Hope you’re doing better @Tracey 🤗

❤️

I am not doing well. Every second day thing but hardly any sleep.

Ended up calling local mental health service , they have 24 hr number.

Saw them Monday then psychiatrist yesterday. I was so stressed leading up to all this. He waa actually really respectful of what I trying to do. He had looked at hyperbolic tapering and said he would support me , He has never done it before.

They want me to use compound chemist here. Other option was too scary to think about, CT off and use valium for two weeks. No way !!

I have to try compound now. I know not a silver bullet.

They said they can make up 10mg pee ml. I am on 7mg. Will it be possible to take the 2.5 or 5 % off easily at this dilution? I can ask what else they can do.

@RachelSusan what was your liquid sert dose per ml that you got from pharmacy? I know you diluted it down as you got lower.

This is not what I wanted to happen and what I was avoiding until now. My own GP started losing patience and gave me option of compound or go to up to 12.5 mg.

i have been to upset to come on here and tell you what is happening.

I can't sleep over all this. I just want to go back in time and change it all, useless thinking I know.

I am so vulnerable right now.

1 hour ago, Tracey said:

I am not doing well. Every second day thing but hardly any sleep.

Ended up calling local mental health service , they have 24 hr number.

Saw them Monday then psychiatrist yesterday. I was so stressed leading up to all this. He waa actually really respectful of what I trying to do. He had looked at hyperbolic tapering and said he would support me , He has never done it before.

They want me to use compound chemist here. Other option was too scary to think about, CT off and use valium for two weeks. No way !!

I have to try compound now. I know not a silver bullet.

They said they can make up 10mg pee ml. I am on 7mg. Will it be possible to take the 2.5 or 5 % off easily at this dilution? I can ask what else they can do.

@RachelSusan what was your liquid sert dose per ml that you got from pharmacy? I know you diluted it down as you got lower.

This is not what I wanted to happen and what I was avoiding until now. My own GP started losing patience and gave me option of compound or go to up to 12.5 mg.

i have been to upset to come on here and tell you what is happening.

I can't sleep over all this. I just want to go back in time and change it all, useless thinking I know.

I am so vulnerable right now.

I want to go back in time, too. We’ll make it through ❤️❤️

Hello @Tracey , good to hear from you.💚 I am glad that the person you talked to was respectful and is willing to support. Actually I think that is very good news.

thinking of you and sending you a hug!🫂

@Tracey Tracey, I'm so sorry you're still going through such a difficult time. I'm really glad the psychiatrist listened to you and is willing to support you with your taper.

6 hours ago, Tracey said:

I am so vulnerable right now.

I know you are. It's a difficult feeling to live with. I'm so sorry.

I had to go back to the old Surviving Antidepressants website to try to figure out exactly what I did with the liquid Zoloft. It was a good thing I did, too, because it reminded me of quite a few guidelines I should be following with my current gabapentin taper!

I found an old post saying that the liquid I got from the pharmacy contained 20 mg of sertraline in each 1 mL. They write it like this: 20mg/mL I then mixed 1 mL of that liquid with 1 mL of water, giving me 2 mL of mixture that still contained the same 20 mg of medication. That meant each 1 mL of my diluted mixture contained 10 mg of sertraline. As I got to lower doses, I diluted it further so I could make smaller cuts, but I haven't yet found the exact concentrations I used later on.

I also found this reply from Andy on the Surviving Antidepressants forum when I asked him about dilution: "The principal itself, of course, is simple. If you mix equal parts water with Sertraline you wind up with a mixture that is 1/2 as strong as you had. Thus, if you measure the same amount that you did before the dilution, the amount being reduced is half as great."

One other thing, Tracey. Given how badly you've been feeling, I hope you don't feel you have to start cutting again straight away. Have you and the psychiatrist talked about the timing? I hope you can get to a point where you feel more settled before you have to think about reducing again. xx

4 hours ago, RachelSusan said:

@Tracey Tracey, I'm so sorry you're still going through such a difficult time. I'm really glad the psychiatrist listened to you and is willing to support you with your taper.

I know you are. It's a difficult feeling to live with. I'm so sorry.

I had to go back to the old Surviving Antidepressants website to try to figure out exactly what I did with the liquid Zoloft. It was a good thing I did, too, because it reminded me of quite a few guidelines I should be following with my current gabapentin taper!

I found an old post saying that the liquid I got from the pharmacy contained 20 mg of sertraline in each 1 mL. They write it like this: 20mg/mL I then mixed 1 mL of that liquid with 1 mL of water, giving me 2 mL of mixture that still contained the same 20 mg of medication. That meant each 1 mL of my diluted mixture contained 10 mg of sertraline. As I got to lower doses, I diluted it further so I could make smaller cuts, but I haven't yet found the exact concentrations I used later on.

