Should I risk coming off Zoloft

[Jan706]

I was put on Prozac in the 1990s for approx. a year and then it seemed to not be working as well.  My doctor put me Zoloft at 50mg and this was increased to 100mg, about a year or so later. ( I have a difficult social situation which causes my stress and depression, which I won't go into.)  I have taken the 100mg for many years now and it has been very helpful. I asked my doctor if I could try coming off it slowly and she told me how to do it.  I had horrendous side effects even reducing it by 25mg every 2 weeks.  I asked her about it and she didn't believe me and said that the only side effect would be the return of the depression, and that would not happen if I followed her tapering off period.  I decided to stop coming off them as I just could not cope with the severe nausea and dizziness. After a hysterectomy for cancer I was taken off estrogen permanently.  I become very depressed.  I asked my doctor if I could increase the dose of Zoloft to 150mg and she said I couldn't as I was taking a high dose already.  I am still suffering with the depression and I have been thinking trying to come off Zoloft, once again, decreasing it by very small amounts, as it does not seem to be helping me anymore.  BUT, now I read in the posts that some people find that when they need to go back on Zoloft, it doesn't have any effect.  I worry that I will go off Zoloft and find that it actually was helping me a bit and now I am suicidal (!!) but find it no longer works!!  What do you think, is it worth risking or not?

[Jan706]

Hi there, thanks for the reply.  I didn't express myself very well did I!!   I am not feeling suicidal.  I did feel like that when I was without the dihydrocodiene, which I am detoxing from slowly now.  What I was thinking is that, as these tablets no longer seem to do anything for my depressive episodes, maybe it would be a good idea to come off them and see if I can cope, with just some counseling perhaps.  I am concerned about the possible damage to the brain with long term usage, that I see spoken about.  My only concern is, if I find after coming off them, that they were actually helping me far more than I realised, but when I then go back on them I find that they no longer work at all.  I read here that once you go off them they sometimes no longer have any effect, if you need to go back on them.  Actually, thinking about it all, it has to be my decision and nobody can help me make it.  Thanks, anyway.

[becky808]

Why do you want to come off of Zoloft?
What do you hope to gain?

You're very depressed. If Zoloft isn't working anymore perhaps you could try something different or in addition to Zoloft. If you're suicidal, going without medication definitely isn't the answer.