Re: Discontinuing Zoloft ... suggestions?

[Guest guest]

Hi Tina,

My dd( who will be 13 in 2 weeks) has been on zoloft since age 5. Once we got

down to 12.5mg she was still holding her own, and than we discontinued it. She

ended up lying on the floor non functional. She had to go back up to 25 mg, and

now we have been shaving the pill down ,just a tiny slice off every day for a

month, each time shaving off a tiny bit more.

I know this sounds extreme, but when they have been on it for a long time, than

go off, they can have a rebound of panic as well as a severe flu like syndrome.

Hope this helps some

hugs

Judy

________________________________

To:

Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 3:42:31 PM

Subject: Discontinuing Zoloft ... suggestions?

 

My dd, age 17, decided she is ready to wean off meds after being on Zoloft for

over 3 years (Ack!). She had mild OCD (unofficial) , but her dx is anxiety/panic

and sensory processing disorder (dx when she was 5). The Zoloft was a godsend

with the sensory and the panic, and the few ocd symptoms she had (it was

flaring, along with the panic) all but disappeared. I have to admit I am nervous

about her going off meds totally but she will be 18 next year so I guess I have

to let her try. She was on 100mg, dropped to 75mg for 6 weeks, and her dr.

dropped her again last week to 50mg. That is not very much for her at all, but I

guess so far so good.

My question is has anyone else helped their older child discontinue an SSRI? Is

there anything that helps the body adjust? Vitamins, etc? I notice she has been

extra tired lately. I have to admit I'm a bit worried ... this is a stressful

year for her (she's a junior) and she wants to try and graduate early. I sense

she wants to be out of public high school and into college where she has a

little more control over her environment and classes. The sensory overload of

large public HS is a lot. Probably not the best time to go off meds, but she

wanted to!

Any suggestions or input would be greatly appreciated!

Tina

[Guest guest]

Hi, Tina. I wonder if some vitamin B might help. The worst that could happen

is it would come out in her urine. I got vitamin B shots for a while, when I

was really run down. Can't honestly say whether it helped or not, but can't

hurt. Maybe just taking some over the counter pills would help her.

My husband and brother in law, both, had symptoms coming off of SSRI

antidepressants. They both complained of feeling flu like and having " zappy "

feelings in their heads. It eventually disappeared, but took some time. It

even lasted after they were completely off, for a while.

Our son went off of his meds once, but didn't experience any withdrawal

symptoms. He is on Celexa. I've heard it is one of the easier ones to come off

of though. He eventually relapsed, but it took about 8 months. So, he is back

on them now.

Is your daughter doing anything else for her anxiety? Any therapy? Breathing?

Visualization? Anything that might help her though some rough patches?

Sometimes you get rebound stuff while trying to wean off, so was just wondering.

Then, some have it come back (like our son) off of the meds. It would be good

for her to have something in place to be able to work on it, if that happens for

her.

Keep us updated. Hope she is successful and can do without. Some can.

BJ

>

> My dd, age 17, decided she is ready to wean off meds after being on Zoloft for

over 3 years (Ack!). She had mild OCD (unofficial), but her dx is anxiety/panic

and sensory processing disorder (dx when she was 5). The Zoloft was a godsend

with the sensory and the panic, and the few ocd symptoms she had (it was

flaring, along with the panic) all but disappeared. I have to admit I am

nervous about her going off meds totally but she will be 18 next year so I guess

I have to let her try. She was on 100mg, dropped to 75mg for 6 weeks, and her

dr. dropped her again last week to 50mg. That is not very much for her at all,

but I guess so far so good.

>

> My question is has anyone else helped their older child discontinue an SSRI?

Is there anything that helps the body adjust? Vitamins, etc? I notice she has

been extra tired lately. I have to admit I'm a bit worried ... this is a

stressful year for her (she's a junior) and she wants to try and graduate early.

I sense she wants to be out of public high school and into college where she has

a little more control over her environment and classes. The sensory overload of

large public HS is a lot. Probably not the best time to go off meds, but she

wanted to!

>

> Any suggestions or input would be greatly appreciated!

> Tina

>

[Guest guest]

BJ, thanks for the suggestion on the B vitamins. I was thinking the same thing!

It couldn't hurt, for sure. I am on Lexapro (similar to the Celexa your son is

on?), and when I forget a dose, I'll get that zappy feeling in my head ...

really light headed. And I am on a WAY lower dose than my daughter. She doesn't

complain about side effects but I can see the fatigue in the morning especially.

She does have a new therapist (seeing her since school began) and she seems to

really like her. She sees her weekly, so she is getting support that way. She

also has dermatillomania, so the therapist is working with her on that also.

Hopefully the skin picking will not worsen as the dose is lowered. I have my

fingers crossed on that one!

Tina

> >

> > My dd, age 17, decided she is ready to wean off meds after being on Zoloft

for over 3 years (Ack!). She had mild OCD (unofficial), but her dx is

anxiety/panic and sensory processing disorder (dx when she was 5). The Zoloft

was a godsend with the sensory and the panic, and the few ocd symptoms she had

(it was flaring, along with the panic) all but disappeared. I have to admit I

am nervous about her going off meds totally but she will be 18 next year so I

guess I have to let her try. She was on 100mg, dropped to 75mg for 6 weeks, and

her dr. dropped her again last week to 50mg. That is not very much for her at

all, but I guess so far so good.

> >

> > My question is has anyone else helped their older child discontinue an SSRI?

Is there anything that helps the body adjust? Vitamins, etc? I notice she has

been extra tired lately. I have to admit I'm a bit worried ... this is a

stressful year for her (she's a junior) and she wants to try and graduate early.

I sense she wants to be out of public high school and into college where she has

a little more control over her environment and classes. The sensory overload of

large public HS is a lot. Probably not the best time to go off meds, but she

wanted to!

> >

> > Any suggestions or input would be greatly appreciated!

> > Tina

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Then you add that fact that she is a teen, and they are perpetually tired in the

morning, but wide awake at night. Argh!

I'm glad to hear she is seeing a therapist for support. Let us know how it

goes. )

BJ

> > >

> > > My dd, age 17, decided she is ready to wean off meds after being on Zoloft

for over 3 years (Ack!). She had mild OCD (unofficial), but her dx is

anxiety/panic and sensory processing disorder (dx when she was 5). The Zoloft

was a godsend with the sensory and the panic, and the few ocd symptoms she had

(it was flaring, along with the panic) all but disappeared. I have to admit I

am nervous about her going off meds totally but she will be 18 next year so I

guess I have to let her try. She was on 100mg, dropped to 75mg for 6 weeks, and

her dr. dropped her again last week to 50mg. That is not very much for her at

all, but I guess so far so good.

> > >

> > > My question is has anyone else helped their older child discontinue an

SSRI? Is there anything that helps the body adjust? Vitamins, etc? I notice

she has been extra tired lately. I have to admit I'm a bit worried ... this is a

stressful year for her (she's a junior) and she wants to try and graduate early.

I sense she wants to be out of public high school and into college where she has

a little more control over her environment and classes. The sensory overload of

large public HS is a lot. Probably not the best time to go off meds, but she

wanted to!

> > >

> > > Any suggestions or input would be greatly appreciated!

> > > Tina

> > >

> >

>