This microdosing experience is about microdosing in combination with Zoloft. Many people have joined the microdosing community looking for something to combat their depressive episodes. Although some people report that microdosing relieves their depression enough to not have to rely on antidepressants, for others that doesn’t suffice.
We want to thank community member Mark, who wrote a report on the effects of microdosing in his wife. She has been using Zoloft for about twenty years, due to severe depression. She microdosed to help her slowly wean off her antidepressants.
Please note: unfortunately, the effects of psychedelics in combination with antidepressants have not been studied as thoroughly as they should. Even though we haven’t seen many severe adverse effects, we advise you to consult your psychiatrist or medical doctor if you intend to wean off antidepressants, and always be careful when combining substances.
Life on Zoloft
My wife has had symptoms of depression since the age of thirteen. When she turned twenty-one, she started taking Zoloft, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant. Today, twenty-five years down the line, she is still taking it. Our doctor repeatedly recommended for her to wean off this medication, but life without it was just unbearable for her.
When she was pregnant with our first child, sixteen years ago, she had to stop taking Zoloft. A horrific year followed. Her pregnancy and the months after giving birth were an absolute disaster. She would stay in bed with the curtains closed, even on hot summer days. Often completely numb and in tears. When our son was born, she could not enjoy it one bit. She hated her life, and was unable to function. As experts told us later, she should have been hospitalized at that point. Only when she got back on the antidepressant, life took a better turn. After some months on Zoloft, she was alive and kicking.
Just for the record: I would never claim that antidepressants are bad. I really don’t believe they are. In fact, they saved my partner’s life. However, they do come with many side effects.
She tried to reduce her dose to 50 milligrams, which is half of the usual dose. It only took three days before life started feeling unbearable to her again. This happened on and off. Eventually, she stopped trying. She came to terms with the idea that she would take antidepressants for the rest of her life.
Adding microdosing to Zoloft
After extensive research on the internet, and reading some books on microdosing, we decided to take one last chance and try microdosing. We went with the protocol developed by James Fadiman: take a microdose on day one, wait for two days, and then take the next dose.
There were several options for microdosing substances. Because she would still be on Zoloft, the safest option seemed to be microdosing with psilocybin, in the form of homegrown ‘magic mushrooms’. We live in The Netherlands, so this would not pose a problem in terms of availability.
Finding the sweet spot
The sweet spot for most people with dried mushrooms is around 200mg (0,2g). One-tenth of a ‘regular’ dosage for tripping. However, there is absolutely no way to define a sweet spot for a person on an SSRI. Years before, we had a large dose of psilocybin truffles on one occasion. It had sent me off the charts, but she just looked around and felt bored for hours straight. Nothing happened!
Step 1: introducing microdoses of psilocybin
We decided to go with 200 milligrams of dried B+ psilocybe cubensis. However, we built up the dosage, starting with only 25 milligrams. We increased the dosage in steps of 25 milligrams every three days.
Just as a precaution. We had read about serotonin syndrome, so we wanted to be on the safe side. If she had an adverse reaction, it would show up lightly, as was our idea. Luckily, nothing happened.
Step 2: decreasing Zoloft
To wean off Zoloft, it’s of utmost importance to go very slow. The body has to adjust to the lower levels of serotonin. I bought a very precise weighing scale, 1/1000 of a gram. I used a mortar to grind up the Zoloft pills and put it in 000 capsules, the biggest, mainly for easy aiming. We used the following protocol for the Zoloft:
- Day 1-5: 100 milligrams Zoloft
- Day 6-10: 98 milligrams Zoloft
- Day 11-15: 96 milligrams Zoloft
- Etc.
So, every five days, she decreases her Zoloft dosage with 2 milligrams less than before. It took a grand total of 250 days before reaching zero.
The transformation
She is currently on 20 milligrams of Zoloft, only one-fifth of the amount she had been taking for twenty years. For me, it is an absolute miracle seeing the transformation so far. Her overall mood is good, and she feels more grounded. She described her previous state as having clouds in her head. But now, the fog has clearly lifted. In arguments, she now is sharp. In the past I could see her eyes go blank quite regularly, the Zoloft somehow seemed to take up processor speed. She used to experience severe hair loss at times, but now it’s growing healthily. Her weight is healthier than before. She also procrastinates less.
In all, her ‘real self’ is unfolding piece by piece, with the help of 200 milligrams (0.2 gram) of microdosing of psilocybin mushrooms. She seems to be entering a little rougher waters now, but we have good confidence it will be a success.
Not only the microdosing mushrooms does the trick
It’s important to state here that my wife has worked hard on herself for many, many years. She tried all kinds of therapy. The mushrooms help her keep a clear head and think straight again. It is not only the mushrooms that do the ‘magic’!
