Share Your Experience with Zoloft Withdrawals

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i will try to keep this quick. positives first: been off zoloft for one week. feeling real feelings again. sex drive and function already 100% better. already lost a few pounds.

 Dramamine, benadryl, and fish oil REALLY help.


i've had brain zaps, vertigo, the whooshing sound and sensation when i look left and right.
intense dreams, itching skin, unusual anger. i feel more like myself though, and i didnt realize how numb i was on zoloft.

i dont think i really needed this drug. it is absolutely crazy to me that it has this much power over my body when i quit. what is this drug??????? 

I just came off of Zoloft 150mg cold turkey about a week ago although I had a server headache for about 3 days no other withdrawals

I have been on Zoloft since May for depression. I weighed 157 and suddenly went up to 177!:;0 I have never weighed this much. I have now completely stopped taking it as of today. I weaned myself down after checking with the professionals. I hope this weight falls off. soon!!!! This really makes me mad as i was told by the doctor i may lose weight on it...she never said it could cause me to gain...So wow

I have been on Zoloft for over 12 years I found it helped me with my anger. Just two months ago I was diagnossed with Bipolar 2 and was taken off the Zoloft and Lorazepam. I was prescribed 300mg of Seroquel XR and 1500mg of Sodium Valporate. Since this has happened I am angry all the time and will not go near my family as I become quite abbusive verbaly I have told the Pdoc about this and he said it will pass so far I have had to miss work for a week as I am too out of it with slurred speach to do anything. They say Lorazepam and zooft are bad but in the two months of taking the new drugs I now have type 2 diabetes have put on 20kg in weight and feel drugged everyday I would rather be on the Zoloft and Lorazepam than have this toxic mix in my system

I have been on Zoloft for 7 years at 200 mg. 

I realized, years ago, that my inability to orgasm without great difficulty could be a result of this and asked my doctor about it. She dismissed my suspicions and has done so a few times since then. 

I can not handle it anymore. I am going to get off this medication as quickly as I can without losing my mind. On occasions in the past in which I've missed 2 or more doses, I was absolutely disconnected with reality, logic, and emotional stability. I've never felt so terrible in my life. I'll gladly welcome the brain zaps and potential hallucinations if I can have the ability to orgasm and the freedom of not being tied to this awful medication anymore. I am only 17 and this pill is killing me.

I was on 100mg of Zoloft, and when they tried to wean me off, I got really shaky and I felt sick. Im scared cuz I think I might be addicted. HELP!

I hope you all realize that it is all psychological. What did human beings do back in the day to deal with stress, emotions, anxiety, etc..? You suck it up and let your normal body functions work. Why do you want to suppress your feelings and emotions any longer? Like many others have said, you need to ween off the drug slowly if you have been taking it for long periods of time or have a high dosage. I used 50mg for 1 month and then decided to cold turkey. The side effects of Zoloft do not outweigh the benefits. I had horrible tremors, shaking, confused/cloudy head, emotionless, not good stuff. After the first week of withdrawal I made it just fine. You need to have a positive mindset and realize that you can help yourself better than any prescription drug. FIGHT THROUGH AND OVERCOME. Workout and drink lots of water. Read if you can and exercise your brain. You can expect stomach problems, diarrhea, increased anxiety for a bit but it will disappear. You can beat this drug and become drug free again. When you were a child growing up how was life for you? Pretty fantastic? Well get back to that state of mind. You are your own worst enemy. You can do it, have faith, God bless.

I have been on 100 mg of Zoloft for 12 years and finally decided I didn't need it anymore. With the guidance of my family doctor, I have reduced the dosage over a six week period. I am doing fairly well but still have the occasional brain zaps. However, once I stopped completely, in a matter of a few days, I have severe pain in my knees and calves. Is this a symptom of withdrawal? Will the pain there ever go away?

Much easier said than done. I have been on 150mg for 10 years and weened off. The first 2 months were okay; brain zaps and stomach aches blah blah blah. Now 6 months later I am crying daily, having anxiety attacks, suicidal at times, irritable and constantly exhausted and fearful of the world aorund me. I have tried your "positive mindset" stuff with meditation, journals, writing lists of why my life doesn't suck etc. and it has just gotten worse. These meds have ruined my life. I have no sex drive at all and don't sleep. I wish your methods mentioned above worked but it is just not that easy since these meds completely alter your already messed up mindset. I respect the positivity though.

I've been on Zoloft for nearly 20 yrs.  Increased from 50mg to 100mg about 3 yrs ago.  Today is day three without it because I failed to order it in time (my fault).  I'm starting to have crying jags and depression.  I'm irritable with my husband and snappy.  Thank God I haven't had any of the other symptoms I read about.  My husband just left to go to the local pharmacy to try to get 3 pills to last me until my mail order script arrives.  I hope he's successful because I have to go to work tomorrow and I can't even begin to think what I'll be like at work.  He's a good guy, but not very understanding about medications and people's need for them (although he's a diabetic and a recovering alcoholic).  He only thinks of addicts and their cravings and needs.  This does NOT make me feel any better as I need compassion and sympathy right now, and a hug and some understanding and love until I can get better.  Although I'm taking this med because it was prescribed by a Dr for my anxiety and depression (due to my crappy former life experiences) and it was a great help; I now hate the fact that I'm chained to it like an addict.  I may be wrong, but I believe that a little emotional support would go a long way in helping me through this right now.

