HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Anyone on Sertraline? (zoloft)

Support Forums
>
Fibromyalgia
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 9/18/2008 5:52 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all,
I haven't been here in a long time. I've been doing pretty well except for anxiety. I was put on Sertraline about 6 weeks ago, and it seemed to be working well. Unfortunately, it gives me so much energy, that it causes my FMS to flare! I guess we just can't have it all, all at the same time!
Anyhow........I've developed horrible diarrhea. I have IBS, but its been under control for a long time.
Have any of the rest of you ever had this problem with zoloft?
Thanks!
Posted 9/18/2008 7:27 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Cathy!  I don't take Zoloft but I have a friend that does and they don't have this problem.  They also don't have fibro.

 

If this was happening to me, I'd see it the doctor could give me a lesser dose.  You could have the best of both worlds!  yeah

 

Sherrine

Posted 9/18/2008 7:33 PM (GMT 0)
Cathy,

 

First of all, nice to meet you (I don't think we've "talked" before).  I have been on Zoloft for nearly 5 years (and on and off different antidepressants since I was 15 years old-I'm 36, now).  about 3 months ago, my GP increased my dosage to 150mg once daily.  Personally, I have never had Zoloft give me any energy (it might be nice if I had some once in a while, eyes LOL).  I haven't had any intestinal issues, either.  Are you taking any other meds?  As we all know, meds affect us all differently.

 

BTW-according to the insert that I get with my Zoloft Rx, it can cause diarrhea and nervousness.  But, you said you had more energy, not that you were nervous.  The insert doesn't say anything about Zoloft giving you energy.  Maybe you are just lucky? wink LOL  FYI-this insert is from Walgreens.

 

I hope you find some answers and feel better, soon! :-)

Posted 9/19/2008 12:12 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Sherrine and Kelly.
I take a little dose of Toprol XL, and caltrate and some magnesium.
I've been reading of people on the internet who had horrible diarrhea with it. You're right.....we're all really different, and can have really different reactions to meds. I swear I'm wired the opposite of most people!
I'm very happy that the sertraline seems to give me energy. I spent so many years feeling so fatigued. This came at a good time (the energy), since my mother went into a nursing home, and I've had to start cleaning out her condo. The only problem with so much energy, is that it flares up my fibro! Maybe that's contributing to my GI issues too.
Also, I take Caltrate for my IBS. It really has helped with my diarrhea (before the sertraline). But about the same time I got really bad diarrhea, I switched to a generic version of the Catrate.......so maybe that's affecting my GI tract too.
I just hate not being able to go out because I'm afraid of my GI tract acting up.
I called the doc's office and he said to just try to wait it out. I'll give it a little time, but I'm thinking that a lower dose might be what I need. We'll see.
Thanks so much for your replies!
Posted 9/19/2008 1:57 AM (GMT 0)
Cathy,
I tried Zoloft for 3 weeks and stopped because I had severe chest pain. I was only only taking 12.5 mg. and it too gave me lot's of energy and this "wired" feeling all the time.
I should have at least tried it for more than a month because I heard that it takes that long for it to work and for the side effects to go away.
Then I learned that fibromyalgia can give you chest pains! I swear that every time I read the symptoms 101 I find another new one! I had these terrible squeezy feeling in my chest and I thought I was having a heart attack. I never had any thing like that happen to me so I thought it was from taking the Zoloft. Good luck to you and let us know how you are doing
Carolyn
Posted 9/19/2008 2:32 AM (GMT 0)

Hi Cathy-

I take Zoloft 25 mg. and that took quite awhile to even get up to that. I started by cutting the pill in half. In the beginning it did upset my stomach and was encouraged to keep going also. It did go away.

Yes, I got that wired feeling in the beginning also. shocked   Still have some, but I'm going with the "more energy" route than to have fatigue.   

Good luck and hope with a little more time it will ease up for you - let us know. GamJill

Posted 9/19/2008 1:48 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Carolyn and GamJill,
I took two weeks to get up to the whole pill (50mg). I was surprised that I didn't have more symptoms. The first night I took it was crazy......I felt like every cell in my body would explode. My GI tract went crazy at first......but it was just alot of rumbling, nausea, and constipation. But I've been reading that lots of people get the diarrhea after about a month......which is what happened to me.
I get so many weird feelings that other "normal" people don't........and it makes me look crazy. I'm sure you all understand what I'm talking about.
I just never know from one day to the next, what my body is going to do.
I'm taking a lot of pepto bismol, just to be able to go out of the house. And sometimes that doesn't even work.
The thing that scares me about these SSRIs is that they take awhile to start working, and they take awhile to come off of.........so I hope this doesn't mean that if I want to come off it, I'll have diarrhea for a long time.
I'll give this another week, and if the diarrhea isn't any better, I'm going to go down to half a pill.
I think one thing that really bugs me about docs is that they don't appreciate that some of us don't need the "usual" dose of something, and we can get the good affects with less. Then we end up getting side-effects from the full dose and get discouraged and quit it all-together.
I've been reading that some people with IBS are actually treated with a half dose of the Zoloft.........so I'm definitely going to try that next.
Thanks!
Posted 9/19/2008 3:50 PM (GMT 0)
I am on Zoloft and have been on it for nearly a year now. I take 100mg. It's doesn't give me any weird sideffect. (sp?) It just has almost stopped working for me. The only thing it does is keep me from doing really, for lack of a better word, psychotic things. Like, when I was off of it for a while, I had two affairs. One was with my abusive ex. How crazy is that? But it hasn't been helping with my depression. When I go to see a psychiatrist, I may ask her to put me on Seroquel, which I have been on before. She will know what to do. But, I would talk to your doctor about your symptoms. If they are bothering you this badly, then you need to tell your doc.

