# Zoloft?



## Guest (Apr 12, 2005)

Hasn't anyone here been on Zoloft? My psychiatrist wants to put me on Sertralin (Zoloft) and will have my metabolism tested in the coming days/weeks. He told me it was the probably the best SSRI in my case because of the attention problem but he warned me against possible nausea and libido problems, at least in the beginning.

I have never been on anti-depressant class medecine before. Can you please tell me what your first experience of Zoloft or other SSRIs have been like? Is that something that you feel a lot? Can it drive you nuts?

And besides that, he wants me to follow an analytic therapy :?


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## gimpy34 (Aug 10, 2004)

It can drive you nuts if you go up on your dosage too much at first. I reccommend not going higher than 25 mg or so your first week or so.

I went up to 100 mg in about a week. When I jumped from 50 to 100mg, I was bouncing off walls and felt like The Incredible Hulk. I probably could have run 20 miles and not been tired.


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## bat (Aug 18, 2004)

hi

i'm on zoloft. i found it hellish to get onto it but because my mental state was in a really bad way i felt that if i didn't see the initial side effects through there would have been no options left to me after ssris. i wasn't concerned about nausea or libido.

anyway the side effects started to subside after about 3 weeks and it took another few weeks before i started to feel any benefit. i am glad i stuck it out now however my advice would be(if you're not in an unbearable state at the minute) to try 5htp first. also omega 3, b vits, ginko biloba(may help with attention), valerian (for anxiety).

btw not everyone gets bad initial side effects with ssris(i was pretty unlucky).


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## gimpy34 (Aug 10, 2004)

pdr, did Zoloft make you feel really confused at first? I kind of did with me.


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## dreamcatcher (Sep 23, 2004)

i'm on sertaline and started on 50mg dose......the initial side effects were quiet bad but they resolved themselves after about 72 hours.....when i was use to that level it was uped to 100mg which i've been on for the last 5 months.....2 days ago i cut back down to 50 to see how i go.....don't expect miracles from any ad they all take some time work but they can help


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## bat (Aug 18, 2004)

yea confusion, panic, high anxiety, increased dp/dr...


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## Phill (Sep 27, 2004)

I was on it. It was hell only for the reason that the doctor stsrted me on 50mg. I reccomend don't start on more than 25mg at first.
I eventually got past the nausea, confusion, anxiety, depression and the feeling that i was walking on a conveyer belt.
Mainly get past the initial side effects. Don't give up on it too early.


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## Guest (Apr 23, 2005)

Thank you all for the comments. I'll see for myself if I can live on Sertraline. It's quite scary to mess that much with your brain chemistry, isn't it?


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## gimpy34 (Aug 10, 2004)

As all here can attest, just take it really slow. Personally, I would start and stay at 25 mg for two weeks before jumping up to 50 mg. And I would stay at 50 mg a month before going up any higher. As far as meds go, I have found that SSRIs take the longest to work. The initial panic, anxiety, and confusion can be bad at first.


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## stickdude (Aug 13, 2004)

it did nothing for me, except cause terrible withdrawal that lasted a week or two (got zaps everytime i moved my eyes) and killed my libido (was hard as hell to ejaculate). i'm estimating the days here, but i started off with 25mg for a week, 50mg for two weeks, 100mg for two weeks, then 150mg. i took it for about two months with nothing helping.


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## dreamcatcher (Sep 23, 2004)

just getting over the withdrawal the zaps where horrible but hoping won't be as bad when i cut down further


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## bat (Aug 18, 2004)

ah stickdude :wink:

seriously though, i think your dose was increased really quickly


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## bat (Aug 18, 2004)

dreamcatcher

what dose were you on?
what did you cut down to at first and for how long? how are you feeling now?

sorry about all the questions but i really want to know about tapering off sertraline...


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## dreamcatcher (Sep 23, 2004)

pdr........

i started on 50s had hard time getting on them and after 2 months increased to 100s.......it came up to the time to review and after 6 months of the 100s ithought maybe i should taper off them so i've cut back down to 50s but the first few wees were bad with zaps so with advice i took a 50 one day and a 100 the next......now i'm just on 50s and quiet stable even though still dped but to be honest i feel better than i have in a long time so am hopeful that maybe one day i might feel like me again


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## Guest (May 12, 2005)

Well, I started the treatment today. The shrink is being very cautious and put me on 25 mg every other day for a week before pushing up to 25 mg per day and keeping it that way for two months before reevaluating the dose. How long will it take to kick in? What side effects should I monitor? Haven't had nausea after starting, nor dry mouth. Anyways, I'm really scared. It's stupid to say but I've never been on SSRI before and it feels strange, like it's gonna control my mind. Well I've tried many other drugs before, recreational or otherwise and I suppose that's yet another one of them. But I can't get over the idea that that one is a particularly long-lasting one, one that takes weeks to reach peak plasma concentration, something that becomes part of your life and affects you profoundly. Am I being too dramatic? I just find it scary...


