Zoloft Lessons

Please don’t do it! It’s a nightmare getting off with withdrawls that have lasted a yr so far and took my life from me. They say it’s worse than heroin. They don’t tell you or know how to taper. On 6th dr now, because not one knew and traumatized me trying 5 different ways. I’m now trying acupuncture. I’m desperately trying everything. So far is working. It’s been a week since back to back panic attacks. I was not like this before taking.

I gained way too much. I’m tapering off and my appetite has already settled down

I was not on effexor, but had been put on lexapro, wellbutrin, zoloft, before finally being put on prozac, all this in combination with xanax that I developed an addiction to, followed by a hysterectomy at 32. I began lying to my husband of 15 years, with which by all accounts I had the most absolutely amazing marriage you could have asked for, and was very happy until my hormones screwed up and i got depressed at which point they started trying me on this array of anitdepressants. I cheated numerous times, and couldn’t tell you why, and all the sudden one day i packed my stuff and up and walked out the door on my husband and my two beautiful children, who still don’t have much to do with me now. IT RUINED MY LIFE, AND THERE’S NO FIXING IT! I began using drugs, and got caught up illegally using street drugs, before i finally got myself together. I hope and pray everyday to have the restoration of my family, even though we did get divorced. I am so very sorry for the things I did, and am still told to this day things I said and did, that I have absolutely no recollection of. I AGREE DOCTORS ARE ENTIRELY TOO FREE WITH ALL THESE MIND ALTERING DRUGS, THE EFFECTS ARE DEVASTATING!

Do you have some links I can look at regarding prozac and causing this behavior, because it happened to me, and no one believes me, that this is what happened to me, I lost my marriage and I husband I loved with my whole heart, my relationship with my children is destroyed, and I desperately want to rebuild, but they don’t understand, that wasn’t me that did those things, please help me find the info to give to my ex husband

I was in a very bad place and could barely function. My doctor offered me medication which I gratefully agreed to. I walked out with a prescription and didn’t know anything about it until I opened the box and found I would be taking 50mg sertraline per day. I was immediately floored by brutal side effects including unbearable anxiety, fatigue, vision problems, brutal headaches and head pressure. Rushes of heat and panic through my head and many more. I persevered for 14 weeks as the forums advised to push through. At this point I realise I couldn’t do this anymore. I tried an accelerated taper as I’d not been on it for long but the withdrawal was intense. I am now on a hyperbolic taper and just changing over to a liquid form has ramped up withdrawal effects. I took this for 14 weeks and it’ll take me around a year to taper. I’m still struggling with very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms .

panic attacks, chest pains, brain zaps ,night sweating, vivid dreams, insomnia,bladder pain, penis pain,  testicular pain ,gas and bloating ,stomach pain, intestinal pain

Paroxetine 20mg 11 years stopped, now sertraline 50mg and tapering

After 25 years of being on psychiatric med, mostly SSRI, I felt enough well to try to stop it. It was Zoloft. I knew a little about safe tapering. I stopped it gradually ( from 150 mg to 0) but my last dose was 50 mg. The symptoms which hit me were unbearable. Terror anxiety lasted 1,5 year. I hadn’t even one day without anxiety. I suffered anxiety much worse than anything I experienced before. It took me my life: work, studies. Then I had the worst depression in my life. I was 3 times in the hospital since that. Now I am on 3 meds, including SNRI and antipsychotic. I am able to buy food, cook dinner, go for a walk. Most my energy goes for regulate my emotions. I am disabled. I trusted my psychiatrist, she is a person caring for her patients. But she never warned me that I can experience unhuman horror, much worse than my first symptoms. She never told about safe yapering lastin years. It could prevent my present sutuation I believe. I lost more my achievements. I suffer grief, I look for trauma oriented therapy. Sb wrote that it ( wd) is like torture. This is right description. I wish nobody suffer like that. It was unhuman, destroying any trust to life.

Kaiya Noe 21-year-old, a straight A, 3rd year college student majoring in Psychology and Pre-med. She was being prescribed an antidepressant (Zoloft) for the first time ever, which 4 days later caused her to be hospitalized due to suicidal ideation -which was never an issue before. Within a month and a half, the provider kept switching the drugs (Abilify, Wellbutrin, Seroquel) and treated adverse effects of previously prescribed medications with another drug because none of them worked. This created a huge problem, made her feel numb, dissociated and altered her mental status. She could not stand the side effects any longer and discontinued, but the damage was already done, and 2 weeks later she was gone.

She was the most beautiful soul, who always brought joy, laughter, and love to everyone who knew her. Her heart was always open to others, creating connections that will never be forgotten. She was involved in volunteering and community work. She always put others first, and ahead of herself. She was also an active volunteer, and Co-Chair Student Supporting a Brain Tumor Research Organization. She was also a valuable member of our local community, an extremely hard-working, and responsible, albeit young adult who fell victim to the broken healthcare system.

It took months after her death to figure out what really happened, as nothing made sense. She was such an accomplished young lady, with future goals and aspirations in mind. No consent or information about the side effects, withdrawal symptoms or FDA black box warning on these drugs were provided. If she had been aware of the side effects, she would never have agreed on taking them. How can it be legal to give medication that in their own statements can lead to that person killing themselves by #1 Taking the pills, and #2 Ending use of the pills?! It should be criminal, to prescribe them!

This was written by her mom, Kasha Pinkowska, who lives in Phoenix, Arizona.  She lost her daughter because she was polydrugged, not given informed consent and when she died, no one with authority asked why, what happened or what she was on. Her mom had to be the detective. This pattern has been repeated over and over again, back to when Eli Lilly wasn’t held responsible for Traci Johnson’s “suicide”  February 7, 2004, while in a clinical trial testing Cymbalta. Incidentally, Cymbalta Hurts facebook has over 50,000 members.
What if….