Hi all, 

 

After 10 years on Sertraline (beginning age 16 for social anxiety), I began tapering my Sertraline in December 2024. The GP would not prescribe a liquid and I felt unable to make my own suspension, so eventually I had my 50mg prescription prescribed as 2 x 25mg tablets and did the following using a pill cutter, splitting the tablet into quarters.

 

Dec 2024: 50mg -> 43.75mg (12.5% decrease)

Early 2025: 43.75mg -> 37.5mg (14.3% decrease)

Early 2025: 37.5mg -> 31.05mg (16.7% decrease)

April 2025: 31.05mg -> 25mg (20% decrease)

 

As you can see, as I reduced my medication using a pill cutter, I was making larger and larger cuts. However, I didn't knowingly experience any withdrawal symptoms.

 

In August 2025, I dropped to 18.75% and between Aug - Nov gradually started to experience more emotional symptoms - increased anxiety and tearfulness. No other symptoms, but after years of not having to manage this, it didn't feel manageable. I was not using any non-drug coping mechanisms and my life externally had become stressful, so I didn't attribute the tearfulness to withdrawal. Even now I think it was a combination of both.

 

The final 2 weeks of Nov 2025 I felt more tearful and anxious/overwhelmed/flighty. On the final weekend of Nov, I felt dread and had palpitations. 

 

I hadn't been on Surviving Antidepressants or anything similar in a year as I hadn't experienced withdrawal symptoms and thought I was one of the lucky ones, despite my long term antidepressant use. In order to combat the anxiety and overwhelm, I decided to go back up to 25mg over winter to manage my anxiety. 

 

Within about 2 hours of taking the dose I felt increased feelings of dread, extreme dry mouth, nausea, an empty feeling in my head (like I couldn't engage with hobbies/distractions). I left work at 10am thinking I was having a panic attack. That night I experienced restless legs, nausea, extremely dry mouth, trembling and insomnia. I had to walk from 4am - 5:30 am because I was writhing in bed. That next morning I immediately went back down to 18.75mg. For weeks I woke up with morning panic (if I slept at all), struggled to eat (lost 8lbs in a month), was unable to go to work, had my partner and housemate taking it in turns to look after me because each moment felt impossible to manage. I experienced the restlessness/akathisia on 3 other occasions, each time making me feel suicidal to the extent of writing a letter to my partner and planning how I'd do it. I'd never felt that way in my life.

 

I don't know about windows and waves, but my general trend was feeling bad in the morning and better by the evenings/afternoons. This triggered some OCD-like thoughts "I'll get better in the evening" which made me think I was sort of creating the anxiety and subsequent relief by expecting it. However, I have read that some people experience this pattern.

 

Long story short, it's February and I've slowly been getting better. I haven't had any suicidal thoughts in over a month. I get some tingling/muscle soreness/burning sensations but honestly I don't mind. Nausea comes and goes but is nothing like before. Appetite is fine. I've been sleeping through the night for the last 3 weeks. Since Jan I've had a weighing scale so I know my dose is accurate - my partner is weighing it as I was ruminating too much about accuracy.

 

At the start of Feb I changed my brand (no choice) - the anxiety went away but was replaced with emotional numbing which is also hard to manage. Some mornings I'll wake up with palpitations but no anxiety attached to them. I don't know if these two things are connected and have no way of knowing. The numbing was starting to come here and there anyway.

 

Overall I'm functioning. I'm about to go back to work (only 5 hours a week, but still). I try to go out and see friends. Me and my partner have a "plan" for me to stabilise on this dose.

 

But of course I'm thinking ahead to when I begin tapering again. It used to fill me with fear but now I'm feeling very numb. I don't know whether I'll try to get a liquid or continue to dry taper until I'm at 12.5mg and then make the switch (before the emotional numbing I was terrified to do anything that would further upset my nervous system). I wonder if experiencing numbness is a good time to make the jump to a liquid. However, my GP (UK) only agreed to 6 months of liquid to support me in "getting back up to 25mg" - which I did want to try when I was in crisis but now don't want to. I wonder if she'd actually prescribe it for the years it'd take to taper.

 

Anyway, I have no idea how soon after a bad experience you should begin tapering again. I suppose when the symptoms resolve? My main symptoms currently are emotional numbing, slight dry mouth in the morning, occasional nausea. I do wonder if my current numbness is a reaction to the trauma or it's the medication. 

 

You read so many horror stories & then you experience something that feels horrific and you think "now I know that's me too". But I have to keep hope.

 

When I resume tapering I want to do it as slowly as possible, maybe with the Brassmonkey microtaper. But it's tough when you read about people being sensitive to even that. And I wonder if experiencing akathisia means it'll be an inevitable companion during my taper, because if so I don't know if I can put myself and my loved ones through more suicidal ideation. I'm also not convinced an accurate dry taper is possible based on the weight of my pill and the limitations of the scale.

 

Non drug coping techniques: I'm currently doing talking therapy and mindfulness x 1 weekly, breathwork and meditation class 1 x weekly, EMDR soon to begin (although with my current numbness I don't know if it will work).

Hi @molly97

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

This is a volunteer-run, community forum aimed at helping those who are tapering and/or experiencing difficulties with psychiatric medications and withdrawl syndrome. We are not medical professionals and cannot offer medical advice. We simply offer support and opinions which you could use as talking points with a medical provider knowledgeable in withdrawing off psychiatric medications.

 

Please familiarise yourself with the forum rules and the disclaimer located here: Guidelines

 

Please make sure your signature is kept up to date with your drug history. This will allow members to see some basic information about your drug history and situation so that they may help you best. Information on how to do this is located in the FAQs section above, but here is a direct link: Update Signature

Once this is done, future posts made by you will have this signature turned on by default. For this reason please keep it clear but condensed as possible.

I'm so sorry to read about the tough time you've had recently you will find plenty of support here for sure.

 

1 hour ago, molly97 said:

After 10 years on Sertraline (beginning age 16 for social anxiety), I began tapering my Sertraline in December 2024. The GP would not prescribe a liquid and I felt unable to make my own suspension, so eventually I had my 50mg prescription prescribed as 2 x 25mg tablets and did the following using a pill cutter, splitting the tablet into quarters.

 

Dec 2024: 50mg -> 43.75mg (12.5% decrease)

Early 2025: 43.75mg -> 37.5mg (14.3% decrease)

Early 2025: 37.5mg -> 31.05mg (16.7% decrease)

April 2025: 31.05mg -> 25mg (20% decrease)

 

As you can see, as I reduced my medication using a pill cutter, I was making larger and larger cuts. However, I didn't knowingly experience any withdrawal symptoms.

 

In August 2025, I dropped to 18.75% and between Aug - Nov gradually started to experience more emotional symptoms - increased anxiety and tearfulness. No other symptoms, but after years of not having to manage this, it didn't feel manageable. I was not using any non-drug coping mechanisms and my life externally had become stressful, so I didn't attribute the tearfulness to withdrawal. Even now I think it was a combination of both.

As you know a pill cutter isnt accurate enough for these drops and you were tapering too fast, this isnt good for our nervous systems, as you found your CNS will cope with so much but the Aug 25 drop was the final straw and your system said enough. 

 

1 hour ago, molly97 said:

The final 2 weeks of Nov 2025 I felt more tearful and anxious/overwhelmed/flighty. On the final weekend of Nov, I felt dread and had palpitations. 

 

I hadn't been on Surviving Antidepressants or anything similar in a year as I hadn't experienced withdrawal symptoms and thought I was one of the lucky ones, despite my long term antidepressant use. In order to combat the anxiety and overwhelm, I decided to go back up to 25mg over winter to manage my anxiety. 

 

Within about 2 hours of taking the dose I felt increased feelings of dread, extreme dry mouth, nausea, an empty feeling in my head (like I couldn't engage with hobbies/distractions). I left work at 10am thinking I was having a panic attack. That night I experienced restless legs, nausea, extremely dry mouth, trembling and insomnia. I had to walk from 4am - 5:30 am because I was writhing in bed. That next morning I immediately went back down to 18.75mg. For weeks I woke up with morning panic (if I slept at all), struggled to eat (lost 8lbs in a month), was unable to go to work, had my partner and housemate taking it in turns to look after me because each moment felt impossible to manage. I experienced the restlessness/akathisia on 3 other occasions, each time making me feel suicidal to the extent of writing a letter to my partner and planning how I'd do it. I'd never felt that way in my life.

 

I don't know about windows and waves, but my general trend was feeling bad in the morning and better by the evenings/afternoons. This triggered some OCD-like thoughts "I'll get better in the evening" which made me think I was sort of creating the anxiety and subsequent relief by expecting it. However, I have read that some people experience this pattern.

This updose was too big Im afraid. We suggest a small updose to relief symptoms and then possibly increase slightly after some time if that small dose goes well.

 

The feeling better in the evenings is seen alot on the community. Its thought to be helped by Cortisol levels naturally dropping throughout the day.

 

1 hour ago, molly97 said:

Long story short, it's February and I've slowly been getting better. I haven't had any suicidal thoughts in over a month. I get some tingling/muscle soreness/burning sensations but honestly I don't mind. Nausea comes and goes but is nothing like before. Appetite is fine. I've been sleeping through the night for the last 3 weeks. Since Jan I've had a weighing scale so I know my dose is accurate - my partner is weighing it as I was ruminating too much about accuracy.

 

At the start of Feb I changed my brand (no choice) - the anxiety went away but was replaced with emotional numbing which is also hard to manage. Some mornings I'll wake up with palpitations but no anxiety attached to them. I don't know if these two things are connected and have no way of knowing. The numbing was starting to come here and there anyway.

This is good to see 🙂 

 

The change of brand does seem to affect people more often than you might think. A period of cross tapering is a good idea to make the switch is not so sudden.

 

1 hour ago, molly97 said:

Overall I'm functioning. I'm about to go back to work (only 5 hours a week, but still). I try to go out and see friends. Me and my partner have a "plan" for me to stabilise on this dose.

 

But of course I'm thinking ahead to when I begin tapering again. It used to fill me with fear but now I'm feeling very numb. I don't know whether I'll try to get a liquid or continue to dry taper until I'm at 12.5mg and then make the switch (before the emotional numbing I was terrified to do anything that would further upset my nervous system). I wonder if experiencing numbness is a good time to make the jump to a liquid. However, my GP (UK) only agreed to 6 months of liquid to support me in "getting back up to 25mg" - which I did want to try when I was in crisis but now don't want to. I wonder if she'd actually prescribe it for the years it'd take to taper.

Good to hear you are functioning. 

 

It's totally up to you which type of drug you want to use for your taper. Liquids is a good route and your doctor should allow you access to this and not put limits on you. Ive a post about this here.

UK support for access to liquids on the NHS

I can also supply you with taper guides please PM me for more details.

 

Sticking with dry cutting and then swapping to suspensions for the small doses has its advantages. Mainly you dont need to swap brands.

Some more information you might find useful.

 

Transitioning from pills to liquid

 

How to calculate dosages and dilutions? Spreadsheets and calculators

 

1 hour ago, molly97 said:

Anyway, I have no idea how soon after a bad experience you should begin tapering again. I suppose when the symptoms resolve? My main symptoms currently are emotional numbing, slight dry mouth in the morning, occasional nausea. I do wonder if my current numbness is a reaction to the trauma or it's the medication. 

 

You read so many horror stories & then you experience something that feels horrific and you think "now I know that's me too". But I have to keep hope.

 

When I resume tapering I want to do it as slowly as possible, maybe with the Brassmonkey microtaper. But it's tough when you read about people being sensitive to even that. And I wonder if experiencing akathisia means it'll be an inevitable companion during my taper, because if so I don't know if I can put myself and my loved ones through more suicidal ideation. I'm also not convinced an accurate dry taper is possible based on the weight of my pill and the limitations of the scale.

 

Non drug coping techniques: I'm currently doing talking therapy and mindfulness x 1 weekly, breathwork and meditation class 1 x weekly, EMDR soon to begin (although with my current numbness I don't know if it will work).

I would suggest a good long hold and let yourself settle down. Make sure you keep up the good work with the accurate dosing.

 

When to start to taper is not a straight forward question. Ideally you want to be nice and stable before making further cuts.

 

When you start tapering as I said I can send you some hyperbolic taper schedules but also read this.

 

Tapering Information

 

Try not too worry to much about what may or may not happen during your taper. Holding and getting nice and stable will be your first job. Then calmly working out your taper strategy and getting all the relevant things in place to allow you to implement will be the next thing. After this is just slow and steady looking for WD symptoms on the way down. Its not a race 🙂 

 

Its great you are working on your Non-drug coping techniques.

 

There is a great post here about it.

 

Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

 

I think you sound like you are doing really well all things considered and showing some good signs of stabilising. A decent hold here for the minute and you'll get yourself ready to continue your taper but with you in charge this time.

 

In the mean time this is what I would do if I were you:

 

-Stay Hydrated 

 

-Eat a good clean whole food diet, avoiding processed foods and sugars.

 

-Stay away from caffeine, alcohol and antihistamines and any other psychoactive substances.

 

Supplements are to be avoided initially, as they often irritate our nervous systems. Try to get your nutrition through food.

 

Down the line, you may wish to introduce Fish Oil and Magnesium. Those who can tolerate them have found them calming to the nervous system. Be careful try one at a time and start low and see how you get on should you choose to try them.

 

A daily walk is very important as much as you can manage, if you can manage it. Gets you your fresh air and Vitamin D does wonders for your mind!

 

You are very welcome here and I hope you find the site supportive.

 

Chippy

Hello Molly, I just saw Your nice post over at @Traceys thread. Welcome to the community!

 I have taken ADs for 10 years, too, and started tapering oct 2024, in my case with a very stupid start of CT and switching. You have done it much wiser and I am so sorry for You that you are in trouble now. 

 

Anhedonia is a nasty symptom, I am sorry that You have to struggle with it. 

I have seen younger people generally making faster progress, maybe becouse there ist better neuroplasticity. I hope very much that You will stabilize soon!

Take Care

Nemina

Thank you @Chippy for your helpful words. It's funny, before I started my taper in Dec 2024 I read so much about hyperbolic tapering, but as soon as I began and didn't experience any withdrawal symptoms I just thought I was one of the lucky ones. If I could turn back time, when I felt the anxious/tearful wobble back in November 2025 I would have just weighed the dose and waited for my system to level out. But we can't turn back time unfortunately and that can be really hard to accept. There's no going back, only forward - however difficult that might be. It's only in the last few weeks that I've even come to realise that my anxiety at 18.75mg wasn't because I'm destined to feel anxious all my life, it was just a sensitive nervous system while tapering. Thank you for the tips re: liquid - I'm really quite nervous to make the switch (or at least I was before the anhedonia) but I'm waiting for a referral to the deprescribing clinic and hope that will help. My tablet weighs about 0.91mg so I don't think it's feasible to dry taper to 0.

 

Hello @Nemina! Thank you for sending your kind words. The anhedonia is awful when it's at it's peak but luckily it ebbs and flows. I'm still feeling very numb but I can get on with my day. It's funny, the morning anxiety felt so unbearable but the anhedonia makes me wish it'd come back! I do think though sometimes the most "unbearable" symptom tends to be the one you're currently experiencing. How are you getting on today?

Hi @molly97 I saw your questions on BarbX thread and thought I would give you a couple of links that will help.

https://antidepressantrecovery.org/topic/240-preparing-doses-for-tapering-weighing-diy-liquids/?do=getNewComment

 

Give yourself lots of time to stabilize before adding another variable like liquid. You do not want to transition and taper at the same time. 👍

Hey @LostinCanada, thank you for this. Theoretically I know how to transfer to the liquid, but after experiencing akathisia (enough to make me feel very actively suicidal, although I've read many accounts of it being a whole lot worse), I am just really tentative about making changes. If only my tablet was large enough to continue a dry taper, but at 0.91mg for a 25mg tablet of sertraline I don't think it's possible. I might be wrong though. That does make me feel a bit worried ... if the liquid taper isn't successful, what next? It's hard, because usually people only write about their experience when it's been negative, so it's hard to find good accounts of the transition to liquid. And even when I do find them, it doesn't mean my experience will be the same. Sometimes I feel so hopeful for a life after this and sometimes I just feel so stuck.

