Sertraline and side effects

[gizmoracer]

A bit of background before I start. In the past I have had fluoxitine which does absolutly nothing for me and citelopram which seems to work ok. I'm pregnant now and have been told I can go back on citelopram but as I want to brestfeed it is safer to try Sertraline. The consultant was very good and explained all about which meds effect baby and how etc and my GP said they should be ok for me as it is very similar to citeopram and hopefully I would see a difference in about a week.

HOWEVER I took my first one the other night (50mg) and within an hour I had a 'nervous tummy' and then spent the rest of the night feeling like I had food poisoning, couldn't decide if I had wind, needed to go to the loo urgently or was going to throw up. By 5am I found myself confined to the loo and feeling very very sick as well. I have the most horrendous phobia about being sick. So I decided last night to take just half a tablet to see how it went. It took me til 2am to pluck up the courage to take it but so far I'm not feeling too bad, just a bit sicky.

So the question is, do I carry on taking 25mg for a couple of days? OR take the full 50mg tonight? OR what? I am seeing consultant on Thursday so feel like I should give them a good try til then.

[juppster]

Hey Giz

just wanted to say that i pretty much had the same response as you when I first started on Sertraline. It sounds like a good idea to me to keep with half a tablet for a few days to start off...i don't see that this would do any harm and if you can tolerate this amount better whilst it builds up in your system then I would stick with it. I hope everything goes well with the consultant on Thursday hun xx

[gizmoracer]

Thanks. Sorry I didn't get back on here til now, been feeing really rough. I did cut the dose in half and have stuck with it for now. With 50mg I was feeling like I had food poisioning but with 25mg it's more like a bug and I can just about cope with it. More so coz alot of women on here seem to think it's a good one to be on so I'm trying really hard to get used to it.

The consultant said it was fine for me to half it like that and then to up it later on. So I'm happy with that.

[monica]

Hi

Sorry things tough fo ryou with the meds - hopefully the nasty symptoms should die down in time - perhaps get your dr to give you some advice or talk to a pharmacist if you feel you want a bit more advice.

Big hugs

love

Monica

[gizmoracer]

Can anyone who's been on this tell me which side effects they had and how long they lasted for please?

I've been on 25mg for 2 weeks now and so far I've had sickness, dirorrea, constipation, dizzyness, feeling out of my own body and excessive sweating.

I really want to get used to it as it's basically my only option at the moment but I'm supposed to be on double this dose. Would help me keep going if I know some people have had side effects for a few weeks.

[juppster]

Hi mate
As i said, the sickness last for around 2 - 3 weeks for me. As for the sweating and dizziness i know this lasted longer but i was only on this one for about 2 - 3 months. As i said in your diary i dont know if the side effects would be augmented due to the pregnancy so worth talking to your GP about today....i truely hope things pick up for you soon, i know how rotten it is xx

[gizmoracer]

Thanks hun.
The sickness does seem to be fading in that it doesn't last as long now and thankfully the dizzyness isn't all the time. I've only had one day when I felt I shouldn't drive. The sweating as much of a pain as it is in this heat I can put up with.

The GP has told me I need to up the dose and because I have had it for 2 weeks now already the side effects hopfully won't get too much worse. He doesn't seem to think it has anything to do with me being pregnant just very common to have such side effects and for them to last a few weeks. I'll update in a few days and let you know how it goes.

[gizmoracer]

So far so good I doubled my dose (to 50mg) Friday night after putting together a plan with OH for me to be very ill for a few days. Then I got up Saturday feeling very slightly sick. This faded almost straight away and I got loads done. Very unusual for me. Sunday was much the same, we were all out and home by 9am, then into town etc and feeling fine. Still sweating alot but it is very hot. My appitite has come back too and I seem to be sleeping better although this started back when I first started the meds.

[juppster]

Yah...so glad things have settled down for you mate x

[winegirl]

Hope it is continuing this way as we are moving on in the week mate??