Anxiety and Heart Palpitaions - Sertraline 25 mg Seems to work for me

Posted , 4 users are following.

I have been suffering from heart palpitations for a few years on and off. Over the last year or so, the palpitations have increased substantially. For a few months, they happened every day, all day. Every few beats. My cardiologist said they are harmless PVC's. I've had the stress test, Echo Cardiogram, EKG etc. Wore a holter monitor for a month. All showed the irregular beats - but again telling me nothing to worry about. I finally went to my primary care doctor who diagnosed me with General Anxiety Disorder. He put me on 25 mg Sertraline. He told me it would take a few weeks to work. After a couple of weeks, the palpitations all but stopped. I felt pretty okay. Not like I wanted to jump up and turn cart wheels, but feeling pretty good - especially without the awful palpitations. I had a follow up visit with the doctor and he increased the dose to 50 mg. After 2 days of taking the higher dose, the palpitations started up and I was feeling anxious and sort of antsy. The 3rd day I cut back to the 25 mg. After a couple of days, I felt better again. After a couple of weeks, I decided to give the 50 mg a try again. And after a couple of days, I experienced the palpitations and anxiousness again. So I cut back to the 25 mg. Now after a couple of days on the 25 mg, I feel better and the palpitations have stopped. I do take a small Xanax (Alprazalam) at night before bed with I think helps too. I also took that when I took the 50 mg Sertraline, but that didn't help. Anyone else have success with the 25 mg Sertraline?

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • Posted

    Charles if it works it works. 25 is obviously all you need, if you are happy on 25 then stay with it don't let anyone tell you different, you know your own body and we are all different

    as they say if it ain't broke don't fix it

    • Posted

      Thanks Sue, from what I've been reading online, the 50 mg is a normal dosage. It made me feel like a light weight... but then again I've never liked taking medications just to take them. And like you said, if the lower dose works - that's good.

  • Posted

    i’m having the same problem right now with just severe anxiety. They try to move the 50 mg for chest pain and muscle aches not too bad. When I went back down to 25 mg the anxiety started creeping again. I do not like taking benzo‘s so I took A drop of CDB oil. to calm down and also did some meditation. Go on YouTube and look for some guy to meditation for anxiety and depression. Merry Christmas I hope you have a blessed New year. I hope and pray 2020 brings us Serenity.

    • Posted

      Thank for the information Andrew. I will check that out online. I've suffered from anxiety for a long time. Over the last few years, I was first put on Paxil. It was terrible! I hated the way it made me feel. I could hardly function during the day. At work, I would have to go to my car during lunch and just lay the seat back and rest. Then at night, even though I was exhausted, I couldn't sleep. I took myself off of it.

      Several years later when I first started having the heart palpitations with the anxiety, the cardiologist put me on Lexapro. That one I couldn't take either. It seemed like it just made me feel angry most of the time. And I had muscle spasms. I stopped taking that one too. Now the low dose of Zoloft (Sertraline) seems to help pretty much. The higher dose doesn't. I wonder about the CBD oil. If it works. Sometimes I will use a meditation app that I found for relaxation... it works pretty well, but I Can't always take time to do that. I guess you just have to make the time.

      Have a Merry Christmas too... and we can pray for some positive changes in the new year.

  • Posted

    Hi Charles

    Different doses work for different people. If 25mg is good, then you are lucky to have found your optimum dose. Be positive about it and you will keep on getting better and better. Have a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.