Zoloft side affects or other?

First off, thank you for such a wonderful forum. About three months ago I had a series of panic attacks that lasted for about two weeks. Since that time, however, I have become rather obsessed with the idea that I have something-major wrong with me. I'm 28 years old, have a wife and two kids, and up until this point I have been rather healthy. After the panic attacks, I went to my doctor who performed a thyroid test, standard blood work, a CT scan of my abdomen, and a CT scan of my head. All of the test came back normal, so he recommended seeing a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist has since prescribed Zoloft, Lorazepam, and Propranolol. I just started taking the Zoloft two weeks ago, and have not had any beneficial affects yet. In fact, I'm wondering if it has made my situation a little worse. I feel like I have an internal tremor all of the time, my lips and jaw tremble sometimes, and recently my wife told me that my legs have been shaking while I'm asleep (enough to move the bed.) I'm concerned that these may be fasilations or some sort of neurological disorder, which of course is typical of somebody with an anxiety disorder. Can you explain these night tremors? Can they be related to stress or medication? My psychiatrist doesn't see a need for me to see a neurologist, but of course I have my doubts. Thanks in advance.

[HFHS MD-JM]

Shane,

     Zoloft is generally a fairly well tolerated medication.  Upon initiation of Zoloft or other SSRI's anxiety may initially seem worse; it is recommended that you start at half the typical dose (ie 25 mg) for one week and then increase it to 50 mg and adjust as needed.  This allows one to tolerate the medication better if problems.  Keep in mind that Zoloft takes approximately 2-4 weeks to begin working and may require 4-6 weeks at the minimal therapeutic dose.  Often titration is required of the SSRI so it may take some time.  The lorazepam, a benzodiazepine and propranolol, a beta-blocker should help with symptoms immediately.  Propranolol and lorazepam both also can help with tremor (and the internal tremor=akathasia) which is related in part form the Zoloft.  This situation is not uncommon with this type of treatment.  It does nt sound like you need to see a neurologist but, I do recommend that you discuss these concerns further with your psychiatrist who may be able to make more specific adjustments in your treament.  I hope this was helpful.

Sincerely,

HFHS MD-JM

[carissa]

I started taking Zoloft a week ago.  I have had gastroparesis (paralyzed stomach) for six years.  I haven't been able to keep anything down for the past six months and my doc wanted to see if it woresened because of stress, so he wanted to see if the zoloft would help me.  Instead, it made me extremely nauseated, so I ate even less and puked up even more!  It also kept me awake at night.  I stopped it yesterday because I couldn't stand the side effects.  I was only on 25 mg., but I was miserable.  I know the side effects are supposed to decrease with time, but I can't afford to lose any more food and weight. I don't tolerate any medication very well though.  I'm going to call my doc and see if he wants me to start back on it, but in the meantime I just quit.  Should these side effects improve? I usually sleep 12 hours a night because I am on a high dose of tenormin for prolonged QT (heart problem), so this insomnia is a very weird thing for me.

Thanks.

[DanF]

zoloft may do this. I was on zoloft 100mg /day for 9 months & the tremor never got better /resolved. Other wise it did well for depression & anxiety.

[Kadie]

I tapered myself down to 25mg. of Zoloft after having been on it for only 2 months.  The panic attacks were gone but the insomnia drove me crazy, nothing makes you more depressed than not being able to sleep, and isn't that what zoloft is supposed to cure?  Anyway, this is the 2nd day of not taking any zoloft and there is definetly withdrawel, bad.  A very wierd feeling, dizziness, unable to concentrate, I drop things.  This makes me nervous because my doctor wants to try me on paxil maybe it will help with the insomnia.  I'm starting to wonder if these anti-depressants mess with you more than the doctors know.  Maybe I should just learn to deal with anxiety it's not all the time and I believe it's more hormonal than anything else.  Any comments?

[Pam]

hi ,i myself have took zoloft for depression due to a heart condition.i take 5om a day ive taken this drug for 4 years. it has worked very well for me,but now i quit taking it, i feel like i dont need it anymore.ive been off now for 10 days, i also iam having withdraws, i have little shocks and i dont think clearly, i sleep a lot and iam very emotional now i just want the withdraws to go away there.dose anyone know how long before you feel better let me know  good luck to all of you that take this drug.