Any advice for coming off Zoloft?

[misi]

Hi everyone. I am trying to make the decision of whether or not to take myself off of zoloft. I had a baby 1 year ago. Before I got pregnant I was on 50 mg. zoloft/day, and had been for about 2 years. I weaned myself off the minute I found out that I was pregnant. I had a fine pregnancy as far as my depression was concerned. However, about 3 days after getting home from the hospital I started getting more depressed than I had ever been in my life (PPD) My obgyn put me back on the 50mg. of zoloft. I started feeling better after a few weeks. Then after about 6 months I started feeling worse and my family physician doubled it to 100mg/day. I am just peachy now. HOWEVER, I have read some really disturbing things about the side effects of these ssri's lately and I am tired of having a negative sex drive. : Has anyone out there had a similar experience and how was the getting off the zoloft like? I am really scared, but I want to do what is best for me (and for my 1 year old).

[JessicaS]

I think it would be best if you discuss not taking it any longer with your Dr.

A lot of people have difficulties coming off of anti-depressants and you could very well end up much worse off. You'll need to decrease very slowly and your Dr will probably want you to have a couple appointments while you do that to monitor you.

[Jish]

You have to weigh the risks versus the benefits of the meds and the disease. Yes, there are always risks to any med, but there are also health risks with untreated depression ranging from heart disease, Parkinsons, diabetees, and many other diseases that seem to be more common in people who suffer from depression. They are starting to learn that seretonin imbalances affect much more than our brain, but our entire body since it affects our entire body and is not just present in our brains. I'm not meaning to scare you, but I think that we need to do a risk/benefit analysis when it comes to depression. If you are able to get off the meds successfully, that is great, but if not, you shouldn't life in misery. Try natural remedies, and if they work you have a solution, but this is such a complex issue with no one real safe answer or fix.

Uh, oh, I'm going to be late for my preschool pickup. Yikes!

[Red Sonja]

I would suggest tapering off of it very slowly. I tried to stop it towards the end of my pregnancy and it made me so unstable and gave me such bad thoughts that I went back on it. I finally got off of it in December, but only after I switched to Pamelor. I think you can find more info about tapering off at www.quitpaxil.info I haven't read this site in detail, so can't vouch for it but was told it has some information.

Good luck, it was really rough for me.

PM me if you have any questions!

[lisajulia]

I have to agree with the pp....speak with your doctor and if you decide to go off of it, do it as slowly as possible...like take twice the time to wean as suggested to be sure.
I did that back in 2000 and even weaning VERY slowly, I still had some vision issues and the shakes...everyone's body chemistry is different and even though a med is reported not to have side effects from weaning, my own personal experience proved otherwise..
Hang in there and good luck! xo