Is Switching From Zoloft To Paroxetine Safe?

Posted on Tue, 12 Jul 2016

Question: I have been taking Zoloft for over a year. 100 mg a day. It does not seem o be working too well.Anxiety is also a problem. Taking lorazepam twice a day .5 mg.
Seeing psychiatrist and psychologist. Used to take paroxetine and had better success. For some reason my psychiatrist recommended Zoloft. I have not felt "Good" for a long time. If I went back to paroxetine would it take h usual 8 to 10 weeks to work. Desperately want to feel like myself again. My age is 82,
Thank you.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Chintan Solanki (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
it will take 2-3 weeks

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Thanks for writing to us. I can understand your concern.

Zoloft and paroxetine both are SSRI medicines. I also recommend paroxetine in anxiety disorder.

If you will go back to paroxetine it will take 2-3 weeks to work optimally as you are already on SSRI. According to guidelines when improvement with medicine in past, it should be repeated again when needed. So paroxetine is needed in your case. You can directly switch to paroxetine from zoloft after permission of your treating doctor.

Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further.
Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar