Switching from Prozac to Zoloft - concerned about symptoms

[queencaffeine27]

Hey guys,

 

So I finally managed to get off the Effexor (thank God). I then tried taking Prozac to help with the withdrawal symptoms and just as a general med for depression and anxiety, however, I felt it did nothing to help my anxiety and it was also giving me crazy heartburn. So I am switching to Zoloft.

 

As of yesterday I am on 5mg Prozac and 25mg Zoloft for the next four days, coming down from 10mg of Prozac.

 

I have had some pretty unpleasant physical symptoms and am now worried about serotonin syndrome, because, you know, anxiety disorder. Since yesterday I have had constant, pretty severe nausea, aching in my legs, stomach cramps on and off, headaches on and off, and shivering. No fever as far as I can tell, and I haven't thrown up (um, yet) either. I usually have similar issues when tapering, minus the leg aches, but I can't help but feel a little concerned.

 

Do I need to worry or should I just tough out these symptoms and not worry?

[surreal]

Personally, I would be concerned and just call the doctor and ask just to put my mind at ease.

[tryp]

I am not a doctor, but serotonin syndrome seems unlikely.

 

When I switched to Zoloft from Celexa, I got really sick.  Zoloft is pretty hard on the stomach for some people and I had a LOT of nausea.

 

If you're worried, call your own doctor and ask.

[queencaffeine27]

Doctor says there's nothing to worry about, and also that I can stop taking the Prozac tomorrow.

 

So. Yeah. Thanks guys! Here's hoping I don't feel crappy tomorrow, eh?

[Sync]

For what it's worth, Zoloft made me REALLY sick for the first couple of days I was taking it. I felt really out of it, headaches, sick to my stomach, and kind of like my brain was made of liquid. It passed in the first week or so. It still makes me mildly nauseated if I take it without food.

 

Hope you feel better soon!

[peacelizard]

I had to quit Zoloft cold turkey and that was quite unpleasant, so the fact that you're at a low dose of each right now and you have a second SSRI on board makes me think any symptoms you might have will be mild. And even though everyone's different, serotonin syndrome tends to happen when people are on two different serotonergic meds at high dosages or two meds and an OTC that increases serotonin. 

Edited May 12, 2014 by peacelizard