I also found this reply from Andy on the Surviving Antidepressants forum when I asked him about dilution: "The principal itself, of course, is simple. If you mix equal parts water with Sertraline you wind up with a mixture that is 1/2 as strong as you had. Thus, if you measure the same amount that you did before the dilution, the amount being reduced is half as great."

One other thing, Tracey. Given how badly you've been feeling, I hope you don't feel you have to start cutting again straight away. Have you and the psychiatrist talked about the timing? I hope you can get to a point where you feel more settled before you have to think about reducing again. xx

Thank you @RachelSusan .

I don't want to start cutting but they may put pressure on. Especially if I don't improve. I am struggling to hide my pain, moods, agitation now.

This is beyond a nightmare as I feel I have lost independence and autonomy. Moving has made all this 100 times worse. The grief is weighing heavily. Struggling to access any positive feelings or hope. I know I have to but gee it is difficult. More stress here for me.

Thanks for your kindness everyone. Sorry for no replies, been in such panic crisis.

Thank you @Nemina , @Wombat , @Finni , @Chippy , @Catbird , @SarahMc for being with me. I don't want to lose my forum friends. This past week I have really been in another world.

One of the MH workers is not very pleasant about my taper that I have been doing and was defensive. At she learnt about receptor occupancy at the meeting with psychiatrist after I brought it up with me.

15 minutes ago, Tracey said:

Thank you @Nemina , @Wombat , @Finni , @Chippy , @Catbird , @SarahMc for being with me. I don't want to lose my forum friends. This past week I have really been in another world.

You won’t lose us. ❤️

We very well understand that it can be too stressful at times to be on the forum or even triggering. Has been for me for a while. Just take all the time you need. And if you want to be in contact with us, we are here.

Thank you dear @Nemina .

I am in a state complete lack of confidence in being able to do this. I have to have some stability soon as it very adversely affecting my mum, my pets and my future life. I wish my brain and nervous system would let the trauma of my losing my home and peaceful lifestyle go. It is dragging me down. I wake with images of being back there and the deepest regret I have ever had. All with this very difficult taper starting 4 years ago.

I have to find hope or I will not make it through. I just wish I had a home and financial stability. The anxiety and fear and dreadful moods are taking a huge toll.

I was so much worse after dealing with MH worker at hospital. She is triggering me.

Had a half hour chat with compound chemist. He was very reassuring. He said he wants to get off sertraline himself and is well aware of adverse long term use and how hard tapering can be. He is has a few customers coming off SSRI's. He wasn't hyperbolic aware so I mentioned it. He said he would help me with it when I said I needed to take much less than 10% of the last dose. Guess I will see if I get that far.

Being in the MH system really concerns me. I have choices to not do what they suggest. This may mean losing any additional support they may offer.

The psychiatrist picked up my idealism and perfection tendencies. So did my psychologist.

Anyway I felt able to write more as I was calmer after chat with him. Prior I was very agitated feeling so ill. No sleep

is taking a toll. This was only occasional before I moved. I am now not looking forward to going to bed like I was at home.

Dear Tracey,

I am so glad to hear from you.

First and foremost I want you to know that you are heard and cared for.

This site will be here to support you whatever you choose to do. No one will be judging you. All of us know this hard road you are travelling.

Sounds like your psychiatrist is open to learning about tapering.

I would direct him to the RELEASE RACGP toolkit programme. It is being run by the medical department at the University of Qld. It supports what Mark Horowitz is doing. You can find it in the tapering section. You can also just look it up online. Just be aware that even their slow rates are too fast for me. But they do emphasise patient lead drops.

15 hours ago, Tracey said:

CT off and use valium for two weeks. No way !!

Wise choice!!!

You've got a lot on your plate. Be gentle with yourself. Take deep breaths. I wish there was more we could do, but it is all time.

We are all here for you.

Wombat

6 hours ago, Tracey said:

Thank you @Nemina , @Wombat , @Finni , @Chippy , @Catbird , @SarahMc for being with me. I don't want to lose my forum friends. This past week I have really been in another world.

One of the MH workers is not very pleasant about my taper that I have been doing and was defensive. At she learnt about receptor occupancy at the meeting with psychiatrist after I brought it up with me.

You'll find a lot of those MH workers have their own issues which they've never acknowledged.