Update from 2019
Currently, things are getting rough. My wife is doing all the necessary things like exercise, good food, and supplements. Still, she seems to be entering rough waters now at 20 milligrams. When she started taking a dosage lower than 26 milligrams, we noticed her depression symptoms started coming back.
The options:
- Go back to 26 milligrams of Zoloft and stay there for a while
- Take mushrooms every other day
- Take more mushrooms
- A combination of those things
Update:
Acknowledgements
I want to thank Albert Hofmann, Dr. James Fadiman, Ram Dass, Terence McKenna, Michael Pollen, Ayelet Waldman, Paul Stamets, and the hundreds of pioneers for informing us about psychedelics, sometimes even with concern for their own safety.
Also, I’d like to thank the Microdosing Institute team and other internet forum communities like Reddit. So many people donated their time by writing first-hand stories, so people like us could make a well-informed decision.
8 thoughts on “Microdosing Experience: Microdosing, Depression, and Weaning off Zoloft”
Some people report it is better to have one big trip instead of microdosing . Personally, I would think it would be best to do the bigger dose and then follow up with micro dosing. I would look at clinicaltrials.gov and look up trials on Psilocybin. Get her in a trial if possible.
I have had similar experience trying to get off Cymbalta because it no longer works for me and has some serious side effects. I took myself all the way off over about 6 wks time but no where near how slowly you did.
Thank you so much for publishing this.
Thank you for your post. I’m doing the same as her. Although I’m still at 45 mg of Zoloft. I hope in lower doses I’ll be ok.
And about what happened to her after quitting Zoloft, it was not her fault. Antidepressants withdrawal are one of the worst experiences anyone can have. There are groups on Facebook about that. And that’s why the tapering for many months is important.
I hope she feels better soon. That would mean hope for me.
I’m thinking about starting microdosing. I am currently on 10mg of leap to and 150 of Welbutrin. This is after weaning myself off of 200mg of Zoloft and 300 of Welbutrin and having a year from hell. I definitely feel better now with the Lexapro and Wellbutrin combo, but really want to feel wonderful again.
I bought capsules of 150mg of golden teacher mushrooms for micro-dosing but slightly redicent to start. Suggestions?!
I was on Lexapro for approx 20 years. It was wreaking havoc on my head/behavior and I wasn’t the wiser. I unknowingly destroyed my life, including my family and career as a teacher. Fast forward several years when I went off the Lexapro – I looked like I was detoxing off heroin – and learned via testing that it was a mismatch for my system and I’d been on it two decades. Acute depression set in. I was in a ball on the sofa for 2 years. I slept 15 hours/day. I couldn’t shower and struggled to get dressed. I developed agoraphobia. I couldn’t eat because my sense of taste was so heightened after being dulled for 20 years, I got down to 94lbs. I didn’t want to be alive and it was all I could do to stay here. Then I tried another AD (Remeron) for 18 months. Nothing much changed except it dulled my sense of taste so I could eat again. And it dulled my emotions so I was basically a zombie. All I could feel was sadness. I was terrified of people and rarely left the house. I had no wants aside wanting to die. Decided to wean off the Remeron 6 months ago and am now I’m trying microdosing psilocybin. So far so good after one week. Something is softening in my head. I can stop following disruptive negative thoughts. Old traumas seem to be rewriting themselves and processing out. I am doing a chore a day, a huge accomplishment for me. My greatest hope is that I can feel joy and motivation again. I want to be able to get up off the floor. I want work again. I want to laugh again. I would be over the moon if I could find some independence again. Maybe make some friends and find my sparkle again. Fingers crossed.
I was on Luvox for 10 years starting in 1996, and then Zoloft for the last 16 years. 150mg currently. I hadn’t eaten any mushrooms in over 15 years, on 7/4/22 they came back into my life and there’s been nary an argument in my life. Now I want to wean down to 100mg Zoloft with the psilocybin guides
I have tried (and failed) to get entirely off my antidepressants after and adult lifetime on them too. I am on a low dose now (and reading your interesting account because I am considering microdosing and tapering more.) As you get toward the lower dose, the withdrawal is more likely and worse – so go even slower. And if depression starts to rear, nip it in the bud. Go ahead and take an extra little bit of Zoloft to ease a depressive episode and stabilize before deciding to resume your journey. I have learned the goal is quality of life not speed or even complete drug reduction! Although the latter would be nice, it is more important to avoid the depressive episodes. Thanks so much for your wife’s story. Very helpful and hopeful!
thank you for sharing your experience, I’m weaning off Lexapro 20mg, but expecting it to be a six week process, I’m using the fediman protocol as well. I plan to switch to the staments protocol after being 2 weeks completely off Lexapro. my micro dose is 2ml in tincture form