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What is SSRI withdrawal syndrome like?

J

JackiesBabyy

Bluelighter
Joined
May 16, 2011
Messages
595
A friend of mine who's been on 100mg of Zoloft for about a month and 50mg a few months before that asked me what withdrawal symptoms he should expect, due to his psychiatrist wanting to taper him off of it. I can't find anything on google, just a general list of symptoms but without a specified dose taken daily prior to them.
 
Minor physical discomforts but depends on where he is emotionally. If he's in an important period of life at the crossroads he may want to hold up from making any major decisions until the emotional rollercoaster ride comes to an end.
 
The only thing I experienced from withdrawing from 50mg. of daily sertraline was "brain zaps". His mileage will vary.
 
After just a few months the withdrawals aren't usually that bad, but it really depends on the person. Some people are much more sensitive to withdrawals than others. For example, I knew one person who was on a comparable dose for a comparable length of time who said they got no withdrawal symptoms at all, and I knew another who felt their withdrawals were quite noticeable and upsetting. The best thing is to do a taper, but it shouldn't need to be a very long one. The "brain zaps" and feeling weird or disconcerted are probably the most common symptoms when quitting abruptly.
 
Brain zaps
irritability
insomnia
Virtigo or disoriented feeling
Lack of energy
Occasional increasse in energy with some patients
Lingering sexual side effects
increased aggression

These are typically the most common. Often times if the patient tapers off an ssri, the withdrawal symptoms are manageable and in many cases the withdrawals are nearly unoticable. Some people struggle more than others, when this happens docs will occasionally prescribe a low dose of prozac to midigate withdrawals. Prozacs extreamly long half life allows it to be useful in aiding ssri/snri withdrawals.

I don't think your frind should have much of a problem. Zoloft is not too hard to get off of. If tapered correctly, withdrawals should be minimal.
 
When I quit my cymbalta 60mg habit that I had for 4 years I started taking DXM (about 100mg daily for few days) and then slowly tapered the DXM to zero. It took me about 2 months of daily DXM take but slowly taper the dosage from about 100mg to 0mg in couple months and you should be fine. DXM completely stops the withdrawal from SSRI's and in the end I only needed about 15mg of DXM to cope with the withdrawal (brain zaps etc.) and then I just quit taking DXM and I was just fine. Might sound a bit odd but for me it works 100%
 
Codesan said:
When I quit my cymbalta 60mg habit that I had for 4 years I started taking DXM (about 100mg daily for few days) and then slowly tapered the DXM to zero. It took me about 2 months of daily DXM take but slowly taper the dosage from about 100mg to 0mg in couple months and you should be fine. DXM completely stops the withdrawal from SSRI's and in the end I only needed about 15mg of DXM to cope with the withdrawal (brain zaps etc.) and then I just quit taking DXM and I was just fine. Might sound a bit odd but for me it works 100%
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I wouldn't recommend this unless you were really having serious problems, even then I would see a doctor and find a different way to midigate the withdrawals. I'm not saying this wont work, because it will, dxm has many interesting effects on the balance of neruotransmitters in the brain. I personally wouldn't want too begin taking dxm daily, even in a lower dose. I'm glad it worked for you. For others I would just suggest this option to be one for last resort.
 
I agree with you Cloroxtastebad because the DXM worked for me doesn not mean that it works for everyone and that even that it is safe. It worked for me because I had used DXM alot and knew the effects. But for me DXM was a godsend when it came to quitting SNRI. The best solution for a person who doesnt want to go through the DXM route is to talk with a professional doctor.
 
Extreme emotional instability. Crying at the drop of a pin. Lightheaded rushes. Electrical jolts quickly going up amd down.

Experienced it a couple tims, but the worst was after taking 20-30mg of lexapro for 14 months and abruptly getting none in jail for a while.
 
SNRI'S can be absolutely awful to get off of. I had to stop effexor cold turkey from three hundred milligrams (numbers wont work on keyboard) That was the worst I have ever felt, I can say if I had dxm at my house during that time it could have been useful, unfortunately I didn't have it in me to drive to the store.

Good new for the OPs friend is that ssri's withdrawals for the most part are not severe. Occasionally a person will have terrible withdrawals, but not very often dose that happen. SNRI's are a different story in my opinion.
 
tamarinds said:
Extreme emotional instability. Crying at the drop of a pin. Lightheaded rushes. Electrical jolts quickly going up amd down.

Experienced it a couple tims, but the worst was after taking 20-30mg of lexapro for 14 months and abruptly getting none in jail for a while.
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I experienced awful emotional withdrawals when I stopped effexor. I was sad as all hell for about a week, nothing made me happy. I improved quickly after the first 7 days or so, just had lingering disorientation and brain zaps
 
My brain literally felt like it wasn't mine, I was expecting rebound depression but I ended up with apathy, impotence and premature ejaculation.

The mental fog was over by a week, the sexual side effects lasted almost a month.
 
Terrible. I was on a relatively high dose of celexa for ~4 years.

Mentally and emotionally similar to minor opiate withdrawals. Hated the brain zaps, which had a physical component as well. The depression and lethargy were the worst parts. I'd definitely taper if I did it again
 
SproutOnSmack said:
My brain literally felt like it wasn't mine, I was expecting rebound depression but I ended up with apathy, impotence and premature ejaculation.

The mental fog was over by a week, the sexual side effects lasted almost a month.
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This seems to be a fairly common reaction. Especially the part about your brain. Its a difficult thing to explain, i would have quick sensations in my brain and body that felt as if my brain had momentarily shut down, or wondered off. It felt like a second of extreme vertigo mixed with disorientation of sorts.

May i ask what medication you were taking?
 
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