3 hours ago, Tracey said:

Had a half hour chat with compound chemist. He was very reassuring. He said he wants to get off sertraline himself and is well aware of adverse long term use and how hard tapering can be. He is has a few customers coming off SSRI's. He wasn't hyperbolic aware so I mentioned it. He said he would help me with it when I said I needed to take much less than 10% of the last dose.

This is great to hear. It sounds like he could be a supportive person for you.

22 hours ago, Tracey said:

I am not doing well. Every second day thing but hardly any sleep.

Ended up calling local mental health service , they have 24 hr number.

Saw them Monday then psychiatrist yesterday. I was so stressed leading up to all this. He waa actually really respectful of what I trying to do. He had looked at hyperbolic tapering and said he would support me , He has never done it before.

They want me to use compound chemist here. Other option was too scary to think about, CT off and use valium for two weeks. No way !!

Hey Tracey I am very sorry to hear. Its good you have a professional who is willing to work with you on safe tapering. I have to add we know tapering must be done from a place of stablity. Tapering in your state I think will make things worse for you.

Stopping any AD CT is a very dangerous suggestion after such long term use. Good call rejecting this. x

22 hours ago, Tracey said:

I have to try compound now. I know not a silver bullet.

If you want to do this I would suggest crossing over from your current liquid to the new one as detailed in our topic here:

Using Manufactured Liquid Antidepressants

Can I ask why you must go to compounded liquid and not the manufactuers liquid? And why are you changing at all? Is it because you think the compounded version will be more accurate?

Also as you know changes of any sorts can be destablising and are not advised whilst in your current situation.

22 hours ago, Tracey said:

They said they can make up 10mg pee ml. I am on 7mg. Will it be possible to take the 2.5 or 5 % off easily at this dilution? I can ask what else they can do.

This simply means that if you took a full 1ml syringe you would take 10mg, so to take 7mg you need to take 0.7ml with that syringe. However to taper slow enough this dilution would need to be much weaker.

22 hours ago, Tracey said:

This is not what I wanted to happen and what I was avoiding until now. My own GP started losing patience and gave me option of compound or go to up to 12.5 mg.

Oh I see. Sorry working through your post in order. Well that isn't very helpful.

22 hours ago, Tracey said:

i have been to upset to come on here and tell you what is happening.

I can't sleep over all this. I just want to go back in time and change it all, useless thinking I know.

I am so vulnerable right now.

Sending much love Tracey. This is all a bunch of additional complexity that you really don't need right now. For me this is simple. No more changes lots of time, not more changes and more stress.

11 hours ago, Tracey said:

Thank you @Nemina , @Wombat , @Finni , @Chippy , @Catbird , @SarahMc for being with me. I don't want to lose my forum friends. This past week I have really been in another world.

One of the MH workers is not very pleasant about my taper that I have been doing and was defensive. At she learnt about receptor occupancy at the meeting with psychiatrist after I brought it up with me.

You couldn't loose us if you tried.

She sounds very unpleasant indeed.

7 hours ago, Tracey said:

Had a half hour chat with compound chemist. He was very reassuring. He said he wants to get off sertraline himself and is well aware of adverse long term use and how hard tapering can be. He is has a few customers coming off SSRI's. He wasn't hyperbolic aware so I mentioned it. He said he would help me with it when I said I needed to take much less than 10% of the last dose. Guess I will see if I get that far.

This is encouraging Tracey always good to have someone positive on your team.

If you want support from us with suggestions about dilutions and how to crossover between the two then between us and you chemist it sounds like this is doable. As I said I would just stay as you are, but if they insist on the change, I would definitely do it in stages.

@Tracey great news about the compounding pharmacist. It's definitely made my life easier - I'm able to get much more accurate dosages.

14 hours ago, Tracey said:

Thank you @Nemina , @Wombat , @Finni , @Chippy , @Catbird , @SarahMc for being with me. I don't want to lose my forum friends. This past week I have really been in another world.

This will never happen @Tracey. We are always here for you.

I'm glad to hear that some of the folks you're meeting in the mental health system out there are open-minded and willing to support you through your tapering process. That's heartening and I hope gives you some comfort. I'm sorry to hear about the MH worker at the hospital though, it's awful when the people who are supposed to help us won't even try to understand what we're going through.

You've had so much good, practical advice from others here, so I'll just say I'm always thinking of you and sending strength to you from the other side of the world.

19 hours ago, Wombat said:

Dear Tracey,

I am so glad to hear from you.

First and foremost I want you to know that you are heard and cared for.

This site will be here to support you whatever you choose to do. No one will be judging you. All of us know this hard road you are travelling.

Sounds like your psychiatrist is open to learning about tapering.

