When to Quit Zoloft(Sertraline)

Hi guys,
this is my first post but I have been on this forum just as a reader over a year.
And, yep, I learned a lot here (thanks especially to the vets!).

After almost 3 years of heavy training I started my first cycle ever on October 4th (human grade test E 500mg/wk, Dbol as a kickstart and adex 0.5mg E3D for the first 4 weeks then bump it up to EOD,) and I’m planning being on it 18 weeks (last shot on February 4th), so I can give more time to my body to adapt itself to the new weight and retain it as much as possible.

My PCT is scheduled as follow (14 days after last shot):
Tamoxifen 20mg week 1-4
10mg week 5-6
Clomid 50mg week 1-4 (first 2 days 100mg)

Now the bad news: after several months of research and after I bought all the necessary (gear,ancillaries,PCT,needles and syringes) I found a tread where it says that who is on SSRI shouldn’t do a PCT with Tamoxifen because it reduces greatly its effects…GREAT…

So, the situation is this:
1-I’m not gonna spend any additional money on an alternative PCT (I had a budget and THAT’S IT!), no matter of what.
2-I’m on a low dose of Zoloft (Sertraline), 25mg ED so I’m prepared to go temporarily cold turkey for the PCT and I’m prepared to feel like a shit for 6 weeks as well (I have on hand some klonopin in case bad anxiety issues will occur).

SO MY QUESTION IS: when should I stop taking the Zoloft before the PCT starts?
Because even Zoloft’s half life is of 26 hours, it stays rather long in the blood stream…
so I wanna be 100% sure that the Tamoxifen will do fully its job!
I would be REALLY grateful for those ones that could help me with useful advices.
So, I thank you all in advance!

My actual stats:
31yo
5’9"
175lb
about 10% Body fat

p.s. I’m not a native English speaker, so sorry in advance for any grammar/spelling or whatsoever English language mistakes…

bump. anyone?

Too Junkman.The antidepressant is prescribed for depression?anziety. My concern is anabolic steroids can and will increase aggression/anziety.I am an old school bodybuilder and ex-competitive.Considering your psychological health I.E. your on a prescribed s.s.r.i. why not start at a Low dose say 1C.C. 100,200 mg’s a week to establish suitability.

You can make good gain’s on less.Less is more,that was the old school philosophy for people that where health conscious.As for the dianabol,we used 5mg’s 3xper-day,and got excellent gain’s.One thing about large doses,you can’t really go back.Your right too use a longer cycle,as your body will better maintain new muscle if gained more slowly. best of health johnny

I cannot point to anything but my own experience, so this is a bit of Bro science here. You may
find that once you get on test, even as little as 100-200mg / week you will not need the ssri any longer.
Again, just my experience with being able to let go of ADDERALL once I got on to 200mg per week (TRT).
Everyone is different, but if you start slowly and on a lower does you may find your anxiety replaced by
feelings of well being.
Good Luck.

Depression and anxiety are vastly different things. Physiologically and pharmacologically speaking.

[quote]lbraga wrote:
Depression and anxiety are vastly different things. Physiologically and pharmacologically speaking.[/quote]
My friend,yes there different.Like brother and sister. Panic attack’s are treated with anti-depressant’s,go figure.A cperson is all panicky and there told it’s caused by deprwession.Anziety and depression and the newer PTSD are all exaserbated by seritonin and noripneprin(spelling) The generalized depression and anziety disorder is one of the main workplace disability condition’s that put employee’s on short and longterm disability.I work in a correctional facility and this a a work place filled with depression and anziety.thank’s though for your feedback.We can alway’s agree to disagree.I notice a lot of people zero-In on some minute iota of missinformation and get-off on giving their brand of superior knowledge. john

There’s no disagreeing with science and medicine though, johnny, which is what makes us have the same approach to this but with different words. I’m finishing my MD and specializing in Psychiatry so this is my kind of thing, and I can tell you know a significant amount as well.

You should never quit any medication cold turkey, whether it’s for blood pressure, depression or whatever. The drugs instructions almost universally tell you that unless it’s an antibiotic which you would take all until your prescribed dose is at an end.

