Doctor said I can take 100mg Zoloft. I don’t want to.

[LDavis1993]

Called my doctor because I was having some anxiety. Not terrible anxiety but it’s still there. Asked if I should increase the Zoloft. He said I can start taking 100mg if I want to. I really don’t want to be on a high dose.

[Rosiemarie82]

Remember that increasing your dosage doesn't have to be permanent, but if it helps you for now, it might be the best option. I never liked increasing my dosage (of any medicine). Once you level out, eventually you may be able to wean back down to your original dose. I took Celexa for nearly a year, and then was finally able to slowly wean off it. Went panic free for a whole year, and now find myself right back where I started. My doctor wanted a full blood work up before prescribing anything for anxiety 🙃 so here I am, just talking myself down when stupid anxiety flair up.

Two things I have found over the years to be helpful is breathing exercises and anything lavender scented ♡

Hope your anxiety eases dear!

[LDavis1993 in reply to Rosiemarie82]

Thank you for your support. I’ve read that once the anxiety is gone, you can taper off. Why is that? For some reason I thought it was a lifelong medicine. I’m glad it helped you. We are in this together!

[Rosiemarie82 in reply to LDavis1993]

I think everyone's journey is different. For me, my parents had strokes 2 years apart. I kept my dad in my home for 9 months and cared for him around the clock, but ultimately had to send him to a nursing facility. Then a little over a year later, my mom had a massive stroke too.Seeing their health struggles sent me into a health anxiety frenzy! I started having panic attacks, so my doctor first put me on zoloft. Let's just say I woke up 3 days after the first dose and knew that medicine wasn't for me! I have a very low tolerance 😕 We went through several trial and errors on meds until I landed on Celexa. It controlled my anxiety symptoms well and when I got to a point to where I felt safe to start weaning off, the doctor walked me through it SLOWLY. The one great thing that came out of it was I stopped smoking 💪 4 years tobacco free!🎉

The last 8 months have been pretty hard (as far as anxiety goes) because our family has suffered half a dozen deaths.....so it triggered my anxiety 😣 this too shall pass!!

[LDavis1993 in reply to Rosiemarie82]

Bless your heart!!!! I can relate. My mother in law died of pancreatic cancer in November and I had a pulmonary embolism. I go to the hospital all the time for them to say I’m okay. We will beg though this ❤️

[Rosiemarie82 in reply to LDavis1993]

My mother in law passed in December due to a bowel obstruction after ankle surgery. It was very sudden and very unexpected. My step dad fell over in July with a massive heart attack.It will surely make normal people realize how short life is....and most definitely make me freak out with health anxiety!

Sorry to hear about your mother in law, and your pulmonary embolism! You survived!! We will get through this! 💪💪

[LDavis1993 in reply to Rosiemarie82]

We will get through this. Thank you so much again ❤️

[LadyZen]

You could also talk through it with your therapist. I didn't want to be on meds or increase it, but talking to her made me realize whether I really needed to increase it or not. I'm no longer on them now, so it's not a long-term need for everyone.

[yhsbirny]

100 mg is not a high dose; it is about average. Why don't you want to be on a "High dose"; is it a matter of principle, are you afraid of the side effects (if side effects increrase just drop back down), etc. Anybody on anti-depressants has to get up to a "therapeutic dose" (strong enough) or the meds will not have the desired effect. There have been many studies done showing anti-depressants failed because the patient never got to a therapeutic dose (which varies from person to person). If you are still having anxiety and your doctor wants you to go up, it means he has determined this dose is too low for you and you probably should go up. I was on 200mg Zoloft for 4 or 5 years until it stopped working and I had to switch to another med. Try it.

[LDavis1993 in reply to yhsbirny]

Wow thank you so much for the feedback. I really appreciate this and feel a lot better. I was intimidated because I thought it would be hard to get off if I went to 100mg. It seems every time I increase, it only works for a few weeks. But if it helps for a few years like you said, I’m willing to increase.

[yhsbirny in reply to LDavis1993]

