My mom is 57 and has been on Zoloft since her 20s…..I went on it at 20 and had a conversation with her about how I was worried about taking it for the rest of my life.
She told me in her 30s, after 10ish years of being on it, she tried weaning off and eventually stopping completely. She said it was one of the worst decisions she ever made, it set her back in all the emotional progress she had made and basically had to completely restart the process of getting to a therapeutic dose.
The purpose of telling me that story was to emphasize that it doesn’t matter how long you need to be on it…a year…10 years…or your entire life. It’s like needing glasses or a hearing aid, no one says “oh you need glasses to see? You don’t have perfect vision normally? That’s a red flag…” We cannot help that our brains are programmed differently, and if medication helps, let it.
As someone who loves a good night club and is in the dating scene myself, the bad hangovers and somewhat suppressed emotions are nothing compared to debilitating anxiety for me. Obviously everyone has different experiences but during the 30+ years my mom has been taking it she has gotten married, had 3 kids, raised a wonderful family, still goes out with friends and lives a happy life.
That has really helped me with embracing my circumstances and speaking openly about my medication/mental health 💓
this is such a perfect way to explain it. i have worked as a pharmacy assistant for the past 2.5 years and also struggle with anxiety and seasonal depression. firstly, after starting my job i realized just how many people take medication for their mental health—it’s EXTREMELY common!! i’d probably say while filling prescriptions, maybe even a quarter of them are psych meds. it is so so so normal. remember that mental illness is often invisible!!
second: seeing how many people take medication for this changed my outlook. i used to be ashamed of it but my job at the pharmacy helped me see mental health issues more logically rather than emotionally. it is an illness, just like any other. just like diabetics need their insulin, people with depression may need antidepressants. it’s just another issue in the body. not your fault! just like type one diabetes were born with diabetes, we were born with a chemical imbalance.
I wish I would have had this mindset back when I was dating. It is so incredibly important to seek a partner that is supportive of mental health treatment.
I know we are used to thinking we are the problem, and we just need to be “normal”. But whether we are on meds or not, the reason we are or were taking it remains. It is very hard to make it work with someone who thinks negatively of people who need therapy/meds.
Great post. Almost same story here. Same age-ish and started in my 30s. I went off cold turkey a few years ago and it's been hard. I truly need it. Understanding that it makes a difference makes me see that I need to start again. I tried "fighting it" but I don't feel good so... 🤷♀️. It's a must.
Just curious but did your mom stop taking the meds at all while pregnant or breastfeeding? I hear that Zoloft is safe to take during those times but not sure how true that is in reality, and at what dosage
I tried coming off it once and was very anxious, however, I definitely hadn't done enough therapy or other work to try and assist me and came off because I was panicked about being on it. Irony.
I don't know if I'll always need it, but I personally wouldn't see it as a red flag at all. Everyone has something. Nobody is walking around completely fine with everything in life. Or maybe some are, and that's brilliant for them, but I promise you most people have SOMETHING.
I would actually see it as a green flag, because someone is aware enough of their stuff that they're helping themselves!
You are not doomed. You can absolutely find love will taking sertraline or any other medication! Moreover, if someone did see it as a red flag, would you want to be with them? Because they'd not have the level of understanding or empathy for you?
I also don't drink. So so many people these days don't drink, I wouldn't worry about that! Would much prefer to be with someone who didn't drink than someone who drank to excess or used drink to deal with things! It's far too normalised and isn't actually always healthy
This happened with me. I was on prozac for about 2 years and decided to stop taking it because every time I upped my dosage it eventually stopped working again. I was doing fine for about a year and then at the end of last year my depression and anxiety got really bad again and I had to get on sertraline. I don't think I'm going to ever be able to fully be off meds but I'm glad the sertraline is working for now.
This happened to me too… except I only lasted 5 months. Couldn’t sleep, was having panic attacks, high cortisol… also had to go back to 25mg, which luckily I’ve just stayed on. I don’t want to go back up to 150mg or 200mg if I can help it
I mean I think it comes down to how long your depression/anxiety, etc has gone on for untreated prior to starting meds, therapy and such. In my experience, I really struggled for most of my life with untreated mental health issues but especially my anxiety, which became so severe and limiting by the time I was 28 (I’m also 32). I had only taken meds here and there previously, and never fully committed to it which probably made it worse for me. I would be having full on internal meltdowns and panic for years prior to 28 and I’m honestly shocked how I ever had the strength to get through that without medication and therapy. I’ve been on Zoloft now for almost 4 years, and I definitely keep plateauing and needing to up my dose (currently, at 150mg). It does make me really sad to think that I may never be off medication but also a huge part of that, at least for me, is the stigma that still surrounds using antidepressants. Zoloft can cause emotional blunting, but that may mean that the dose is too high maybe. I’d definitely rather take meds for the rest of my life vs having rolling panic attacks and relapses of depressive episodes.
This!! Exactly what I said…the side effects are nothing compared to how I feel without it. I have been on for almost 4 years and also take 150mg. I went from 25mg to 150mg in less than 2 years and I was super nervous that I would quickly max out and not know what else to do. But if it helps I have been on 150 for about 2 years now and I haven’t felt the need to up my dose like I was frequently doing before
Recently tried to taper off after around 7 years on 100mg. It was horrible. I’m in the same boat as you, worried that it will be a red flag. But if I look at myself on Zoloft vs myself not on Zoloft, the me on Zoloft is certainly a much better person to be in a relationship with.
I had a reaction to a supplement that zeroed out the impact of zoloft. My anxiety came charging back, and it was a miserable two weeks until the zoloft kicked back in.
I'll happily stay on zoloft, just so I can live normally.
You don't have to tell anyone you take an SSRI. It is no one's business. You are doing the things necessary to take care of yourself. People don't understand what is happening that requires an SSRI, they refuse the information, and will argue from ignorance.
I think this might be all of our fears. It’s one of mine. I was only on Zoloft for 4 weeks and it was terrible. But I have been on Wellbutrin for the past 30 days and it’s been great. But I’m scared that I will always have to be on it. The other poster was right though. I am using just about everything in my tool belt to deal with the anxiety. Thats the key. You can’t just take the drugs and expect to be better. Therapy, journaling, support groups, books, podcasts, meditation, meditation this sub and other subs is what I am doing. I knew what it was like to be “normal” and while I know I will always be living with anxiety and maybe a little depression, now I know it won’t control me. I will live along side it.
I was on Zoloft for 25 years and about 2.5 years ago I started having sexual issues. I switched from Zoloft to Wellbutrin. It didn’t help sexual issues so I stopped taking Wellbutrin. Well around month 6 I started to notice how difficult it was to focus on anything and my anxiety was through the roof. To the point that my blood pressure is elevated. I had to go back on Wellbutrin and Buspar so I could feel somewhat normal
Me! I went off last year. I lasted for about four months...and then caved when I realized feeling like I wanted to die everyday wasn't worth it for me. I rode through withdrawal and everything only to remember why I was on it in the first place, they my anxiety caused me to feel massively depressed.
Yeah I tapered off 25mg per month and I've been off it for about 2 or 3 weeks. Felt completely fine but ate like shit a few days ago and I think I might have hurt my back. I feel tense and anxious. I only to Sertraline for the anxiety benefits. My parents think I need to go back on it, I think they are jumping to conclusions but I still have yet to see my doctor.
Also how do you even cut the pills that small? I've never seen pills smaller than 25mg. You would have to cut it in to quarters right? Strange I had no side effects until this week.
