ZOLOFT. temporary or forever?

[lynnsee]

so in about a week, I will have been taking 50mg of Zoloft for my anxiety for a year already. it has helped a lot. I still get tad bit of anxiety but nothing I can't handle. will I have to be taking it for the rest of my life? can I stop taking it eventually? if so when can I stop taking it and how and what do I do after I stop. so many questions. advice?

[lynnsee]

ahhh thanks. that was helpful. hopefully I'm one of the lucky ones. its only been a year and its kind of a low dose. I think I'd be ok if I have to stay on it forever but at this dose. I'd probably be sad if has been a larger dose. thanks again. you're words are always helpful to me c:  

[Paxiled]

This is a very good and unanswerable question.  Some people through therapy or just unexplained good luck overcome their problems and can stop the medication, but research suggests the medications themselves will be too strong for some people to ever stop taking because the brain won't be able to work normally again without them.  Most people seem to be able to stop them, as long as they do it intelligently by slowly tapering, but an unknown but large number of those will find themselves later back on meds with the same problem.  Some people think it's because mental illness is recurring and we don't know how to cure it or what causes it, others think it's the medications themselves causing permanent dependence.  I personally think people are affected differently.  I also don't think the worst thing in the world is if you have to take it forever as long as the side effects aren't unmanageable -- ssris aren't particularly liver toxic so they won't kill you.  What does seem to be true is the longer you're on medication the harder it will be for the brain to ever be able to manage without them, but if you can't manage without them anyway, it amounts to the same thing.  I think, too, how strong we are constitutionally has a lot to do with it -- strong people with lesser chronic problems find it easier to adapt than those with more intense illnesses.  So the answer is, there are a lot of people out there who have stopped successfully and a lot who haven't.