Edit: my heart rate was 160 this morning! How do I manage this will it get better?

I was on Prozac 5 years ago should I go back to 10 instead of the 25mg Zoloft since it would be easier to wean off?

31 year old female with 2 young children and hashimotos

Original/ 6 months ago I “weaned” off of Zoloft 50mg after being on it for 3.5 years. I know it was too fast but I did what I was told. I was all the way off first of July reinstated at the end of July out of fear of symptoms that were returning (relapse/withdrawal) got a virus in September, upped med to 50mg then 75mg got crazy gi symptoms tried to give it time to work only got worse and worse and worse till I was hospitalized the switched me to Prozac 20 (which I did 4 years ago) and remeron. I only took the remeron for 2 months because I instantly hated that one. Tried to give Prozac 4 months to work it never did I would be exhausted and have energy crashes all the time felt very derealized. Back to hospital where they put me on 25 Zoloft. I stayed on that for 3 weeks increased it to 37.5 for 4 weeks did ok for about 3 weeks in that time the got terrible nausea dry heaving, SI racing heart, startle reflex, anxiety all over again.

My nervous system is obviously very desensitized and my autonomic nervous system is out of control. The heart rate scares me the most. Not sure if that’s pots or withdrawal/ reinstating all these meds.

Yeah originally I was on the Zoloft for 3 years it saved my life during a hard pregnancy but now I wish I never would have tried to get off of it. I’ve been so ill for the last 6 months. Lost my job and am struggling severely to care for myself or my kids. Everyone tells me to try to focus on the positive. I also have severe hashimotos I’m managing but it in itself is hard.

I miss my life and feeling attached and healthy and well with my kids. I’ve had severe SI and wanting to not be here.

I’m on 25 again now. Hoping it can settle and I’ll feel ok. Hell I’d stay on it forever if it would never turn on me again. How do I get out of this? How do I get my life back? I cycle and crash cycle and crash it’s given me so much ptsd

Begged god so many times to heal me. I have no idea what the answer is. I am bedridden and never have any energy. When I stand my heart rate goes to 130-140/150

Primary says I should try an snri now. Obviously I don’t want to but I just want my life back so bad.

Hi @Bre

Welcome to the forum!

 

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

It is clear you tapered off Zoloft too quickly in 2025, this caused you to experience symptoms due to WD. You RI Zoloft and this appears to have helped but didn't cure everything. It may have been too high a dose RI, but RI can take some time to fully/work stablise. It is like the purpose of it is often to 'prop' you up and support you whilst your nervous system settles down, which takes a little time. Instead you were increased to 50mg and then 75mg in Sept. This would have likley upset your nervous system and led you to seeking help. In the hospital they switched you to Prozac and tried to add in Mirtazapine, unfortunately this just adds more to fuel to the fire. You can see from what I am saying, when the nervous system is upset by a too fast a taper, every further change/attempt to fix it, makes it worse. Hypersensitivity and kindling

 

Switching you back to Zoloft, seems to have had some positive results from what I am reading, but as you have said, your nervous system is very destablised from all the changes that have been made.

If I was you, I would hold here at 25mg and give your nervous system several months to calm down. This is a non linear process that happens in an up and down pattern, we call Waves and Windows. The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

I would not move your dose around in this time, and add in no further drugs, which will just destablise you more.

There are two basic things at play here. True WD, this is you brain missing the drug, keeping the drug in place is helping with this and making things easier for you. The second is a nervous system injury, this is why things are so hard for you at the moment, even though you are on the drug still. This injury takes time to start to heal. But heal it will.

These drugs are not the answer to lifes problems, they often are seen this way, but they at best numb our emotions. After many years of taking them, we gain tolerance to them, and then the numbing effect actually reduces. They cause adverse effects, and have long term health risks. When you try to stop them too quickly you get WD effects and often a nervous system injury. My long term advice for you, would be, once stable on this dose, start to taper off, at a safe rate, listening to your body on the way down. During this process your body will be healing the injury, and once off, you can heal fully and go onto to live a healthy happy normal life.

Tapering Information

Preparing Doses for Tapering - Weighing & DIY Liquids

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

Welcome to the forum.

12 hours ago, Bre said:

Primary says I should try an snri now. Obviously I don’t want to but I just want my life back so bad.

I think it is likely that you are here, because you know that changing drugs around and introducing new ones to try to counteract the harm done by previous ones has made things worse, and not better.

Withdrawal can absolutely cause a fast heart rate and other symptoms that mimic POTS.

Like @Chippy, I think your best option is to stop changing doses around and hope to stabilise in time.

Thank you! What do I do if the 25mg doesn’t stabilize after a month or two? How do I know what stable is? I feel awful side effects still and I’ve been on it for 4 weeks now. Derealization, nausea, tachycardia, no energy, motivation, desire. Dizzy no appetite. Feel like a zombie or a shell not connected to reality. It’s terrifying and heart breaking. Thank you for those tips I will do them I just wish I could feel better. It seems impossible.

5 hours ago, Bre said:

Thank you! What do I do if the 25mg doesn’t stabilize after a month or two? How do I know what stable is? I feel awful side effects still and I’ve been on it for 4 weeks now. Derealization, nausea, tachycardia, no energy, motivation, desire. Dizzy no appetite. Feel like a zombie or a shell not connected to reality. It’s terrifying and heart breaking. Thank you for those tips I will do them I just wish I could feel better. It seems impossible.

Your system has been through an awful lot in the last year as you know. It is trying to heal from an injury caused by coming off Zoloft too quickly and worsened by adding in further drugs, a high reinstatement of Zoloft and dose changes. Having Zoloft back into your system will hopefully answer the brains dependance on the drug which causes WD symptoms whent the drug is removed. Unfortunately the rest of what you are experiencing is the injury and only time is the healing with this.

Please keep an eye out for you responding to the dose when you take it. Especially if you reguarly worsen in the hour or two after taking it. This may be a sign that the dose is too high for your system. But apart from that keeping everything level and even from here on out I think is your best move.

I wish there was a timeline for healing. It can vary from person to person. Hopefully over the coming weeks things will settle down for you as the brain gets used to the stable dose and can start to heal this.

My heart goes out to you, trust and believe in the body to put this right for you. We are all here with you and support you.

Chippy