Posted by SallyW on August 27, 2005, at 22:29:11
In reply to Re: Withdrawal SUCCESS! » SallyW, posted by SLS on August 22, 2005, at 0:43:47
Hi Scott - I started out tapering at 50 mg. When I began reducing the dosage by cutting pills, I felt really awful. We (Dr.&me) switched to the liquid. She suggested the 1 ml. syringe.(Get 2, 1 lasts about 3 weeks before it gets sticky and won't cooperate)- 1 ml. = 20 mg. I went back to 50 mg. (2.5 ml. or 2 1/2 syrngefuls) so that I would feel okay. I got a little pocket calendar and mapped out dosages and dates so that I would have a target. I took the zoloft once a day when I got up. I squirted it into 4-5 oz. of orange juice. I began coming down 10 mg. (.5 ml) a day for 7 days. I soon realized that I could come down faster and began decreasing the dosage every 4 days. I initially noted how I was feeling each day with a smiley or sad face. After a few days, this wasn't necessary because I didn't feel bad. Once I got really low, like 7 mg. (.35 ml), I decreased the dosage in smaller amounts. After 4 days at that level, I went down to 3.5 mg. (.17 ml) for 4 days, then 2.5 mg. for 4 days, then 1.5 mg. for days. The last dosage was 1 mg (.05 ml) and that was only for 2 days and then I didn't take anymore. That was two weeks ago. One thing I need to note is that you CANNOT cheat on sleep while you are doing this. You HAVE to get at least 8-9 hours of sleep each night. If you cheat, you will feel some withdrawal effects. I still feel fine except for an unrelated sinus infection. I actually feel empowered because I've wanted to be off of the zoloft for so long. I've been on it and the doxepin before it for 10 years and hypothyoidism symptoms before that. I'm not even sure how I'm supposed to act I've been drugged for so long. But I'm happy (and not manically so!).
poster:SallyW
thread:465261
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20050822/msgs/547435.html