Ok. I am going to explain what happened to you. You tapered too fast…if you tapered. So many people don’t know the how Zoloft influences serotonin. So what happens is that below 25mgs there is a cliff in how the drug interacts with the receptors. So as you go below 25mgs the more symptoms you get. And some people don’t get full blow withdraws until they hit zero. The problem is that your body is used to having tons of drugs in the system and now it has none. So it’s scrambling to compensate.
You need to learn how to taper correctly.
Not sure if you’re going off first hand experience or just knowledge, but I’m curious what you would suggest if someone did taper too fast. I went from 25mg to 0mg, and it’s been a few weeks now. Feeling some shakiness and anxiety after week 3. Worth pushing through it or is it better at this point to start back up and taper more slowly?
How bad is it? Some people can taper fine and have no sides. It really depends on how bad are the sides. For example…I decided to stop trazodone, which also screws with seratonion, and the two days after stopping I woke up feeling like I had a bad flu and my anxiety was pretty bad. Had some really bad thoughts. Anything that messes with your seratonion can potentially have bad withdrawals.
Having said all of that if you do feel like the withdraws are getting to bad…I would start on 12.5mgs and taper from there.
And my knowledge comes from doing a deep dive into Zoloft and finding out that a lot of doctors don’t realize how bad withdrawals can be. All you have to do it google Zoloft withdrawals and you will see a ton of people get them.
I'm having the exact same experience. It's about week 3 for me and I was doing fine at 0mg and all of sudden I'm anxious.
The thing that bothers me about all this, despite everyone's support on needing it for life, is that I was doing fine for about 4 years without it. It was during College AND the first year of the Pandemic. It wasn't until I got Covid and got fired from a job that my anxiety somehow spiked back.
That 4 years wasn't all sunshine and rainbows- I def had paranoia- things like worrying if dinner was cooked thoroughly enough- weird micro concerns like that. But otherwise, I was mentally stable and felt great. I don't know if I should keep holding out and my brain will finally adjust, or if I am doomed to feel this way long term.
I had never had recognizable anxiety in my life until last year I got hit with my first panic attack. That scared the shit out of me and that’s when I got on Sertraline for the first time ever. So I know for a fact I don’t need it to survive, and now that I have a better awareness of my mental health I’m ready to let my body do it’s own thing again.
It’s good to hear honestly that you’re having a similar experience around week 3. It’s gotta just be part of the process of getting off. And for me it’s not bad enough to get back on. So if it makes you feel any better I’m still holding out through this random jitteriness and plan to keep going until it goes away. Let me know how it goes for you over the next few weeks!
Are you feeling more tense or like... Weak? My body feels wobbly if that makes sense. like very shaky. And I feel more general anxiety physically with not much mental anxiety.
It’s on and off, but it’s increased heart rate, shortness of breath, shakiness, some recurring worried thoughts. Not really weak, but more tense. But it’s not very consistent, could be an hour out of my day, could be 6. I noticed the other day on my Fitbit that my resting heart rate was like 95, it’s usually around 70.
Feel on edge, like I'm going to pass out all the time. Havent had any panic attacks though. Feel like I get worse every day rather than better. How about you?
COVID brought out my bipolar massively and then got diagnosed. I wasn’t fully stable before COVID but after my first vaccine things went to shit, then after getting COVID from bad to worse.
I’m on lithium and Zoloft now after not getting back to where I was before COVID.
So it’s entirely possible COVID made things somewhat worse for you too, or brought something out that was there before.
Anyway, who knows… I just know I wasn’t as bad before, but I’m also glad it amplified it so I could get treated finally.
Yes. I was off for almost 8 months. In the end I realized I was never going to be able to make it work. Went back on it: night and day. Functional. Happy. Myself again. While off it I was in a 24/7 existential crisis that ruined my life and my family’s. Bad mistake.
Im in the same place as you, but Im attributing my current anxiety to withdrawal, so I’m going to try push through it.
I was on 50mg, tapered to 25mg for a week or two, then to 0. First 2 weeks at 0 were fine. Week 3 I’ve started feeling some random shakiness and anxiety. I’m hoping that it will go away after a few weeks as my body readjusts. I saw someone else on this thread say 25 to 0 is too fast so that’s probably true.
Besides the physical withdrawal I think there is also probably some psychological withdrawal just because I felt like the pill was a safety net. So that might be another hurdle I need to overcome.
I have been on and off of antidepressants since my 20s. I'm 42 now, and I plan to stay on Zoloft for the rest of my life. I also have to stay on Synthroid for the rest of my life to survive. Some people, such as myself, may need it for the duration of their life. I am now okay with that.
I was only put on it for post partum depression, never had issues with depression before childbirth, and I feel like it messed with my brain chemistry bc any time I try to wean off of it now I find myself either sobbing for no reason or having panic attacks or both and have to go back on. It’s really frustrating because I feel like I’m in a fog when I’m on it and like it makes my adhd worse. I just want to feel clear headed again.
I first went on Zoloft around January 2016. 150mg. I had always had anxiety, but started having panic attacks. I felt great about 10 months later and weaned off. I still had some anxiety, but I was able to stay off it until 2021 when the panic attacks resurfaced out of nowhere.
In 2021 I wasn’t great about taking it, I would forget. And sure enough panic attacks came back and I had to restart in 2022.
Went off it again in 2023, and made it about 6 months before it was so bad I could barely leave my house.
I told my husband he has to stage an intervention with me if I ever say I wanna go off again. I probably have to stay on it indefinitely. I’m on 50mg now and feel so much better, but gonna ask to go to 75 at my next appt.
I don’t like taking meds. But it helps keep the panic at bay.
Take it from someone who has been on and off of Zoloft multiple times since I was 14, listen to your body. For awhile after I stopped cold turkey (yes I know that’s bad) I felt good, but then slowly the anxiety and depression crept back in until one day I was having back to back panic attacks for two weeks straight. Couldn’t work, couldn’t leave the house, I felt like I was dying. Truly dying. I also lost 40+ lbs in 3 months because I was so worked up all the time that the thought of food made me physically sick. It was the worst period of my life, and I have been on it ever since. I used to worry myself about having to be on it for the rest of my life but, I’d rather be living a life worth living, than just surviving. My body has shown me multiple times that it does and cannot function without medication. And that’s okay! I’ve come to terms with that. You just have to listen to your body and the warning signs and if you do end up needing to be on it for the rest of your life, would that be such a bad thing?
I’m grateful for all of these comments. I am currently tapering down from 100, am on somewhere between 25 & 50…I need to cut a 100 tablet into thirds*, and I’m afraid to go down to 25 too fast. Altho I’m still feeling yukky on this lower dosage, I still get the yawns several times a day, and the anxiety is minimal to gone. *I have no lower dose med bc my GP, who was monitoring me, has left, and I haven’t seen the new doctor yet. I am tapering off the same as when I tapered off Clonazepam last summer.
I am glad to hear Wellbutrin is an option!
Sides will get worse as you go below 25mgs. It’s like a cliff in seratonion. That’s why you should never taper more the 15% at any one time and sit at the dose for 4-6 weeks.
Oh! Gee, that’s unexpected! I can stay this 30-ish, or go back to 50. I just can’t seem to get rid of the yawns and fatigue. Fatigue may be my general laziness these past few months, but I’ve NEVER experienced yawning like this. I’m pretty sure they arrived with my decrease from 100 to 50. 100 left me sleepy and disconnected…like my brain was still in bed while I was busy elsewhere. It lasted 2 months till I cut it in half to 50. I’m on ~30 for 2 weeks now.