I would direct him to the RELEASE RACGP toolkit programme. It is being run by the medical department at the University of Qld. It supports what Mark Horowitz is doing. You can find it in the tapering section. You can also just look it up online. Just be aware that even their slow rates are too fast for me. But they do emphasise patient lead drops.

Wise choice!!!

You've got a lot on your plate. Be gentle with yourself. Take deep breaths. I wish there was more we could do, but it is all time.

We are all here for you.

Wombat

Thanks @Wombat , yes I gave him that resource. And I agree the slow rate on that is too fast for me. Not sure they will be prepared for 2.5% drops at my pace . At least I can see what they say. Public MH system is overloaded with people in more crisis than me.

Thanks for your care and kindness.

17 hours ago, Catbird said:

You'll find a lot of those MH workers have their own issues which they've never acknowledged.

Exactly @Catbird ! She told me to not go on the internet and listen to the experts. I had to hold my tongue. Funny the following day she was with me at psychiatrist appt and I was having an intelligent conversation with him about tapering and sert occupancy. She was a bit shocked I think. She asked him to clarify sert occupancy at low doses vs high doses. At least she has learnt something and it may help others !

5 hours ago, Tracey said:

Exactly @Catbird ! She told me to not go on the internet and listen to the experts. I had to hold my tongue. Funny the following day she was with me at psychiatrist appt and I was having an intelligent conversation with him about tapering and sert occupancy. She was a bit shocked I think. She asked him to clarify sert occupancy at low doses vs high doses. At least she has learnt something and it may help others !

Yes the days of health care worker professing to be experts is over @Tracey . I'm a fan of shared decision making, where theoretically the doctor is willingly to work with you as an individual, he/she/they gives relevant information and advice and a discussion takes place where options are considered in a supportive fashion. The individual can decide what's right for them including what, when and how treatment and care are tailored for you.

On 10/15/2026 at 1:35 AM, Chippy said:

This is not what I wanted to happen and what I was avoiding until now. My own GP started losing patience and gave me option of compound or go to up to 12.5 mg.

@Tracey I was really sorry to read this. I had the exact same situation and it was brutal. My doctor made me so much sicker and I had to find another doctor while in the middle of withdrawal. It was hard. I don't know what you are going to do but I feel for you and the situation you are in with all of this.

Was that when you went back to 12.5mg?

I have another Dr booked but no idea how she will respond. It is an awful situation and no idea what to do if they don't see me improve. I can try to fake it but when I am so distressed with agitation, nausea, burning it is hard to contain.

I have enough problems to deal with and can't get out of this locked in survival/ panic, depressed mode brain.

I need a circuit breaker, but what ? And I am not at all convinced that the psychiatrist will understand. They will want to see me stabilise quickly or start dropping. If I don't I will be dropped. Holding out some hope but not much.

9 hours ago, Tracey said:

Was that when you went back to 12.5mg?

Yes. That was the worst experience ever, even worse than when I went cold turkey. I was just so sensitized at that point, any change would have made me much worse. I think my own experience makes me concerned for you, although I know we're all different and you may not react the same way I did. I don't want to interfere with your decisions or your relationship with your medical provider, but I do care about how things go for you.

I hope you work something out @Tracey sounds like compounding might be the safest route forward, plus you’ll feel so much more in control if you can fine tune dosages as needed,

10 hours ago, RachelSusan said:

Yes. That was the worst experience ever, even worse than when I went cold turkey. I was just so sensitized at that point, any change would have made me much worse. I think my own experience makes me concerned for you, although I know we're all different and you may not react the same way I did. I don't want to interfere with your decisions or your relationship with your medical provider, but I do care about how things go for you.

Yes I am very concerned it would be really bad for me too. Sorry you had to go through that. It really rocked me when I went from 0 to 25mg after 4 months CT from 25 to 0.

I am in a very difficult situation.

So scared right now in my every second day extreme fear, negativity, distraught. My stomach in knots. Trying to cry but just anguish. All these realisations about myself are coming up and I feel so alone and like a really bad person. I realise I a not, however this is how I feel. A lot of shame and self criticism. So painful.

Not sure I will develop a relationship with the psychiatrist. Apparently I may not see the same one I saw last week. This is just all too scary for me. I have a psychologist that I have a relationship with past 2 years.

Did you feel better on 12,5mg eventually. It took me 4 months to settle and things like nausea and insomnia to go. But I never really went back to how I was on normal dose prior to cold turkey.

2 hours ago, Catbird said:

I hope you work something out @Tracey sounds like compounding might be the safest route forward, plus you’ll feel so much more in control if you can fine tune dosages as needed,

Yes I hope so @Catbird . But this is just part of the problem only. All too much for me with everything else that is going on.