Zoloft Withdrawal! Please help!

[jimmy 1965]

My doctor (psychiatrist) took me off ZOlOFT. I was on Zoloft for about 5 months at a max dosage of 100mg. When he decided to take me off he did the tapering down process in 25mg increments every five days so I thought that was a good tapering process. I even asked my family doctor and he said yeah that is a safe way to get off the med. I took my last 25mg dose this past Monday night. I never had issues when I was coming off the medicne but about three days ago I started having spells of feeling light headed. I have had bouts of flu type feelings and I feel very tired and worn out. Basically I feel like **** and I dont have the flu. My question is, How long does it take to get Zoloft out of your system? I know your never to stop taking SSRI meds abruptly but when you follow a good tapering schedule and you still deal with wwithdrawal symptoms that's enough to tick a person off. My doctor wants me to start Lexapro but he wants me to wait until Zoloft is completely washed from my system. How many days do I have to put up with this ****? Any answers or advise is much appreciated. You know the medical world tells us that you cant become dependant or addicted to these meds but I tend to dissagree the more I read about people having discontinuation syndrome after following doctors orders on a good weening off process.  

Take Care
Jimmy

[bcemre3]

You can certainly call the Zoloft group a "well rounded" group of people.  We have all gained in the 20-40 pound range.

Good move to not start it - anything is better than trying to get off of this junk.  Good luck.

[Questioning?]

Thanks to everyone that's posted your experiences with Zoloft.  I started 50mg a little over a week ago for mild depression and anxiety.  My original concern was about weight gain.  My doctor said that I shouldn't gain weight, but after reading about how many people have gained weight on Zoloft, I called my pharmacist, and she said that you will gain weight, and it can start in as little as 2 months.  

Last night I started taking 1/2 a tablet.  I plan on taking 1/2 a tablet for another couple days then stopping before this has a chance to kick in!

Today, I was looking for information about withdrawal and found this forum.  I'm so glad I made the decision to stop.  It sounds like the "cure" is worse than the problem.

Thanks Again!

[bcemre3]

Thanks for your suggestion of restarting Zoloft to see if my cough does subside. BUT ----- there is no way in H--l that I will ever put one of those little evil pills in my mouth again.!!!!!

It took 176 days to get off of the junk and I think I'd rather cough till the cows come home before I take that again.

To add insult to injury, I was at a stop light and was hit in the rear by a drunk driver who fled the scene ---  I got his tag and he is in jail --  The pain in my back that is running down my legs sorta makes the cough feel "not so bad".

I truely feel I have no MAJOR withdrawal symptoms from the Zoloft because of the slow taper.  I would plead with anyone who is thinking of tapering to do so VERY slowly to avoid all the side effects mentioned in other posts.

Good luck to all who visit this site in successfully ridding their body of this awful drug.  I wish there were an attorney willing to take on the drug companies on our behalf.  

[eec333]

Wow - I'm so glad to have found this forum.  So much of it hits home!  I've been on Zoloft now for almost 10 years for panic/anxiety attacks.  In the past six months, I've been taking the generic Zoloft, Sertraline.  I've also changed jobs during this time, so my stress level has likely increased.  I was attributing an anxiety increase to the job change, but then I realized how much it corresponded to the change in meds.  After reading some other posts and articles on the web, I'm really wondering if Sertraline is all it's cracked up to be.  The unusual thing about this medication switch is that I actually feel more depressed than I have in a long time.  I've noticed little muscle twitches and a definite increase in insomnia.  It's strange...it's like I traded in my old panic attacks for depression and insomnia!

So I'm going to do a little test...I switched my latest prescription of 50mg Sertraline to 50mg Zoloft (it's $80 more expensive but worth it for my peace of mind).  I'm curious to see if the brand name actually is more effective, and if so, I definitely think the issue should be raised to insurance and pharma companies, because although I can spare the $80 at the moment, not everyone can.  I just don't understand the idea that a generic drug can cut corners in dosage of active ingredients, although it sounds like that is the case.  It just seems wrong!

I have to say again, I'm glad to read all of your comments.  Makes me feel much less alone.  :-)  Hang tough, all!

[Val S.]

Wow! Seems like you are really going through hell with that cough!
I am not coughing as much now but feel like hell and cannot deal with life in general without crying and screaming!

Back to your cough........I know that this is probably not good advice but if I was going through the coughing you seem to be going through, I would go back on Zoloft just to see if the coughing stops.
Coughing should stop within a day or so and then you would know that this is just part of the withdrawl.

When I went off of Zoloft the first time, I coughed for three weeks and when I went back on Zoloft the coughing stopped instantly.
Someone else said the same thing on another forum which I cannot find again.

What really gets me is how little the doctors seem to know about all of this!

I am surprised that there is not a class action suit against these companies!
I bet that something will happen soon!

I have read all of these posts and some on other forums and I have not found one person who says they feel normal again!
Maybe when the "normal" comes, no one posts.
We all seem to want someone to tell us how long these withdrawls last but no one seems to have completely recovered from Zoloft!

What if we do something horrible? Are we responsible for our actions in the eyes of the law?
Seems that many of us are worried about losing control!

[regosen]

During my past 7+ years on Zoloft, there was only one thing that warded off the side effects COMPLETELY:

Cannabis.

After about 4 years of taking 100-200mg of Zoloft, I was able to swiftly taper off while smoking cannabis on a daily basis.  But here's the catch: 6 months later I stopped smoking altogether, and soon after that came the dizzyness and fatigue associated with Zoloft withdrawl.  Eventually I'd had enough and got back on Zoloft (though I didn't resume the smoking habit this time), and soon I was back to "normal".  Now I'm tapering off without the help of cannabis, and (surprise surprise) here comes the fatigue again.

So Robyn, you don't have to take Zoloft for the rest of your life if you're avoiding the withdrawal symptoms; you can just smoke pot instead.  :)  But that's probably not practical for many of you (including myself), not to mention more expensive.