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## Sojourner (May 21, 2005)

Don't be scared. All you should feel is relief from your symptoms.

I have been on Zoloft successfully for 12 years, and at the moment I am having my dose adjusted. I started slowly, achieved a therapeutic dose, and then went back downward to where I have been taking 25 mg. for about five years.

Zoloft did the trick for my depression and changed my life. I went back to graduate school, got my masters, and now work in a field that is really fulfilling.

I hope your experience is like mine, UncleSeb.


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## Guest (May 22, 2005)

Well, at this point it's difficult to tell what's causing what in all the mess I'm going through, as I'm still in the early stages of my sertraline (Zoloft in America/Serlain over here) treatment. I'm taking 25 mg daily at the moment and I'm also taking alprazolam (Xanax) "on demand", though not that much, and lorazepam (Ativan) occasionally when I just need to be knocked out. That's the way it works for me: alprazolam works discreetly and effectively while lorazepam sedates me and leaves me staring in the void.

Also, I quit smoking for good once again four days ago and the cravings have been really really bad at times. And just a few weeks ago, I was smoking weed every night after work. Every time I took a break after prolonged weed abuse, I never felt the backlash for more than a week or so but I know it can take a few more weeks for the body to fully detox.

Anyways, I probably shouldn't be monitoring myself too much but all these ups and dows are also badly affecting my relationship and I'm trying to understand what's going on. I seem to be sleeping better and longer and for the first time in ages I remember my dreams when I wake up, which clearly points to the fact something is going on with REM sleep. Also, fatigue when it hits me, feels different, it's not overwhelming as it used to be. I've resumed running, as it clearly helps me to cope with stress and stay smokeless but exercise does not tire me anymore and I am restless again just hours after training intensively.

Clearly, I'm feeling something about two hours after taking my pill but I'm not too sure what. I'd say that my spirits are up a bit, although that turns to restlessness at times, and that my mind is a bit clearer but it does not seem to be helping the DP or the DR as such, so far.

Thanks a lot for the comments and encouragements. I'll keep you posted on the progress!

Cheers


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## Sojourner (May 21, 2005)

How long have you been taking 25 mg, UncleSeb?

Your doctor should ask you how you feel after 2-3 weeks, and if you're not feeling symptom-free, he or she should be increasing your dosage and checking you every 2-3 weeks to assess how you are.

Old Lady
who thinks maybe she ought to have chosen a different name


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## Guest (May 27, 2005)

Old Lady said:


> How long have you been taking 25 mg, UncleSeb?


Slightly more than a week, Old Lady (or whatever you prefer to be called, and btw, you can change that in your profile  I started off on 25 mg every other day for a week. The psychiatriast is being very cautious, which is rather a good sign, I think.



Old Lady said:


> Your doctor should ask you how you feel after 2-3 weeks, and if you're not feeling symptom-free, he or she should be increasing your dosage and checking you every 2-3 weeks to assess how you are.


I'm seeing him again on Monday, so it's gonna be one week on 12.5 and about 12 days on 25 mg by the time we meet up again for the assessment.

He told me he might want to reassess the dosage if I don't react appropriately but his initial thought was to keep me on 25 mg for the long haul.

Things are certainly improving in the sense that my downs are now "lucid", not obsessional, and it seems to have had a positive impact on my social interactions in the past few days. But exercise is also helping enormously, and that's also part of my "holistic" treatment (meds+sports+talk therapy).

I'm already starting to taper off the benzos at this point as they are making themselves less needed to get through a "normal" working day.

But again, although I can certainly feel some benefits, I don't think it's really helping the DP/DR. It certainly has helped me stabilise my mood a bit, I sleep better, I feel more positive and at least I'm lucid when I'm not, but I keep losing touch with myself and still have those DR symptoms, although they already had subsided a bit in the past few months (it's always anxiety and stress that trigger dramatic episodes with me). It's hard to explain. My libido and erections certainly have suffered also, but I understand this should normally not last. Ejaculating and even having a P can be hard at times. The doctor warned me against these side-effects but told me they usually subside. We'll see. Overall, I'm better off now than before starting this bloody treatment, and it's only the very beginning...

