Re: terrrible SSRI side effects

Posted By kristie on June 03, 1999 at 18:46:46
I have a question concerning SSRI inhibitors.  I have been diagnosed with OCD and put on Zoloft, 25 mg for one week and then 50 mg for the next upcoming year.  I have taken Zoloft 25mg for the past 3 days and suffered terrible side effects. The worst is nervousness, that wakes me up in the middle of the night, along with tremor.  Sometimes, I get hot flashes but it has been better lately.  I have no appetite, therefore it is very difficult to eat.  I also suffer dry mouth at the same time of nervousness and tremor. The first night I took Zoloft I woke up after 1 hour of sleeping and couldn't get back to sleep. Will these side effects subside, or should I call the doctor for a change in prescription?
Kristie

[Jody__0__0]

Posted By Jody on June 04, 1999 at 18:12:41
I was put on Zoloft a few weeks ago for OCD, and I started 25mgs on a Saturday morning and by Monday night I had:  extreme nervousness and anxiety, bizarre (and I mean BIZARRE) thoughts, dry mouth, an odd out-of-it "this is not me" feeling, pretty bad insomnia, night sweats, and a cricket-chirping type ring in my right ear.  I called my physician on Tuesday morning but like you, I knew that he knew I was overly-obsessive about the side effects and he never called me back.  It didn't surprise me because he had lectured me the Friday before, when he gave me the prescription, about being ready to put up with the side effects right at first.  I did my own research and discovered that SSRI's can indeed make the symptoms worse right at first, but if you stick with it they typically eventually go away.  I wish I could tell you more, but the thing is that even though my physician didn't call me back, I was already getting over my bought with OCD before the med even had a chance to kick in, so with the agreement of my psychologist I stopped after my third (Monday morning) pill.  It basically didn't feel worth tolerating the side effects since I was already feeling better with psychotherapy alone.  By Wednesday, two days after the last pill, all symptoms had subsided, so one thing I can tell you is that Zoloft works out of your systems faster than any other SSRI.  So if you do stop taking it, you will feel better (from the side effects, that is) very soon.











Follow Ups: