What is the highest dose of zoloft recommended for an adult?

200 mg/day is the maximum daily dose. I hated Zoloft. I tried it for about six months and it turned me into a zombie, wandering around feeling constantly as if someone had just hit me in the face with a shovel. And on one memorable night, I accidentally took a double-dose and woke up to discover the entire world had turned a bright and festive shade of yellow.

Oh, so I was on the max dose, then. I was also on other meds at the time, as well. I agree.. total zombie. I wouldn’t sleep – ever. I would lay down in my bed in this bizarre half sleep state, and when I’d get back up in the morning my pupils were enormous. I hallucinated all the time… the whole thing was a nightmare. One night I remember sitting around with my friends and I thought that the floor had begun to swallow me… true story. My friends actually witnessed me trying to “crawl” out of the floor, as it it really were sinking beneath me. CRAZY. Never, ever, ever again.

I took it for a few years back in the 90’s when it was told to me the doses were pretty experimental, you’d start low like 25mg and then increase if you responded better that way. I loved it, called it my Little Blue Buddy because it didn’t zombify me or anything. The first month did give me a buzzy sounding light headedness which was awful but it went away and all was well- no horrible temper flareups.

@Neizvestnaya this would have been in the late 90’s up until about 2001, maybe 2002. I wish I could say the same as you.. lol. That medication (probably in combination with several others) made me so loopy. And my doctor at the time was a real nitwit, he just kept telling me to ride it out.

So I did.

@TheOnlyNeffie
From what I’ve read then it works really different for everybody. I took 50mg only and it did exactly what was described, took the edge off and kept me from circular obsessive thinking so I could get through a rough patch, take in reason and learn some new ways. It saved my life.

@Neizvestnaya oh right, I’m sure in lower doses it wouldn’t have had the effect that it did. I believe that it was helpful for you, and probably many others. I just can not say the same personally.

@TheOnlyNeffie
I understand. So many times I wished it had worked for others what it did for me.

I like to prescribe zoloft (sertraline). I have seen effects in doses as low as 25 and once I went up to 250. A lot of people complain of the “zombie” effect, usually that’s when I change the med.

It shouldn’t be a concern; if you are prescribed this med use it like your doctor instructed.

@perspicacious I strongly disagree. I’m not one to just blindly follow any orders my doctor gives me. They are doctors not gods.

I agree with both @perspicacious and @TheOnlyNeffie even though they disagree with each other. The most important thing is to be open with your doctor. If you feel better in “complete trust” mode, do it. If you prefer to more critically engage your doctor, do it. The most important thing is just to be open with your doctor and say how you are feeling, both in terms of your health and in terms of the treatment. Most of my patients do what I tell them to do (or at least that’s what they tell me), but a bunch change around the timing or dosing of their meds as needed – but they call to tell me they are doing it. Sometimes I will disapprove and strongly discourage them from making a specific change, most of the time I go with it and monitor closely for side effects. They may have to get some extra blood work or an EKG though.

@Flavio this doesn’t apply to me now, as the doctor that was prescribing my medication has since gone out of business. I haven’t seen him in many years – but I was a bit concerned that I may have been overmedicated at the time. If I disagree with something my current doctor says, I’m very comfortable telling him so. Fortunately, I have an excellent doctor that is receptive to my concerns and questions, so it’s a good situation. Of course I don’t feel like I have to disagree with anything he says simply because he is human – I trust his judgment. So I do agree with you, for the most part. If a situation comes up where I am not comfortable with what he is telling me, for whatever reason.. I feel alright with discussing it.
The doctor that was prescribing the Zoloft, on the other hand, did not make me feel comfortable expressing my concerns. I did happen to dig out an old journal.. and I see that I was actually taking a dose of up to 300mg/daily for a long period of time. The medication was not helping me, I was suffering several adverse reactions, and my doctor didn’t seem to be very concerned with reducing or changing my medication. In retrospect, I should have walked away from the situation much sooner than I did.

(Should I have put this question in social?)