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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by odells on December 31, 2000, at 17:47:50
hey everyone. I posted on here a few months ago. I was on zoloft (50 mgs) for about 2 years for depression. Once out of my marriage, on my own, and doing quite well, I decided to stop it. Well, within a few weeks panic attacks started, and I have had them ever since. I also experiencved withdrawal, electric shocks, weird sensations in my head, etc. Doc gave me xanax which I only took a few times. Didnt want to become addicted. I really wanted to be drug free. Well, after struggling with the panic attacks, I decided to go back on zoloft cause I couldnt deal with them anymore. I think going off zoloft started the panic attacks. I also cant deal with the weird feelings in my head. sometimes I feel really spacey and not all there. Still have withdrawal symptoms after 4 months of not taking it. Is this possible? Sometimes I wonder if stopping the zoloft screwed up my brain somehow. Can this happen?? Sometimes I feel like Im going crazy. Well, I started the zoloft 3 days ago--at 25 mgs. I have this really weird sensation in my head--almost like a headache but feels more like pressure. Should I continue with the zoloft? Has anyone else went off zoloft and went back on?? Did you experience the same thing?? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.
Posted by lettie on January 6, 2001, at 17:12:47
In reply to going back on zoloft--HELP!!!, posted by odells on December 31, 2000, at 17:47:50
> hey everyone. I posted on here a few months ago. I was on zoloft (50 mgs) for about 2 years for depression. Once out of my marriage, on my own, and doing quite well, I decided to stop it. Well, within a few weeks panic attacks started, and I have had them ever since. I also experiencved withdrawal, electric shocks, weird sensations in my head, etc. Doc gave me xanax which I only took a few times. Didnt want to become addicted. I really wanted to be drug free. Well, after struggling with the panic attacks, I decided to go back on zoloft cause I couldnt deal with them anymore. I think going off zoloft started the panic attacks. I also cant deal with the weird feelings in my head. sometimes I feel really spacey and not all there. Still have withdrawal symptoms after 4 months of not taking it. Is this possible? Sometimes I wonder if stopping the zoloft screwed up my brain somehow. Can this happen?? Sometimes I feel like Im going crazy. Well, I started the zoloft 3 days ago--at 25 mgs. I have this really weird sensation in my head--almost like a headache but feels more like pressure. Should I continue with the zoloft? Has anyone else went off zoloft and went back on?? Did you experience the same thing?? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.
I was in Zoloft many years ago and while it helped I
had some very weird side-effects - even the doctor
couldn't explain. Most people have heard of dry
mouth, but it dried me out so bad that my skin
actually changed texture and my hair dried out so
badly that I could take a strand and break it in two.
I think Zoloft can be great medicine but for some
people, it can do strange things. If I were you,
I'd talk to your doctor. Good luck! lettie
Posted by Rach on January 7, 2001, at 9:20:46
In reply to Re: going back on zoloft--HELP!!!, posted by lettie on January 6, 2001, at 17:12:47
I have been on 50mg for a bit less than a year now.
To begin with my hair fell out. I felt like I was going to throw up, and I stopped eating.
That all passed within 3 months. But now, if I happen to miss taking a single dose, my head goes crazy. I have pressure headaches. It truly feels as though my head will explode. I have to spend the day in bed - I cannot function with this pressure. It makes it impossible to think!
Am going to start weaning off in a month or so. I hope my withdrawals won't be too bad. I'll probably give an update at the time.
Best wishes odell.
R
Posted by SpreadDaALoha on April 1, 2003, at 6:52:26
In reply to Re: going back on zoloft--HELP!!!, posted by Rach on January 7, 2001, at 9:20:46
It's so hard to pinpoint the effects of meds because so many things change in my life and you can't tell if it's the med quitting or your life stress increasing.
I was up to 150mg of Zoloft. I was only on Zoloft for, let's see, 4 or 5 months. It seemed to help a lot with depression/anxiety and I liked to go out more (social anxiety is perhaps my primary trouble, but now I am supposedly Bipolar II). But my boyfriend had a sudden, unexpected suicidal (or mixed BP, I don't know) episode, was hospitalized, and we broke up spontaneously--it was absolutely awful. Of course I had normal sadness/anxiety, but it was severe. I eventually quit the Zoloft, wondering if it had lost its efficacy.
So I am wondering what percentage of people experience SSRI's quit working. Honestly, it seems like this happens with everyone? My psychiatric condition is chronic, and I need to remain on drugs that don't stop working...
So I wonder which drugs are known to work for longer periods of time? Should I go back on Zoloft? My current doc doesn't seem to like SSRI's at all (I hear him prescribing wellbutrin, other newer antidepressants like Remeron, and MAO's, lithium, provigil, anti-eplileptics, but not SSRI's). Hmmmmm...
Posted by SpreadDaALoha on April 1, 2003, at 7:51:31
In reply to Re: going back on zoloft--HELP!!!, posted by SpreadDaALoha on April 1, 2003, at 6:52:26
Just read something interesting about Zoloft. I read that higher doses of Zoloft can start to increase anxiety. I have always attributed my sudden anxiety to Wellbutrin when I added it to 150mg of Zoloft. But now I wonder if Zoloft could have been the culprit.
See Zoloft really helped with depression. But I kept pushing the doc to increase it for social anxiety. I think I should have augmented it with something rather than increased it to 150mg.
Psychiatry is so confusing! It's like a toss of the hat!
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