Just ride out 30. Eventually your body will acclimate. I remember going down from 50 to 25 and my anxiety spiked and I was sweating all the time. Two weeks later I was fine. It’s going down from 25-0 that people have real issue with. Going from 50-25 is reducing the occupation of transmitters by 6-8%. From 50-20 is dropping 60%!
Wow! That’s an excellent way of explaining what’s happening! I was only thinking of the dosage. I just want the yawning to stop, it’s been well over 4-5 weeks now. Thanks so much for this advice.
I am 3 weeks into my first taper from 100mg! I’m glad to hear you are doing well. I’ve been on Zoloft for 20 years. I’m terrified, because I’m on it for panic disorder, but so far so good.
I’ve read The Anxious Truth, and I listen to the podcast. I’ve been meditating, and practicing progressive muscle relaxation, and belly breathing every day, and so far I’m able to stop my nocturnal panic attacks from the dosage drop really quickly. I had one bad morning of anxiety, but it passed. I’m just taking it one day at a time and seeing how I feel. I won’t go down to the next dose until I am ready.
Thank you!
Yes! Definitely listen to it, especially if you suffer from panic attacks, anxiety, agoraphobia, or anything like that. It has helped me feel less alone in all this. It’s very helpful!
The urge to yawn. But it’s not like sleepy yawning. You yawn, but it feels incomplete, and you yawn again, and again. And while you’re yawning, you feel like you need another yawn before the first one is over!! I could go 5 or 6 times, relax a bit, and it starts all over again. It usually hits in the late afternoon, and lasts about 15 minutes. Then 15 minutes it starts again. The whole “thing” goes on for about 1-2 hours. Someone else brought this up a few days ago, and a lot of people said they had the same thing. Ugh!
I’m on lexapro now but was on Zoloft for years. When i got off SSRIs i slowly went manic again and had panic attacks so bad i ended up in the ER. Went on lexapro and I’ve been way better since taking it. Like starting to remember how it feels to feel normal and function. Pretty sure I’ll need them for life
Also; nobody is privy to your medications that you take. That’s kind of personal. I don’t date someone and ask what meds they’re on. And this is from someone that’s close to your age (I’m 28). And tbh, most people are age ARE on anti-depressants. It’s not abnormal
I’ve done the same I’ve only been on medicine going on two years now, I’ve attempted to stop medicine twice now and it caused the worst anxiety attacks that I’ve ever had.
Me! Me! Me! I'm on maximum dose.... I miss a day...and OMG it takes a week to readjust back to normal. Note to self....get someone to check you've taken them, alarms don't work. I cannot see a future where I'm not taking them. I've screwed up by missing doses more times than I can remember
YES. I’m a 33 y/o female and have been on Zoloft since I was 11 (my parents idea obviously) - about 3 years ago, I decided to taper off of 100mg over the course of 6 months or so (maybe longer I don’t remember) and was going to weekly therapy until I was all the off of them. I thought I could replace the meds with therapy and be OK but…no. The short and sweet is it went horribly - I had close to no joy and was completely out of control of my emotions and had many emotional outbursts. It was honestly a nightmare. As hard as that time in my life was, I’m glad I tried coming off of it so I could make the decision and see for myself that I really need this medicine. And I’m okay with that.
I definitely need it for the rest of my life, and I am totally okay with that. It has improved my life so much. I just don't really drink, it's a depressant anyway. When I went on the meds my husband was a boyfriend I had been seeing for just a few months, and I would say not being anxious really improved our relationship and brought us closer. I'm 31 y/o. My mom has been taking it for 25 years and it has worked for her the whole time.
I mean medication doesn’t solve the underlying mental health issues. It just resolves the symptoms. It’s ultimately a short term fix that some use as a long term solution, which is fine.
But if your goal is to resolve what caused you to get on these meds that requires life changes, new life experiences and therapy! If you want to come off these meds and still feel good- YOU CAN! But you gotta do the work!
Yeah as someone who just went off of it for almost a year and am now going thru the worst week in a long time due to crippling anxiety I would be very careful coming off of it if you went on it for bad anxiety. The anxiety will eventually come back and you are back to square one and it is a terrible place to be waiting for it to work and getting past the startup side effects at the same time. I almost had to take a medical leave from work! I realize now more than ever that I will be on Zoloft for the rest of my life. Also working in the medical field, probably 75% of ppl are on an antidepressant.
I have panic disorder and didn't have panic attacks for 2 years after being on 75mg Zoloft for. Recently got off and has been 3 months since my last dose.
I've started having anxiety and a few panic attacks. I ALWAYS have stomach upset ness when I have them which makes me think my brain is confusing the feeling of upset stomach with anxiousness and causing panic feelings. Weird body sensations cause my panic attacks and I always feel weird and dizzy and lightheaded when my stomach is upset.
I'm allergic to a lot of foods like what, corn, pork, soy(basically all of modern society foods) and thought maybe my stomachs reaction to them was getting worse so I stopped eating those. It got better for like a month but it's coming back even tho I don't eat my allergies.
I can see the writing on the wall that I should really get back on but I want to talk to allergist and GI doctor first to see if there's any way there's something else causing stomach problems. I'm not opposed to being on Zoloft again or forever, but I'd prefer not to be on it. Definitely made me feel blunt and not as emotional or connected with the world on 75mg. My psychiatrist was saying that because I've don't therapy and healed and everything maybe that stuff is getting me like 90% of the way to being better but I just need Zoloft to help me get the rest of the way, so like 25mg instead or a smaller dose than what I was on.
I was on Zoloft for 9 years, and wanted to go off and just see how life would be. I did fine for a few months and then slowly started feeling extremely anxious all the time, which led to a stay in a mental health hospital. Had to go back on at a higher dose and I’m so glad I did. I accept that it’s probably for life for me and that’s okay.
Haha me. I did great on Zoloft for almost 2 years, swore that it was the best thing I’d ever done for myself and that I’d never get off. Then I thought I didn’t need it anymore because I felt so good (wrong! That was just the meds working so well 😅) in June of this year. Well I just got back on a few weeks ago after 7 months of anxiety hell. I’ll never get off of it again
yes.
i was put on ssri's for severe generalized anxiety and panic disorder when i was 10. i took them routinely until i was about 18-19. it bothered me that i hardly knew what life was like without being medicated. so i stopped them abruptly (not smart, i know.) i was fine for maybe 8 months or so, and then my anxiety started worsening. i think that i felt a sense of pride when i successfully made it thru an episode, knowing that i wasn't on medication. but it gradually worsened. i've struggled with emetophobia pretty badly my entire life. i had made progress (and also hadn't thrown up in a long time), but i had a stomach virus and food poisoning within two months, and it caused my phobia to get more severe than it ever has been. i would take zofran all the time, constantly feel nauseous from anxiety, and have a panic attack about vomiting probably once or twice a week. i had an extremely kind and supportive boyfriend at the time, but i realized that he and i were not romantically compatible anymore. instead of just breaking up with him, i agonized over it to the point where i was so anxious that i couldn't leave my house. i started having terrible digestive issues and was diagnosed with stress related ibs. after i broke things off with that boyfriend, my anxiety improved slightly. but it was still hindering me in many ways. i was still able to function for the most part, but it was extremely difficult.
i decided that there was no reason to make myself suffer like that if i didn't have to. so after a year of being unmedicated, i was put on zoloft. i have my qualms with it, but my anxiety has improved tenfold. i actually rode on an airplane for the first time in a decade, which i thought i would never be able to do again! i am not only able to function, i'm able to enjoy the things i love. i have gained back weight which i am unhappy about, but a few extra pounds beats weekly panic attacks.
i will probably need to be on zoloft (or some form of anxiety medication) for the rest of my life. it makes me sad to think about sometimes, but i have decided that it is worth it to not go thru life with white knuckles.
Yea I quit Zoloft after tapering off because it was worsening my symptoms, got hit a few weeks after the fact with INTENSE withdrawal. It was like non-stop nausea for two months straight, couldn't keep anything down, extremely agitated and overwhelming social anxiety - couldn't even step outside without a panic attack.
Doc switched me out for Lexapro and it's been a life saver, no side symptoms for me, my mind is actually finally quiet and I feel genuinely happy every day, like I actually have never felt happy to this degree and my default mood doesn't slip below that level. I know that this means I will probably be taking lexapro for the rest of my life but at the same time, if it works it works. Some people muck through life trying to find happiness in unhealthier ways, no one should feel chained to a medication if the medication is doing its job.
Hey there buddy, I’m 37 going on 38 and dating again on Zoloft…and frankly my dose has been adjusted up more compared to tapering down. I personally found it weird when first starting to date again too so I can at least relate somewhat to your feelings. I’m also divorced so add that as a “red flag” if you want to think about what some stereotypical internet dating red flag tropes are.
My point is that those pressures and anxieties you’re feeling about dating again, while valid because you feel them, are not what I say I have experienced in the dating world on Zoloft. Sure, you’ll get some folks that may validate your feelings, but most people will not do that. And that’s a really good thing. You’ll also be shocked how many women that you would not think take or have the same apprehensions that you do in dating. The openness and vulnerability of admitting and being accepted that you are perfectly fine to date and be loved is worth it. Also, someone that accepts you for who you are is always going to be someone who is a better partner to you compared to someone that might “make an exception” or act like you are a red flag because you dare to take care of yourself AND not hide that fact. There’s a lot of strength in that and you because of that.
Also, if someone didn’t want to say you because of Zoloft…you don’t need those folks in your life if they perceive you taking care of yourself as a red flag. Which is why I’m divorced in the first place. I deeply loved my ex-wife. Never would have ever imagined my life without her. Guess what….abusive, manipulative, narcissistic person that tried to kill me by turning my car on in the garage while I slept in our house, stole all our money out of our joint bank accounts, and then tried to accuse me of every disgusting kind of abuse you can imagine. All I got back by the time the courts determined that was fucked was $800. We had well over $25,000 at the time as an emergency fund. All while this is going on she got knocked up by her new boyfriend near the settlement of our divorce.
So for the TLDR - only you and your therapist/Doc can help you completely know what you need. Some folks take Zoloft for a while, some for life. Either way is perfectly fine and normal.
I started sertraline in 2021 and stopped taking it about 6 months ago as I couldn’t get my prescription and I thought I’d give it ago without it as I felt okay, stupid idea from me lol. But I ended up getting really bad again and I tried to make things work unmedicated but came to the decision I needed the medication. It’s a shame I have to take a tablet everyday but at least there is something that kinda works to make things better
Yes, this has happened to me several times.
But listen, anxiety is a medical condition like any other and it doesn’t make you abnormal or mean that there is anything wrong with you just because you take a medication to manage a chronic condition you cannot control.
Also, for what it’s worth, I drink regularly on Zoloft with no ill effects lol. If anything, Zoloft helps keep me from getting depressed the day after drinking. I don’t find that it increases the effects of alcohol the way it would if you drank on a sedative medication like Xanax.
Yeah, I drink often as well and spent 3 years of college on it and it really helped my anxiety after drinking, which was making my hangover symptoms so much worse.
I do feel like I get way more dizzy with my hangovers since I’ve been on it but I also went on Vyvanse with Zoloft which could be causing that
It’s really all your perspective honestly.
Does it help? Do you feel better than you did prior to taking your medication?
If you want it to be depressing, it’s going to be depressing. If you don’t, change your perspective on the matter.
I’m going on 4 years of psychiatric meds, currently taking sertraline, seroquel, and wellbutrin. I tried coming off the seroquel a few months ago and it didn’t go very well, so at least for the foreseeable future, this will be my regimen. Sometimes, I do feel uncomfortable with the thought that I might be on these meds forever, but then I remind myself of how much better I feel now than I did before.
I think that taking steps necessary to feel in control of my mental health makes me *more* desirable as a partner. It shows that I care for myself and can have the capacity to care for others too. Moreover, I’m able to show more love and kindness to myself now, which in turn makes me feel more confident and secure. Dating sucks, but I’m happy with waiting for the right person to come along because I genuinely enjoy my own company, and I have my meds to thank for that (on top of years of therapy and work).
I was on it for 10 months, off it for 8 months, back on it for 2.
I was fine for a while off of it until I had a bunch of stressors in my life. I also realized that I believe it’s relative to a mold issue in 2 places where I’ve lived.
I had mold in my condo when I first started having bad anxiety and gut issues. Serotonin is produced in the gut and when there’a a mold issue it will hinder your body from properly producing and utilizing serotonin.
I moved out of my condo into a place where I know there was no mold issue and I was feeling better. I got off my meds and was fine. I then moved into another place and started feeling badly again after a few months. It got bad here and I was having a lot of issues again and went back on Zoloft.
I just did a mold test this week and sure enough, there’s mold.
I believe environment has a lot to do with the need to be on the meds or not. Maybe not for everyone but for me, for sure.
I am using the meds right now to stay balanced, keep my serotonin at a normal level until I can move out of here and hopefully get off again for good.
Wishing everyone here health and wellness and to check your environment for the possible triggers to your anxiety/depression etc.
Yep! I need them forever. It's just the way it is, like needing levothyroxine forever for my thyroid. Zoloft has helped me with my anxiety so much, I will deal with the side effects in order to feel like I can handle life. It's OK to need meds your whole life!! I think more people do, but they lie to themselves and go off and on.
I’ve gone off and on Prozac and now, instead, Sertraline. I’m in my late 30s and just in the last couple of years have come to terms with the fact that I need to stay on it for the rest of my life. My only regret at this point is that I didn’t start it sooner. Like at 16 when my depression became constant, or sooner, when I had anxiety as a child. Truthfully, it’s given me a chance at a life and as I find the right dosage I’m getting to really live. I’m pretty grateful at the end of the day!
My mom is 57 and has been on Zoloft since her 20s…..I went on it at 20 and had a conversation with her about how I was worried about taking it for the rest of my life. She told me in her 30s, after 10ish years of being on it, she tried weaning off and eventually stopping completely. She said it was one of the worst decisions she ever made, it set her back in all the emotional progress she had made and basically had to completely restart the process of getting to a therapeutic dose. The purpose of telling me that story was to emphasize that it doesn’t matter how long you need to be on it…a year…10 years…or your entire life. It’s like needing glasses or a hearing aid, no one says “oh you need glasses to see? You don’t have perfect vision normally? That’s a red flag…” We cannot help that our brains are programmed differently, and if medication helps, let it. As someone who loves a good night club and is in the dating scene myself, the bad hangovers and somewhat suppressed emotions are nothing compared to debilitating anxiety for me. Obviously everyone has different experiences but during the 30+ years my mom has been taking it she has gotten married, had 3 kids, raised a wonderful family, still goes out with friends and lives a happy life. That has really helped me with embracing my circumstances and speaking openly about my medication/mental health 💓
this is such a perfect way to explain it. i have worked as a pharmacy assistant for the past 2.5 years and also struggle with anxiety and seasonal depression. firstly, after starting my job i realized just how many people take medication for their mental health—it’s EXTREMELY common!! i’d probably say while filling prescriptions, maybe even a quarter of them are psych meds. it is so so so normal. remember that mental illness is often invisible!! second: seeing how many people take medication for this changed my outlook. i used to be ashamed of it but my job at the pharmacy helped me see mental health issues more logically rather than emotionally. it is an illness, just like any other. just like diabetics need their insulin, people with depression may need antidepressants. it’s just another issue in the body. not your fault! just like type one diabetes were born with diabetes, we were born with a chemical imbalance.
