I hope everyone is doing well, I have not been on lymenet for awhile b/c I have not had access to a computer.
I have a question and need some advice ASAP!!!
My LLMD has switched my depression/anxiety medicine form Effexor 150mg to Zolofot. From what I remember she told me to start taking 75mg right away for 1 week then go down to 37.5 and then after that switch to the Zolofot small does and work my way up to the higher doeses.
I have been having a real horrible time with this. I have had every lyme symptom come out ten-fold. Not to mention my anxiety and depression is through the roof. I have had a lot of personal issues go on in the past several weeks and I am having a hard time coping....
Any advice or words of wisdom would really be apperciated at this point.
Thanks
Posts: 16 | From Long Island, NY, Nassau | Registered: Jun 2005
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BostonLyme2005
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posted
"Greater is he who is in you, than he who is in the world"
" God's Delay's, are not God's Denials"!
" The Past, Does Not Equal The Future"!
You will improve, You will get better!
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If you have a question about the dose then I suggest you contact your LLMD.
I know hubby could not take Effexor due to side effects -- never got anywhere near therapeutic dose. Did not take Zoloft but other SSRI's did not work for him.
This is just my opinion, and not medical advice, but I think most Lyme patients do better on natural things -- SAMe is expensive but it works well for hubby -- also will work within a day or two -- much quicker than the meds.
Also l-theanine is very calming and can be taken any time of the day.
Many of the herbal or nutritional supplements can be taken together with the meds, but you should check with a pharmacist or your LLMD first.
There are many options -- it will take trial and error because everyone has a different body chemistry.
Hope you can find something that helps.
Bea Seibert
P.S. From what I have read the best way to come off these type of drugs is to decrease the dose by 10% per week -- cutting your dose by 50% is probably what is bothering you.
It took me 2 years to get hubby off Celexa, Zyprexa and Depakote even though they were not really helping him.
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
quote:Originally posted by chloenstein:
My LLMD has switched my depression/anxiety medicine form Effexor 150mg to Zolofot. From what I remember she told me to start taking 75mg right away for 1 week then go down to 37.5 and then after that switch to the Zolofot small does and work my way up to the higher doeses.
I have been having a real horrible time with this. I have had every lyme symptom come out ten-fold. Not to mention my anxiety and depression is through the roof. I have had a lot of personal issues go on in the past several weeks and I am having a hard time coping....
Any advice or words of wisdom would really be apperciated at this point. Thanks
Chloe, welcome back to the board. Call your LLMD.
I'm on zoloft; I take 1/2 of 100 mg daily...50 for my depression/anxiety. Cheaper to buy the higher dosage and then cut them in half.
Since Nov. 05, I'm also on alphazoram 0.5 for panic attacks.
I'm NOT a MD, but the portions you mentioned sound all wrong.
Always have the MD write down LEGIBLY the dosage and when to decrease! Don''t rely on our undependable memories.
STRESS is killing you too. Do whatever you can to avoid it, deal with it, or walk away from it permanently. Talk to someone you trust who you can open up to about everything.
YOU have got to take care of YOU; no one else will except some of our wonderful, devoted spouses/significant others that some of us have been blessed with; like me!
posted
When you start on zoloft, anxiety gets worse for about a month. Your doctor should have known better and put you on xanax along with it to take 3x a day while your body gets used to the zoloft. After 3 weeks to a month on both you can ween off the xanax and use it prn(as needed). I dont understand why the 75 mg to start and not 25, then 50, or 100 mg, you are supposed to start slower then increase, plus how can you figure 37.5 mg? thats pretty rediculous because zoloft comes in 25, 50, and 100 mg capsules, you would have to be exact to the grain to break it to equal that dose. Its usually either you are on 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, or 200 mg of zoloft. When you get a Rx, have your doctor write you for 150 or 200 mg, so they last longer, and you can break them in half. :-) Ask your doctor these questions or find a doctor that knows what they are doing in regards to depression/anxiety and Lyme disease. This is not your fault, you have not been dosed and treated correctly.
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trueblue
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I don't know if this helps at all since I wasn't on an antidepressant prior to taking Zoloft. So there wasn't the weaning off problem.
That said, I started on 1/4 of a 25 mg Zoloft. (Had to get out a razor blade and cut them.) I got a powerful rection to that tiny dosage. Massive headache and felt like Richocet Rabbit, bouncing off walls and such. (This was while on .5 mg of xanax 4x a day.)
After about 3 or 4 days the reaction would calm down and then I increased by 6.25 mg every couple of weeks. (I had the same reaction to every increase.) It took me months to get up to 50 mgs. I could never handle more than that. Once I was at that level, which is kinda low for zoloft, I began to wean off the xanax .5 mg every 3 days.
It's worth a call to the doc to see if they have reversed the instructions on you and to make sure they really meant to do it that way.
I do know when I was switched from Zoloft to Serzone I was just told to stop one and start the other. That was also a very wrong way to do it and caused major emotional problems.
Incidentally, neither drug helped me in terms of pain or depression. So I stopped them many years ago. Zoloft did stop me from ruminating almost permanently. I didn't know that your thoughts aren't supposed to go around your head like that all the time. That was a nice side effect.
Sorry not to be able to offer any real help but hope it gets under control and easier soon.
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That was a nice side effect.
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