June 9, 2009
@ 03:45 PM
Comments [2]
Weaning Off Of Zoloft (Sertraline) With 5-HTP

I have been taking 50mg of Zoloft, rather the generic thereof (sertraline), daily for the last 5 months for anxiety attacks (via panic disorder). It worked wonders for my anxiety problems, as well as my mood generally, but at the cost of having to deal with the side effects.

If you haven’t ever had the pleasure of ingesting an SSRI, you should count yourself lucky. The first two weeks taking it were rather nasty, I felt like I was on another planet. Eventually I felt better, but noticed that my memory wasn’t as good as it used to be, and my memory was already relatively poor (personally, I think it may be because of inattentiveness – I have Adult ADD).

As time has gone on, it seems the memory problems caused by Zoloft have been getting worse. Add to that the cardiac arrhythmia (palpitations) I experience on a daily basis and the fact that I have been dealing with anxiety attacks for over 10 years without medication and they seemed to be getting better, and you have the makings of my justification for a discontinuation of this pharmaceutical. Oh, and then there is the deadening of my emotions and my feelings of attachment to my family. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I am a zombie now, but there has, without a doubt, been a bit less depth to my emotions. I suppose that is how it helps some people, yes? Well, I would rather have the good and the bad then nothing at all.

The withdrawal symptoms associated with going off of SSRIs are relatively infamous, you can find plenty of anecdotal accounts of the hell you may experience, notwithstanding the pharmaceutical industry’s denial (Pfizer claims that Zoloft is not habit-forming or addictive – if true, why do people experience withdrawal symptoms when they quit taking Zoloft abruptly (which is something you should never do)? Don’t you have to have a chemical dependence in order to experience those?).

So about a week ago I began tapering off Zoloft by following a somewhat-random schedule wherein I take only 25mg either before bed and/or when I wake up, and alternating my doses of Zoloft with ~50mg of 5-HTP. Combining 5-HTP with an SSRI such as Zoloft isn’t something you want to take lightly, as you could end up with acute serotonin syndrome if you are not careful. Since I already take a rather low dose of Zoloft and the dose of 5-HTP I am taking is also small, I am not too concerned. Knowing the symptoms of serotonin syndrome are important if you undertake to try this, as you will need to act quickly should you start experiencing them. Vitamin B6 supposedly helps the body convert 5-HTP to serotonin, and I am taking a B vitamin complex, so it should be helping too…

Thus far, I haven’t felt too bad, but only time will tell! I hope to post a follow-up that this may be useful to someone.

I encourage anyone reading this and thinking about doing anything I say here to carefully research it yourself, and as always, consult your physician regarding any changes to your current medication schedule and before adding any supplements such as 5-HTP. Personally, I only trust physicians as far as I can throw them, and my arm really isn’t that strong. ;)


 
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Wednesday, July 08, 2009 8:48:34 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)
Your doctor didn't prescribe a better regiment to reduce the Zoloft? I took it about 6 months after my grandmother died for depression. My doc then gave me a series of tablets 4 days on this, 3 days, on that, 2, 1, none. It was actually pretty painless for me except I developed insomnia during the entire process and didn't sleep more than 2-3 hours at a time until I was totally off of the "step down meds".

I wish the best of luck. If you are having panic attacks and palpitations with your heart you definately need to see another doctor. The heart palpitations can lead to a heart attack if you are not careful, and it will huge cause spikes in your blood pressure as well. There are other medications available. Talk it over with your doctor. Tell him you want something short term you can adjust with his guidance over time. Ask about seeing a counselor for the anxiety attacks. They can teach you behavioral things you can do to help control them.

Also make sure you are taking a multi vitamin and lots of antioxidants to help your body flush that other med out faster.

Jason Short
Monday, July 20, 2009 12:35:23 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)
Hey Jason - nice name! ;)

Sorry to hear about your grandmother, you must've had a close relationship with her.

At the time, my doctor wasn't privy to my weaning off of Zoloft because I decided to do it in a moment and really didn't feel it necessary to tell him; my wife and I are quite educated on the pharmaceuticals we consume, and many we don't, and have had the unfortunate experience of having to educate our own doctors on numerous topics because they don't know enough. Therefore, I don't rely too heavily on what I am told by my physicians, unless they have demonstrated that they know enough to earn my trust (their title alone doesn't engender trust, unfortunately).

My personal doctor is a good guy, I have been going to him for a decade now, but he often seems to discount my own feelings on things and gives what appear to be flippant answers to questions I feel are important; i.e. his "bedside manner" is horrible. His wife is actually a doctor too, and they share the same office. I have visited with her once and she was really compassionate and understanding, I keep forgetting to schedule my appointments with her instead.

I have dealt with anxiety attacks for 10 years now, and although they are horrible when they do happen (I've called 911 a couple of times thinking I was having a heart attack) they are infrequent enough that I would rather not take medications on a daily basis for them. I have seen a counselor for them and he helped me quite a bit so that I have them very infrequently now.

As for vitamins, I am very well-versed on them and take quite a few supplements on a daily basis. Lately I have been interested in and experimented with a variety of "nootropics" with some success. Better living through chemistry! ;)
Jason Bunting
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