Abrupt stopping of Zoloft

[milo0071]

I just started taking 25 mgs of Zoloft to combat nighttime anxiety issues and my doctor told me I can up the dose to 50 mg in a week if I need to. The problem is my job requires me to do a fair amount of public speaking and I'm very concerned about the dry mouth side effects of taking Zoloft. Would it be all right if I stopped taking Zoloft say five days before I had to speak so I don't get dry mouth at those critical times?

[Robbed]

You probably couldn't do this. Generally speaking, withdrawal symptoms set in within 24-36 hours of your last dose of SSRIs. So quitting it when side effects become inconvenient is generally not an option. Now there is a possibility that the side effect of dry mouth MAY go away. But not necessarily. If this side effect is an issue, it might be best to either try a different medication or, better yet, find a way to deal with your anxiety is a non-pharmacological manner.

[milliebiggles]

I am on a much higher dose of zoloft (100 mg) so it may be different for me, but when I miss a few days by accident I get these weird zaps, like electrical jolts... I guess this is a withdrawal symptom.

[dragonslayer428]

I would advise to definitely not miss a day of taking ANY SSRI. Some have longer half lives than others; however, as the other poster mentioned, brain zaps are no fun. It's an 'electric shock' sensation from SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome.

Now, missing a day here and there won't hurt. However, I would not go days without it abruptly.

[kokushozero]

I take 150mg daily (and I was told it was a standard does however reading the above posts make it seem the differ?). I don't notice anything till about 2 days of missing my tablets and then anxiety tends to kick in very strongly. I can usually guarantee a panic attack. It might be my imagination but I feel better and more positive after 1 day of missing the tablets though which I always thought might have had some sort of scientific explanation.