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Thank you for taking the time to write that up. I transitioned from Zoloft to Valdoxan earlier this year. I was taking Zoloft for a little over a year, up to a

Thank you for taking the time to write that up. I transitioned from Zoloft to Valdoxan earlier this year. I was taking Zoloft for a little over a year, up to a 100 mg daily dose. It took me several months to taper off from Zoloft. I remember smoking cigarettes hard and being grumpy and tired. I didn't smoke habitually before taking Zoloft, but it made the brain zaps more manageable. I guess I never thought the grumpiness was a withdrawal side effect, I thought circumstances could just be better in my life. I was just counting down until I stopped getting brain zaps. I tapered down really slowly. I was down to taking an eighth of a tablet every other day. Trying to stop entirely before that (I.e. Stopping after a fourth of a tablet every other day) led to brain zaps that were just too tiring to deal with.

satysin 8y ago
Yeah brain zaps are pretty nasty. I had them when I first started to reduce the dose. If I remember correctly it was around the 75 to 100mg/day level that I had the worst/most zaps. Felt like a lightning bolt inside my brain followed by the a very uncomfortable warmth moving around inside my head. I got pretty damn concerned about it as it almost felt like my brain was leaking inside and I thought god what if I had a stroke or something?! Very nasty things. The reason I wrote my comment was because I wanted to mention the anger as part of the withdrawal as it isn't something discussed much by mental health professionals, at least not in my experience. They just briefly say "you might be more easily irritated" or something vague like that. However it was by far the biggest symptom of withdrawal I have experienced and the one that has had the biggest effect not just to me but those around me. Several times my wife has commented "god you're a moody sod today can't you just keep taking the damn tablets?!" and without realising the anger is a side-effect of coming off the tablets I think it would be very easy to get into the mindset of "hmm maybe I would be better off going back on the tablets" and so they do just that. I wanted to say that while the anger is frustrating it does get better. Like all withdrawals you need to fight through it.
- eric-hu 8y ago
  Yeah I broke up with my (now) ex in that patch. It's been about a month since I took my last Zoloft, so I'm pretty sure I was experiencing that irritability as a withdrawal symptom too... and maybe I still am? This seems like a more insidious side effect, because it didn't _feel_like a withdrawal symptom, whereas the brain zaps clearly were. I guess I won't ever know for sure if the fights with my ex were because of withdrawal or personality incompatibilities.

satysin 8y ago

Yeah brain zaps are pretty nasty. I had them when I first started to reduce the dose. If I remember correctly it was around the 75 to 100mg/day level that I had the worst/most zaps. Felt like a lightning bolt inside my brain followed by the a very uncomfortable warmth moving around inside my head. I got pretty damn concerned about it as it almost felt like my brain was leaking inside and I thought god what if I had a stroke or something?! Very nasty things. The reason I wrote my comment was because I wanted to mention the anger as part of the withdrawal as it isn't something discussed much by mental health professionals, at least not in my experience. They just briefly say "you might be more easily irritated" or something vague like that. However it was by far the biggest symptom of withdrawal I have experienced and the one that has had the biggest effect not just to me but those around me. Several times my wife has commented "god you're a moody sod today can't you just keep taking the damn tablets?!" and without realising the anger is a side-effect of coming off the tablets I think it would be very easy to get into the mindset of "hmm maybe I would be better off going back on the tablets" and so they do just that. I wanted to say that while the anger is frustrating it does get better. Like all withdrawals you need to fight through it.

eric-hu 8y ago
Yeah I broke up with my (now) ex in that patch. It's been about a month since I took my last Zoloft, so I'm pretty sure I was experiencing that irritability as a withdrawal symptom too... and maybe I still am? This seems like a more insidious side effect, because it didn't _feel_like a withdrawal symptom, whereas the brain zaps clearly were. I guess I won't ever know for sure if the fights with my ex were because of withdrawal or personality incompatibilities.