Posted 9/19/2008 4:56 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Cathy it has been a long time since you have been on. I'm not on Zoloft but I'd try it if it would give me energy. shocked Have you tried Imodium for the diarrhea??? It is good for cramping and gas too.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

Posted 9/19/2008 5:07 PM (GMT 0)
Did you recently start taking magnesium?  How much do you take?  I'm asking because magnesium can cause diarrhea.  You need to start it out very slowly so your body can get used to it.

 

Also, the Caltrate...are you talking about calcium supplements?  If so, Citracal is absorbed far easier than Caltrate.  I took Caltrate for 15 years and still got osteoporosis because I was not absorbing it.  I have Crohn's.  Citracal, calcium citrate, will dissolve in warm water!  Caltrate needs stomach acid to dissolve and if you are having digestive problems to begin with, the Citracal might be better.  Ask your doctor about it.

 

Sherrine

Posted 9/19/2008 6:03 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone,
I've been on the Caltrate and magnesium for years. Actually, I want a calcium that doesn't get absorbed alot, because I'm using to keep me from having diarrhea from my IBS. It had been working great until now. My bones are in great shape, according to a recent bone density test. (The only great part of me!! haha).
No, I've just been using Pepto bismol, but I'll give the Imodium a try. Thanks for that suggestion.

TikiIsMyKitty.........I'm thinking for some of us, alternating drugs might be a good thing. Hopefully something else will start to work for you.

Since I've been depressed and anxious my entire life, its hard for me to know what to ask of an antidepressant. Jokingly, I've told people I'll go up on the dose, until I start laughing hysterically, or I start to want to have dinner parties. hahaha I seriously don't know what to expect.
I'm sure it won't make my life perfect.........although I've talked to people who really got their lives back after starting these drugs. For now I'm thinking I will be happy just not to be in a big black emotional hole all the time.
I get anxious to go to the doctors and the dentist...........to the point of not going at times when I should. I get really anxious in certain social situations. Should I shoot for taking higher doses of meds, until I'm not afraid any more??? I just don't know.

I used to be on a higher dose of the Toprol (a beta blocker), and stopped it because it made me tired and dumb. But a couple months ago, my sympathetic system went crazy (fast heartrate, higher BP, panic attacks), and I agreed to be on a smaller dose of the Toprol. It has actually helped alot. If my heart rate stays low when I'm anxious, it keeps me from getting even more anxious........so that has helped alot.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm too old for some of these drugs to work. I've had 58 years to have a brain that doesn't work well. Maybe I'm expecting drugs to do too much this late in life??
Thanks everyone!
Posted 9/21/2008 11:07 AM (GMT 0)
I'm afraid of going to the dentist too. I haven't been taking very good care of my teeth the past three years, and when I went to the dentist last time for a periodontal (sp?) cleaning I cried. Usually cleanings just make me twinge a little, but I was in tears. And the woman who was cleaning my teeth said that if I took better care of my teeth then I wouldn't be crying. And I told her that if it meant her not killing me then I would. LOL. I am going to see a new dentist where the people are nicer....Sorry, I am getting way off topic here...I tend to ramble early in the morning.

Posted 9/21/2008 2:36 PM (GMT 0)
I think you should find a new place to take care of your teeth. That was a very rude thing of her to say.
One thing I decided to do, since I'm so afraid to go to the dentist, is use an electric toothbrush and floss alot. Sometimes I use that liquid rinse that loosens the plaque. The electric toothbrush has really done a great job.
That hygienist should have complemented you on coming in, in spite of your fears!
Sometimes we might look like wimps.......but when you consider how much pain we're in, and how much anxiety some of us have, we're really the courageous ones to go anywhere or do anything!! Its not courageous to go to the dentist if it doesn't bother you at all......but it IS courageous if you go, even when it scares you to death.
Posted 9/21/2008 4:10 PM (GMT 0)

Cathy,
I appreciate your words. They help. The last time I went to the dentist, I didn't know I had Fibro. It wasn't even on the discussion table at that time. But I am going to switch dentists. I hear that the LADD dental place is really nice and friendly, and I will tell them that I have fibro. I'll also take some Xanax before I go in to keep my anxiety in check. I do tend to freak out now when I go to the dentist because I know it is going to hurt. I have five cavities, I have my wisdom teeth coming in...the top two don't bother me, but that bottom two do. I was supposed to have them removed, but when I went to the place to have it done, I was kind of freaking out because they wouldn't let my husband back in the room with me, and they said they couldn't sedate me because I had drank a little bit of coffee to take my pills with three hours before my appointment. They tried the "laughing gas" and that just made me really dizzy and sick, so they gave me an injection of Valium, which knocked me out, but then they didn't take my teeth out...they said I was screaming too bad, but I was pretty much unconscious after the Valium. I don't know. Anyways. I will quit rambling about my teeth. LOL. I do tend to ramble.

Today when I was taking my meds, one got caught in my throat and it hurt so bad. I could breathe and everything, but it was stuck there, hurting me, and I was freaking out because my hubby took my son out for a while. But, all is well now.

Wow, I am really babbling now. I will go.

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply