I had a question if someone has experience in dosing. I have started taking zoloft just about a month ago. I had started on wellbutrin about a month and a half ago and my doctor added zoloft since I was still having anxiety. He started me at 50mg and upped me to 75mg about two weeks ago. I am still having what I would call breakthrough anxiety from time to time and am wondering if other members have had this happen and if it goes away. I didn't know if there was another 2-4 week wait for symptoms to subside when dosages are increased. I had my family doctor recommend taking 100mg of zoloft but my psychiatrist said he would rather go to 75mg. I have taken most of the ssri's in the past (prozac, paxil, wellbutrin, and cymbalta) and they have all worked pretty well and have had typical startup symptoms. I go off the ssri's after a few years since I feel better... then somehow my serotonin level gets out of wack again and I am right back where I started. Don't think I will go off of them this time since it is so difficult and debilitating to get back on them with the insomnia and fatigue that go along with start up.
I get some "breakthrough" anxiety with Zoloft?
Question posted by dad of 4 on 5 Jan 2010
Last updated on 1 February 2011 by sweetie pie
8 Answers
Hi dad of 4! I worked as a psychiatric nurse for 16 years and Zoloft was prescribed for Depression usually. Zanax, Ativan, Paxil and Clonidine were some of the most prescribed drugs for Anxiety. I have been on Zoloft for a long time now. The doctor started me at 50 mg and now I am on 200 mg. I do not remember getting breakthrough anxiety but when I tried to stop my Zoloft once. I became a wreck! Never again. It has been 6 years since I retired and I am sure there are many new drugs for Anxiety now. I have read comments from a few members who experienced some side effects on Zoloft for a week or two. I have got to say that I am much calmer than I was previous to Zoloft and things just do not bother me as much anymore. ( Some of this is also probably related to aging.) Zoloft has worked for me but it took increasing the dose to feel the full effect of the drug. I hope this helps you in some way. If not, just remember you have us for support! I wish you the best! Sweetie Pie
I have been on Zoloft 100 mg going on 7 years now and I still get breakthrough anxiety at times. Unfortunately, whenever you "up" the dosage you are taking, it will still take approximately 2 weeks for the upped dose to reach its full potency in your system. I am 48 years old, and have been experiencing perimenopause for the past 7 years (hence the prescribed Zoloft). I woke up this morning and suddenly had severe anxiety that took me a couple of hours of meditation to get under control. I couldn't even get ready or leave for work because I get light headed and dizzy when it occurs. I'm afraid to drive when I am feeling that way. I was finally able to allow myself to self-calm enough that I was able to get ready and drive to work. This does not happen often, and sometimes it can be a matter of my hormones being really out of whack. Unfortunately as a woman, these are things that we must deal with.
Not all women experience perimenopause with these problems or difficulties (they are the lucky ones), but alot of us do. I've read many self help books, researched online, and talked to alot of people of how to deal with the anxiety (it used to be debilitating for me). The best thing I can offer is anxiety will not hurt you (attacks); you must kind of detach yourself from it, view it while meditating, and allow it to run its course. It will eventually go away. Just do deep breathing exercises, envision something that calms you, and let your body relax. Sometimes it will only take 10 minutes, and other times it might take an hour or two. But, panic attacks and anxiety attacks will not harm you, even though you feel like you are dieing. Just know that you are not alone in your suffering, and asking God (or whomever you believe in) to lift the anxiety from you, it will help. God Bless All who suffer! You are in my prayers. And yes, stay on the Zoloft or whatever works for you. I work for a Clinical Psychologist and asked him when you know it is time to come off meds. He asked me "does it work for you?" and I said yes. He said then take it. So, there you go!
I'm suffering from panic disorder, and have lived with anxiety for a long time. As far as I know, the anxiety never goes away completely as stressors reactivate it: death or illness of a family member or pet, financial worries, car troubles, etc.
I also take 3 clonazepam daily to try to keep the panic disorder under control (mine is debilitating and disabling), but things can still make the anxiety attacks break through the medication "shield".
To help reduce the number of breakthroughs, I do Yoga, walking (very slow pace: 1 mile an hour), eat healthy (went back to vegetarianism), meditate, and have been practicing Buddhism (emphasis on practice) for several years.
Still, there are times when the panic attacks break through. One of our cats died this week -- unexpectedly, from a viciously malignant cancer -- and we were on death watch for 15 days. During that time, I couldn't sleep, eat, was obsessively counting the other cats to make sure they were all here, the dog (we have one), and my husband (also 1) to make sure all were where they were supposed to be. I had constant anxiety which broke out into panic attacks whenever I left the house, afraid she would die when I wasn't home after I'd promised her I'd be by her side when she died.
So, despite meds, anxiety and panic attacks can still break through, even with a supportive spouse who reminds you to breathe deeply and that the grocery is not going to collapse around you leaving your cat to die at home alone, with all my exercising, meditation, buddhism practice, healthy eating, therapy, etc.
My goal is to have them break through LESS often, which has been working. When I was first diagnosed with panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, I was having up to seven or eight panic attacks a day. I was down to about five a month until our cat took ill. Then, under that stress and grief, the attacks ramped back up to about four or five a day. Now that she's died, the panic attacks are down to about 1-2 a day, but the anxiety is constant. I assume that they also will calm down with the passage of time. I am still practicing all my other "skills" as my therapists called them and taking my meds.
