[Alfredo90]

Hi,

I have been diagnosed with Depression and SAD. I've been on Zoloft (75mg) for 3 months now. It's okay for SAD, but it is very "numbing": I've never felt so amotivated, apathetic and indifferent. Zoloft also exacerbates my agitation.

Is this normal? Will it become better?

Thanks and greetings,
Alfredo

[-jimi-]

For me it only got worse to the point I didn't care that I was depressed. Also I stopped caring about paying bills and cleaning. I changed to another SSRI and also made sure I wasn't on a higher than needed dosage.

I'm on 250mg and I totally relate. Zoloft was the first drug to get me out of severe depression, so I accept the side effects. I have to push myself harder to accomplish things.

[still_crazy]

hi. i dropped a high(ish) dose of zoloft because of those problems. I think zoloft might actually be worse than some other ssri drugs, although I think its also a common effect with the other ssri drugs, too.

there are other options, of course. wellbutrin caused some emotional numbing, etc. with me, but nothing, nothing, nothing as bad as the ssri drugs. plus, in my case, it could have been the wellbutrin boosting blood levels of an 'atypical' tranquilizer.

there's remeron. apparently, doctors use higher doses in europe than in the us. remeron is more popular as an add-on medication in the us. can cause weight gain, some people say it just suddenly stops working. can be very sedating, which...could be good or bad. supposed to be very good for anxiety.

some tricyclic drugs are more stimulating, less apathy-inducing than the ssri or ssnri drugs. personally, tofranil helped me, but id also try something more modern. definitely do not take a tricyclic if you're suicidal or on multiple medications...they tend to have a lot of drug-drug interactions.

ssrni drugs...effexor, cymbalta, im sure there are new ones, too...help a lot of people. i couldn't stand cymbalta, but my current shrink tells me that she likes effexor for most people (Just not...me, apparently, lol). effexor+remeron has been studied as a treatment for more severe and/or 'treatment-resistant' depression, with some good results.

some people are prescribed stimulants w/ an ssri, or the shrink will add wellbutrin to the ssri.

sorry about this. there's also talking treatments and "alternative," non-drug ways of dealing with some problems, of course.

[*Laurie*]

I've heard so many people say that Zoloft saps their essence. It really helps some people, but maybe a different SSRI would work more effectively for you.