Many many thanks for your support, Old Lady, I really appreciate 

Cheers!


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## Sojourner (May 21, 2005)

UncleSeb,

Keep in mind that it is incredibly early in your treatment. Your neural family needs time to adjust to the new environment. It may take weeks for you to see the full benefits.

I started Z. in June of 1993, and it completely turned around my life. Not long after that, I went to graduate school and got my master's degree and began a satisfying new career -- really a continuation of my old career that my depression had led me to abandon as full-time work.

Please hang in there and give it time. The good results you saw immediately are very likely harbingers of better results as time goes by. Once I get through this hard patch I'm in right now, I hope to go back to something like 25 mg, although I don't know why I want to take less, except perhaps the cost.

I'm delighted to hear you are doing better. I guess medication is a hit-or-miss thing with different people.

I'll look forward to hearing more whenever you post!

God bless!

Sojourner (was Old Lady) (in a day or so I'll drop Old Lady entirely) LOL


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## Guest (Jun 1, 2005)

Sojourner said:


> Keep in mind that it is incredibly early in your treatment. Your neural family needs time to adjust to the new environment. It may take weeks for you to see the full benefits.


Yes, Sojourner, that's right! That's what the psychiatrist told me: that my serotonine levels were quicker to adjust than my dopamine levels, as is usually the case, because frontal brain functions are slower to react to drugs, and also because Zoloft has a 10 to 1 serotonine to dopamine action ratio, or so. Conclusion: he upped me to 50 mg... Still 25 mg every other day for a week, 50 mg otherwise.

My first day on 50 mg was truly horrible; I thought my head was going to explode and I couldn't stay seated for more than 30 minutes without going mad, I was doing pushups in the office, going out all the time. Today, was a 25 mg day and I could still feel yesterday's dose! I spent my lunchtime running like mad in the forest and wasn't even tired after one hour non-stop... I'm again on 50 mg tomorrow and that sounds dreadful, as I'm spending the day at a customer's 50 miles away from my head-office, and it's going to be a long day with quite a bit of talking and arguing.



Sojourner said:


> Please hang in there and give it time. The good results you saw immediately are very likely harbingers of better results as time goes by. Once I get through this hard patch I'm in right now, I hope to go back to something like 25 mg, although I don't know why I want to take less, except perhaps the cost.


I understand 50 mg is the minimum "therapeutic dosage", 25 mg is more like a starting or quitting dosage. I really, really hope the shrink was right and it's only going to take me a week to ajust to my new dosage, because with the demands of a full-time engineering job, the last two days have been hell...



Sojourner said:


> I'm delighted to hear you are doing better. I guess medication is a hit-or-miss thing with different people.


Well, I was really starting to feel the benefits, so I expect good results (or better) at the higher dosage once I get throught the side-effects of the increase. I also hope the sexual problems will dissapear. It seems some people have them for the whole duration of the treatment...



Sojourner said:


> I'll look forward to hearing more whenever you post!


That's really nice of you! Your story is a great encouragement for all of us here. By the way, what prevents you from getting off the Zoloft altogether? Is it helping your DP/DR? I suppose that's the reason why you signed up on this forum, right?

Cheers!!

UncleSeb


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## Sojourner (May 21, 2005)

Wow. I should have checked this thread...

My doctor had told me I should see what worked for me, so I did, and eventually I was on 25 mg for a while.

This panic business just started this month. Never had a panic attack before this. Depression, yes, but no panic.

I've been on 200 mg for 5 days now, and it's not preventing the anxiety, so I am taking ativan. I went several days without anything to help the anxiety but my autosuggstion, which worked, but I had to do it over and over and over.

I told the doctor that I have a barely tolerable constant panic and I'm trying things to deal with it consciously and through ignoring it and not buying into the fear, but he is telling me that probably won't make a difference. I think it's impossible not to buy into the fear. Fear is fear. Although if that's the case, why did my saying "If there's nothing to be afraid of, why are you afraid?" work to stop panic in its tracks the other day?

Heck. How are you doing this week, UncleSeb?

Sojourner


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## Guest (Jun 8, 2005)

Sojourner said:


> My doctor had told me I should see what worked for me, so I did, and eventually I was on 25 mg for a while.
> 
> This panic business just started this month. Never had a panic attack before this. Depression, yes, but no panic.


