Zoloft Withdrawal Symptoms

In my experience it takes about a month for the brain jolts to stop. I am on withdrawal for second time in 8 years but this time i am confident that i no longer need them emotionally. I honestly thought i would spend the rest of my life on them and my health issues were getting worse and worse. I had so many symptoms i was embarrassed to admit it!! The worst being depression, night sweats, hallucinations, pain, uncontrollable sleepiness unexplained weight gain and digestive problems. My allergies were off the scale and even a tiny amount of milk would make me very sick. I had considered taking my life when my pet cockatiel died, that is how unstable i had become. The doctors thought i may have fibromyalgia but i did some research and found that gluten intolerance can cause all these symptoms and some others i haven't even mentioned. Turns out i have celiac disease! Every one of my symptoms has gone away since i went gluten free and i can even digest milk again. My last thing to try was coming of my medication (150mg sertraline and 40mg amitriptyline) Apart from the physical withdrawal symptoms (upset belly nausea and brain jolts) i feel good. This week my pet hedgehog lost her entire litter of babies and nearly died and i found out my 14 year old daughter has been smoking, drinking, doing weed and having sex and decided she is old enough to get engaged!! Before i went gluten free i would have definitely thought about suicide and my emotions would have been completely out of control, there is no way i could have coped but instead i am sad, disappointed and determined to sort the problems out and that is without the medication on board!! I never imagined that food could do so much damage but there you go!!!

 

Hey everyone, I want to get some reassurance and feedback. I have taken 25 m of zoloft and now I have quit its been two weeks since I quit and I was just wondering what time limit I should expect for withdrawl symptoms to subside? Work has been hard with these effects especially moving fast I lose my balance and I get light headed, I also have inner shakes. Thanks for the feed back.

I have been on Zoloft for 2 years. 100mg. I never experienced any side effects. I stopped taking it 6 days ago and haven't felt any different at all yet. I'm not going to say I don't believe people who talk about side effects, but I think it's much more of a mental thing. If you think you're going to experience side effects, you will.

Hey man I saw that you had lower back pain when you were coming off zoloft. My lower back is killing me coming off it. Do you think it was related? Thanks!

Hey Billy,

People say it takes around 2-3 weeks for the withdrawal symptoms start to improve. Now, from my experience: I took 25 mg for one month and decided to stop it cold turkey, since it was giving me terrible diarrhea and making my depression worst.

I'm off for exactly 12 days now and I can tell you I'm much better than before. The diarrhea started to improve after 1 week and, as for the withdrawal symptoms, I'm still facing some dizziness, irritability and drowsiness, but I will get better eventually (honestly, in comparison to the diarrhea I had, withdrawal symptoms are not bothering me that much). Just make sure you're eating healthy food (fruits and vegetables, all fresh), plenty of water and if possible practice some physical activity -- I feel my symptoms get worse when I don't do that. Hang in there and be patient, you'll get better! :)

Have any of you experienced spots before your eyes upon an activity that requires physical exertion.  Tapered off Zoloft from 150 , then 75 mg for a montht0 50 mg for couple of months then 25 mg every other day for 2 weeks then every third day for 2 weeks.  Now it has been about 4weeks since I've been totally off and I feel down and out, emotional......how long until you start feeling good.  Also, getting these green spots  and feel light headed and my appetite is low.,

I myself have just ended the tapering off plan supervised by my doctor.  I was only on 50mg for two years, then 25mg for a year after that. Then, two weeks taking half, and one week half every other day.  Mostly for PTSD and mild depression. Had a house fire, lost everything and one year to the date had my first panic attack, which continued until I was put on Sertraline. After being on it and gaining 30+ lbs over the course of the three years, (yeah.. sucks, can cause weight gain) I decided I needed to try to get off the medication.  Now, I know I'm weening off a small amount to begin with, but even I have had slight withdrawals.. dry throat, diarrhea, night sweats.. And today,  day two without any, I am sleepy.. sooo sleepy!! But, I feel good about going of the medication and I'm hoping to never have to be on it again.  Worse feeling I ever had was the "zaps" and that was the first two weeks on the meds.. scared the fing sh@# out of me.  I would recommend some xanax while tapering off. I didn't need it, mostly it's like a placebo for me. IF I know I have access to it, I know I can take it.  Most of us who are on zoloft are addictive in our personalities.. the last thing I wanted was to become addicted to xanax. But, if you can have it knowing you can have it.. it's a nice feeling.  I've cut back on a lot of bad habits  drinking and smoking and hoping to lead a healthier happier (and thinner)  life.  I don't ever want to be on this med again..  I'm looking into alternate holistic coping  therapy for stress. Good luck to you all, it's a vicious process.. but you can do it! :-) 

i have had unexplainable stomach issues while tapering off of Zoloft. I began at 125MG and was on it for many years. Now I feel an intense need to get off. I am tapering off slowly, under MD advise, now done to 50 MG. i am having side effects, sleep and some headaches, but I feel like I want to get off the drug. i have been on it for 8 years. I want to know how long I should expect these symptoms. I believe my head will work more efficiently without Zoloft. I don't like the withdrawal impact.

