Mental Health Zoloft longterm

I'm new and don't really know where to post this, I read up on here which is what caused me to join. I have been on Zoloft for 5 years now, I was placed on it when I was 13/14 for depression and anxiety. I have been at a stable dose of 150mg at night for 2 years now. My friends say I should go off of it as it makes me "different" personally I don't know what they mean because I don't remember what it was like with out them. I've heard going off them sucks if you go cold turkey. I want to taper off, every time I talk to my doctor they just say "let's wait till your next appointment" . I guess I do feel sort of neutral all the time like something's just not right? I smoke herb everyday and through out the day. Occasionally take a morphine or a oxymorphone to get on. I just tried xanex for first time and felt like a waste of <NO PRICES>. All it did was make super tired for like 2 days. Benzos probably reacted bad to the Ssri?

Anyways I guess my main question is about Zoloft and long term affects and going off of it.

Welcome

I will move this over to mental health for you.

Homeless > Mental Health

Beware that Zoloft may or may not cause sexual dysfunction. Depending on whether or not it treats your anxiety is another question. Everyone is different. I tried Effexor XR and it caused some sexual dysfunction.

I have yet to really try Abilify. The doses I took at 5mg made me feel like I was in a haze, but I only took it for a day, then didn't bother. Then took 2.5mg for a day, and didn't bother again.

It felt strange, but I preferred mirtazapine that I took for almost a decade - at least I could sleep. I'm not sure if Abilify helps with sleep or not. If it helps with stress it might help with sleep. Mirtazapine used to make me feel stressed often, for some strange reason.

A website that addresses how to taper off of psychiatric medications is here.

Depending on what is going on in your life this may or may not be a good idea. Smoking all day every day is a lot. Have you ever thought about trying to delve deeper into your emotional life and figure out why you feel the way you do? It's never simple so I am not suggesting that you will identify some magic key to happiness and life will be a substance-free bed of roses. I am just wondering what causes you to need to tamp down your emotions (which both Zoloft and pot can do quite effectively).

I would question how your friends know that your personality is different on Zoloft when you have been on it for your entire adolescence. Are they comparing a nineteen year old you to a twelve year old you? That makes no sense. If there is ever any difference in your pot use maybe that is the difference they are perceiving?

Anxiety is an incredibly complex issue to deal with. I have it and had it to the extreme as a kid. One thing I truly believe is that except for extreme times or circumstances it does not need to be medicated. There are highly effective ways to change your relationship to your thoughts, to minimize or eliminate the occurrence altogether through the strengthening of your rational mind, etc that can make the need for medication (self or doctor prescribed) non-existent. I encourage you to explore yourself, have faith that you can create a life that fits your nature and to eschew the cultural paradigms that make anxiety and depression a pandemic in the developed world--especially for the young.

exercise and a diet that contains low sugar and absolutely no caffeine drinks or pills is a must fir any anxiety sufferers..every anxiety sufferer should take these 2 steps first..

Zoloft helped my anxiety but did cause insomnia for me..it barely put a dent into my depression which is more anhedonia related anyways..it really dampened my already low sex drive..i have a friend who went on zoloft and it has changed him 100%, much more social and energetic/enthusiastic..he said it has dampened his sex drive but considers it well worth it considering the positive effects he gets from it..

benzos do work but they have huge downsides..addiction, cognitive dulling are just 2 of the major effects that people get..

anxiety is incredibly complicated which makes every person a guinea pig of sorts in terms of finding what works and what doesnt..in the end