Wow, would you say this is because you lowered your Zoloft dosage (too fast)? I am the anxious type and had a few panick attacks in my life. The first one was so violent and tramautic that even feeling pressure mouting and the attack getting nearer has been a terrible experience, ever since. Panick attacks are a terrible vicous circle that can be hard to break because you get to fear the fear.



Sojourner said:


> I've been on 200 mg for 5 days now, and it's not preventing the anxiety, so I am taking ativan. I went several days without anything to help the anxiety but my autosuggstion, which worked, but I had to do it over and over and over.


Well, if you had been on a lower Zoloft dosage for a while, I can imagine jumping from 25 mg to 200 mg probably achieved the opposite, instead of calming the anxiety. Ativan is the brand name of lorazepam, if I'm not mistaken (sorry, doctors increasingly prescribe generics these days, at least in my country, to ease the social security burden, and I'm not always sure what the original brand names are). I only take lorazepam when I'm too anxious to sleep and it does help in that respect. If I take it during the day, it sedates me too much and gives me an amnesia of sorts, what alprazolam (Xanax, I'm sure about that one  doesn't do. Anyways, benzos seem to be commonly prescribed to ease the initial side effects of SSRIs, as they do not interact badly with them. I'm still taking a low dose of Xanax about three hours after the Zoloft, when it starts to kick in (slightly too hard, still). You doctor must have his/her reasons but upping a patient from 25 mg of Zoloft to 200 mg brutally is the last thing I would do to treat sudden panic attacks.



Sojourner said:


> I told the doctor that I have a barely tolerable constant panic and I'm trying things to deal with it consciously and through ignoring it and not buying into the fear, but he is telling me that probably won't make a difference. I think it's impossible not to buy into the fear. Fear is fear. Although if that's the case, why did my saying "If there's nothing to be afraid of, why are you afraid?" work to stop panic in its tracks the other day?


Panick attacks are extremely distressing in my own experience and there is not much you can do to stop the fear apart from (temporary) medication.



Sojourner said:


> Heck. How are you doing this week, UncleSeb?


Finally getting used to the daily 50 mg Zoloft dosage  I now understand what everybody in this thread wrote about the terrible side effects when you increase the dosage too fast. Getting from 0 to 25 mg was a piece of cake compared to getting from 25 mg to 50 mg. I was starting to feel the benefits and was then plunged into hell again for a week. Some side effects which I had felt initially worsened, others appeared: the anxiety and restlessless drove me constantly crazy. I started to feel nausea at times and discovered that I had become exceedingly sentitive to even minute amounts of alcohol. It's only starting to stabilise again now but I'm not sure if the side effects will subside or not. The anxiety is slowly going away, but it caused major trouble with my girldfriend, meaning I haven't had a chance to check on the sexual problems lately. Much to my surprise, I found myself becoming drunk and/or feeling very bizarre after just one or two drinks, and I've been a moderate social drinker for years and never had a history of drinking in myself or my family. Being in that state, I found I was inclined to drink more, which horrified me afterwards. I have never been an alcoholic and would never want to become one but alcohol seems to have a very strong interaction with Zoloft, as far as I am concerned. I don't know if that will subside or not but I think I should be very very cautious and might even have to abstain totally for the full duration of my treatment. That is something that really scares me...

Overall, I think I'm getting over the initial side effects, anxiety at least. It's been almost a month since I started. As soon as I'm feeling better for sure (better sooner than later  I'll quit smoking again!!!! I relapsed one week ago because I was going through so much stress, all at the same time. Feeling positive!

Cheers

UncleSeb


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## Sojourner (May 21, 2005)

Uncle Seb,

I didn't increase from 25 to 200 mg at once. It was over the period of several weeks. Sorry if I gave that impression.

The Zoloft has begun working; I had no panic yesterday and none today.

Didn't you read the patient insert with the medicine? Alcohol is "not advised," but my doctor says that is not technically correct. A LITTLE alcohol is fine. I would be careful, given what you said about your reaction to two drinks.


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## Guest (Jun 10, 2005)

Sojourner said:


> I didn't increase from 25 to 200 mg at once. It was over the period of several weeks. Sorry if I gave that impression.


OIC



Sojourner said:


> The Zoloft has begun working; I had no panic yesterday and none today.


Good!!! 200 mg sounds like a hell of a dose! I know it's technically within the range of dosages (the advised maximum, actually) but if it took me one month to get to 50 mg, not without bad side-effects, that must have put a lot of strain on your nerves...