9 minutes ago, molly97 said:

continue a dry taper, but at 0.91mg for a 25mg tablet of sertraline I don't think it's possible.

If you look at the link I gave you, there is suggestions for 2 different scales that read to 0.0001g and 0.0002g.

As far as transitioning...the key is to go slow... holding at each point as long as necessary till symptoms subside. 

Just give yourself lots of time to stabilize.... this may take a few more months.... don't rush it.

On 2/13/2026 at 11:29 PM, molly97 said:

Hi all, 

 

After 10 years on Sertraline (beginning age 16 for social anxiety), I began tapering my Sertraline in December 2024. The GP would not prescribe a liquid and I felt unable to make my own suspension, so eventually I had my 50mg prescription prescribed as 2 x 25mg tablets and did the following using a pill cutter, splitting the tablet into quarters.

 

Dec 2024: 50mg -> 43.75mg (12.5% decrease)

Early 2025: 43.75mg -> 37.5mg (14.3% decrease)

Early 2025: 37.5mg -> 31.05mg (16.7% decrease)

April 2025: 31.05mg -> 25mg (20% decrease)

 

As you can see, as I reduced my medication using a pill cutter, I was making larger and larger cuts. However, I didn't knowingly experience any withdrawal symptoms.

 

In August 2025, I dropped to 18.75% and between Aug - Nov gradually started to experience more emotional symptoms - increased anxiety and tearfulness. No other symptoms, but after years of not having to manage this, it didn't feel manageable. I was not using any non-drug coping mechanisms and my life externally had become stressful, so I didn't attribute the tearfulness to withdrawal. Even now I think it was a combination of both.

 

The final 2 weeks of Nov 2025 I felt more tearful and anxious/overwhelmed/flighty. On the final weekend of Nov, I felt dread and had palpitations. 

 

I hadn't been on Surviving Antidepressants or anything similar in a year as I hadn't experienced withdrawal symptoms and thought I was one of the lucky ones, despite my long term antidepressant use. In order to combat the anxiety and overwhelm, I decided to go back up to 25mg over winter to manage my anxiety. 

 

Within about 2 hours of taking the dose I felt increased feelings of dread, extreme dry mouth, nausea, an empty feeling in my head (like I couldn't engage with hobbies/distractions). I left work at 10am thinking I was having a panic attack. That night I experienced restless legs, nausea, extremely dry mouth, trembling and insomnia. I had to walk from 4am - 5:30 am because I was writhing in bed. That next morning I immediately went back down to 18.75mg. For weeks I woke up with morning panic (if I slept at all), struggled to eat (lost 8lbs in a month), was unable to go to work, had my partner and housemate taking it in turns to look after me because each moment felt impossible to manage. I experienced the restlessness/akathisia on 3 other occasions, each time making me feel suicidal to the extent of writing a letter to my partner and planning how I'd do it. I'd never felt that way in my life.

 

I don't know about windows and waves, but my general trend was feeling bad in the morning and better by the evenings/afternoons. This triggered some OCD-like thoughts "I'll get better in the evening" which made me think I was sort of creating the anxiety and subsequent relief by expecting it. However, I have read that some people experience this pattern.

 

Long story short, it's February and I've slowly been getting better. I haven't had any suicidal thoughts in over a month. I get some tingling/muscle soreness/burning sensations but honestly I don't mind. Nausea comes and goes but is nothing like before. Appetite is fine. I've been sleeping through the night for the last 3 weeks. Since Jan I've had a weighing scale so I know my dose is accurate - my partner is weighing it as I was ruminating too much about accuracy.

 

At the start of Feb I changed my brand (no choice) - the anxiety went away but was replaced with emotional numbing which is also hard to manage. Some mornings I'll wake up with palpitations but no anxiety attached to them. I don't know if these two things are connected and have no way of knowing. The numbing was starting to come here and there anyway.

 

Overall I'm functioning. I'm about to go back to work (only 5 hours a week, but still). I try to go out and see friends. Me and my partner have a "plan" for me to stabilise on this dose.

 

But of course I'm thinking ahead to when I begin tapering again. It used to fill me with fear but now I'm feeling very numb. I don't know whether I'll try to get a liquid or continue to dry taper until I'm at 12.5mg and then make the switch (before the emotional numbing I was terrified to do anything that would further upset my nervous system). I wonder if experiencing numbness is a good time to make the jump to a liquid. However, my GP (UK) only agreed to 6 months of liquid to support me in "getting back up to 25mg" - which I did want to try when I was in crisis but now don't want to. I wonder if she'd actually prescribe it for the years it'd take to taper.

 

Anyway, I have no idea how soon after a bad experience you should begin tapering again. I suppose when the symptoms resolve? My main symptoms currently are emotional numbing, slight dry mouth in the morning, occasional nausea. I do wonder if my current numbness is a reaction to the trauma or it's the medication. 

 

You read so many horror stories & then you experience something that feels horrific and you think "now I know that's me too". But I have to keep hope.

 

When I resume tapering I want to do it as slowly as possible, maybe with the Brassmonkey microtaper. But it's tough when you read about people being sensitive to even that. And I wonder if experiencing akathisia means it'll be an inevitable companion during my taper, because if so I don't know if I can put myself and my loved ones through more suicidal ideation. I'm also not convinced an accurate dry taper is possible based on the weight of my pill and the limitations of the scale.

