Hello, so I have been taking Sertraline for a year, and seemed to have done well on it. Made plenty of changes including starting the healthwise GP exercise referral scheme, improving diet and rest and reducing work hours/staring that degree course I had been thinking about. Have still been having there terrible 3 day headaches every 2 or so weeks, so spoke to the GP and have booked in for routine blood tests.
Mentioned I had been on Steraline for around a year a and that I had been making changes and that I wanted to stop. Was recommended to stop Steraline over a week, by reducing to half dose (50mg to 25mg). Then to start a low dose 10mg of Amitriptaline for the headaches.
That was last Friday and last 2 evenings have been feeling really weird, nauseous and back comes the headache.
I've been reading on the royal college if psychiatry website which says about tapering slowly for longer. Being almost a week in already, I just want to get off it, so I just wondered if I keep going will the side effects go away, or should I just go back to my regular dose and then try again more slowly... I know no one can advise, just wondered what others experiences were if any...
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GrowingVeg
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Oh my that's too quick coming off. I was on and off citalopram many times in my undermedicated years. I came of it by tapering over months, cutting tablets into crumbs almost.I think if I was in your position I'd go back on my dose and taper more slowly.
If you type coming of setraline into Google then you will find info about tapering off
Thanks, for replying. I found quite a few nhs/mental health websites that say to reduce more slowly after taking for longer than 9 months also... Wish I had looked it up before speaking to the GP. I seems to affect everyone differently, but I did get quite a few weird symptoms when I started too now that I think of it.
Yes I agree with Lalatoot; you have to titrate down slowly over a much longer period of time.
I too learnt from personal experience you need to go slow; I also ended up crumbling Sertraline tablets into tiny amounts. It took me a year or so possibly longer.
You need to visit Surviving Antidepressants website. You are experiencing antidepressant withdrawel. This could get better or could actually get worse on such a fast taper. Everyone is different. If your symptoms don’t settle within a week or so I would reinstate your full dose.
FYI Headaches are a typical symptom of withdrawal, and adding more psychotropics won’t help and will actually make your symptoms worse. Since you’ve not been taking the Amitriptaline for long you probably could get away with stopping that immediately.
I highly suspect your headaches would go away once your resinstate your full dose of sertraline.
Edit: I need to add I am not a medical professional. The above is based on personal knowledge.
Thank you for your help. The surviving antidepressnts website is really interesting. I realise I need to taper much more slowly, and I'm going to take the day off work to contact the GP again.
You are welcome. I am very surprised your GP suggested such a fast taper in view of recent changes in antidepressant withdraw, however I do accept the recent official time guidance has also a long way to go.
I don't know anything about sertraline... but I wondered whether your headaches are hormone linked as you say it's every 2 weeks, these used to plague me throughout my 40's before HRT? The other thing that triggered my 3 day headaches/ migraine was histamine have you looked into either? 🤗
Hi. Have you tried speaking to the clinical pharmacist at your GP surgery about tapering off? They can be very good at advising on medications and side effects, doses etc. I've found them to be very helpful and they are the expert specialists on drugs and medications after all.
that does sound too quick.My daughter had a lot of success with Citalopram, then decided all was well and it was time to stop. It was only a low dose but she did it gradually over a few weeks and it was completely fine. If you are still taking it, take the last part of the taper more slowly. Just like any side effects when you first start, usually any side effects of stopping should go but it is unpleasant at a time when you need to be kind to yourself
I am glad to hear that your daughter was fine but, I think the poster is correct that it is too quick to reduce Sertraline, and I'm speaking as a Counsellor who supports people through decreasing and stopping Sertraline (and other meds).
yes..I agree..I believe I said at the start of my post it was too quick. Both she (and I, as I was on it at one point too) tapered slowly and that worked well
I'm in the same boat, I take Venlafaxine an SNRI for vestibular migraine prevention. Its helped with some stuff butI think my main issue is Eustachian Tube Dysfunction in my right ear. A prescription nasal spray has helped a lot with this so I'm now wondering if I've been misdiagnosed. Anyhoo I hate being on unnecessary medication so I've decided to slowly come off of it. And see how I get on.