Sojourner said:


> Didn't you read the patient insert with the medicine? Alcohol is "not advised," but my doctor says that is not technically correct. A LITTLE alcohol is fine. I would be careful, given what you said about your reaction to two drinks.


Well, I'm a tall fellow with a good metabolism, so it really took me aback. Many Europeans were used to drink small amounts of alcohol in a family setting from a fairly young age (at least by American standards), and it's usually considered part of the things of life (although mentalities have been shifting a bit lately). Old-school parents, at least, consider it a good way of giving a sense of responsibility to their children and bringing them softly to the grown-up world. That is to say, at 28, one pint of 5% beer would normally never knock me out, I would hardly feel anything at all, unless I'm on an empty stomach and particularly tired. Well, that is now enough to get me drunk and give me a bad hangover the next day. I think the right thing to do is to become a tee-totaller as long as I take Zoloft. I can live without the occasional social drink, just have to change my habits.

Cheers!

UncleSeb


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## Guest (Jun 19, 2005)

5.5 weeks already...
I was wrong when I mentioned it can take up to 2 months to stabilise (or give). It's 3 months with the slower patients my shrink said... And I seem to be the slower type. So here is an update and an analysis of what I think is interacting with the sertraline.

Yesterday, I tried half a pint of my favourite beer and experienced no nasty side-effect. The hyper-sensitivity I experienced before seems to be going and one social glass once in a while --hard to avoid-- does not look as a threat anymore. That's important for the socialisation bit.

I also realised almost as a shock that I had been on Xanax continuously for over six weeks now, although on fairly low dosages: 1 mg over the past month, 1.5 or 2 mg before that and now occasionally. Some people may argue that they've been on it for far longer and are doing well --I won't argue with them, don't want to start another benzo flame war-- but I can undeniably feel tolerance building up, if not addiction. Benzos are known to cause tolerance and addiction when taken regularly for too long, even on low dosages. I have been depressed and very nervous (and DR'ed again as a consequence) in the past few days, with no apparent reason. Going without the Xanax is painful. I told the shrink and he said my body might well have accustomed a bit too much to the Xananx, while I have started to metabolise it too fast, thereby causing withdrawal symptoms of sorts. He advised me to keep taking it as needed, but by 0.25 mg instead, reminding me that sertraline can take up to 3 months to work fully. The jumpiness and depression seems to be chemical and the benzo explanation is very plausible. I'll taper slowly and get off it as soon as I can. Don't want to be another benzo addict.

If the jumpiness isn't gone once I'm done with Xanax and have given sertraline a bit more time to work out, I might have a problem. That is still one of the more unpleasant side-effects of my medication. On the sexual front, I usually don't have problems having erections anymore, as long as I am at ease. But ejaculatory delay, which is very noticeable even when I simply love myself and don't have the face-to-face aspect of things to deal with, kills them more often than not, which might boil down to a lack of stamina but also quite possibly to the quasi-impossibility to reach an orgasm. After some time, the erection goes, which is quite frustrating, not so much for my self-esteem than for the fear I have that my partner might think she is to blame, although she knows about sertraline and its side-effects. I feel I am deprivivg her of my love when that happens, and I really hope that side-effect will subside or I will find a workaround.

Marijuana does not seem to interact in any way with Zoloft. A mj high is still a good old high. And it calms me well where the Xanax now fails. I even helps with the arousal, stimulates the animal part up to a healthier level. Don't want to do it for too long either, though. It worsens my DR in the longer term (which can take up to a week to calm down when quitting after long periods) and gives me the classical demotivation syndrome. But that never lasts each time I quit. Marijuana is a good short-term anxyolitic with me. I usually make inroads in treating my condition in those moments, when I'm high. That's the only moment when I'm quiet enough to think calmly about my problems and how to tackle them. This is not marijuana advocacy, though I don't like stubborn anti-marijuana advocacy either. I think people should be aware of the potential for damage in them and make the right choice. If you can't take it, don't take it! If you can't take it in the longer term, like me, don't do it for too long and be reasonable. But I really like the soothing meditative effect of a good high once in a while, when I need to stop and reflect. Anyways, that has nothing to do with Zoloft and is probably the wrong thread to discuss 

Cheers

UncleSeb


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## Darek (Jul 14, 2005)

Just a word of advice - i?ve had tinnitus (ringing in the ears) for few years, but few days of Zoloft (which did nothing to my DP) made it much much worse. Also, the jaw clenching has begun and is continuing since. Nevertheless, there are cases of people, whos tinnitus got better after Zoloft, well, i?m not one of them. So - be careful with it as i wasn?t.


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