 

Non drug coping techniques: I'm currently doing talking therapy and mindfulness x 1 weekly, breathwork and meditation class 1 x weekly, EMDR soon to begin (although with my current numbness I don't know if it will work).

Dear @molly97, 

 

I would like to you properly and currently can't use my desktop computer ( just my phone). 

Our symptoms after reinstating are very very similar.

You are doing really well and the advice from @LostinCanada is what I would be in alignment with re transitioning. 

And welcome to this forum, hope you find it as nourishing as I do 🥰💚. 

 

5 hours ago, molly97 said:

Hey @LostinCanada, thank you for this. Theoretically I know how to transfer to the liquid, but after experiencing akathisia (enough to make me feel very actively suicidal, although I've read many accounts of it being a whole lot worse), I am just really tentative about making changes. If only my tablet was large enough to continue a dry taper, but at 0.91mg for a 25mg tablet of sertraline I don't think it's possible. I might be wrong though. That does make me feel a bit worried ... if the liquid taper isn't successful, what next? It's hard, because usually people only write about their experience when it's been negative, so it's hard to find good accounts of the transition to liquid. And even when I do find them, it doesn't mean my experience will be the same. Sometimes I feel so hopeful for a life after this and sometimes I just feel so stuck.

Hey @molly97 The other alternative is to make your own liquid. Then you’re not changing brands or anything. Preparing Doses for Tapering - Weighing & DIY Liquids

 

5 hours ago, molly97 said:

Hey @LostinCanada, thank you for this. Theoretically I know how to transfer to the liquid, but after experiencing akathisia (enough to make me feel very actively suicidal, although I've read many accounts of it being a whole lot worse), I am just really tentative about making changes. If only my tablet was large enough to continue a dry taper, but at 0.91mg for a 25mg tablet of sertraline I don't think it's possible. I might be wrong though. That does make me feel a bit worried ... if the liquid taper isn't successful, what next? It's hard, because usually people only write about their experience when it's been negative, so it's hard to find good accounts of the transition to liquid. And even when I do find them, it doesn't mean my experience will be the same. Sometimes I feel so hopeful for a life after this and sometimes I just feel so stuck.

Hey again @molly97,

 

I transitioned no worries to a homemade liquid when I was at 50mg. I had no problems at all and didn't notice any changes. I have been doing this since Feb/March 2024. times flies. 

I was reasonably stable,  although still not fully symptom free from the cold turkey and reinstatement. My symptoms were minimal. However I know you are down lower and not quite stable yet, so waiting a bit longer sounds like a great plan. 

 

I cannot get a liquid sertraline unless I go to a compounding pharmacy and pay a lot of money. This would not be viable for such a long time. I followed the guidelines for making up my homemade liquid as per the instructions here that Chippy has given you the link to. @RachelSusan did her own homemade liquid sertraline as well (I think and has commented on my thread here).

 

You said "sometimes I feel so hopeful for a life after this and sometimes I feel so stuck". I can empathise with this too and have had that recently with this hiccup or setback I am going through. I need to make a decision about how to resume my taper (brass monkey slide or 5 - 10% per month or less). I trust that you will get to point where you feel ready to make the next step. 

 

Be very kind and gentle with yourself at the moment. I hope your deprescribing clinic can help you. Oh and all those self help (non drug)  things that you are doing I found invaluable and currently still doing them. The mindfulness and meditation is so helpful and I will be doing this for the rest of my life. I try to do it when I am feeling well, not just when I am in anxiety/symptoms. 

 

Thanks again for jumping in on my story amidst you own suffering. 💛

Edited February 27Feb 27 by Tracey

9 hours ago, LostinCanada said:

If you look at the link I gave you, there is suggestions for 2 different scales that read to 0.0001g and 0.0002g.

As far as transitioning...the key is to go slow... holding at each point as long as necessary till symptoms subside. 

Just give yourself lots of time to stabilize.... this may take a few more months.... don't rush it.

Hi @LostinCanada, sorry I didn't read through that link properly. I can see now that there is a more accurate set of scales.

 

Last night I searched dry taper into Youtube to find a video of those scales. I came across a video with Chrissy Huff and Dr Josef Witt-Doerring. I saw in the comments that Chrissy had passed and after some research saw that she died by suicide. Even though I feel very significant emotional blunting right now, it must have impacted me in some way because I was waking up from 4am onwards. I feel right at the start of this journey right now, even though I've been tapering for a year, and it's so scary to think that one option is to stay on these meds and feel a shell of a person, and the other option is to continue tapering and risk destabilisation again, including suicidal ideation.

 

My first year of tapering was so easy, I genuinely didn't feel a single withdrawal symptom until the jump to 18.75, and even then I can see now it was so comparatively mild. I don't know how people keep hope during this journey that they're going to survive it and be OK. It feels like this medication is all I ever think about and I feel such a gulf between me and my loved ones (apart from my partner who is understanding and accepting of withdrawal once we researched it together). I have no idea what to expect and I have no idea if I'll survive it. To think this will last for years. Even if I manage to taper at 10% (via Brass Monkey slide or microtaper), which is the best case scenario, it's still 4+ years right? I'll be 32..33..34. I have family members that will have passed and I won't have been able to be present with them for years as I navigate withdrawal. I just want to find people who have managed OK on this journey but of course when you look online you only see the difficult stories - that's why we're here on forums, right? There's so much uncertainty and no amount of reassurance makes it better when you can see how many people are struggling. You read a positive story and it just doesn't land because there are infinitely more negative stories. I know I'm in a wave, but I've been feeling this numbness since the start of February and although that's a relatively short period of time, I feel resigned that this might be my state until I resume tapering (which I know I have to wait for). 

