I Have Made-up My Mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rae Rae]

I have decided that I am going to ween myself off my Zoloft b/c I have come to realized that really it is not helping my anxiety, I just made my mind believe it was!!! Those pills are actually REALLY bad for you, I don't know if anyone's seen or read anything about what they actually do to the inside of your body but it is NOT good!!! I also have found out that taking Klonopin really ISN'T as bad for us to take, occasionally! And that Zoloft and all Anti-Depressents & Anti-Anxiety meds are blocking whats going on in our brains, not helping fix anything that has to do with what causes our anxiety! The way I see it now is, I once lived a life anxiety & panic attack free and I WILL become that person again!!!!! I believe if you tell yourself who & HOW you want to feel & get into a good habit of being relaxed, eating right, & exercising that you WILL vanish your anxiety!!! I am keeping my Klonopin for as needed b/c even though they SAY benzos are 'bad' for you, really Klonopin is okay to take to help you relax 

I am not going to live my life based on a daily pill anymore, I used to calm myself down & live a "normal life" a year & a half ago and honestly I am SO TIRED OF IT!!! I'm done!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for reading! 

[nyiaca]

I take clonzapaem, and I find it great. I also stopped b/c I was going to have a baby (I had been taking it for a year), and I found no withdrawl. I had trouble getting to sleep for a couple of nights, otherwise that was it. Plus, I take when I feel anxious, otherwise I have no cravings or anything like that. It works great for me.

[stacy24]

thats what i thought to id be fine with out med boy was i wrong !!!!
Was no good for me .. but maybe u will be ok and i hope u are ok so let us all know how ur doing as ur weening off the pills

[studdmuffin]

if you can do just as well with only the klonopin. more power to you. good luck.

[Mommy of 3]

I did the same thing 2 years ago...after about a year and half of this med and that med and this med and nothing working.  I used to take well-butrin for about 2 years and it worked wonderfully...but after I had my son nothing worked.  I do however take Xanax for the occasional panic attack (so about 2x a month).  But afte 2 years....Unfortunatley I find myself worse off then I was.  Granted there have been life altering events to the extreme for me and my family which I am sure is not helping...but I have finally decided to try to get back on Meds again. 

But I do believe that if I was able to afford therapy and my life would turn around I could have done it.  I hope you can and I hope you stay strong.  I to one day hope I can get back to that kind of hope!! 

[tmicrowave]

ooh good luck to you congratzz

[Bama21]

A noble quest.  But...just don't be surprised if you discover part of the reason for your optimism and drive to get off of the Zoloft was BECAUSE of the Zoloft working for you.  I've been there.

I personally wouldn't suggest weaning off of the Zoloft until you are confident that you have ALREADY implemented all of the necessary cognitive and behavioral tools to combat the anxiety without the medication.

[katoka]

Congrats!!  This is something you CAN do and you are absolutely right, you CAN be anxiety free.  

I weaned off Zoloft three years ago (was of no help and had nasty side effects) and switched completely to natural ways of controlling my anxiety.  The withdrawal was difficult but I had plans in place to deal with it.  I drank a lot of kava and chamomile tea which helped keep me stay calm and I also started on a strict vitamin regiman consisting of a b-complex, omega 3, calcium and magnesium.  Additionally, I went to an acupuncturist in the beginning while going through the withdrawal.  Deep breathing techniques also were very helpful.

Also, just a suggestion, if you can remember the time in your life at which point you went from not having anxiety to having anxiety, think about what was going on at the time that may have triggered the anxiety.  When I went to my doctor 7 years ago with anxiety issues, she just automatically put me on drugs without really asking what was happening at the time that would cause it.  After 4 years on drugs and the last three years completely drug-free using natural methods, a therapist was finally able to help me figure out WHY I have anxiety.  She said it's from complicated grief; from not grieving the loss of my dad 8 years ago.  And well, I didn't grieve his loss, because he's not dead... he's severely brain damaged.  So according to the therapist, I haven't grieved the loss of who my dad was and therefore it is coming through as anxiety.  I am now working through the grieving process so that I can live my life without anxiety!  So I encourage you to really think about if an event may have triggered the start of your anxiety and you can then deal with the event rather than having anxiety the rest of your life.

Good luck with this process!!  It will be difficult at times, but just make sure you have alternatives in place to help you with the anxiety so you don't feel like you HAVE to go back on the meds.


Katie

[Bama21]

Good luck with this process!!  It will be difficult at times, but just make sure you have alternatives in place to help you with the anxiety so you don't feel like you HAVE to go back on the meds.


Katie

Bingo.  Great advice, there.

[Warbirdwf]

Rae Rae-

Just take your time weaning off these drugs. I quit 20mg of Prozac cold turkey and about 45-90 days later, bam! I had the worst anxiety of my life. It's been 8 months now that I've been trying to get my anxiety under control. From what I've read, the longer you take weaning off these SSRI'S, you minimize the withdrawals and chances of suffering a re-bound in your anxiety.

Good luck and keep posting on how you're doing!

[Mommy of 3]

Hey Rae Rae

I posted yesterday about my experience.....but after trying to figure out what the heck went wrong with me I realized I had changed my Birth Control pills and after looking up the medications I was experiencing all these horrible depressive, anger, anxiety side effects and they all seem to be from the medication. 

I am changing them and I am hoping I can start to push all the issues out again.  I was doing OK for about 2 years...so lets see if this was the issue.  Hope all is well and you are staying strong.  It can be done and after realizing what I have about my medications I know it wasn't a slip up or need to be re-medicated.

[Rae Rae]

I posted this back in December 2008 & it's amazing how it was found here in 2010 it says!!! Wow!

[Rae Rae]

Just to update everyone since I posted this back in December 2008... I did not completely stop Zoloft yet, my doctor had me wean for awhile. Once I was down to 25mlg in June 2009 I was done! For a few months before I completely stopped, I had been pretty much already off of the Zoloft b/c 25mlg (the lowest dose) doesn't really do anything, it just keeps it in the blood stream. Anyways, I felt great off of it! I had a high amount of confidence & I even got a job!!! (I hadn't worked in a year b/c of my anxiety.) I still took Klonopin .5mlg when needed, but it was rare. Panic attacks were gone! I went out in public more! I had occasional anxiety "symptoms" at times, but nothing major. I was strong, I was confident, & I was happy again!!! If you keep your mind preoccupied on other things, you won't notice your anxiety as much! 

[OliviaD]

That sounds great, Rae Rae! I decided to go off of Cymbalta in October of 2008. I did a slow wean and was completely off it by the first week of April 2009. I felt GREAT throughout the summer and then I had a bad illness hit me in August. I still did fairly well, but the illness took its toll and beginning in December, I started having major mood swings. The small bouts of anxiety started in February, off-and-on, and now, I'm getting close to full-blown anxiety again, after 5 years of being healthy.

My question for you is that you use the word "was" as in the past tense when referring to your weaning. I guess I'm a bit confused. Are you still feeling good being almost completely off of the Zoloft? Or are you having problems again?

Thanks for sharing and I'm glad this DID come back up in 2010! :)

[Rae Rae]

I felt "normal" again for about 9 months being off of Zoloft, but for the past few months my anxiety has come back.. I had the worse panic attack of my life last week... it lasted a whole hour!!! This past week has been the worst.. I'm so depressed! Feel extremely dizzy all the time, like I have a fever, sometimes shaky, & nauseous. I keep having to call off work b/c of this. I guess I've been so stressed that my anxiety just decided to come back & make me miserable again. I keep getting this feeling like there's something seriously wrong w/me & that its not just anxiety b/c something doesn't feel right...