1. Community
  2. Mental health
  3. Sertraline

Does sertraline make you feel sick?

Posted , 7 users are following.

Weeasy
Weeasy

Started on 50mg sertraline yesterday lunch and have felt mildly nauseous since, with 2 strong waves of it through the night. Is this the sertraline? Don't know how I'm going to cope with it if I feel like this on day 2 sad

1 like, 15 replies

15 Replies

  • DaveWOwen
    DaveWOwen Weeasy

    Posted

    Yes most of us suffered like that and change to taking them with food - with breakfast in my case which worked fine for me. My first night was horrible - feeling sick all night.

    Sertraline takes a long time to work - as much as 6 weeks to get the full benefit. I felt fine once i had been on them about 4 or 5 weeks. It is worth persevering but do take them with food is my advice.

    Good luck

    Dave

  • gary27777
    gary27777 Weeasy

    Posted

    Stick with it as it will be a fairly long haul before you start to feel better and you probably will have some side effects. I'm now in week 5, feel no better yet but do feel more anxious, shaky and struggle with bad night sweats. I haven't felt sick as such other than the noraml anxious sicky feeling - stomach going over, etc.

    Good luck and hang on in there as it certainly would appear that it gets worse before it gets better - lol.

    • DaveWOwen
      DaveWOwen gary27777

      Posted

      I found that taking the tablet with food solved that terrible nausea for me.
  • Blu02
    Blu02 Weeasy

    Posted

    Oh Weeasy, sorry to read you feel sick!! As the others are saying, Sertraline can take a while to start working and you will feel worse before you feel better, took a whole 8 weeks with me before I started to feel better.

    Try to stick with it but if it gets too much then see your doctor again, he may be able to help 😃

  • AliceAnagram
    AliceAnagram Weeasy

    Posted

    I too started Sertraline yesterday, I had the most awful night, vomiting and diarrhoea, My head feels as if it is bursting and full of cotton wool, my thoughts are so fuzzy. I am only on 50mg, but really worried about continuing, I certainly can't function like this. I have some diazepam (2mg) would it help me to take those while these side effects are so awful? Any help would be welcome.

     

    • Weeasy
      Weeasy AliceAnagram

      Posted

      So sorry to hear sad how are you feeling now? I feel a bit woozy and 'not quite with it' (if you get what I mean?). It would be nice to stay in contact with you about the sertraline seeing as we started on the same day. I too am 50mg. I'm really tired today as well sad
    • AliceAnagram
      AliceAnagram Weeasy

      Posted

      That would be good, we seem to at the same stage of starting on these so it would help to compare our journey with them. I feel rubbish just at the moment, although I suppose some of that could be that I was up a lot of the night being sick. I didn't take the tablet with food which was probably a mistake, but at the moment I feel far too sick to contemplate eating anything. I am sipping hot water  sad 
    • Weeasy
      Weeasy AliceAnagram

      Posted

      Yes exactly smile I wasn't physically sick last night but I woke up twice thinking I was going to. How old are you if you don't mind me asking? I've read that side effects are worse in young adults and I'm 19 so that may be why I'm getting them so bad. I didn't take mine yesterday with food either. My dad has been on them for a few months for depression and said to take them with food. I did today and so far *fingers crossed* don't feel as rough as yesterday
  • AliceAnagram
    AliceAnagram Weeasy

    Posted

    Sadly I am at the other end of the age scale (66) so I don't think it chooses an age group to gang up onsmile I have just taken a diazepam and hopefully that will calm things down for a while. I would love to get some sleep!

     

    • terry33444
      terry33444 AliceAnagram

      Posted

      Diazepam too. Just seeking a few minutes of calmer thoughts rather than anxiety and panic and gloomy. I'm completing week 3 on 50mg. When can I expect to feel better?
    • AliceAnagram
      AliceAnagram terry33444

      Posted

      Sadly Terry, I can't offer you any advice, I have only started on these yesterday. At the moment, I feel so physically ill because of taking them. I wish I knew how long it takes to get through th awful side effects.
  • sally93193
    sally93193 Weeasy

    Posted

    Hi my name is Sally. I am now on week 4. And feel dreadful. I feel sick with no appetite what so ever. I wake up every am at 3 ish with awful panic , sweating and awful thoughts. I'm at my wits end. I'm only on 25mg too. Does this stop. I feel helpless with worrying. Thanks

    • julie89512
      julie89512 sally93193

      Posted

      Hi Sally.

      Ano it's 4 months since you posted this.

      iv been on 25mg for nearly 8 weeks and I'm still getting a lot of side effects.

      first bad headache tonight tho.

      dont no if to carry on with these or wait longer. 

      Just wonder when did your side effects stop?? 

      Thanks 

    • sally93193
      sally93193 julie89512

      Posted

      Hi there. I tried these for 5 mths. And I never felt so awful. I just came off them. They don't help everyone. They actually made me worse. Sick. No appetite. Not sleeping. Panicky. More anxiety. Tummy cramps. There's just a few. Hope there helping you. Sally

    • julie89512
      julie89512 sally93193

      Posted

      Sorry to hear you had all those side effects Sally, 

      they are awful. 

      Iv had a few good days so I'm hoping iv turned a corner.

      i spoke to my GPs on Thursday and she said if I'm still getting side effects in another two weeks she would change to another one which I wouldn't have to taper, I'm still on 25mg I don't fancy going on a higher dose because I carnt deal with feeling like I did.

      have you gone onto anything else? Or are you coping without? Julie 

Back to top

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.