I would call a couple of pharmacies in your area and ask them anonymously and I would be willing to bet they would tell you to continue the zoloft. You most likely have to taper off over a period of two to three weeks, maybe longer. Bite a tablet in thirds or half and keep taking it but don’t quit cold turkey.

You did not research this well enough or you would have discovered this before starting a cycle. Like Amy Winehouse said “I cheated myself like I knew I would.” Now your gear may not perform up to it’s potential.

I personally suggest you back off and not use as much test and save it for another cycle. Some of you guys just are not patient and disciplined enough. Controlled substances are that way for a reason.

TO ALL:
first at all THANK YOU so much for trying helping me!I really appreciate!

But, at this point i should explain you the whole story.
I have been on zoloft for 12 years(100mg/day) for a severe state of depression(mainly family issues and some social
related problems…long story but u can get the idea)associated with chronic light anxiety.
One year ago i decided that it is was enough coz i was too long time on (basically my mood was ok,too)…
I don’t really understand why the doc never encouraged me to go off of it before… i had to tell him myself!
So he gave me a 12-months taper-down protocol (100mg /82.5mg / 75mg / 62.5mg / 50mg / 37.5mg / 25mg / 12.5mg).
And everything went smooth!
Finally on july 2012 I was “chemically free” and basically in rather good mood. So, at that point i was ready to buy all what i needed for my first cycle and start on october!
But on the middle of september somehow i started to feel “down” again without a logical reason…
The doc explained that maybe after such a long time, my brain wasn’t ready to go completely off,even with the slow tapering i did,
so he prescribed a light dose of 25mg and stay on it another couple of years to give my brain a little “breath” and heal completely later on.
At this point my body wasn’t “clear” anymore then I started to research, just in case, if there would be any interaction between SSRI and the compounds used for the cycle believeing it would be ok…but I was wrong…

So the situation is as follow: i already started and i wan’t go back with the Test coz i feel good again (so i wanna keep my blood levels stable).
Also the sertraline is just a moderate inhibitor of tamoxifen (it should reduce it’s effects
something between 50-80%),and I have plenty of nolva on hand.

So, the options are 2:
1-I start to taper down the zoloft on the beginning of january to 12,5mg for 6 weeks, then go to 0mg 2 weeks before PCT.
2-I continue with the zoloft and double the dose of nolva when on PCT.

which one would you consider better?or…are both dumb solutions?
if u have a better one, i would be more than happy to listen, but please don’t tell me to reduce the test…

[quote]johnny k53 wrote:
The antidepressant is prescribed for depression?anziety. My concern is anabolic steroids can and will increase aggression/anziety.
[/quote]
as i wrote above, mainly for severe depression.
i researched myself that the anxiety could be increased just by the dbol for those with low serotonin levels…
on the contrary test should “calm you down”, make u feel more confident.

[quote]PKNY wrote:
You may find that once you get on test, even as little as 100-200mg / week you will not need the ssri any longer.
Again, just my experience with being able to let go of ADDERALL once I got on to 200mg per week (TRT).
[/quote]
thank’s for the advice but i don’t wanna go TRT, especially considering i live in Japan and pinning by yourself here is illegal. What a pain in the ass have to go every saturday of my life to a clinic just for a shot…

[quote]conservativedog wrote:
You did not research this well enough or you would have discovered this before starting a cycle.
[/quote]
you are right, i didn’t coz i thought i wouldn’t be on SSRI anymore…but, yes, it was shallow of me…

bump.
which of the 2 options/solutions above I thought of, would you recommend?
I also found out on another forum(for women with breast cancer,though) that it seems it only reduces its effect of 30%…but somewhere else(don’t remember where…sorry) was stated something between 50%-80%…
ahhh,I’m getting nuts…
please, anyone?

no replies anymore…
OK, got it, from now on I guess I have to figure out by myself which option would be better for me…
Thanks, at least, to those that somehow tried to help by posting in my thread!
I really appreciate!