Increased The Dose Of Zoloft. Tremors, Involuntary Muscle Movements And Sleep Disturbance. Medication Side Effects?

Hi,
Thanks for using health care magic.
Tremors and involuntary movements in your case would be most likely to be due to xanax withdrawal.
Sometimes it may occur because of zoloft although it is very rare.
You should consult your psychiatrist for evaluation and management.
you might be benefited with clonazepam or diazepam which also needs to be tapered gradually.
Thanks

Hi there, thanks for asking. Tremors, involuntary muscle movements and sleep problems are the common side effects of serotonergic reuptake inhibitors which zoloft, paroxetine, fluoxetine, etc are belong to it. Most of the time, the side effects you mentioned are transient and decrease after several weeks. If sleep problem persists, the doctor can change this medication to a medication from the class of tetracyclic antidepressants if your situation allows. i wish you a good health.

Hello and welcome to Healthcare Magic. Thanks for your query.

The symptoms that you have described are indicative of withdrawal symptoms of Xanax. Long term continuous usage of benzodiazepines like Xanax can lead to dependency and hence there can be withdrawal symptoms when the medication is abruptly stopped.

2mg is a high dose and if stopped suddenly can cause prominent withdrawal symptoms. So, I would advise you to report your symptoms to your doctor and ask for a gradual tapering schedule for the Xanax.

Wish you all the best.

Regards,
Dr. Jonas Sundarakumar
Consultant Psychiatrist

Hello
Welcome to health care magic
I can understand your situation. I appreciate your effort to seek online support.
Zoloft contains sertraline which is an SSRI used as an antidepressant/antianxiety agent.
Xanax contains alprazolam which is a benzodiazepine used as sedative/antianxiety agent.
You are probably having benzodiazepine withdrawl due to sudden stoppage of xanax. I advise you to consult your doctor for gradually tapering of the dosage to prevent this withdrawl.
You can start with 1mg xanax, then decrease to 0.5 mg after a week and then 0.25 mg after 2 weeks and then stop.
Hope it helps
Good luck
Regards
Dr. Gourav Monga
Consultant Psychiatrist