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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Kye on May 28, 2005, at 9:59:17
My husband cut down his dosage of zoloft from 100mg to 50mg to 25 mg and then stopped. In the past week he has had the worst symptoms - brain zaps, fatigue, dizzy/blackout spells, severe headache, ears hurting, coordination problems, mood swings, etc. I am very concerned about this. My question is are there any natural meds or other medications that will relieve some of the symptoms while his body had time to adjust to him being off the zoloft.
Posted by Phillipa on May 28, 2005, at 9:59:18
In reply to Withdrawal Effects of Zoloft, posted by Kye on May 27, 2005, at 20:22:30
You will get more help on the withdrawal board. Fondly, Phillipa
Posted by SLS on May 28, 2005, at 21:17:35
In reply to Withdrawal Effects of Zoloft, posted by Kye on May 27, 2005, at 20:22:30
> My husband cut down his dosage of zoloft from 100mg to 50mg to 25 mg and then stopped. In the past week he has had the worst symptoms - brain zaps, fatigue, dizzy/blackout spells, severe headache, ears hurting, coordination problems, mood swings, etc. I am very concerned about this. My question is are there any natural meds or other medications that will relieve some of the symptoms while his body had time to adjust to him being off the zoloft.
Hi.The last 25% of the original dosage is the hardest to discontinue. He really should have continued to taper further; splitting the doses into smaller amounts and taking them several times a day.
You can try some over-the-counter Benadryl. It is both an antihistamine and an anticholinergic among other things. I don't know why it works, but there are plenty of testimonials on this board to suggest its effectiveness.
You could try taking a special short course of treatment with Prozac designed as a temporary substitute for discontinuing other SRIs like Zoloft. It acts to help the body make the transition more gradually and usually gets rid of the withdrawal effects.
Sometimes, the withdrawal effects get worse with time instead of better if these drugs are discontinuing too abruptly. However, at this point, to do nothing might be the right thing to do. If after two weeks things have not gotton any better, I would consider the Prozac substitution therapy. Personally, I like to stick to using the original drug to taper with. However, I use a flexible dosing strategy that allows me to take a dose of drug only when I feel the withdrawal symptoms develop. The smaller amounts of drug used and the more frequent dosing helps quite a bit.
- Scott
This is the end of the thread.
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