 

That being said, most of my symptoms have now resolved. Appetite is back, sleep is far better, no akathisia/pacing/restlessness, I'm back at work (only 5-7 hours a week but still). No morning cortisol rushes, no insomnia, no suicidal ideation (although I do anticipate feeling that way in the future, if that makes sense, just because this situation feels hopeless). There is sometimes a very mild buzzing in my feet/legs but it's basically nothing, pins and needles/feet go numb while I meditate, I do still wake up with a dry mouth on occasion & when I'm cold I can't feel my toes/then they burn. But that's all mild. I wonder how I'll know to resume my taper. If I was judging it based on symptoms, surely I'd be in an OK place to start? Not that I will right now. I'm waiting for a referral to the deprescribing clinic.

 

Sorry for all this negativity. Last night was difficult in all its emptiness and I so desperately want to feel connection to the world around me.

5 hours ago, Tracey said:

Hey again @molly97,

 

I transitioned no worries to a homemade liquid when I was at 50mg. I had no problems at all and didn't notice any changes. I have been doing this since Feb/March 2024. times flies. 

I was reasonably stable,  although still not fully symptom free from the cold turkey and reinstatement. My symptoms were minimal. However I know you are down lower and not quite stable yet, so waiting a bit longer sounds like a great plan. 

 

I cannot get a liquid sertraline unless I go to a compounding pharmacy and pay a lot of money. This would not be viable for such a long time. I followed the guidelines for making up my homemade liquid as per the instructions here that Chippy has given you the link to. @RachelSusan did her own homemade liquid sertraline as well (I think and has commented on my thread here).

 

You said "sometimes I feel so hopeful for a life after this and sometimes I feel so stuck". I can empathise with this too and have had that recently with this hiccup or setback I am going through. I need to make a decision about how to resume my taper (brass monkey slide or 5 - 10% per month or less). I trust that you will get to point where you feel ready to make the next step. 

 

Be very kind and gentle with yourself at the moment. I hope your deprescribing clinic can help you. Oh and all those self help (non drug)  things that you are doing I found invaluable and currently still doing them. The mindfulness and meditation is so helpful and I will be doing this for the rest of my life. I try to do it when I am feeling well, not just when I am in anxiety/symptoms. 

 

Thanks again for jumping in on my story amidst you own suffering. 💛

 

 Hi @Tracey, thank you so much for taking the time to share your positive experience switching to a liquid. I think I should be able to get one prescribed on the NHS for free, but whether or not the GP would agree to a long term prescription, I'm unsure. Previously she agreed to 6 months. I wish I had the confidence to make my own liquid, but after my destabilisation in Dec/Jan I struggled with looping thoughts/rumination about the accuracy of my medication and I found that really difficult to cope with. Now my partner cuts and weighs my tablets for me, just so I don't get caught on it.

 

Do you get nervous about accurately measuring your dose with the syringe?

 

 

5 hours ago, Chippy said:

Hey @molly97 The other alternative is to make your own liquid. Then you’re not changing brands or anything. Preparing Doses for Tapering - Weighing & DIY Liquids

 

Hi Chippy, thank you for this. My brand of medication does change a couple of times a year. I've spoken to the GP, who specified the brand on the notes section of my prescription. She recommended I speak to the pharmacy, but they say they get the 25mg tablets they are supplied and can't do anything about it. I did ring around a couple of pharmacies in my area who said similar. I have 4 months medication in advance due to cutting and conserving tablets, so I know my brand won't change before the summer. I just went through a brand change at the start of Feb. There was a change in my symptoms then, from anxiety (which had been slowly lessening) to emotional blunting. I don't know if it's linked as I haven't knowingly been impacted by brand changes in the past. 

8 hours ago, molly97 said:

My brand of medication does change a couple of times a year.

Hey @molly97 You really need to do everything you can to keep to the same brand. What are you taking lustral?

 

That is what I was on for sure. If you change drug types you need to do a crossover taper and not just jump from one to the other. 🙂 

8 hours ago, molly97 said:

I have 4 months medication in advance due to cutting and conserving tablets, so I know my brand won't change before the summer.

This is good. Plan ahead and make sure you get more of the same drug going forward if I were you.

 

If you want to switch to liquid thats fine but make sure you do the crossover.

 

If you are worried about the switch and can keep getting the current brand going forward maybe make your own liquid. Many do this and have no issues. You benefit from no brand switch 🙂 

 

8 hours ago, molly97 said:

I don't know if it's linked as I haven't knowingly been impacted by brand changes in the past. 

It could be particularly if you did do a crossover its quite common.

 

Chippy

Hi @Chippy, I don’t know what to say. I can’t get prescribed the same brand. I’ve been getting generic brand sertraline the whole time I’ve been on sertraline - through the NHS in the UK. I am on a brand called Zenvita currently, before that in January I was on a brand called Flamingo & over the last year I’ve also been on a brand called Amarox. Maybe once I’ve been referred to the deprescribing clinic I can get some UK specific advice, but it makes me feel quite hopeless that brand changes are out of my control. I’m really struggling today feeling hopeless and apathetic. I did speak to someone on Instagram who went to a psychiatrist and had the same brand prescribed, but it costs £70 to do an online consultation with her and this current apathy isn’t helping me get things done, even though with 4 months of tablets now is probably a good time to get the ball rolling. Sorry that I’m being so negative, I think this is a wave.

