Zoloft Withdrawal Symptoms
Gradual Discontinuation is Key to Avoiding Severe Withdrawal
It is important not to abruptly discontinue Zoloft; a patient must slowly reduce the dosage of the drug under a doctor’s supervision in order to avoid the most severe withdrawal symptoms.
The most commonly experienced withdrawal symptoms can include:
- Agitation
- Irritability
- Dizziness
- Headache
- Nausea
- Crying
Some of the more disturbing symptoms of Zoloft withdrawal can include:
- Brain “zaps” or electrical shock-like sensations in other parts of the body
- Insomnia
- Tremors
- Nightmares
- Confusion
- Vertigo
The rarest and most severe Zoloft withdrawal symptoms take the form of cardiac and/or gastrointestinal difficulties that can include shortness of breath, chest pains, fainting spells or even a heart attack. Some patients who attempted to discontinue the drug too quickly experienced symptoms of diverticulitis or other intestinal disorders.
Zoloft Withdrawal Symptoms
Zoloft (and its generic form, sertraline) is a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI), a form of antidepressant that aims to increase the neurotransmitter serotonin by inhibiting its re-absorption into the presynaptic cell. Pfizer first brought Zoloft to market in 1991. By 2007, when it was available in generic form, sertraline had become the world’s most prescribed antidepressant, with nearly 30 million prescriptions.
Today, more than one in 10 Americans takes one or more drugs to treat depression, and there is great concern about the over-prescription of these drugs, particularly by primary care physicians as opposed to mental health professionals. A great majority of patients are never given any type of psychiatric assessment in order to accurately determine their need for an SSRI drug like Zoloft.
Zoloft and the entire class of SSRIs carry with them the potential for withdrawal symptoms that can be experienced by adults as well as children. Pregnant women have been advised to avoid SSRIs by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, due to the possibility of severe birth defects and withdrawal symptoms in their infants after they are born. But adults must weigh the risk of experiencing a host of potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms as well, when they choose to discontinue treatment of Zoloft or another SSRI.
Withdrawal Symptoms Commonly Referred to as “SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome”
Each SSRI drug has a slightly different chemical composition, and can cause varying degrees of withdrawal depending upon which one a patient is prescribed. The severity of withdrawal symptoms is often determined by the “elimination half-life” of the drug, or how quickly each individual’s body metabolizes it.
Protect Your Health and Your Legal Rights
If you were prescribed Zoloft and took the medication as directed, but experienced a debilitating side effect or injury, you have right as a consumer.
The Zoloft attorneys at the Rottenstein Law Group have over 25 years of experience advocating on behalf of clients in cases against negligent pharmaceutical companies. For a free consultation with one of our attorneys, please fill out the contact form at the top right of this page.
