anxiety attacks on the Zoloft since 1998, and I had a major episode of daily anxiety attacks and some depression for about a week this past November during a very stressful time at my company.  My counselor suggested a Pharmacologist regarding the issues, and possibly changing/evaluating situation.

A well know pharmacologist in our area did the following:

Stopped the Zoloft immediately.  (this is after my GP told me to increase to 75mgs becasue of the anxiety attacks)  When I increased the dosage to 75mgs, I noticed an immediate insomnia, nervousness and horrible dream problem.  The the pharmacologist stopped the Zoloft immediately.  I asked him about withdrawal, and he seemed to think that was no problem at all at 50 mgs, and definitely thought the Zoloft could be exacerbating my problems.

During this time (7 days) he had me taking 10mgs of Ambien, and  Ativan as needed (up to 3 mgs a day), and I was only taking 1 mg of Ativan each day in two .5 dosage as neeeded.  He wanted to do was get me "back to my 'old' anxious self" and then further diagnose the problem in a week.  The anxiety attacks stopped, and I got a few nights sleep.

I have been off of Zoloft for 20 days.  Still having these little "twitches" when I look far to the left or right.  Not the full "zaps" people describe, but like my brain is "catching up" to what I am looking at. Dr. Says this will definitely pass. I am anxious about it.

After a week he said I looked and sounded better.  He  diagnosed me with Adult ADHD, which he alluded to in our first 1.5 hour session.  He said no rush to start Strattera, I could take my time, but that is his recommendation.  I haven't had any anxiety attacks since stopping the Zoloft, but I feel like I might be a bit depressed.  I am going to work every day and working, and I have three kids, but I feel like "something" isn't quite right.  I have "good days" and "bad days". I am concerned about taking Strattera.  Not a fan of meds.  I think I have ADHD based on his diagnosis, and the internet quizes I have taken.

Questions:

1.  Is it normal to feel just a bit funky, or "blue" after stopping Zoloft after 6 years?  Will the twitches stop?

2.  If I have a tendancy towards mild/moderate depression, is it possible that taking an ADHD drug like Straterra could help my focus, mood, AND the depression?

3. Would you recommend starting the Strattera immediately, or giving my body a chance to get used to not being on Zoloft?
  
Sorry for the long question!
Thank you in advance!

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

It is normal to feel a bit funky and that will stop and so will the twitches. Personally I would not rush into any new medication unless the adhd was definetly a big and obvious problem.   You will find being off medications gives you a new and important contact point with life, and you should enjoy the passion of it all before you decide on anything else.

[marriedlove]

Well . . .

I'm a fan of passion, as well; however, as passionate as both manias and depressions surely can be, I'd never recommend a steady diet of either.  Funny, the prejudices of docs on one side or another--and of patients, too.  Back when I was still fighting what I thought was the good fight (so determined!  so righteous!  so misguidedly passionate!) against medication, I interviewed the head doc at our community hospital's behavioral medicine unit, with an eye toward asking him what *else* might work.  Did we really have to throw a pill at everything, I wondered?  Mightn't we consider, say, attention to diet, exercise, meditation, spirituality, music, dance, aromatherapy, massage, and whatever other alternative approach might lead to health.  "Nope," he said, "nope, nope, nope."  He believed very strongly in the power of medication to turn the tide in relapsing illnesses of long standing.  Oh, how I resisted the very notion of that!  How terribly narrow-minded I thought him. Such a Johnny one note wielding his presciption pad like some sword of deliverance.  Now, I really think the best thing is somewhere in the middle.  If meds can pave the way toward more life-giving (if somewhat less dramatically soaring and crashing) passions, then I'm all for them.  It's silly to resist for the sake of resisting, or out of fear, especially since those fears are often unfounded.  My remaining prejudice, I confess, is mostly against talking cures of various sorts.  It takes an extraordinarily sensitive and intelligent person to be really good at that.  I often think I'd really rather opt for Wellbutrin, a good old dog with sympathetic eyes, a nice fat book to disappear into, and maybe, in winter, a blazing fire and a nice cup of tea than an hour chatting about things that cannot, in any case, be materially altered by discussing them.  The dog, the fire, the book--those are respite enough, and when combined with the medication I fought so hard against, really make a life of non-destructive passion possible.

[sdc1213]

Ahh I hate those bumpy roads, one doctor says one thing the other says another and then you're stuck in the middle trying to make a 50/50 chance move, but you come first. Reason I say this is what you think is the problem may very well be, you know your body and how you are it's always to help to step up and say what you think. whenever you stop an SSRI it's normal for fuzzy/foggy/confused behavior and irritabilty. Usually takes a week or two to get use to the non-medication habit.

[goldiealg]

Well after 10 years of medications and therapy, I am finally my own person again.  In August, I decided to taper off of all meds.  Zoloft was one.  I can tell you one thing...as hard as it was to taper off, I am so glad I did.  I am still rebounding somewhat, but I feel like myself again.  Yes, I have days when I feel stressed out and snap, but I am learning new coping skills every day to deal with life's trials and tribulations and I feel like a stronger person for it.  The zoloft made me feel like an apathetic, lazy, anything goes type person and that is not always good.  Stress is an indicator that something is not right in your life.  It is nature's way of alerting you to a problem.  Yeh, you can medicate it away, but you know what, that little cause of your anxiety is still there and it will return to bite you in the A--- if you dont deal with it directly.  I agree with the site's MD, try being med free for awhile and deal with the source of the anxiety.  It is hard, but I am finding it worth the battle.  I like having feelings again-the good, the bad and the ugly ones included.  Maybe now I can find true peace of mind.

[mixed up]

I'd like some follow-up suggestions on how to deal with zoloft withdrawal symptoms. I stopped a week ago from the last tapered dose of 12.5 mgs. i have those same head twitches mentioned in an earlier post. i also have what feels like death warmed over and weakness. i am a teacher and go back to work in 2 weeks. i cant stand up for more than about a half hour, so I'm going to need some solutions here. PLEASE offer me what remedies work thru this dizziness!  Thanks!!

[Jo Jo 1]

I did not know that you could go through a serotonin withdrawl until my adult daughter was taken off Prozac for ADHD/PMS, and put onto Zoloft. She is in the process of moving, working full time, having a 2 year old son, fixing up the new house, and having her police officer husband working double shifts all night to make ends meet. She has been doing more than she could all around. She really was taking on more pressure than a normal person could cope with, but on top of that, she went off the Zoloft cold turkey, because she did not have time to refil it. Then wambo! She went down for the count! Crying spells, anxiery, dizziness, horrible fatique, cold sweats, tremors! I thought she would die! Her family and co-workers were confused and telling her to snap out of it. She was not getting much support, as no one understood. She got back to the doctor and he told her thet is why she can never go cold turkey off SRI's. He said it could take 10 days back on the meds to get her back in shape.She is now on Welbrutin SR, which may not elevate her serotonin as well, but works well for ADHD. Hopefully she will get through this, but the moral is>>> Never go cold turkey off your SRI's.