If withdrawal effects are what you're afraid of, Zoloft is actually one of the easiest anti-depressants to withdraw from (Cymablta, Effexor, and Paxil are the worst for most people); most people report no problems withdrawing from Zoloft. If you're stopping it altogether and not going to another med right away, you should be able to withdraw by cutting the dose in half every 3-4 days until you are off it. If you are switching to another med in the same class (SSRI) like Celexa or Lexapro, you actually don't even have to withdraw. You can just stop Zoloft and start the new one; or you can cross-taper, lowering the Zoloft dose and increasing the dose of the new med every 3-4 days until you are off the Zoloft and on the new one. I have been depressed for 50 years (I am 75) and have been off and on every med on the market (90% of the time a med will just stop working, even one you've been on for years, and they don't know why). Since I wouldn't be alive (I'd certainly have ended it all many times) without anti-depressants, I try to correct the impression people get from the horror stories you see on the Internet (it took me a year to withdraw from Zoloft, the withdrawal was unbearable, etc.) If people say this is their experience, I cannot say it is not, but everybody's different, and the vast majority of people do not have these problems. You just have to go ahead and do it. Right now it looks like your biggest problem is not worrying about a withdrawal that may never happen or be totally harmless, but rather getting your anxiety under control. PS. Besides my current anti-depressant, I am also on Ativan, and have been for 10 years, for anxiety. You might want to ask your practitioner about adding Ativan or Klonopin for anxiety (many doctors will not prescribe them because they are "benzos" (benzodiazapine drugs) and they are worried about "addiction", but that's a whole different thread).

[LDavis1993 in reply to yhsbirny]

Thank you for the advice. You have a lot of knowledge. I’m on .5mg of klonopin now. Used to take Ativan.

[yhsbirny in reply to LDavis1993]

Sorry; one more thing. Most anti-depressants need about 6-8 weeks or more to kick in, and you won't have been on a therapeutic dosage until towards the end of that time, so it's usually 8 weeks or more altogether. When you increase the dose, stay on that dose 10 days. If you're getting the relief you want, that's your dose. If not, increase again, wait 10 days, etc, and keep this up until you are satisfied with the effect, or you decide it is not working, or the side effects are too much (a dosage increase can increase side effects for 3 or 4 days but then they disappear).

[LDavis1993 in reply to yhsbirny]

I am on day 13-14 of my 50mg Zoloft

[Cecethat]

I take the highest dosage. It helps me tremendously.

[LDavis1993 in reply to Cecethat]

What dose and how long have you been on it?

[Cecethat in reply to LDavis1993]

200 MG once a day

[LDavis1993]

This gives me so much hope

[Cecethat in reply to LDavis1993]

Yes! It is definitely finding out what works for your body. That is always the hardest past.

[LDavis1993 in reply to Cecethat]

How long have you been on 200mg?

[Cecethat in reply to LDavis1993]

have for about 2 years. I have an amazing psychaitrist.

[designguy]

I agree with yhsbirny, 100mg is a medium dose, I was on 200mg for a number of years without any side affects before switching to another med that worked better for me. And although meds helped me be able to cope better they did not resolve my anxiety issues, I also had to learn how to change my understanding of it and how to think constructively about it and decide I no longer wanted to live in fear of uncertainty. I have found the DARE Anxiety book and youtube videos very helpful and also the website and youtube videos of Paige Pradko to also be very helpful. They both clearly explain what anxiety really is and simple, practical ways of dealing with it.

[LDavis1993 in reply to designguy]

Thank you. I think I’m going to try it. Did you have less attacks with the 200mg?

[designguy in reply to LDavis1993]

Increasing it did help me feel better but the med that had the most impact on my anxiety was Klonopin which is a benzo and providers don't like prescribing it anymore. The reality with meds is that we all react differently to them so I would give it a try, you can always taper off of it or back down to a lower dosage. Zoloft can also take 2 or 3 weeks to make a difference so be patient and give it time to work.

[LDavis1993 in reply to designguy]

Ah okay. I take klonopin as well. Benzos definitely help. The Zoloft really has worked. I think I just need to achieve my therapeutic dosage.

[designguy in reply to LDavis1993]

That is great that its working for you, zoloft comes in 25, 50 and 100mg pill sizes so it's pretty easy to change dosage amounts, you can even get a pill cutter at your pharmacy to make smaller amounts if needed. Hope the increase makes a difference for you.

[LDavis1993 in reply to designguy]

Thank you. Hopefully the 100mg will do the trick.

[LDavis1993 in reply to designguy]

I’m on day 14 of 50mg Zoloft.

[designguy in reply to LDavis1993]

I've read at different times that it zoloft can take anywhere from 1 to 6 weeks to make a difference so try to be patient and give it time for your body and mind to adjust.

[LDavis1993 in reply to designguy]

Thank you. I’m on week 2 so I’m going to hang in there.

[designguy in reply to LDavis1993]

You're welcome, hope it works for you.

[Cecethat in reply to LDavis1993]

I rarely have any at all.

[Artistfriend in reply to designguy]

The DARE book was the first book the really helped me alot also, that was the one i really leaned on when i first started struggling

[LDavis1993 in reply to Artistfriend]

I’ll try it out

[designguy in reply to Artistfriend]

Glad it has helped you, it's also a good one to refer back to if having a relapse. I find that if the anxiety kicks back in it's easy to forget the fundamentals of what works so it's good to have it to remind myself of what is really going on.

[LDavis1993 in reply to designguy]

Definitely. Thanks so much.