Physical pain

[Fortheloveofpaint]

My sertraline tablets recently stopped working so well and the GP switched me straight on to fluoxetine. It was a complete nightmare, withdrawal from sertraline plus the side effects from fluoxetine took me to the most terrifying place. I then stopped all ssris and have not had any for 17 days. The first week was awful but then I started to improve, I seemed to get my energy back and I could go out and do things, this was short lived. Since Thursday I have been going downhill and am now in a pretty bad way again. I am physically exhausted, almost like I have the flu but without the fever. My mind is racing and I can’t sleep well, I just feel like there’s something awful wrong with me and im dying. When I wake in the morning I am hit with a huge sense of dread, nausea, palpitations, shaking. I hate going to bed in the evening because I know what the morning will bring. Is it normal to feel so physically unwell from it? I had Covid a month ago which probably hasn’t helped. I’m a 35yr old mum of two, I’m slim, my blood work is normal although I do often have low vitamin D and ferritin. I had a normal chest X-ray three weeks ago, my ecg showed st depression which was probably caused by me hyperventilating, I’ve had this before on an ecg and they have said it’s just a normal variant for me. I’ve been prescribed citalopram but I’m so scared of the side effects that I haven’t tried it yet. Is it normal to feel so physically fatigued and I’ll with anxiety and depression? Why did sertraline stop working after 3 years? Will ssri ever work for me again?

[specialmom]

Gosh, I'm sorry to hear you are feeling this way.  Are you still working with your doctor?  Prozac may not have been the right drug for you post zoloft peter out but there are so many to try. I'm wondering if being medication free isn't the best option for you currently. I do think the brain has to 'reset' after having that additional serotonin and has to get used to being without it. That can take some time. That's different than withdrawal. I'm talking more about readjusting to what the chemicals were doing and not they aren't. I'd try citalapram. Just like when your zoloft worked, you could feel better. As a mom, it's important for us to be functioning. Let me know how you are doing.