I’ve been on sertaline for 2 years now. Weened myself off of it over a course of 4 months but had to go back on due to extreme depression and compulsive thoughts. Has anyone been on sertaline but had better luck with a different SSRI?
Hello Anonymous, It sounds like you’ve been really intentional and careful with your medication—tapering off over months and then noticing when symptoms became unmanageable again. That kind of self-awareness is not easy, especially when you’re dealing with both depression and compulsive thoughts. Many people do end up trying more than one SSRI over time, but which one (and at what dose) is a very individual decision that needs to be made with your prescriber, based on your history, side effects, and goals. While it’s understandable to wonder if a different SSRI might work better, it can also be helpful to think about what other supports you have in place. Combining medication with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy often gives people the best chance at long-term relief, because ERP directly targets the OCD cycle rather than just the symptoms. If you’re struggling and need more assistance, remember that help is available. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at NOCD to find out how we can support you. Also here are some helpful resources: https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/medication-for-intrusive-thoughts/ https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/ketamine-for-ocd/ https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/intrusive-thoughts-normal/ Take care Ian M. Reeder
@Ian Reeder Thank you so much for your insight and helpful links!
I just want to add this cautionary tale and lessons learned while trying to ween off an SSRI without consulting my doctor. Ive been on SSRIs for 20+ years. Prozac at first but too many side effects. I went to zoloft and steadily over the years its increased to 200mg. I got to a point where I said to myself I can do this without such a high dose. I started lessening my dose by 50mg every time a refill was processed. I eventually got down to 100mg and thats when I got the wakeup call in a very unpleasant way. I started having extreme anxiety, panick attacks, insomnia, tremors, etc. It was one of the worst experiences of my life and took awhile to get back to normal. I brought this up to my doctor and he said "NEVER try to ween off SSRIs without my direction. He said "We typically only start by lowering the dosage by 5%" that is 10mg. I thought i knew better than them. Always, always, always consult your doctor before deviating from your ssri dosage.
@OCDisHell I 100% agree. My dr was aware of this and we checked in with each other every 3-4 weeks during that time. Glad you’re okay now!
@Anonymous Glad to hear. Hope everything works out for the best for you
I'm taking Sertraline 150 mg and desvenlafaxine 150 mg. When I was taking Sertraline alone 300 mg wasn't doing well
@Kim27 I haven’t heard of the desvenlaflaxine. I’ll look into it. Thank you!
@Madss It's generic for Prizique or new and improved Effexor. It has some Seratonin and I think Dopamine
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