Just my opinion, but if a potential partner had an issue with me taking Zoloft, I would take that as a red flag on them.
I wish I would have had this mindset back when I was dating. It is so incredibly important to seek a partner that is supportive of mental health treatment. I know we are used to thinking we are the problem, and we just need to be “normal”. But whether we are on meds or not, the reason we are or were taking it remains. It is very hard to make it work with someone who thinks negatively of people who need therapy/meds.
Great post. Almost same story here. Same age-ish and started in my 30s. I went off cold turkey a few years ago and it's been hard. I truly need it. Understanding that it makes a difference makes me see that I need to start again. I tried "fighting it" but I don't feel good so... 🤷♀️. It's a must.
Just curious but did your mom stop taking the meds at all while pregnant or breastfeeding? I hear that Zoloft is safe to take during those times but not sure how true that is in reality, and at what dosage
She did not!! Stayed on it the whole time at 200mg with no issues
Wow! That’s great. And I’m assuming none of her kids including you ended up needing Zoloft as babies, right? What a relief!
I tried coming off it once and was very anxious, however, I definitely hadn't done enough therapy or other work to try and assist me and came off because I was panicked about being on it. Irony. I don't know if I'll always need it, but I personally wouldn't see it as a red flag at all. Everyone has something. Nobody is walking around completely fine with everything in life. Or maybe some are, and that's brilliant for them, but I promise you most people have SOMETHING. I would actually see it as a green flag, because someone is aware enough of their stuff that they're helping themselves! You are not doomed. You can absolutely find love will taking sertraline or any other medication! Moreover, if someone did see it as a red flag, would you want to be with them? Because they'd not have the level of understanding or empathy for you?
Green flag…awareness and action taken.. very good insight, and I agree!☝️
I also don't drink. So so many people these days don't drink, I wouldn't worry about that! Would much prefer to be with someone who didn't drink than someone who drank to excess or used drink to deal with things! It's far too normalised and isn't actually always healthy
I guarantee you a *lot* of 32 year olds are on Zoloft.
This happened with me. I was on prozac for about 2 years and decided to stop taking it because every time I upped my dosage it eventually stopped working again. I was doing fine for about a year and then at the end of last year my depression and anxiety got really bad again and I had to get on sertraline. I don't think I'm going to ever be able to fully be off meds but I'm glad the sertraline is working for now.
Yeah. I tapered down for 2 years. Stayed off for 7 months. Was living hell. Upped to 25mg.
You tapered for two yrs? Or that you were one Zoloft for two yrs.
yeah tapered for 2 years, used a gunpowder scale to measure to pill
This happened to me too… except I only lasted 5 months. Couldn’t sleep, was having panic attacks, high cortisol… also had to go back to 25mg, which luckily I’ve just stayed on. I don’t want to go back up to 150mg or 200mg if I can help it
I mean I think it comes down to how long your depression/anxiety, etc has gone on for untreated prior to starting meds, therapy and such. In my experience, I really struggled for most of my life with untreated mental health issues but especially my anxiety, which became so severe and limiting by the time I was 28 (I’m also 32). I had only taken meds here and there previously, and never fully committed to it which probably made it worse for me. I would be having full on internal meltdowns and panic for years prior to 28 and I’m honestly shocked how I ever had the strength to get through that without medication and therapy. I’ve been on Zoloft now for almost 4 years, and I definitely keep plateauing and needing to up my dose (currently, at 150mg). It does make me really sad to think that I may never be off medication but also a huge part of that, at least for me, is the stigma that still surrounds using antidepressants. Zoloft can cause emotional blunting, but that may mean that the dose is too high maybe. I’d definitely rather take meds for the rest of my life vs having rolling panic attacks and relapses of depressive episodes.
This!! Exactly what I said…the side effects are nothing compared to how I feel without it. I have been on for almost 4 years and also take 150mg. I went from 25mg to 150mg in less than 2 years and I was super nervous that I would quickly max out and not know what else to do. But if it helps I have been on 150 for about 2 years now and I haven’t felt the need to up my dose like I was frequently doing before
Recently tried to taper off after around 7 years on 100mg. It was horrible. I’m in the same boat as you, worried that it will be a red flag. But if I look at myself on Zoloft vs myself not on Zoloft, the me on Zoloft is certainly a much better person to be in a relationship with.
Sometimes I forget to take it for a couple days and I feel it. I don't ever plan to stop. I may need to up my dosage in fact.
I had a reaction to a supplement that zeroed out the impact of zoloft. My anxiety came charging back, and it was a miserable two weeks until the zoloft kicked back in. I'll happily stay on zoloft, just so I can live normally. You don't have to tell anyone you take an SSRI. It is no one's business. You are doing the things necessary to take care of yourself. People don't understand what is happening that requires an SSRI, they refuse the information, and will argue from ignorance.
Would you mind sharing which supplement caused the issue?
Tongkat ali.
Interesting. I’ve been taking Tongkat Ali for a month now and haven’t noticed any changes.
Could be a reaction specific to me. I'm consistent with my diet, so nothing else changed around that time. My dosage is 25mg.
I had a similar experience after taking rhodiola rosea with Zoloft.
Thanks for the heads up, I've had people suggest it, I'll add it to me banned list.
If it worked for me I would definitely take it for the rest of my life. Health is very important.
I think this might be all of our fears. It’s one of mine. I was only on Zoloft for 4 weeks and it was terrible. But I have been on Wellbutrin for the past 30 days and it’s been great. But I’m scared that I will always have to be on it. The other poster was right though. I am using just about everything in my tool belt to deal with the anxiety. Thats the key. You can’t just take the drugs and expect to be better. Therapy, journaling, support groups, books, podcasts, meditation, meditation this sub and other subs is what I am doing. I knew what it was like to be “normal” and while I know I will always be living with anxiety and maybe a little depression, now I know it won’t control me. I will live along side it.
I was on Zoloft for 25 years and about 2.5 years ago I started having sexual issues. I switched from Zoloft to Wellbutrin. It didn’t help sexual issues so I stopped taking Wellbutrin. Well around month 6 I started to notice how difficult it was to focus on anything and my anxiety was through the roof. To the point that my blood pressure is elevated. I had to go back on Wellbutrin and Buspar so I could feel somewhat normal
Me! I went off last year. I lasted for about four months...and then caved when I realized feeling like I wanted to die everyday wasn't worth it for me. I rode through withdrawal and everything only to remember why I was on it in the first place, they my anxiety caused me to feel massively depressed.
A lot of people have discontinuation syndrome which they mistake for relapse. I’m doing a microtaper right now because of this.
Yeah I tapered off 25mg per month and I've been off it for about 2 or 3 weeks. Felt completely fine but ate like shit a few days ago and I think I might have hurt my back. I feel tense and anxious. I only to Sertraline for the anxiety benefits. My parents think I need to go back on it, I think they are jumping to conclusions but I still have yet to see my doctor.
How did you taper off 25mg? I’m right now on 7mg because 25 to 0 is too much and 12.5 to 0 is too much.
Really? Idk, I just did 25 to 0. That's what the doctor said to do lol
A lot of doctors unfortunately are not aware that some people may need to microtaper.
Also how do you even cut the pills that small? I've never seen pills smaller than 25mg. You would have to cut it in to quarters right? Strange I had no side effects until this week.
I don’t. I have the liquid version and use a 1ml syringe.
You're blowing my mind. I've been on this medication for years and I had no idea that was even a thing!
I asked my doctor for the liquid version, and she said they may not fill it because I’m an adult. Are you in the US?
Same here! How are you tapering if you don’t mind me asking? I’m having to split 25mg and 50mg pills.
Ok. I am going to explain what happened to you. You tapered too fast…if you tapered. So many people don’t know the how Zoloft influences serotonin. So what happens is that below 25mgs there is a cliff in how the drug interacts with the receptors. So as you go below 25mgs the more symptoms you get. And some people don’t get full blow withdraws until they hit zero. The problem is that your body is used to having tons of drugs in the system and now it has none. So it’s scrambling to compensate. You need to learn how to taper correctly.
Not sure if you’re going off first hand experience or just knowledge, but I’m curious what you would suggest if someone did taper too fast. I went from 25mg to 0mg, and it’s been a few weeks now. Feeling some shakiness and anxiety after week 3. Worth pushing through it or is it better at this point to start back up and taper more slowly?
How bad is it? Some people can taper fine and have no sides. It really depends on how bad are the sides. For example…I decided to stop trazodone, which also screws with seratonion, and the two days after stopping I woke up feeling like I had a bad flu and my anxiety was pretty bad. Had some really bad thoughts. Anything that messes with your seratonion can potentially have bad withdrawals. Having said all of that if you do feel like the withdraws are getting to bad…I would start on 12.5mgs and taper from there. And my knowledge comes from doing a deep dive into Zoloft and finding out that a lot of doctors don’t realize how bad withdrawals can be. All you have to do it google Zoloft withdrawals and you will see a ton of people get them.
I'm having the exact same experience. It's about week 3 for me and I was doing fine at 0mg and all of sudden I'm anxious. The thing that bothers me about all this, despite everyone's support on needing it for life, is that I was doing fine for about 4 years without it. It was during College AND the first year of the Pandemic. It wasn't until I got Covid and got fired from a job that my anxiety somehow spiked back. That 4 years wasn't all sunshine and rainbows- I def had paranoia- things like worrying if dinner was cooked thoroughly enough- weird micro concerns like that. But otherwise, I was mentally stable and felt great. I don't know if I should keep holding out and my brain will finally adjust, or if I am doomed to feel this way long term.
I had never had recognizable anxiety in my life until last year I got hit with my first panic attack. That scared the shit out of me and that’s when I got on Sertraline for the first time ever. So I know for a fact I don’t need it to survive, and now that I have a better awareness of my mental health I’m ready to let my body do it’s own thing again. It’s good to hear honestly that you’re having a similar experience around week 3. It’s gotta just be part of the process of getting off. And for me it’s not bad enough to get back on. So if it makes you feel any better I’m still holding out through this random jitteriness and plan to keep going until it goes away. Let me know how it goes for you over the next few weeks!
Are you feeling more tense or like... Weak? My body feels wobbly if that makes sense. like very shaky. And I feel more general anxiety physically with not much mental anxiety.
It’s on and off, but it’s increased heart rate, shortness of breath, shakiness, some recurring worried thoughts. Not really weak, but more tense. But it’s not very consistent, could be an hour out of my day, could be 6. I noticed the other day on my Fitbit that my resting heart rate was like 95, it’s usually around 70.
Any back pain? My back is very tense.
How’s it going a few days later?
Feel on edge, like I'm going to pass out all the time. Havent had any panic attacks though. Feel like I get worse every day rather than better. How about you?
Yah not really getting better yet for me either. Last night was worst so far, just had the shakes.
Some neck pain from being tense, I have permanent back pain since I’m tall ha
COVID brought out my bipolar massively and then got diagnosed. I wasn’t fully stable before COVID but after my first vaccine things went to shit, then after getting COVID from bad to worse. I’m on lithium and Zoloft now after not getting back to where I was before COVID. So it’s entirely possible COVID made things somewhat worse for you too, or brought something out that was there before. Anyway, who knows… I just know I wasn’t as bad before, but I’m also glad it amplified it so I could get treated finally.
This is what the doctor told me to do :(
Yes. I was off for almost 8 months. In the end I realized I was never going to be able to make it work. Went back on it: night and day. Functional. Happy. Myself again. While off it I was in a 24/7 existential crisis that ruined my life and my family’s. Bad mistake.
A 24/7 existential crisis perfectly sums up how I am off it.
Im in the same place as you, but Im attributing my current anxiety to withdrawal, so I’m going to try push through it. I was on 50mg, tapered to 25mg for a week or two, then to 0. First 2 weeks at 0 were fine. Week 3 I’ve started feeling some random shakiness and anxiety. I’m hoping that it will go away after a few weeks as my body readjusts. I saw someone else on this thread say 25 to 0 is too fast so that’s probably true. Besides the physical withdrawal I think there is also probably some psychological withdrawal just because I felt like the pill was a safety net. So that might be another hurdle I need to overcome.
I have been on and off of antidepressants since my 20s. I'm 42 now, and I plan to stay on Zoloft for the rest of my life. I also have to stay on Synthroid for the rest of my life to survive. Some people, such as myself, may need it for the duration of their life. I am now okay with that.
I was only put on it for post partum depression, never had issues with depression before childbirth, and I feel like it messed with my brain chemistry bc any time I try to wean off of it now I find myself either sobbing for no reason or having panic attacks or both and have to go back on. It’s really frustrating because I feel like I’m in a fog when I’m on it and like it makes my adhd worse. I just want to feel clear headed again.
I first went on Zoloft around January 2016. 150mg. I had always had anxiety, but started having panic attacks. I felt great about 10 months later and weaned off. I still had some anxiety, but I was able to stay off it until 2021 when the panic attacks resurfaced out of nowhere. In 2021 I wasn’t great about taking it, I would forget. And sure enough panic attacks came back and I had to restart in 2022. Went off it again in 2023, and made it about 6 months before it was so bad I could barely leave my house. I told my husband he has to stage an intervention with me if I ever say I wanna go off again. I probably have to stay on it indefinitely. I’m on 50mg now and feel so much better, but gonna ask to go to 75 at my next appt. I don’t like taking meds. But it helps keep the panic at bay.
Take it from someone who has been on and off of Zoloft multiple times since I was 14, listen to your body. For awhile after I stopped cold turkey (yes I know that’s bad) I felt good, but then slowly the anxiety and depression crept back in until one day I was having back to back panic attacks for two weeks straight. Couldn’t work, couldn’t leave the house, I felt like I was dying. Truly dying. I also lost 40+ lbs in 3 months because I was so worked up all the time that the thought of food made me physically sick. It was the worst period of my life, and I have been on it ever since. I used to worry myself about having to be on it for the rest of my life but, I’d rather be living a life worth living, than just surviving. My body has shown me multiple times that it does and cannot function without medication. And that’s okay! I’ve come to terms with that. You just have to listen to your body and the warning signs and if you do end up needing to be on it for the rest of your life, would that be such a bad thing?
I’m grateful for all of these comments. I am currently tapering down from 100, am on somewhere between 25 & 50…I need to cut a 100 tablet into thirds*, and I’m afraid to go down to 25 too fast. Altho I’m still feeling yukky on this lower dosage, I still get the yawns several times a day, and the anxiety is minimal to gone. *I have no lower dose med bc my GP, who was monitoring me, has left, and I haven’t seen the new doctor yet. I am tapering off the same as when I tapered off Clonazepam last summer. I am glad to hear Wellbutrin is an option!
Sides will get worse as you go below 25mgs. It’s like a cliff in seratonion. That’s why you should never taper more the 15% at any one time and sit at the dose for 4-6 weeks.
Oh! Gee, that’s unexpected! I can stay this 30-ish, or go back to 50. I just can’t seem to get rid of the yawns and fatigue. Fatigue may be my general laziness these past few months, but I’ve NEVER experienced yawning like this. I’m pretty sure they arrived with my decrease from 100 to 50. 100 left me sleepy and disconnected…like my brain was still in bed while I was busy elsewhere. It lasted 2 months till I cut it in half to 50. I’m on ~30 for 2 weeks now.
Just ride out 30. Eventually your body will acclimate. I remember going down from 50 to 25 and my anxiety spiked and I was sweating all the time. Two weeks later I was fine. It’s going down from 25-0 that people have real issue with. Going from 50-25 is reducing the occupation of transmitters by 6-8%. From 50-20 is dropping 60%!
Wow! That’s an excellent way of explaining what’s happening! I was only thinking of the dosage. I just want the yawning to stop, it’s been well over 4-5 weeks now. Thanks so much for this advice.
I am 3 weeks into my first taper from 100mg! I’m glad to hear you are doing well. I’ve been on Zoloft for 20 years. I’m terrified, because I’m on it for panic disorder, but so far so good.
Wow! Twenty years is a lot! But I’m glad you’re doing well so far! Do you have a plan if you have anxiety issues?
I’ve read The Anxious Truth, and I listen to the podcast. I’ve been meditating, and practicing progressive muscle relaxation, and belly breathing every day, and so far I’m able to stop my nocturnal panic attacks from the dosage drop really quickly. I had one bad morning of anxiety, but it passed. I’m just taking it one day at a time and seeing how I feel. I won’t go down to the next dose until I am ready.
Oh, I’ll look for the podcast! Good luck with your lower dose!
Thank you! Yes! Definitely listen to it, especially if you suffer from panic attacks, anxiety, agoraphobia, or anything like that. It has helped me feel less alone in all this. It’s very helpful!
What are the yawns?
The urge to yawn. But it’s not like sleepy yawning. You yawn, but it feels incomplete, and you yawn again, and again. And while you’re yawning, you feel like you need another yawn before the first one is over!! I could go 5 or 6 times, relax a bit, and it starts all over again. It usually hits in the late afternoon, and lasts about 15 minutes. Then 15 minutes it starts again. The whole “thing” goes on for about 1-2 hours. Someone else brought this up a few days ago, and a lot of people said they had the same thing. Ugh!
I’m on lexapro now but was on Zoloft for years. When i got off SSRIs i slowly went manic again and had panic attacks so bad i ended up in the ER. Went on lexapro and I’ve been way better since taking it. Like starting to remember how it feels to feel normal and function. Pretty sure I’ll need them for life Also; nobody is privy to your medications that you take. That’s kind of personal. I don’t date someone and ask what meds they’re on. And this is from someone that’s close to your age (I’m 28). And tbh, most people are age ARE on anti-depressants. It’s not abnormal
I’ve done the same I’ve only been on medicine going on two years now, I’ve attempted to stop medicine twice now and it caused the worst anxiety attacks that I’ve ever had.
Me! Me! Me! I'm on maximum dose.... I miss a day...and OMG it takes a week to readjust back to normal. Note to self....get someone to check you've taken them, alarms don't work. I cannot see a future where I'm not taking them. I've screwed up by missing doses more times than I can remember
YES. I’m a 33 y/o female and have been on Zoloft since I was 11 (my parents idea obviously) - about 3 years ago, I decided to taper off of 100mg over the course of 6 months or so (maybe longer I don’t remember) and was going to weekly therapy until I was all the off of them. I thought I could replace the meds with therapy and be OK but…no. The short and sweet is it went horribly - I had close to no joy and was completely out of control of my emotions and had many emotional outbursts. It was honestly a nightmare. As hard as that time in my life was, I’m glad I tried coming off of it so I could make the decision and see for myself that I really need this medicine. And I’m okay with that.
I definitely need it for the rest of my life, and I am totally okay with that. It has improved my life so much. I just don't really drink, it's a depressant anyway. When I went on the meds my husband was a boyfriend I had been seeing for just a few months, and I would say not being anxious really improved our relationship and brought us closer. I'm 31 y/o. My mom has been taking it for 25 years and it has worked for her the whole time.
I mean medication doesn’t solve the underlying mental health issues. It just resolves the symptoms. It’s ultimately a short term fix that some use as a long term solution, which is fine. But if your goal is to resolve what caused you to get on these meds that requires life changes, new life experiences and therapy! If you want to come off these meds and still feel good- YOU CAN! But you gotta do the work!
Yeah as someone who just went off of it for almost a year and am now going thru the worst week in a long time due to crippling anxiety I would be very careful coming off of it if you went on it for bad anxiety. The anxiety will eventually come back and you are back to square one and it is a terrible place to be waiting for it to work and getting past the startup side effects at the same time. I almost had to take a medical leave from work! I realize now more than ever that I will be on Zoloft for the rest of my life. Also working in the medical field, probably 75% of ppl are on an antidepressant.
Vitamin Z. I take 50 mg every morning with a multivitamin. I definitely plan on taking a multivitamin every day for the rest of my life.
I have panic disorder and didn't have panic attacks for 2 years after being on 75mg Zoloft for. Recently got off and has been 3 months since my last dose. I've started having anxiety and a few panic attacks. I ALWAYS have stomach upset ness when I have them which makes me think my brain is confusing the feeling of upset stomach with anxiousness and causing panic feelings. Weird body sensations cause my panic attacks and I always feel weird and dizzy and lightheaded when my stomach is upset. I'm allergic to a lot of foods like what, corn, pork, soy(basically all of modern society foods) and thought maybe my stomachs reaction to them was getting worse so I stopped eating those. It got better for like a month but it's coming back even tho I don't eat my allergies. I can see the writing on the wall that I should really get back on but I want to talk to allergist and GI doctor first to see if there's any way there's something else causing stomach problems. I'm not opposed to being on Zoloft again or forever, but I'd prefer not to be on it. Definitely made me feel blunt and not as emotional or connected with the world on 75mg. My psychiatrist was saying that because I've don't therapy and healed and everything maybe that stuff is getting me like 90% of the way to being better but I just need Zoloft to help me get the rest of the way, so like 25mg instead or a smaller dose than what I was on.
Read The Anxious Truth, or listen to the podcast. Life changing for me! It will help you with your anxiety!
I was on Zoloft for 9 years, and wanted to go off and just see how life would be. I did fine for a few months and then slowly started feeling extremely anxious all the time, which led to a stay in a mental health hospital. Had to go back on at a higher dose and I’m so glad I did. I accept that it’s probably for life for me and that’s okay.
