Zoloft Withdrawals & Switching to Prozac

[Crazy Cat]

I posted a few weeks ago that my doctor switched me from 250mg. Zoloft to 60mg. Prozac with no taper from the Zoloft.

Since then (3 weeks), I have been having worse & worse withdrawals from the Zoloft, so I upped my dose to 80mg. Prozac. I take it all at once. I did that with the Zoloft too. I tried splitting the dose but that makes it even worse.

My doctor & the pharmacist told me that I didn't need to taper from the Zoloft - I just went from one to the other in one day.

I don't know if it matters much, but I've been on the Zoloft for quite some time now. At least 10 years.

I'm under the impression that 80mg. Prozac is the highest recommended dose, however, the Zoloft recommends no higher than 200mg. and I was taking 250mg. (geez, this is confusing)

Can I up the Prozac dose another 20mg? How long should the withdrawals last? I was told by both the dr. & pharm. that I shouldn't have withdrawal symptoms. I told both of them that I seem to be sensitive to any changes in my scripts and that I expected some kind of symptoms. They "assured" me I "shouldn't" have any. (I guess that's really not "assuring me" right? I mean, wouldn't & shouldn't are two different things.)

Can someone help me with this? I hesitate to call my doctor because, as I've said before, he's somewhat of a moron when it comes to this type of thing and since the pharmacist already told me one thing, I doubt he'd change his opinion.

I know anyone who has experienced antidepressant withdrawals can sympathize with me. Even if I'm told it'll last a couple of weeks, thats two weeks too long to feel like this.

Oh...the symptoms I'm having are severe nausea, sweating, fatigue, very severe dizziness or "brain shakes", upset stomach.

Thanks.

Adriane :helpme:

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Even 80 mg is a very high dose of Prozac. I would strongly advise you to consult your doctor before doing anything else. In fact, you should contact the doctor to let him know you're taking 80 mg. That may not be a good idea.

 

[Andy]

Hi Crazy Cat, I can definitely sympathize with you. I would not recommend increasing any of your medications without talking to your Dr. first. I would talk to your Dr. before going over the maximum level especially if you increased it on your own already.
I understand that side effects really suck. Unfortunately they come with a change in medication. I agree that it may take a couple weeks to go through it all, it may seem more severe because I imagine your also dealing with the initial side effects of the Prozac.

All I can think of to suggest is if your nausea is really bad then ask your Dr. for something to settle it. I'm sorry if that's not what you want to hear. No one here can give you the go ahead in increasing your medication it's just to dangerous. I do understand how annoying the side effects can be but they should start to ease off shortly.

 

[Retired]

switched me from 250mg. Zoloft to 60mg. Prozac with no taper from the Zoloft.

Tapering is not required when switching from one SSRI or SNRI to another, as the mode of action of all these compounds is essentially the same and when switching, the half life of the previous compound is of little consequence.

However the correct dose should be established by your doctor, and as has been suggested, your best advice would be to report how you have been feeling since the switch and ask how to proceed.

I'm under the impression that 80mg. Prozac is the highest recommended dose, however, the Zoloft recommends no higher than 200mg. and I was taking 250mg. (geez, this is confusing)

If I understand correctly your concern, you wonder about the relationship of 80mg of Prozac to 200 or 250 mg of Zoloft.

Each medication (each compound) has an established dosage based on the potency of the molecule. Therefore a more potent molecule requires a lower actual dosage (weight) than a les potent molecule. It has to do with chemical potency and not with therapeutic effectiveness. In other words, the same therapeutic effectivess of a potent molecule requires a lower dosage (weight) than a less potent molecule.

Doctors usually have reference charts from comparitive studies done by researchers to establish guidelines for approximate equivialant therapeutic doses of medications used for a given indication, for the purpose of switching medication compounds when necessary.

 

[Kathy R]

I have switched from Prozac to Zoloft and back again for several years. I have always been on max dosage for both. In the beginning back in 1992 I was tapered off Prozac and then onto Zoloft and that was the only time. Ever since then I have just gone from one to the other with no problems at all. I take max dosage on both drugs so maybe that makes a difference. I really don't know. I do know that when I was pregnant with my son my doctor told me to take a high dose of B vitamins and that really kept me going. Maybe that would help. I took a B100 complex.