Try adding some other relaxation methods along with your meds to see if they'll help reduce or eliminate those anxiety breakthroughs for you.
Healing thoughts.
Elizabetta
it will take some time to see any effect..you know i have alot of anxiety also and i telll you what really helped me is elavil,its a good drug helps you sleeep good and i feel more relaxed during the day
Thanks, I don't know why this Dr. kept me on Wellbutrin, I mean she tried me on Buspar, vistiral, and Neutontin (for the anxiety)but I believe now that she didn't start me out low enough dosage as my anxiety was much worse when I would take it, I am drug sensitive. She would tell me well, most people start at this dosage, well guess what I am not mOsT people! I know its trial and error but she really had no patience w/ me and didn't treat me like a person, don't know if all p docs are like that, it was my first time ever seeing one. She had the nerve to tell me she was running out of options!
jttt33, are you on zoloft as well as elavil?
see the bad things aboutssri is they say they replinish your seretonin ok,i willgive them that but it doesnt replenish and keep them replenished..once you start anti depressants you probably need to stay on them forever trust i have been on everyone you can think of and when i come off i really go down hill,and they say they are not habit forming..maybe not phscally but mentally what do u think..just stay onthem
I upped my dose and my depression went away. I am on 100 mg Zoloft. I found out that the upped dose works pretty quickly... at least for me. Anxiety is likewise gone. Phew... I gotta admit I hate getting on SSRI's... I get NO motivation whatsoever or sleep. I feel like my old self now. Gad out of balance brain chemistry stinks. Yeah... I think I will stay on them the rest of my life. This is like my 4th bout of depression and it is always a few months after I stop taking them. I don't think it is mental... I think it is chemical for me. Thanks for everyones help.
Yes, I agree with you. I started on Paxil 6 years ago for anxiety and I tried going off it, thought I was doing okay for 2 months but then I was a mess! I believe that your body is soo used to the drug, that you can't do without it. Now I was put on Wellbutrin 150mg and my p doc really screwed me up with the XL and telling me its ok to cut my pills in half (don't ever do that) she increased my dosage to 300mg, it was too high, but I had the pills and she put me back on 150mg, after we tried 225mg, she gave me a SR 75mg (sustained release) which I believe didn't agree with me at all. Meanwhile, it was giving me MORE anxiety and she didn't want to give me an anti depressant to ease the anxiety because she thought I would become manic, idk so now I will be taking Lexapro once I wean off Wellbutrin.(And i have a new Dr.) I hope this works thats all I can say! I hate being on medication, but it looks like I too, will be on it for life, they are addictive for sure. I can't wait to feel myself again. Good luck to you!
as said before give it 2 more weeks then new med or dose change. but has it been the zoloft or the wellbutrin causing more anxiety? (also are you doing psychotherapy?) wellbutrin tends to act more like a stimulent (which is why its good for depression but may cause anxiety to worsen<-from a psychiatrist and neuroscience teacher) have you asked the psychiatrist to put you back on one of the meds that had worked in the past? and if its "breakthrough anxiety" a benzo would be recomended in my opinion. (also, iv never heard of anxiety being vegitative or experianced that personally.)
I am taking 300mg of wellbutrin. The main issue I had with the wellbutrin was that I was having some anxiety. I was waking at night with anxiety and panic. I have been having aura migraines also the past few months (which was actually a month after I stopped taking cymbalta and all anti-depressents) and while I was on the wellbutrin I noticed when I took Imitrex for the headache I felt perfectly normal with no symptoms of depression or anxiety. Imitrex works by increasing serotonin levels thus the reason I was started on the Zoloft. The auras have subsided... although I also get an occasional one from time to time over the past couple of weeks. I am not doing psychotherapy right now because this just started and I am switching health plans (which I would never have done had I known all this was going to happen) but I will as soon as possible. I do take ativan .5 mg at night... just so I can hopefully sleep and also ambien.
I usually get a couple to few hours of sleep and then I am awake. Hopefully this will go away and usually has in the past. I have taken wellbutrin and prozac before with my last bout of depression and it worked eventually... but I was going through a terrible divorce which didn't help at all. Based on what I see Zoloft appears to be a decently tolerated ssri... but again... when i ramp up... I don't know how long it will take to kick in.
I would wait only another week and if you are having breakthrough vegetative, anxiety symptoms, I would approach the physician about increasing the dose of the Zoloft which can actually be maximized to 200mg. Another possiblity maybe that the dose of the Wellbutrin may not be hight enough and the form of the Wellbutrin. The new 24 hour form, formally named, Alpenzin, which we are observing helping many people due to the methodically, measured release as covers 24 hours. Am seeing some persons use this with low doses of Zoloft, Celexa, or even Lexaporo for extreme, vegetating and immobilizing anxiety and depressive symptoms. Good Luck!
The maximum dose of Zoloft you can take is approximately 200mg. Yes the anxiety could go away after a few weeks. I would wait a few weeks and see how you feel. If you still have anxiety I would ask your doctor about increasing the dose once more or maybe even considering another anti-anxiety drug such as a benzodiazepine. Hope this helps and good luck too you.
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wellbutrin, zoloft, anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder
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