Zoloft/Changing Anxiety Symptoms

Hi everyone,

To update, I am currently on dose 22 of Zoloft 50 mg and while I do think that there have been some improvements (I am sleeping through the night and am not crying off and on all day, everyday), I seem to be having some new anxiety symptoms that are frightening me.

For the past week or so, I've had what I can only describe as a chest heaviness and what feels like shortness of breath. I also get episodes of a racing heart, and sometimes chest pains and a sort of tightness in my throat. These things do come and go and are less when I don't pay attention to them. The heart racing also gets worse when I rise from a sitting position and walk around or do any sort or "cardio exercise". My doctor thinks it is my anxiety manifesting in a new way. This scares me...my anxiety has always presented with G.I. issues, not cardiac ones!! Should this be happening this far into the Zoloft? Or could it be the Zoloft causing these symptoms??

Has anyone else experienced these symptoms on a new ssri and will they go away? Totally confused. I just want to feel like normal again!!

Cooper,

So you are on your 3rd week of taking your Rx? (approx)

This is not unusual...to experience new or worsening anxiety symptoms during a start up.

With an SSRI...your own production of Serotonin initially drops...since the Rx is introducing so much of it...

Therefore, there is a window of disruption...while your body is lacking it's own balance of brain chemicals...but the medication is not fully at therapeutic levels yet.

You are about in the middle of the typical start up time period...

...so giving it a few more weeks should bring you relief...or give you a better idea of whether this is going to work for you.

Do your best with your coping skills during this time to get you through...

...and keep posting so we can keep you in support.

S.C.

Cooper,

The same thing is happening to my symptoms! I went from always being breathless (from shallow breathing) to having cardiac symptoms. Never have I ever had these symptoms in the whole 12 years I've had anxiety. I have a super high heart rate too and nobody seems too concerned about it. Totally just chucking it up to anxiety.

I actually went to the ER a couple weeks ago and had high blood pressure after standing up, but they said since it came back down after a couple hours, that I was fine.

Not quite sure what to make of it, but I do know it's scary. I've never been on an SSRI, but starting to consider it because these symptoms are freaking me out a bit.