gettinhg off zoloft

[tikva]

All these posts are so discouraging. does anyone get off zoloft successfully? Please, someone out there, if you have, tell us. If the doctor has seen cases of people who were on it for three or four years and successfully withdrew, please, let us know!

[cj29]

I agree with Paxiled 100% in relation to the biased bad experiences that you will find all over the net.  Not to say that they are not warranted, but remember that people have bad experiences with anything be it medications, cars, tv's, etc.  I also agree that you cannot generalize this, but I got off of Zoloft without any major problems except for a stomach ache and headache which did not last very long.  When I did, I went back to my doctor and expressed my concerns, and was put on a slower taper which helped tremendously.  Good communication between the patient and the prescribing physician is key in getting through this in opinion.  Being proactive and vigilant about one's health is important but there has to be an element of trust when doing this.

I am a firm believer in medications like Zoloft, but I believe it is only part of the solution.  Counseling is essential to gain the long term knowledge to confront and deal with anxiety issues in my experience...this combination can be quite efffective...keep us posted!

[Paxiled]

The doctor is on the mental health forum, not this one.  Most people get off medications successfully, even if it's hard.  All of them have a high rate of withdrawal symptoms, but they don't last long for the great majority of people.  On the internet, however, those of us who had terrible problems and didn't get help from our psychiatrists or doctors come to find out what's going on and what to do, so you're going to find a bias on the net of people who had bad experiences.  Those who did it smoothly have little reason to go on the net looking for help.  That being said, you're still better off knowing what might happen so if it does you know what's going on and can deal with it, and can pressure your psychiatrist to treat you as you are, not as a generalization.  Information isn't frightening, the lack of it is.

[silverberg]

There are allot of people who have gotten off zoloft, with no W/D? I talk about it in my open JOurnal entries here, sure you will find others who have, ALSO ALWAYS remember, the what you read here is one persons experience and there can be other reasons (MANY) why some people have a harder time., zoloft is one of the easiest!