Day 2 on Zoloft

Were you diagnosed with Major Depression? If you were, did anything specific cause the depression? How long has it lasted? I was diagnosed with Major depression and anxiety in 2002. I responded to Zoloft so my depression was better, but I was so tired and spacy all the time. I was scared to change meds because I didn't want the depression to come back. I lived like this until 2008, the sleepy effect never subsided. I finally had enough and QUIT SEEING PSYCHIATRIST!! I went to my PCP and she took me off all 5 medications the psychiatrist had me on, she said I was over medicated. She took me off everything and put me on Lexapro 20mg and Klonopin at night for anxiety so I could sleep. I was stable on these 2 meds until May 2020.The depression came back and I was now treatment resistant. I haven't responded to anything including Spravoto treatment. My advice would be, tell your Dr. You want to try Lexapro. All SSRI's have a sedating effect, but Lexapro's is mild amd very manageable. DO NOT take any benzodiazepines... Klonopin, Xanax, Ativan, ECT

No I have high anxiety with panic attacks. I get depressed once in a blue moon over the anxiety and not being able to do certain things bc it affects me so much… I had a follow up with the dr yesterday he was super dismissive. I told him after 5 days I stopped bc the affects were way too much and I was beyond ill. He was absolutely no help he said “if it gets to where you can’t stand it any longer go to the ER or New Horizons, but look at the plus side you lost 7lbs in a week”.

So, I was given like 7 or 8 medications in a 3 week span. I kept having reactions to all the medications. The last medication was Zoloft. I took it for 5 days and stopped cold turkey, I couldn't take it any longer because of the heart palpations, high bp, increased hr, numbness and tingling, body jolts, muscle spasms, insomnia..the list goes on. Anyway, I stopped the Zoloft 18 days ago and I still have a hard time eating. I feel like I have to force feed myself or I won't eat. I still get anxiety and heart palpations mostly in the morning and early afternoon. The only time I feel somewhat normal is at night but by that time, it's time for bed. I'm hoping these symptoms go away soon, it's unbearable.

I suffered like nothing I’d ever experienced before on Zoloft. I was sick for 3 full months then another 2 months weaning. I had to go to the Emergency Room with severe shaking, hear palpitations, severe anxiety attacks. I was falling and needed a wheel chair, severe headaches and eye blurriness. I had to stop driving also.
It felt like I was living in a tunnel and was an out of body experience. Brain & Body zaps, severe diarrhea, food lost its taste, lost 17 lbs because I couldn’t eat. Grinding my teeth so badly my entire mouth, face & head felt like it was in a vise. Actually there’s more…just too much information to discuss.
My immediate reaction was run from that med ASAP! Nightmare…ask your Dr. to prescribe Ativan to help ease the symptoms. They usually prescribe both at the same time. When you are free of the side effects after slowly weaning then your PCP can help you wean off the Ativan.
I used the Ativan only as needed. Very little but helped me immensely to get off the Zoloft.
I wish you the best of luck with this. It was the most challenging and difficult experience of my life. I fought cancer with Chemo and I still never felt as bad as I did while taking Zoloft.

Wow. I can't imagine going through what you went through. Your symptoms sound very similar to mine. How long were you on Zoloft for? And did you start tapering? I quit it cold turkey after 5 days BUT I also had other medications in my system. Which I think made everything worse. It's been almost 3 weeks since I stopped the Zoloft and about 2.5 weeks since it was fully eliminated from my body. Today was the first day I didn't have to force feed myself a meal during the day. The weird thing is I get super hungry before bed and feel like myself again but then I wake up and feel like crap, anyone have a weird up and down schedule like that? I felt better earlier in the afternoon but now, I'm having a weird feeling in my head. I'm trying to tell myself that it's chemicals trying to balance out in my brain. I don't want to take anything more since my body kept having reactions to each additional medication. Xanax makes me sick and I know that's like the shorter acting version of Ativan. I wish I could take something to calm me but I'm really trying to let my body do it's thing naturally as hard as it has been.

I don't have severe depression but I've always had anxiety so thought I needed a pill since almost everyone I know is on something. Lexapro helped me also but I gained more weight on it, also, just with every medication, the dose will have to eventually increase throughout the years. Then another medication will prob be introduced. Where does that end? That's what scared me. After my traumatic experience in the last month with several different medications prescribed to me and me having adverse reactions, I don't want to run to a pill ever again. My anxiety was nothing compared to the reaction I just had to Zoloft. I've never had panic attacks, major heart palpations, high blood pressure, uncontrolled body jerking, inability to transition into sleep, numbness/tingling, body spasms, inability to walk like I did on Zoloft. I look back and realize that I can manage my anxiety in other ways and I refuse to be another victim/customer of the pharmaceutical companies. We need to take back the control and realize that we have the power to change our own mental health through exercise, nutrition, natural remedies, supplements and counseling. We also need a good support group around us, even if it's just a spouse or a close friend. I'm learning this more and more. The doctors will give you a pill and call it a day but you can give yourself way more than that.

How are you doing now?
Doctors can be the worst sometimes. What was the ER going to do for you? They will give you Ativan then send you home. I went to the ER multiple times and they tried giving me Ativan then said follow up with your pcp. Useless. I've learned a lot in the last month.