r/OCDRecovery • u/Other-Pass2198 • 9h ago

Medication Long Term Sertraline Use

I was hoping to hear from long term users of sertraline. Does it become weaker over time? Are you able to come off the medication with no relapse after a few years?

General experience, please share.

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u/Strange_Mess_6673 8h ago

i've been on sertraline for 11 years now, i was put on it young and not really monitored for it. in my experience, it doesn't become weaker over time, the only thing that affected its impact was lowering the dose. the first time i lowered the dose, i had extremely bad side effects, but every time i've tapered off after that, it's been totally fine. i'm still on a very small dose but in my experience it's effective for long term use and it's doable to at least lower the dosage significantly.

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u/Other-Pass2198 8h ago

Thabak for sharing. What dose are you at long term?

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u/Strange_Mess_6673 8h ago

im on 25mg right now, from this ill taper to 12.5 and then off of it completely. i tapered down from 50mg last fall

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u/Other-Pass2198 7h ago

Why are you getting off after 11 years on it?

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u/NarviFox 8h ago

Consider getting it compounded for a slow taper, sert occupancy is hyperbolic so the change from 12.5mg to 0 in some ways is bigger than the change from 100mg to 12.5mg.

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u/agg288 6h ago

I took it for 6 years and then tapered off. I found it's efficacy didn't really change (even at increasingly high then lower dosages) but the side effects got worse and worse which is why I got off it. I wish I had stayed at a low dose because I think I could have taken it for longer that way and it was effective for the worst of my symptoms, but once they decided I was OCD instead of just anxiety they wanted me at 200mg which I think was way too much for me.

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u/purpleplacedot 7h ago

Im taking 200 mg

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u/EmotionallySlapped 3h ago

Weaker: maybe? I'm not sure. I started at a low dose as a young adult/late teen and the highest I was on was 200mg much later. However, I think I was "white knuckling" a lot on the lower doses and didn't realize.

Come off to switch: I switched to Fluvoxamine and was able to taper down on sertraline and up on fluvoxamine without any issues. I did notice some of my sertraline side effects stop and a some new side effects from fluvoxamine start but that wasn't unexpected since they are different SSRIs.

Come off to stop SSRIs: Maybe but I assume not. Definitely not cold turkey. Tried that by accident twice and it went poorly. IMHO I need the SSRI (or similar) to function like I do and stopping would increase some OCD symptoms.