Hi Gigi, so nice to meet you!
I live in Spain and my English isn't great, but I want to be consistent with this app: replying to your messages, writing my own posts and sharing how I'm doing.
About the liquid and hyperbolic tapering: yes, I started learning about tapering about five years ago, but it's only this year that I've started using a liquid formulation. All this time has been a search for information, and also a kind of recognition when reading other people's experiences, but also confusion, fear and not really knowing what to do.
I've been taking antidepressants for 13 years. I think I've been on about ten different ones, and I've gone through many withdrawals, but it's only now that I'm determined to do it properly, because every previous time I did it far too fast.
My experience with sertraline was similar to the others, although better than with paroxetine and venlafaxine. I was on it for a while, and when it stopped working I switched to another drug. I didn't do those switches well: I reduced it and immediately started another one, escitalopram I think. To be honest, I have many gaps in my memory when it comes to my medication history and how I went from one drug to another. Now I'm on fluoxetine, because I thought it was the one with the fewest side effects, but I'm not sure that's true. I feel a bit lost with all of this.
I want to do things right and start feeling good about myself. I've been in this since I was 20, and now, at 33, I want to do it properly, because I don't want my life to go by like this.
I'm sorry I can't tell you more about sertraline. Since I switched straight to another antidepressant, it wasn't a real taper, so I can't share how that went. But I'm sure that if you taper very gradually, you'll do well.
A big hug,
Patricia
Now on Prozac 20 mg — 3 years — actively tapering | 1,5 mg bromazepam— 10 years — actively tapering | | without clinician | 13 years on psychiatrics drugs (paxil, sertraline, paxil, lexapro, venlafaxine, bupropion, etc)