Despite what GP's say titrating down very slowly is often the only way a lot of people can cope with withdrawal symptoms. I take 112.5mgs of Ven, one 75mg and one 37.5 a day. I've invested in a good pill cutter and divided my 37.5mg into 4 pieces and each week I'll cut down by one quarter. Once I've done that Ill do the same with the 75mg.
Its not a race and these are powerful drugs with unpleasant side effects. Its better to do it very gradually, at a rate that suits you and everyone will be different, than rush and feel dreadful.
Yes, definitely taper much more slowly. I like how someone said they were cutting their pills down to tiny crumbs. Even then, you might still have brain zaps and headaches. I just tapered off of my Sertraline that I'd been on for 15 years over a period of 9 months. I took my last 'crumb' about 3 days ago. Still getting the brain zaps and headaches and believe I will for a while to come as my brain readjusts.
2 years ago I had a psychiatrist take me off mid-high dose Carbamazepine I had been on for 15 years COLD TURKEY, literally!! From 1 week to the next my body (thyroid, adrenal, joint pain) and brain (executive function, memory, brain fog, feeling of brain being on fire) started a total shut down. I've never been the same since. Its ruined my life. And he told me there would be no side effects. Horrific. Then he put me on something that created too much Norepinephrine which I can't breakdown fast enough so extra norepinephrine hanging around your brain causes anxiety, insomnia, severe brain fog and inability to cope with stress.
Psychiatrists are not the ones taking these meds, they have no idea how we feel on them, how their side effects affect each one of us individually and no idea how hard it can be be coming off of them. To them its like throwing spaghetti against the wall to see if it sticks and if not, oh well, lets just switch not taking into account anything about you r body and your brain individually. Its not one size fits all.. These psychiatrists studied some books in their field. But they did not study genetics, nutrition, genetically cause nutrient deficiencies or poor absorption, methylation and our brain's ability to break down certain neurotransmitters and detox our brains, or our liver's detox genetics and its ability to metabolise these meds, and they no nothing about environmental influences like mold toxins, heavy metals, copper/zinc imbalances all which are extremely neurotoxic. No SSRI or SNRI of Stimulant will fix that. A liver panel and blood test once a year doesn't come close to showing the whole picture.
Educate yourself, Advocate for yourself. Get methylation or genetic testing from a function medicine doctor or holistic psychiatrist. They are out there. You regular doctor doesn't run these tests. They guess. These medications might help depressive symptoms, but they also cause cause things like low stomach acid so over the years you become folate or iron or B12 deficient even on a healthy diet. You need to know how your body is absorbing and using nutrients on a cellular level. Again intracellular nutrient (urine) test, not generic blood test, which tells you what's in your blood level from what you ate in the last 24hrs only. Useless. Again-functional medicine doctor. My experience with Sertraline and Carbamazepine was that it messed my digestion, absorption and liver so badly that on a regular NHS blood test my B12 (needed for methylation and brain function) and Vitamin E (needed for detoxification) were sky high in the red zone. They literally told me to lay off the B12 supplements. But I wasn't supplementing. My liver enzymes were also in the red zone, but that didn't phase anyone either. Turns out, the psychotropic meds messed my gut and liver so badly that my liver was rejecting these nutrients back into my blood stream and I was in fact severely B12 and Folate deficient, complete with all the neurological and poor health symptoms to boot.
Please be very careful. Read up not only on NHS or hospital websites, which truly offer very little understanding of how the body works together and what affects what. Also research the websites of the best psychiatric functional medicine doctors, there are many in the US, The Walsh Research Institute founded by Dr. William Walsh PhD being one, Dr. Albert Mensah-Mensah Medical, Integrateive Physchiatry Institute, Courtney Snyder MD, Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Peter Osborne, Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Eric Berg, EONutrition, Dr. Rothenberg) and read that material too. Youtube is great for this kind of info as all these doctors interview their peers and you learn so much helpful medical, psychiatric and nutritional information . I hope you find the best solution for you.
Thank you for sharing your experiences and ideas. I really appreciate it. Sounds like you went through a horrible time. How have you been since the 'last crumb'? I was feeling a bit better last week, but have had loads of 'brain zaps - very weird - and stomach upset today.
I was interested about your comments on b12... "These medications might help depressive symptoms, but they also cause cause things like low stomach acid so over the years you become folate or iron or B12 deficient even on a healthy diet" as I had a blood test this week and both are showing as low despite taking a good b complex and eating well.
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