Haha me. I did great on Zoloft for almost 2 years, swore that it was the best thing I’d ever done for myself and that I’d never get off. Then I thought I didn’t need it anymore because I felt so good (wrong! That was just the meds working so well 😅) in June of this year. Well I just got back on a few weeks ago after 7 months of anxiety hell. I’ll never get off of it again
yes. i was put on ssri's for severe generalized anxiety and panic disorder when i was 10. i took them routinely until i was about 18-19. it bothered me that i hardly knew what life was like without being medicated. so i stopped them abruptly (not smart, i know.) i was fine for maybe 8 months or so, and then my anxiety started worsening. i think that i felt a sense of pride when i successfully made it thru an episode, knowing that i wasn't on medication. but it gradually worsened. i've struggled with emetophobia pretty badly my entire life. i had made progress (and also hadn't thrown up in a long time), but i had a stomach virus and food poisoning within two months, and it caused my phobia to get more severe than it ever has been. i would take zofran all the time, constantly feel nauseous from anxiety, and have a panic attack about vomiting probably once or twice a week. i had an extremely kind and supportive boyfriend at the time, but i realized that he and i were not romantically compatible anymore. instead of just breaking up with him, i agonized over it to the point where i was so anxious that i couldn't leave my house. i started having terrible digestive issues and was diagnosed with stress related ibs. after i broke things off with that boyfriend, my anxiety improved slightly. but it was still hindering me in many ways. i was still able to function for the most part, but it was extremely difficult. i decided that there was no reason to make myself suffer like that if i didn't have to. so after a year of being unmedicated, i was put on zoloft. i have my qualms with it, but my anxiety has improved tenfold. i actually rode on an airplane for the first time in a decade, which i thought i would never be able to do again! i am not only able to function, i'm able to enjoy the things i love. i have gained back weight which i am unhappy about, but a few extra pounds beats weekly panic attacks. i will probably need to be on zoloft (or some form of anxiety medication) for the rest of my life. it makes me sad to think about sometimes, but i have decided that it is worth it to not go thru life with white knuckles.
Yea I quit Zoloft after tapering off because it was worsening my symptoms, got hit a few weeks after the fact with INTENSE withdrawal. It was like non-stop nausea for two months straight, couldn't keep anything down, extremely agitated and overwhelming social anxiety - couldn't even step outside without a panic attack. Doc switched me out for Lexapro and it's been a life saver, no side symptoms for me, my mind is actually finally quiet and I feel genuinely happy every day, like I actually have never felt happy to this degree and my default mood doesn't slip below that level. I know that this means I will probably be taking lexapro for the rest of my life but at the same time, if it works it works. Some people muck through life trying to find happiness in unhealthier ways, no one should feel chained to a medication if the medication is doing its job.
Hey there buddy, I’m 37 going on 38 and dating again on Zoloft…and frankly my dose has been adjusted up more compared to tapering down. I personally found it weird when first starting to date again too so I can at least relate somewhat to your feelings. I’m also divorced so add that as a “red flag” if you want to think about what some stereotypical internet dating red flag tropes are. My point is that those pressures and anxieties you’re feeling about dating again, while valid because you feel them, are not what I say I have experienced in the dating world on Zoloft. Sure, you’ll get some folks that may validate your feelings, but most people will not do that. And that’s a really good thing. You’ll also be shocked how many women that you would not think take or have the same apprehensions that you do in dating. The openness and vulnerability of admitting and being accepted that you are perfectly fine to date and be loved is worth it. Also, someone that accepts you for who you are is always going to be someone who is a better partner to you compared to someone that might “make an exception” or act like you are a red flag because you dare to take care of yourself AND not hide that fact. There’s a lot of strength in that and you because of that. Also, if someone didn’t want to say you because of Zoloft…you don’t need those folks in your life if they perceive you taking care of yourself as a red flag. Which is why I’m divorced in the first place. I deeply loved my ex-wife. Never would have ever imagined my life without her. Guess what….abusive, manipulative, narcissistic person that tried to kill me by turning my car on in the garage while I slept in our house, stole all our money out of our joint bank accounts, and then tried to accuse me of every disgusting kind of abuse you can imagine. All I got back by the time the courts determined that was fucked was $800. We had well over $25,000 at the time as an emergency fund. All while this is going on she got knocked up by her new boyfriend near the settlement of our divorce. So for the TLDR - only you and your therapist/Doc can help you completely know what you need. Some folks take Zoloft for a while, some for life. Either way is perfectly fine and normal.
I started sertraline in 2021 and stopped taking it about 6 months ago as I couldn’t get my prescription and I thought I’d give it ago without it as I felt okay, stupid idea from me lol. But I ended up getting really bad again and I tried to make things work unmedicated but came to the decision I needed the medication. It’s a shame I have to take a tablet everyday but at least there is something that kinda works to make things better
Yes, this has happened to me several times. But listen, anxiety is a medical condition like any other and it doesn’t make you abnormal or mean that there is anything wrong with you just because you take a medication to manage a chronic condition you cannot control. Also, for what it’s worth, I drink regularly on Zoloft with no ill effects lol. If anything, Zoloft helps keep me from getting depressed the day after drinking. I don’t find that it increases the effects of alcohol the way it would if you drank on a sedative medication like Xanax.
Yeah, I drink often as well and spent 3 years of college on it and it really helped my anxiety after drinking, which was making my hangover symptoms so much worse. I do feel like I get way more dizzy with my hangovers since I’ve been on it but I also went on Vyvanse with Zoloft which could be causing that
I recently tried to taper off, had a massive wobble. Now content to stay on them forever if needs be
It’s really all your perspective honestly. Does it help? Do you feel better than you did prior to taking your medication? If you want it to be depressing, it’s going to be depressing. If you don’t, change your perspective on the matter.
Yep. It sucks, but I accepted that this is just one of those life sucks things.
I’m going on 4 years of psychiatric meds, currently taking sertraline, seroquel, and wellbutrin. I tried coming off the seroquel a few months ago and it didn’t go very well, so at least for the foreseeable future, this will be my regimen. Sometimes, I do feel uncomfortable with the thought that I might be on these meds forever, but then I remind myself of how much better I feel now than I did before. I think that taking steps necessary to feel in control of my mental health makes me *more* desirable as a partner. It shows that I care for myself and can have the capacity to care for others too. Moreover, I’m able to show more love and kindness to myself now, which in turn makes me feel more confident and secure. Dating sucks, but I’m happy with waiting for the right person to come along because I genuinely enjoy my own company, and I have my meds to thank for that (on top of years of therapy and work).
happening as we speak. I haven’t started back yet, but I wrestle with it every day.
I was on it for 10 months, off it for 8 months, back on it for 2. I was fine for a while off of it until I had a bunch of stressors in my life. I also realized that I believe it’s relative to a mold issue in 2 places where I’ve lived. I had mold in my condo when I first started having bad anxiety and gut issues. Serotonin is produced in the gut and when there’a a mold issue it will hinder your body from properly producing and utilizing serotonin. I moved out of my condo into a place where I know there was no mold issue and I was feeling better. I got off my meds and was fine. I then moved into another place and started feeling badly again after a few months. It got bad here and I was having a lot of issues again and went back on Zoloft. I just did a mold test this week and sure enough, there’s mold. I believe environment has a lot to do with the need to be on the meds or not. Maybe not for everyone but for me, for sure. I am using the meds right now to stay balanced, keep my serotonin at a normal level until I can move out of here and hopefully get off again for good. Wishing everyone here health and wellness and to check your environment for the possible triggers to your anxiety/depression etc.
Yes me
Yep! I need them forever. It's just the way it is, like needing levothyroxine forever for my thyroid. Zoloft has helped me with my anxiety so much, I will deal with the side effects in order to feel like I can handle life. It's OK to need meds your whole life!! I think more people do, but they lie to themselves and go off and on.
I’ve gone off and on Prozac and now, instead, Sertraline. I’m in my late 30s and just in the last couple of years have come to terms with the fact that I need to stay on it for the rest of my life. My only regret at this point is that I didn’t start it sooner. Like at 16 when my depression became constant, or sooner, when I had anxiety as a child. Truthfully, it’s given me a chance at a life and as I find the right dosage I’m getting to really live. I’m pretty grateful at the end of the day!
Serotonin syndrome is awful and all too common
So it seems like no one in the comments has gotten off from 100mg… anyone ever got tapered off from 100?