Zoloft withdrawal

[runitskat]

I started out on Wellbutrin 100mg SR twice a day. I had problems with insomnia so my psych added 100mg Zoloft and changed the Wellbutrin to 150mg XL once a day. I take the Wellbutrin in the morning and I take the Zoloft at night at night before I go to sleep. I wake up feeling really groggy and foggy headed. It takes me a good few hours to fully wake up. I'm good for a few hours and then by 12pm I just crash. By 9pm I'm wide awake! I have to work at 8:30 am so I need to sleep a full night to be able to work the next day. Before I got on medication I had really bad fatigue. I can sleep anywhere from 8-12 hours and wake up feeling just as tired as I did the night before. The fatigue would last all day. This is why my psych put me on Wellbutrin. But when I told him it was keeping me up at night he added the Zoloft. I've been on Wellbutrin for 3 months and Zoloft for 2.

Well my fatigue is back and worse than before. Plus I have really bad blurred vision and it's driving me crazy. I want to stop taking the Zoloft. My psych told me I could stop it at any time but I'm not sure. I've gone through withdrawal from stopping other medications (Vicodin for chronic pain) and know how horrible it can be. I know that Wellbutrin increases the chance for seizes and I don't want to risk one by stopping the Zoloft cold turkey.

I have to take anywhere from 5-8 Tylenol PM to fall asleep now and I drink 1-4 cups of coffee and 1-2 Red Bulls a day to make it through an 8 hour workday. I just started with the Tylenol PM this past week so I know that's not causing my symptoms in the morning.

Any advice on quitting Zoloft? Anyone experience anything similar to what I'm going through?

[ufcfan]

I know how hard it is to have the doctor giving you all these different kinds of medications. It makes me feel like a lab rat but, sometimes that's how they figure out what combination works best for us. I'm sorry you're having such a hard time sleeping. I hope some of your problems start to get better soon. Good Luck!

[runitskat]

I know my liver is in danger especially since I was on a dose of 8 10/325mg Norcos a day for about a year. I'm off of the Norco now because I do not have chronic pain at the moment due to a temporary fix. But it is likely that I will be back on opiate pain medicine again. So it's bad that I'm taking that much Tylenol. Normally when I do not take anything to sleep it takes about 2 hours to fall asleep. My psych thinks that I can just fix this by doing sort of mind exercises while trying to fall asleep, like trying to focus on one thing sort of like counting sheep. It's frustrating when I get in bed at 9 and don't fall asleep until 11 or 12. So I'm not sure if I ask my doctor for mirtazapine if he will give it to me. He seems to think I have no reason for not falling asleep within a normal period of time.

I'm going to stop taking Zoloft and see how I do. It's funny because I've always known I've had depression, and even when I was diagnosed with major depression, I was dead set against taking medication. And now my psych thinks I am bipolar and wants to add a mood stabilizer at my next visit. I still have those feeling of doubt towards this medication and I'm having mixed feelings when it comes to it's effectiveness. One minute I want to give up and the next I want to keep going.

[M4Y0U]

Ok first of all don't take 5-8 Tylenol to knock you down this is not good for you stomach and liver.

Now yes it is possible with any drug related to sedation and serotonin that it can cause fatigue during the next day after a dose is taken at night. I would try 15mg mirtazapine at night before bed time and see if it can work out well with the Wellbutrin in the day at the twice 100mg a day. It is very probable that the first day taking mirtazapine you will experience the same thing as you experienced with Zoloft that is become you need to adapt to it. It the beginning the drug is extremely sedative due to its own nature. 15mg dose is usually suggested for off-label use of insomnia but it can help in the day with depression and cognitive functions.

Having blurred vision and experiencing extreme fatigue is a good reason to stop Zoloft, the drug just seems to be not working with you.

M4