Zoloft Withdrawal

I’ve been on Zoloft (Sertraline) ever since I was diagnosed with PPD a year and a half ago.  It was definitely a big help with my problems and I’m happy that I had it at the time.  But I did wonder if there wasn’t a natural way to get help.  After all anti-depressants are only band-aid for your problems.  I guess the thinking was that I would only need to be on it until my PPD went away. 

How do you know exactly when you are well enough to go off of your medication?  I don’t know the answer to this, and since I don’t have health insurance there is no way to find that answer without an expensive doctors visit.

As I mentioned I don’t have health insurance anymore and my prescription was coming close to the time it needed refilled.  I actually had 3 refills of 25mg left.  I was debating paying $80 to see a doctor, keeping my fingers crossed the whole time that this bottom dollar quack would refill my prescription without expensive tests.  Or I could just wean myself off.  I was leaning towards tapering off of the meds.  I felt like after this long I might not need it anymore.  

I was making the decision and I went to complete one of my last refills.  I discovered something horrible.  My refills had somehow expired.  I had 5 pills left.  This meant no tapering and we can’t afford a doctor right now.

So, here I am.  I’m on day 2 of my withdrawal and this is not fun.  I wish that I had been aware of hard it is to go off Zoloft.  Nobody warned me.  I think that when a doctor prescribes this medication patients should be warned about this. I'm all for modern medicine and agree that it of course has benefits.

I’m here to warn you.  Here is a rundown of my withdrawal symptoms; excessive tiredness, hot and cold flashes, inability to concentrate, loss of appetite and a feeling like being zapped.  Well, safe to say I have learned my lesson.  No more anti-depressants, even if I have PPD again.  I’ll take some natural ways of healing, like a counselor and maybe St. John’s Wart.

Firstly I’m here to tell you that if you have been prescribed an anti-depressant, think twice before starting to take it.  Look for alternatives. 

Secondly, I’m here to say that I may not be writing for a few days.  I guess you could call them sick days or mental health days, but it’s really hard to even get all this down.

The one really good thing out of all this is that even through the fog of withdrawal I can tell I feel better mentally.  I didn’t need the drugs anymore!