I have been on zoloft for just over 3 year. I have tried several time to get myself off of this drug. I was up to 100 mg and have (over a year) weaned myself down to 12.5 mg. I am now in my second week of no zoloft. This time around has been much easier in getting myself off of it. I am having slight brain zaps, chest "zings", and slight anger. I think what has helped me this time is because I am taking 1 tsp of Virgin Coconut Oil in each cup of tea/coffee that I drink during the day. I am eating grass fed butter on everything and I am going to start taking B-12 vitamins and Epsom salt baths (to get magnesium).  The brain needs the fat and the grass fed butter is high in vitamin D.

I have never made it to 2 weeks off of zoloft before. The withdrawals were just to terrible. I could hardly stand or look around with out feeling like I was falling over. Would get so cranky no one in my family wanted to be around me...

While on zoloft for the first 2 years I gained 25 pounds! This past year while weaning off of it I have lost 20 pounds! 

I feel like my old self again. I got on this drug because of PPD. I wish like Heck i never went on it in the first place....because no one told me about the terrible withdrawals. Even now if I try to talk to my DOCTOR about it he acts as if I am crazy. It hurts to know the doctors don't care to talk about / acknowledge this. They are just evil pill pushers, IMO.

I will post again in a week or two to report my withdrawal experiences.  This time i vow i will never swallow another one of these pills. I WILL get through this!! 

 

-Melissa

Just thought I'd share my experience incase it helps someone or gives someone some hope. I was on 50 mg of Zoloft for about 3 years for anxiety. I found out I was pregnant (unexpectantly) and started weening myself the same day. I went to 25mg for about 2 weeks, 12.5 for about 2 weeks and then 6.75 for about a week.Then I decided to go for it and completely stop. The sysmptoms everyone describes started as soon as I went to 25mg but they shot through the roof on about day 3 of being completely off of it. They continued to get worse and became completely debilitating. I have 3 children and could not care for them. The brain zaps were so bad that the only way to prevent them from occuring constantly was to stay in bed and close my eyes. I could not function standing up or moving around at all. And these were just the physical symptoms. My anxiety also shot throught the roof, along with  extreme irritability, weepiness and an overall just quitea  pleasure to be around. My husband had to call in sick to work so that the kids were taken care of. What an awful time. I am happy to report that I am on day 16 and am starting to recover. I think that I am far from being 100% but I hope and pray the worst is over. I was able to drive yesterday for the first time in about 11 days. I actually ran some errands which is literally the first time I have gotten outside because any sort of stimulation (the sun, sounds, visual, EVERYTHING) was more than my brain could handle. I went to church this morning and by the end I was struggling and had to go home and go straight to bed, but I still feel better than a few days ago. If I was not pregnant, I know I would have reached for another pill because this experience has been so unbearable and probably the worst 2 weeks of my life. Though Zoloft really did have positive affects on me, I never would have gone on it knowing this is what it would be like to go off. Unless you are committed to the drug for life, DO NOT GO ON IT! You can always go to a natural path doctor and find some alternative methods- which is what I am doing right now. I still suffer from anxiety and need to find something, but I will never get the last 2 weeks of my life back. Anyone who is going through this right now or if you're thinking about going off, you can do it. Don't reach for the next pill- it doesn't last forever! But be prepared and know that it is rough but it will be worth it! God Bless

To Justanaverageguy: This is kinda brutal to hear for all the people who have tried everything and need some sort of answer to living a halfway normal life and are just trying to trust and follow the advice of a doctor in a time of need. I was so bad for years before I finally decided I needed intervention. I did my homework, I didn't just go to a family doc to get prescribed a drug because I was a little anxious. And for me, Zoloft made a heck of a difference. Yes, there were side affects but they were mild. I was not emotionless or numb, as some people describe it, at all. I cannot lie and say that this drug wasn't a godsend for me and for my family but after my withdrawel experience, I cannot, and refuse, to recommend it to anyone and will never go on it again. It is not fair to assume that everyone's case is similar to yours. The longer you are on the drug, the more likely you will suffer from severe withdrawels. Some don't have withdrawels at all. I agree, there has got to be other alternatives to going on such a stong drug but it's okay if you need professional help! Thinking positively just might not be doing it! Counseling works wonders and is worth every penny. Try working with a Natural Path Doc and possibly get on some supplements. Our bodies are different than they were hundreds of years ago when people just "sucked it up," most likely due to all the harmful environmental toxins that our parents were exposed to as well as ourselves. Hang in there people!

I am in week 2 of going cold turkey because I ran out and the Ob who prescribed it for post natal depression won't refill without an apt. Ok so I am in pure hell. I am a monster to my kids, I have four and I try so hard to be normal but I'm just pure mean to them. They annoy me, I go from extreme happiness and good mom to this crazy pissed off screaming mom over the slightest mishaps. This is not who I want to be. I don't know if I want to even go back to something that makes me feel so terrible , but I feel like riding it out will make my poor kids traumatized by me. I don't know what to do ;( I also dizzy, I have zaps, I want to sleep, but at night I'm too anxious to. I have chest pains, it's hard to make up sentences. This is just awful.