"hussin" <dudabule@netscape.nettttttttt> wrote in message
news:<hZaFb.45954$UY6.10383@twister.nyroc.rr.com>...

My psychiatrist put me on zoloft and now he's taken me off because it
shot my blood pressure through the roof. He says he has to do it
gradually
because of possible withdrawal symptoms. The problem is that my
depression
is getting worse and I can't take anything else for another 2 weeks
because
he wants the zoloft to be completely out f my system. Has this
happened to
anyone else?

High blood pressure with Zoloft is possible but not particularly
common. I believe Celexa or Lexapro would be the least likely of the
SSRIs to induce high blood pressure. It sounds like your psychiatrist
is overly cautious--the 2 week interval is BS. It is not as if you
are taking an MAO inhibitor, for crying out loud. Your observation
that your depression is getting worse is an indication that the blood
plasma level of the Zoloft has already declined to some extent, and
another SSRI could probably be gradually added.

If your blood pressure is borderline to begin with, you may want to
consider adding an antihypertensive of some sort, if you aren't taking
one already.

Todd

"hussin" <dudabule@netscape.nettttttttt> wrote...

My psychiatrist put me on zoloft and now he's taken me off
because it shot my blood pressure through the roof. He says he has
to do it gradually because of possible withdrawal symptoms. The
problem is that my depression is getting worse and I can't take
anything else for another 2 weeks because he wants the zoloft to be
completely out f my system. Has this happened to anyone else?

Interesting because my father criticized my psychiatrist for not
taking
my blood pressure. I do have high blood pressure that is not related
to psychiatric medication, but my father and now I feel that since a
psychiatrist is a medical doctor he should be monitoring at least some
basic vital signs. Many psydrugs do cause physical side-effects
including high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, etc. And a common
side-effect is weight gain which in itself would affect these things.
I discovered the high blood pressure on my own and obtained medication
from Mexico and even told my psychiatrist about it but he didn't seem
the least bit interested. I don't expect a psychiatrist to have a
full-service medical office, but a basic blood pressure meter would
seem to be called for.

I started taking Zoloft a few years ago after taking Paxil for about 8
years. While on both anti-depressants, my blood pressure went the other
way; I have low to normal-low blood pressure.

Christine

FWIW, my current psychiatrist has often has me start one medication while
tapering off another. He often gives me some klonipin to take during the
time of transition as well.

As far as I know, the only reason to have one drug out of your system before
taking another is to help you distinguish between the effects of each.

i got high blood pressure with Paxil and then tried Celexa...I didn't
like it as I suffered terrible insomnia....I split the dosage of
Paxil in half and my blood pressure has been fine. Not all the SSRI's
cause high blood pressure. Celexa didn't. Try different ones.