Just thought I would try and give people a running account of my try at getting off of zoloft. First some history, I am a 34 yr old male who was given zoloft for a panic attack that I had after experiencing a third seizure on August 1, 2003. I started with 25mg for 7 days then went to 50mg until November 6, 2003. I then decided to go back to 25mg because I was having a numbness feeling between my right eye and right ear. It felt like I was shot with novacane. I also had a strange numbness feeling on the bottom of my right foot. My neurologist told me that Dilantin wouldn't cause it and to cut my zoloft in half. Well I also had trouble with a rapid heart beat that seemed to happen after I took zoloft. After doing some research, I decided it was probably best that I ween myself completely off this drug. I went back to 25mg for 1 week and today is my 7th day off zoloft. The first 4-5 days went by pretty well. I had a couple of strange dreams, but the numbness feelings around my ear and foot has decreased. I still have muscle twitching around my eye and in my legs. The last couple of days have been odd. If I eat a decent meal my stomach and chest start hurting me and right now my right hand is hurting in all the joints. I also seem to get emotional very easy. I will try and update every few days.

Thanks
DB

Also I was wondering if joint and muscle pain is a symptom of going off zoloft.
Thanks,
DB

Well it is now Monday November 24th. I seem to be doing ok. I still have chest pain and stomach pain every once in a while. I have noticed that my resting heart rate (which was around 100, while on Zoloft) now runs around 74. I still feel a little numbness on the right side of my face and also have what feel like pressure headaches. I am thinking of trying Immunocal to try and detoxify my immune system.

Thanks,
DB

please comment if you have tried Immunocal and let me know your results.

Hello,

Its me again. Don't know if anybody is reading these, but anyway here goes my update. It has now been 21 days (according to Zoloft data the amount of time the drug stays in the body) and I am doing pretty good. I have been to many doctors this week and have so far been told that I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome and General Anxiety Disorder. But my blood pressure has been so good that my main doctor told me to quit taking that medicine and see him in a week to have it checked out. My numbness in my face and foot is almost nonexistant. I still have what I would consider a mix of muscle twitches and spasms in the muscle right above my left knee and my left shoulder blade. (this might also be caused by my antiseizure medicine dilantin.) After I told my main doctor who put me on Zoloft that I had to quit taking it he stated "I'm glad to hear that because you didn't seem 'right' to me the last time I saw you." GO FIGURE. I also told him that the pysch. wanted to put me on Buspar and I told him I wanted to wait, get back to work, and see what happens. After all, I have only had one panic attack, and although I feel anxious at times I would rather learn to deal with it without drugs. My main doctor agreed totally and said if it were him he would do the same thing.

Maybe if we just keep telling these doctors what is really going on they will try to find better, safer ways of dealing with anxiety. thanks again so it was so long.

DB

BTW I started taking Immunocal today and will let you know how that goes.

Have you ever had your thyroid tested? Panic attacks can be a symptom of a thyroid disorder as well as depression. and anxiety. You may want to have it tested to rule out any other problem. Good Luck :wave:

My son abruptly took himself off zoloft and it became very clear to him a few days later that going off abruptly was not the thing to do.

I weaned myself off xanax after becoming addicted to it even though I was taking it as prescribed. It took me two months and was very difficult.

I am surprised that since you have seizures that the doctor isn't considering the possibility that the 'panic attack' might be a simple partial seizure. It is common for partial seizures to cause extreme fear, often as the only symptom. Maybe what you thought was a 'panic attack' was in actuality a seizure. I would suggest reading up on partial seizures if you have not done so already.