I woke up to an email from my psychiatrist. He said he spoke with my hematologist and thinks that an adjustment to my Sertraline may be a good idea. He wants me to take 150 mg today, tomorrow, & Friday (for three days) and then drop to 100 mg a day until further notice. I think his plan is to see if the 100 mg drop (from 200 mg) is enough to improve the bleeding and bruising. If this adjustment proves the correlation between the medication and the side effects I’ve been experiencing, he may consider switching my medication or taking me off of it completely.
Luckily, I’ve been told that tapering off of Sertraline, even after long term use, creates no physical health risks at all. The only risk is to one’s emotional wellbeing. There are certain withdrawal side effects commonly associated with such a large decrease in dosage, such as depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts or actions, etc. Essentially, the symptoms that caused me to need Sertraline are the same symptoms that can resurface as I wean off of it. Hopefully my circumstances are different enough and my general wellbeing has improved enough that I can fight off any potential side effects. Here goes nothing!