Suddenly I’m living in two worlds, the one I used to know, where sertraline wasn’t harmful and I spent a year reducing with no side effects. In that world my Dec-Jan was just bad mental health like my friends and GP say, health anxiety and normal anxiety. Then there’s this other world, where all the horrible things that happened to me happened to other people, and the mental health I’m experiencing is withdrawal, and people commit suicide because the feelings in their body are so challenging and awful. I don’t want to believe this world is real. Do you ever feel like that?

Hey @molly97 

58 minutes ago, molly97 said:

I don’t know what to say. I can’t get prescribed the same brand. I’ve been getting generic brand sertraline the whole time I’ve been on sertraline - through the NHS in the UK. I am on a brand called Zenvita currently, before that in January I was on a brand called Flamingo & over the last year I’ve also been on a brand called Amarox. Maybe once I’ve been referred to the deprescribing clinic I can get some UK specific advice, but it makes me feel quite hopeless that brand changes are out of my control

Im sorry. It's a lot to deal with and I can see its feeding your symptoms. One day at a time. You have 4 months worth there. It's a good start.

 

Ive never seen someone switched so much! Yes the Deprescribing clinic may help there. They will likely want you to transition to a liquid I would think, or at least at some point as that is what the Deprescribing guidelines suggest. It is your choice though. Be aware the wait can be long so don't let that eat up your supply. Id see if you can get another prescription from your GP and then ring around try to get some more Zenvita dont take no for an answer. But just as you feel up to it whilst you wait for the referral. 

 

1 hour ago, molly97 said:

I did speak to someone on Instagram who went to a psychiatrist and had the same brand prescribed, but it costs £70 to do an online consultation with her and this current apathy isn’t helping me get things done, even though with 4 months of tablets now is probably a good time to get the ball rolling. Sorry that I’m being so negative, I think this is a wave.

Or do it this way.....

 

Don't be sorry, you feel how you feel and WD symptoms are the likely cause being fed by the stress of this. 

 

1 hour ago, molly97 said:

Suddenly I’m living in two worlds, the one I used to know, where sertraline wasn’t harmful and I spent a year reducing with no side effects. In that world my Dec-Jan was just bad mental health like my friends and GP say, health anxiety and normal anxiety. Then there’s this other world, where all the horrible things that happened to me happened to other people, and the mental health I’m experiencing is withdrawal, and people commit suicide because the feelings in their body are so challenging and awful. I don’t want to believe this world is real. Do you ever feel like that?

I understand. We all have to wake up at some point. I know it seems crazy but we are the ones living in reality. The world unfortunately is not what it appears to be or what we were brought up to believe it was and money drives a lot of what happens to us even the quality of the food we eat. We have a world driven by a politics of greed and not a politics of care. This needs to change but that is another conversation!

 

But on here we look out for each other. 🙂

 

Your symptoms are very real and caused by drug harm. We see it all the time. My world is completely different after just 6 weeks of Mirtazapine (not the full story but the headline). It was night and day the damage they have done to me.

 

It will be ok and you will be ok but all this is a lot of adjust to. Time.

 

Your system needs time to settle and then armed with the knowledge you have gained on here you can safely taper you way down and get on with your life.

 

In the mean time be patient and keep your nervous system as calm as you can. Remember one day at a time. Distraction, acceptance, time. 3 main tools 🙂 

 

Chippy

Thank you @Chippy and I apologise for my negativity. 

 

With the NHS, I’m not sure ringing different pharmacies in my city will work - I have a feeling they all get supplied the same stuff. I did ring a couple of pharmacies in the past, I could try again.  Again, I’m not sure how impacted I am by brand changes…this anhedonia could be linked but equally it was starting to come before the brand change. It was about 7 days into the new brand that this feeling came and could easily not be linked, I don’t know. 

 

Do you happen to know anything about waiting times for the deprescribing clinic? 

5 minutes ago, molly97 said:

Thank you @Chippy and I apologise for my negativity

No need to apologise for anything 🙂

 

6 minutes ago, molly97 said:

With the NHS, I’m not sure ringing different pharmacies in my city will work - I have a feeling they all get supplied the same stuff. I did ring a couple of pharmacies in the past, I could try again.  Again, I’m not sure how impacted I am by brand changes…this anhedonia could be linked but equally it was starting to come before the brand change. It was about 7 days into the new brand that this feeling came and could easily not be linked, I don’t know. 

Not sure if you know but both Luke and I are from the uk too. 
 

It is all up to you. I think the abrupt switch was probably the cause of your symptoms or added to it. 
 

If you have to do a brand switch you need to make sure you follow the crossover procedure next time. If you end up having to do this it would be a good time to swap to the liquid so you don’t have to swap again if you go that route.  
 

Do what you can to get a fresh batch of your current brand. But if you can’t you can’t. You can only try. Be easy on yourself won’t you. Don’t fret about it just try to be assertive and take the steps that feel right and then put it to bed for the day and come back to it another day. 
 

I don’t have wait times but I do know they are likely to be lengthy. 
 

Chippy

31 minutes ago, Chippy said:

No need to apologise for anything 🙂

 

Not sure if you know but both Luke and I are from the uk too. 
 

