Hello,

I have taken Zoloft for 22 years for general anxiety disorder and health anxiety. I felt it was not benefitting me anymore so my GP switched me to Fluoxetine. After much reflection, I decided I would like to come off these medications.

My GP gave me a two-week taper and then I stopped taking them completely. After some of my own research I realise this taper is completely inappropriate.

I am 6 weeks into my withdrawal and I am experiencing nausea, muscle/joint pain and stiffness and dizziness. My symptoms seem to be mainly physical… Is this normal?

After reading, I’m terrified that this will be ongoing for years and may get worse. I don’t want to go back on the meds so am sticking it out.

I just was hoping someone could reasssure me that my symptoms are consistent with withdrawal after so many years taking these meds and then such a quick taper.

Any input would be most appreciated.

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 withdrawal 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.

The value of this forum is in the community it fosters. We hope that all of our members will be able to learn from each others' experiences, both the good and the bad. To this end, we strongly encourage members to not only document their personal journey on their own thread, but to read and post on other members' threads and otherwise make full use of the resources available throughout the forum.

 

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.

Please use the format outline here Preferred signature/drug history format

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

 

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!

 

4 hours ago, Jamiet said:

My GP gave me a two-week taper and then I stopped taking them completely. After some of my own research I realise this taper is completely inappropriate.

That's an extremely quick taper, yes. Especially after long term use. How did you taper?

4 hours ago, Jamiet said:

I am 6 weeks into my withdrawal and I am experiencing nausea, muscle/joint pain and stiffness and dizziness. My symptoms seem to be mainly physical… Is this normal?

It can be, physical symptoms are common, and there are those for whom this is mostly, but not entirely physical, which leads me to the next point:

4 hours ago, Jamiet said:

After reading, I’m terrified that this will be ongoing for years and may get worse. I don’t want to go back on the meds so am sticking it out.

Withdrawal can also affect our thinking and emotions, often this manifests in anxiety, catastrophising etc.

Your symptoms may be mainly physical, but consider that psychologically you are likely more vulnerable to the above and that this will make things harder emotionally.

You may get worse, and some unlucky people experience this for years. However, there's also a good chance that your symptoms do not get significantly worse and/or that you begin to improve over time. It's not totally predictable, but often those who suffer for years are quite bad in early withdrawal.

The main thing is, it's not productive to worry about what ifs before they happen, and there's at least a decent chance that they won't.

4 hours ago, Jamiet said:

I just was hoping someone could reasssure me that my symptoms are consistent with withdrawal after so many years taking these meds and then such a quick taper.

They very much are. Could you provide any more detail about what life is like around these symptoms? Are you still able to live somewhat normally, function, etc?

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

Hey @Jamiet Welcome to the forum! Glad you found us.

How were you for the 18 months you took Fluoxetine before you started your taper? Did the switch go ok?

I know you are not wanting to go back the drug and I completely understand. I will say that Fluoxetines half life is very long so WD can be quite delayed. We can't know the path for stabilisation this may be as bad as it gets, it may get worse from here. You will heal and get better eventually however this can be many many months or even years for some.

So you may wish to consider RI a small dose of Fluoxetine to help with the WD. It would only be a crutch to support your nervous system whilst it heals. then once stable you could taper off. RI can worsen folk, however it can be very effective. The low dose mitigates these risks. Only you can choose. If you need more information please ask and we can help further and suggest a RI dose. Chippy

Reinstating an Antidepressant

13 hours ago, Jamiet said:

Hello,

I have taken Zoloft for 22 years for general anxiety disorder and health anxiety. I felt it was not benefitting me anymore so my GP switched me to Fluoxetine. After much reflection, I decided I would like to come off these medications.

My GP gave me a two-week taper and then I stopped taking them completely. After some of my own research I realise this taper is completely inappropriate.

I am 6 weeks into my withdrawal and I am experiencing nausea, muscle/joint pain and stiffness and dizziness. My symptoms seem to be mainly physical… Is this normal?

After reading, I’m terrified that this will be ongoing for years and may get worse. I don’t want to go back on the meds so am sticking it out.

I just was hoping someone could reasssure me that my symptoms are consistent with withdrawal after so many years taking these meds and then such a quick taper.

Any input would be most appreciated.

Hi Jamiet,

Almost all of my symptoms are physical in the first week or 2 of a dose reduction. A lot like you described super stiff neck, headache, dizziness, sore upper back. Serotonin is in our whole nervous system effecting our muscles, mood, energy, digestion and more.

If I was you I would start keeping a journal tracking symptoms and severity. So that you could decide if you wanted to try reinstatement or not. None of us really wanna be on these drugs, but don't try to just tough it out if it gets to the point you can't live a normal life. Ive still felt a lot of benefits just being on a lower dose than before.

Hope it does stay manageable though! Youll get plenty of good advice here.

Wow! Thank you so much for your responses. I really appreciate you taking the time to discuss this with me.

My GP scratched Out a taper plan on a post it note! He had me take 2 capsules on one day and then one on the mother for a week, then one capsule a day for a week and then nothing! Felt fine for about two weeks and then the symptoms started.

I didn’t feel any better or worse after switching from Zoloft to fluoxetine. The switch went ok. Things one of the major reasons I wanted to stop. I was placed on Zoloft 22 years ago due to health anxiety panic attacks and it didn’t really work. However, for some reason, I just continued to take them over the years.

To explain further, I am coping with my symptoms. Ondansatron helps with the nausea and I feel I am getting used to limited mobility at the moment. I am a primary school teacher and heading back to work tomorrow so hopefully none of this withdrawal will affect my work.

Once again, thank you all for your support. I will keep adding updates and use this as a public journal to track my progress.

Thank you! 🙏