Wean off zoloft?!
Question: Wean off zoloft!?
i was on zoloft 50 mg after my baby was born for about 4mths!.!.i stopped taking it in mid april (baby was born in nov) anyway I have been feeling kind of dizzy lately and have had severe insomnia but am tired!. I never even thought that I had to be weaned off of the zoloft!. I thought since I was on such a small dose and for such a short period of time it wouldnt be important to wean!.!.coudl these symptoms be from the zoloft withdraw!.!.my ob didint tell me to call hi if I went off it!.!.!.I still have 3 mths on script but thought i was done with the "postpartum"Www@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
Yes, you need to taper!.
Going cold turkey off 50mg Zoloft can cause all sorts of effects!. It has also been described in withdrawal literature that withdrawal severity may increase when tapering through the lower doses - tapers should therefore be modified & slowed accordingly!. Hence, dropping from 50mg - 0mg is not as straightforward as it looks!. It's actually a big drop, since its equivalent is 20mg Paxil or Prozac (ref Healy, link below)!.
Zoloft essential figures (p!.83 Glenmullen) - Half-life 26hrs; Typical onset of withdrawal Day 3-4!. However this is 'typical' and it will vary according to sensitivity, how fast you metabolise the drug!.!.!.
Withdrawal effects can occur after much shorter usage - and that has been noted from the drug trials!. One example comes from another SSRI, Paxil, where it has been noted by a doctor who had access to unpublished results, that up to 80-something% of the healthy volunteers showed significant signs of withdrawal!. The longest Paxil trial I know of, was 12 weeks, most are considerably shorter!. Paxil is known to be the worst of the SSRIs from which to withdraw, so this is likely to overestimate the effects in terms of Zoloft!.!.!. but perhaps it illustrates that 4 months is more than long enough for dependence to occur!?
" !.!.!.I was done with the "postpartum"" - if you feel like doing some google searches, you should find many instances of individuals who started an antidepressant for postpartum problems, and are still on them years later!. Often describing how they tried to stop, then restarted!. Note the similarities of what happened when they stopped, to the withdrawal symptom checklist!.
Dizziness is classic withdrawal, and because it is one of the medical withdrawal effects, is the one people may be most likely to note!. Insomnia and fatigue are also withdrawal symptoms!. Some others you may/may not have noted are: headaches; anxiety; irritability; depression; the 'flu'; sinus/nasal congestion; mood swings; eye/ear sensitivity; nausea/digestive issues!.!.!.!?
List of withdrawal symptoms below!.
Link to book on withdrawal (please read in conjunction with David Healy's information, because differing approaches are taken, and it is important to understand the pros and cons)!.
Link to David Healy's Halting SSRIs - read about how to tell the 'withdrawal' from the 'original problem'!.
Link to coming off psychiatric drugs booklet!.
Lind to MIND's coming off psychiatric drugs booklet!.
Link to hints and tips (possible help-aids) for the months after coming off an SSRI/SNRI antidepressant!.
P!.S!. Zoloft tablets are available in differing strengths e!.g!. 50mg, 25mg - so with a pill cutter differing doses can be obtained; there is also a liquid version which I think is 20mg/ml strength (check with your doctor!), if so, a small 1ml sized oral syringe could help produce accurate doses, since each 0!.1ml marking would equate to 2mg Zoloft!. Do note David Healy's comments on stabilising on a liquid version of the drug - a small number of people do have an adverse reaction to the liquid version of the tablet/capsule they were taking!. Also be aware that after a time gap of roughly 6 weeks after stopping a serotonergic antidepressant (and this is anecdotal, not scientific) there comes a point where reinstating the antidepressant in some people may not produce the original effect!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Going cold turkey off 50mg Zoloft can cause all sorts of effects!. It has also been described in withdrawal literature that withdrawal severity may increase when tapering through the lower doses - tapers should therefore be modified & slowed accordingly!. Hence, dropping from 50mg - 0mg is not as straightforward as it looks!. It's actually a big drop, since its equivalent is 20mg Paxil or Prozac (ref Healy, link below)!.
Zoloft essential figures (p!.83 Glenmullen) - Half-life 26hrs; Typical onset of withdrawal Day 3-4!. However this is 'typical' and it will vary according to sensitivity, how fast you metabolise the drug!.!.!.
Withdrawal effects can occur after much shorter usage - and that has been noted from the drug trials!. One example comes from another SSRI, Paxil, where it has been noted by a doctor who had access to unpublished results, that up to 80-something% of the healthy volunteers showed significant signs of withdrawal!. The longest Paxil trial I know of, was 12 weeks, most are considerably shorter!. Paxil is known to be the worst of the SSRIs from which to withdraw, so this is likely to overestimate the effects in terms of Zoloft!.!.!. but perhaps it illustrates that 4 months is more than long enough for dependence to occur!?
" !.!.!.I was done with the "postpartum"" - if you feel like doing some google searches, you should find many instances of individuals who started an antidepressant for postpartum problems, and are still on them years later!. Often describing how they tried to stop, then restarted!. Note the similarities of what happened when they stopped, to the withdrawal symptom checklist!.
Dizziness is classic withdrawal, and because it is one of the medical withdrawal effects, is the one people may be most likely to note!. Insomnia and fatigue are also withdrawal symptoms!. Some others you may/may not have noted are: headaches; anxiety; irritability; depression; the 'flu'; sinus/nasal congestion; mood swings; eye/ear sensitivity; nausea/digestive issues!.!.!.!?
List of withdrawal symptoms below!.
Link to book on withdrawal (please read in conjunction with David Healy's information, because differing approaches are taken, and it is important to understand the pros and cons)!.
Link to David Healy's Halting SSRIs - read about how to tell the 'withdrawal' from the 'original problem'!.
Link to coming off psychiatric drugs booklet!.
Lind to MIND's coming off psychiatric drugs booklet!.
Link to hints and tips (possible help-aids) for the months after coming off an SSRI/SNRI antidepressant!.
P!.S!. Zoloft tablets are available in differing strengths e!.g!. 50mg, 25mg - so with a pill cutter differing doses can be obtained; there is also a liquid version which I think is 20mg/ml strength (check with your doctor!), if so, a small 1ml sized oral syringe could help produce accurate doses, since each 0!.1ml marking would equate to 2mg Zoloft!. Do note David Healy's comments on stabilising on a liquid version of the drug - a small number of people do have an adverse reaction to the liquid version of the tablet/capsule they were taking!. Also be aware that after a time gap of roughly 6 weeks after stopping a serotonergic antidepressant (and this is anecdotal, not scientific) there comes a point where reinstating the antidepressant in some people may not produce the original effect!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
You cannot just stop taking antidepressants!. I tried it, and was dizzy and the like!. You should talk to your doctor and he can tell you how to get off the medication correctly!.Www@Answer-Health@Com