It is all up to you. I think the abrupt switch was probably the cause of your symptoms or added to it. 
 

If you have to do a brand switch you need to make sure you follow the crossover procedure next time. If you end up having to do this it would be a good time to swap to the liquid so you don’t have to swap again if you go that route.  
 

Do what you can to get a fresh batch of your current brand. But if you can’t you can’t. You can only try. Be easy on yourself won’t you. Don’t fret about it just try to be assertive and take the steps that feel right and then put it to bed for the day and come back to it another day. 
 

I don’t have wait times but I do know they are likely to be lengthy. 
 

Chippy

 

I didn’t know you and Luke are from the UK! I’m just about to go to my GP appointment now for a referral to the deprescribing clinic. Hoping I can be seen in the summer but who knows. I’ll do my best to look into the brand when I’m doing a little better - part of me thinks it’s this brand that I’m feeling numb on, so go ahead & change brand so I can feel something again. I know that’s not super logical.

3 minutes ago, molly97 said:

 

I didn’t know you and Luke are from the UK! I’m just about to go to my GP appointment now for a referral to the deprescribing clinic. Hoping I can be seen in the summer but who knows. I’ll do my best to look into the brand when I’m doing a little better - part of me thinks it’s this brand that I’m feeling numb on, so go ahead & change brand so I can feel something again. I know that’s not super logical.

Good luck with the referral. 
 

I understand. The emotional blunting is unlikely from the drug itself, at this stage anyway, but probably wd symptoms/kindling effects from all the changes you’ve experienced. So it’s unlikely a change of brand would make any difference. I’m not meaning to worry you but it is important to minimise these changes. The nervous system likes stability and that is even more important for you now. 
 

But…. As I said just one day at a time try to keep your nervous system calm and look into these things when you feel able to. You have 4 months still 😊

 

Chippy

Hey @molly97

One important thing is to stay in the moment... don't overthink your taper, the timeline, etc.  Every drop is less drug in our body so that is a win.   The key is stability... rushing through never helps. We have to accept that this is where we are... and that's okay. Even if our life looks different now, we can still care out something good.

 

As far as manufacturer changes go....it is a known fact that not everyone can change companies...I can't even wrap my head around this. The only way around this that I can see is doing a crossover to name brand and paying the extra...then you would be guaranteed the same. The name is Lustral. You could check with the pharmacy to see if you switched to name brand, if it would be consistent.

❤️🙏

8 hours ago, molly97 said:

To think this will last for years. Even if I manage to taper at 10% (via Brass Monkey slide or microtaper), which is the best case scenario, it's still 4+ years right? I'll be 32..33..34. I have family members that will have passed and I won't have been able to be present with them for years as I navigate withdrawal. I just want to find people who have managed OK on this journey but of course when you look online you only see the difficult stories - that's why we're here on forums, right? There's so much uncertainty and no amount of reassurance makes it better when you can see how many people are struggling.

Hello @molly97 I can understand so well Your frustration and fear!! There are many people out there who read along, because they are suffering and then they get suddenly better and that´s why they never show up in the forum. Many!! And almost everyone survives, especially those like You who know that it is withdrawal they suffer from (many do not know and get drugged even more and so on - that is a terrible situation, but not Your situation). We have a very strong bias here towards prolonged suffering , believe me!! Just an example: I chatted sometimes with Vera and was around when she suddenly got better, that was wonderful. Here is her story (and more under the same name at the SA forum)

https://antidepressantrecovery.org/topic/45-verava-restarting-escitalopram-causing-adverse-reaction/

 

You will come through this!!

I send You a big virtual hug. 

Nemina

17 hours ago, LostinCanada said:

Hey @molly97

One important thing is to stay in the moment... don't overthink your taper, the timeline, etc.  Every drop is less drug in our body so that is a win.   The key is stability... rushing through never helps. We have to accept that this is where we are... and that's okay. Even if our life looks different now, we can still care out something good.

 

As far as manufacturer changes go....it is a known fact that not everyone can change companies...I can't even wrap my head around this. The only way around this that I can see is doing a crossover to name brand and paying the extra...then you would be guaranteed the same. The name is Lustral. You could check with the pharmacy to see if you switched to name brand, if it would be consistent.

❤️🙏

Thank you for your kind words.

 

I don't think Lustral does a 25mg tablet and I've never been on it before, but thank you for the suggestion.

19 hours ago, Chippy said:

Good luck with the referral. 
 

I understand. The emotional blunting is unlikely from the drug itself, at this stage anyway, but probably wd symptoms/kindling effects from all the changes you’ve experienced. So it’s unlikely a change of brand would make any difference. I’m not meaning to worry you but it is important to minimise these changes. The nervous system likes stability and that is even more important for you now. 
 

But…. As I said just one day at a time try to keep your nervous system calm and look into these things when you feel able to. You have 4 months still 😊

 

Chippy

 

Hi Chippy, thank you. I don't really know what steps I can take to change brand, I've already spoken to my GP and my pharmacy and other pharmacies too. I think it might just be a supply issue in the UK - the 25mg tablets are less commonly prescribed. What do you suggest I do? Thank you.

1 minute ago, molly97 said:

 

Hi Chippy, thank you. I don't really know what steps I can take to change brand, I've already spoken to my GP and my pharmacy and other pharmacies too. I think it might just be a supply issue in the UK - the 25mg tablets are less commonly prescribed. What do you suggest I do? Thank you.

Hey @molly97 

 

Do you mean you want to change to the non generic?