I have recently been off of Zoloft for a week now, I started it because of depression and it was 50 mg then my doctor upped it to 100mg. I've been on this medication for a few years now probably about 3 years. I just decided that I didn't want to be on this medication anymore because I don't like taking meds as it is, I'm a nanny for two young children and I dont want to be on meds when taking care of them. So i used up my 25mg as of last week and I've been doing okay so far, but I still experience brain zaps and feeling like my head weighs 1,000 lbs. Is there anything i can do about this? I've been taking ibuproven but it doesn't really seem to help. Any advice would be great.

 

thank you,

Kristen

I have recently gotten off of Zoloft and I am experiencing brain zaps and feeling like my head weighs 1,000 lbs. do any other medications help?

dont give up hope, i have been on Zoloft for "thirty" yes thats right 30 years, im getting off them as i write, i have tried multiple times but the "zapping" as people called it was terrible. i was a nurse all my working years and went to afew conferences by medico,s on depression and zoloft or other SSRIs . the thought was always they were not addictive and you either needed them or you didnt, i started on one x 100mg daily but was in the end up to 3x100mg daily...some twelve months ago while having routine blood tests done, i also have a thyroid problem, under active, it was discovered that my vit.D levels were on 20 ,( the range should be over 45 to not be a worry ) i did some research on the net and with the ok from my dr started taking vit d supplements 1000 IUx4 every night, i read where another lady had also been taking an antihistamine daily so i began also taking polaramine 2mg every morning. i started withdrawing to two and half daily for a month then down to two tablets for a month and now taking 1 and a half one day a two the next and i will continue this for a month......so far i have had no side effects at all...YIPPEE......i last week also got some sub lingual B12 spray as i know this helps also, my natreopath has also suggested other products which is helping but this is something every one needs to sort out for themselves as we are all different......im feeling the best i have in years, the reason i started on zoloft was more than one cause, depression from an early age, id say approx 8 , due to family probs and multiple disasters that happened over the last thirty years......never give up hope but do it slowly and if you find your self going backward i.e. depressed , dont be silly and stop taking them , maybe the time for you to come off them isnt right, as i said i went to many conferences on the subject of depression/anxiety and SSRI medication and i do believe the "right " ones do help, as there are so many different ones on the market now with differing side effects you have to assess which one is best for you, do your own research as well as talking to your medico, DONT feel guilty because you take them, if you had blood pressure you would take medication, or any other problem, maybe not for ever but dont be scared by what people may tell you, after thirty years i felt the time was right and i have never felt better in my life but as i said im sure the low vit D was hindering me also..hang in there and just keep trying x

I had been taking 150mg Zoloft for about 2 years. When my insurance ran out just a few months ago I couldn't afford to get another insurance (Because I was moving overseas very soon) that I would have to abandon. So I had 1 pill bottle left to take. I used it wisely and for the first 2 weeks I took 50mg and then for the next week and a half I took 25mg then for the rest of that week I took 15mg then I was out. During my weening off process I noticed several withdrawal symptoms. The first and main one being brain zaps, (electric shock) I also had; blurred vision, unsteady vision, seeing things out of the corner of my eye that weren't actually there, strong headaches esp. in the eye socket area, very itchy skin, itchy scalp, super dry hands and feet, loss of saliva, very dry mouth, the taste of metallic in my mouth, loss of appetite, when I sweat it tasted like Zoloft, food tasted like solidified ready-to-eat Zoloft. More often than not I would hear things, the most common sound was one of a strange loud knocking (like knocking on a door or piece of wood) and it was very realistic, being tired all the time, loss of endurance and strength, weight loss (due to lack of appetite), I was late on my period by 7 days the first week of weening off, now I am completely off of them by 2 1/2 weeks and my period is again late by now 6 days (still counting :/ ) my hearing has changed, things that did not seem loud to me while taking the drug seem excruciating loud and obnoxious to the point it actually hurts my ear drum and gives me a headache, my body is tender so the slightest movements or touches are often times not pleasurable and annoying. It literally feels like a cover of numbness has been lifted from my entire body and psyche. Somethings that did not bother me while on Zoloft bother me now. I remembered feeling always very neutral on while taking Zoloft, this was an effect that had started about 1 year and a half after taking the pill. I noticed things were always in the gray area. There were no Black and White. Everything was neutral. I was not happy and I was not sad. I was stagnant. Almost like a prisoner of my own defeat. I can say gladly now that things are not in the gray area. I feel all emotions and I feel them strongly. I have had to warn myself while starting weening off, to remember how to deal with anxiety. (Zoloft did teach me how to deal, deep breaths, know everything will work out, and pick yourself up and keep moving because you cant stay down, the world doesn't wait for you, you must get up and keep moving. most importantly: be logical. be reasonable. think before you react.) and I am glad to say that this did work for me, I have to remind myself, but it does work. If I would of known all of the terrible side effects and the zombie-fying that this drug induces, there is no way I would have agreed to this. It is a dangerous thing, living without a care in the world. very very dangerous. I hope this helps to anyone in need.