Follow the journey of a woman quitting zoloft cold turkey.

Disclaimer

I am a writer and quitting zoloft my own way while sharing the journey with you, dear readers. In no way am I suggesting that anyone reading this blog decide to quit zoloft without a doctor's advice & supervision. Please see your doctor first. Ask them for advice. I am not a doctor, nor am I in any position to offer you anonymous readers advice. But I can share my story and that's what I choose to do. So please read on & share your thoughts in the comments section.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Days 3-6 of Quitting Zoloft

If this if your first time on this blog, please read this post first.

The first couple of days of quitting zoloft felt amazing. But then days 3-6 came along and oh boy, they were right when they say you shouldn't quit antidepressants cold-turkey! The head aches are constant (thank God for ibuprofen) but bearable. It's the anxiety and emotional outbursts that are doing my head in.

I started out strong by listening to Tony Robbins and walking an hour a day. Work became a bit more intense and required me to hit the road and leave my new walking routine behind for a couple of days. I have to admit that I am a creature of routine. So, on days 5 and 6 of not taking my 200 mg dose of zoloft my emotions took over. Suddenly I found myself freaking out about finances (I have a great job, but my paycheques can be random so a bit stressful to say the least). Tears and tears and questions like "Should I just start taking zoloft again?" I'm not suicidal and never have been, but I have to admit that some pretty negative thoughts can seep in there when I'm not doing so well. Depression is an ugly beast.

No. I won't go back to taking zoloft.

I know that my metabolism will return to normal. The money flows and the law of attraction can only bring me what I focus my energies and thoughts on. So without beating myself up too much for being so negative today I'm back on track.

I'm eating loads of fish packed with Omega 3's and will get back on the exercise train tomorrow. I need at least one hour of focused exercize and mental work a day. Actually, I think everyone needs the same.

Tomorrow will be day 7 of quitting zoloft. This has been a long week!

What about you? Have you gone through any of this? Please share your thoughts below. Does it get better?!

1 comment:

  1. I found days 3-6 to be the worst as well. A little background: taking 75mg/day; didn't mean to quit, ran out of drugs. So not having the drive to quit and suddenly going cold turkey is the worst thing. I've done it twice now and it gets worse each time. The first few days are normal. I got increasing levels of dizziness and lightheadedness. I would be walking to class and be unable to walk straight because I was so dizzy. I would feel like I was floating half the time as well. Because of this, and possibly just another side effect, I was unable to concentrate on anything. Homework, essays, etc. (the first time I went cold turkey I had a test on day 5; I scored in the lowest 1/4 of the class. I ended up putting all C knowing that this was a very important test. As a result I might fail the class, and I knew this while taking it, I just couldn't find the motivation). Then there are random bouts of emotion and crying. I am a guy and rarely cry but I was breaking down, even when in groups. That emotion also carries a huge amount of depression. It caused me to be at 2/10. Barely above what put me on the drug in the first place. This has been one of the worst experiences of my life and I don't recommend anyone subjugating themselves to it. Unless the outcome is enlightenment, pure bliss, nirvana, etc (which I can assure you, is not what life has in mind) then it's not worth it. Wean yourself off. To the author, this was very brave. Best of luck to you.

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