Cutting a long story short, I had my anti depressant meds changed three times last July over the phone due to bad side effects, yes that s three changes without seeing a doctor face to face. I finally settled on Sertraline , known as Zoloft / Lustral. They authorised a repeat prescription (drop and collect) for 6 months so I had changed meds 3 times and them been on Sertraline for 6 months without seeing a doctor. When I received my final month on repeat in November 2012 I asked to book an appointment there and then and was offered an appointment mid January so I explained that this final month would run out the end of December so I needed one before then and was told to ring on the day and explain for an emergency appt, I did this and they were too busy and arranged a months prescription over the phone again which took me until Friday last week, I phoned again and asked to see a doctor as I ve been having some adverse side effects recently on the Sertraline. Again they were too busy and after a little chat over the phone it was decided that I should be swapped to Effexor. Right the place I m at at the moment is I haven t started taking the Effexor, I m not happy being prescribed all these drugs without seeing someone face to face to discuss them. Over four days I halved my dose of Sertraline to make them last longer with the thought that I might come off them and today is my first day without them. I m not feeling depressed but my head feels as though it s about to explode and I m having dizzy spells. My question is what is the wash out time with these, how long will this cold turkey last and have I done the worst of it now?