What are some side effects when you decrease your zolft?

Question

I am in the middle of changing doctors. I was told lowering my zoloft by 50 mgs a time is ok. I started at 200 mgs a day now i am lowering it by 50mgs. Is that too much at a time? Are there side effects when coming off of it?

Answer 1

Hello! Before I answer your question, I've taken Paxil, Lexapro, and now Zoloft, and of the three, Zoloft has been the most effective (and safest with the least side effects of the SSRIs - selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors - if taken as directed). Now, to answer your question, lowering your dosage by 50 mg is not bad at all. At first, I thought that you were saying that you were going to lower your dosage from 200 mg to 50 mg per day--which I wouldn't recommend. However, I think that is a great idea and method for you to lower your dosage 50 mg at a time. That way, you are slowly weaning yourself off of the medicine, and that's great. Yes, there are side effects with lowering a dosage; however, I think it varies from person to person. The most common side effects for lowering the dosage is headache, nausea, hand tremors, and irritability. In rare cases, you're more prone to commit suicide. From my experience, I went "cold turkey" from 100 mg to 0mg, and I became very angry and developed severe mood swings from very hyperactive to depressed and lethargic to furious in several episodes of 1 day. This went on for one week, but it happened immediately when I decided to stop taking Zoloft because I thought that I didn't need it any more because I was fine. But when I started back on my dosage after a week (50 mg), I became extremely hyperactive, depressed, anxious, rapid heart beat, tremoring hands, a bloody nose, and dilated pupils. But this was because I stopped taking Zoloft all of a sudden. I'm much better now, and that has been like a month ago. My dad takes Zoloft, but when he stopped taking it and tried to wean himself off in big doses (100 mg at a time; he was taking 200 mg), he was very irritable, developed hypertension, lost weight, and developed a bloody stool (bloody feces). He had to get back on it, but he was eventually fine in a few days. I hope this information helped you because I've done all kinds of research and have had my share of experiences with Zoloft as well. Have you considered taking another drug (e.g. Risperdal) in conjunction with Zoloft? I take it for bipolar, and it helps a lot when you're in the secondary teaching profession!!! All in all, you should have little to no problems with the 50 mg decreases. Good luck with your journey to "normality"! LOL!!

Answer 2

My doctor told me to ease off by 50mg as well, so I suppose that is the normal amount. Be careful - you will probably feel a little down as you ease off. This doesn't necessarily mean that you should go back on; your body needs a little time to adjust. However, if you still feel pretty down after a while, you need to talk to your doctor. Just be careful and don't make any big decisions about it on your own.

Answer 3

You'll just feel like killing yourself a little bit sooner... rather then wanting to die once a week or so you'll want to die every 3-4 days... You might cry a little more... you might call your therapist/counselor a little more often too.. and in some instances unvoluntary death can occur...

Answer 4

Can't come off it soon enough - just my opinion, of course. But yes - you will feel better. I know I felt less like everything around me was blurry or indistinct. My senses of smell and taste cam eback so I could enjoy food again. And YES - you really do get your libido back.... Welcome back to reality - it's not that bad....

Answer 5

Be glad that you are coming off gradually. I lost mine once and my head was tingly for two days, no joke.

Answer 6

You get your sex drive back.