Question:
I have been taking 100mg of Zoloft daily for depression/anxiety, and feel like the meds are controlling my emotions, which my doc agreed with, it's not the best thing, but it's better then breaking down and crying at the drop of a hat, that's for sure.
I know I need to continue to take the Zoloft for at least 8 weeks for max effect, it's only been slightly over 2, would like to hear opinions on how those of you who have taken Zoloft fared with the drug, I do believe it's helping me--slowly but surely
Answer:
100 mg is a lot to start with as far a side-effects are concerned. I was
kind of a zombie for about three weeks, but improved substantially after
about 1-1/2 months. I will stay on it for as long as it works, which
might be a lifetime. Those around me seem to think it's working a lot
more than I do. I don't ever feel great, but I rarely feel bad anymore.
I think it depends on the rut you were in (mine was like the Atlantic
trench). If the drug does, in fact, remove a lot of negative emotions
and that's all you had, I would expect that you would feel "vacant" for
a while until some positive feelings started filtering in-- that's the
way I would describe my experience with it. Of course, the caveat
with AD's: results may vary. A good indicator is that after 2-3 weeks if
you are considering taking a higher dose, you probably need a higher
dose. Funny how that works. I'm trying to get back down to 150 mg. I
forgot to take it one day (also a good indicator that one's improved)
and let me tell you, I felt like I was getting a bad case of the flu.
Had to take 25mg Zoloft and diphenhydramine at 2 AM just to get to
sleep. Scary. But like everyone else here, you'll just deal with the
withdrawal later. You'll probably find that while you're not 100%
"better" you'll be improved, possibly adequately, at least you'll be
better than before. You really need to wait two whole months to decide.
I waited 2-3 weeks before upping doses each time. Remember the
pricing structure, 100 mg costs as much as 50 mg. I have a suggestion. A lot of people report this feeling of flatness or apathy
on SSRIs (like Zoloft, Prozac, etc.). I wonder if in some of those cases,
reducing the dose might help reduce the apathy without bringing back the
depression. Has anyone here tried this? I was thinking maybe going down to
75mg/day might do the trick. Another possibility is that you are just feeling the first effects of the
Zoloft (2 weeks is about the right time for this) and might feel more "natural"
once it has fully kicked in and you have adjusted to it some.
(I have nothing to report for myself, sorry -- Zoloft had no noticeable effect
on me.)
Dean is right -- 100 mg is too much to start with. I started with 25
mg, then went to 50mg which pushed me into mania. After a week in PICU,
I was raised eventually to 150 mg with the addition of Depakote. I got
no positive benefit until the dose made it to 150 mg. (I have bipolar
disorder). My wife is on 200 mg zoloft + 150 mg wellbutrin BID for unipolar
depression. She got no benefit from zoloft until the dose was 200 mg,
then the benefits lasted only about 3 weeks. The addition of wellbutrin
has worked now for about 6-8 weeks.
I will trust that the other respondents may have more wisdom on the initial
dosage. They are correct on waiting (I have heard 3 weeks) for full effects.
I DID want to comment on the depression/anxiety combo....I do not know how
strong your anxiety component was, but mine was very strong. I found myself really sensitive to both Zoloft and Paxil in general....they
made me nervous and I could not get to sleep (I cannot remember how long I
tried them). The more sedating anti-depressants worked better for me...in
my case it was Effexor and Serzone. Serzone seemed to cause less libido
loss. Among tricyclics, the only one that had a sedating effect was Elavil,
but I gained weight. Since Effexor and Serzone are in different chemical
classes than Zoloft/Paxil, reactions will vary...some people have found
Serzone disastrous, but I went 3 yrs and functioned ok on it.
With all of these I was using Xanax as an antianxiety agent on a LONG-TERM
basis which is NOT considered good. Finally, I was not even doing well with
Serzone/Xanax. After a hospital stay, I am now on a Luvox/Klonopin/Tegretol
XR combo (the last for mood swings). I am not sure how well I like Luvox,
but I had obsessive thoughts and Luvox is supposed to aid that. My
psychiatrist and I do not have the right balance yet, as I am overly drowsy
between the 3 at the moment.
I reduced my dose to 150mg yesterday for one day and felt more apathy
and had memory problems. Go figure. And by evening I was back my regular
old self. Back to 200mg this morning and feeling just fine.
Zoloft comes in 50 and 100mg scored caplets which cost the same for
either. 75 mg is an expensive dose if you want to do it conveniently. Now I am getting scared because I can see getting off this stuff is
going to be bad-- worse than quitting smoking. I thought this stuff had
a long half-life. How can I feel so bad after reducing the dose by 25%
after just 14 hours? I don't really want to take more than 200mg-- I'm
worried about my wallet and my liver!
Pretty much was the case for me, but It returned with each dose increase
and disappeared in about a week. I didn't just get accustomed, it felt
like the mental sharpness actually returned.
