New to Sertraline

Posted , 3 users are following.

I was started on Sertraline 2 weeks ago after a diagnosis of anxiety and OCD. The main cause of my anxiety is cardiophobia which came after months of weird feelings in my chest, brain fog, lack of appetite, feelings of impending doom, and palpitations. I initially blamed all this on my blood pressure medication but after swapping several times with no positive changes my PCP sent me to a cardiologist.

The cardiologist did an ekg, an echocardiogram, and had me wear a heart monitor for 5 days. The results of all tests were "normal." This was great news but obviously this still did not fix my problem. I kept having symptoms so my anxiety kept increasing.

I returned to my PCP who done blood work again and told me that everything was normal and that she felt like I had anxiety and was a bit OCD. I had began to check my blood pressure several times a day and check my pulse constantly.

She prescribed me 25mg Sertraline but told me to take only half a pill for the first week which I did. My anxiety seemed to worsen a bit and Ive had some nausea and just all around crappy physical feelings (which i still do although its improving) but nothing to bad. After the first week I was instructed to start taking the full 25mg. Since doing so, I have noticed an elevated heart rate and my heart beats pretty hard but this is only when i go from a sitting to a standing position and it doesnt happen everytime. It seems to happen much more often at work than at home. My question is has anyone else experienced this and could it be a side effect of increasing the dose? Today is day 7 of being on the full 25mg dose.

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • Posted

    since taking sertraline my bpm can go as high at 174 so i was sent for an ECG and that also came badk as normal. my heart rate has never returned to normal and i often get heart flutters

    • Posted

      What are you doing when it goes that high? Standing?Sitting? Does it randomly just happen whenever? Mine doesn't go that high but it happens quickly and its very noticeable. It feels like i sprinted somewhere.

  • Posted

    hi, wow! what you have just posted is exactly how my side effects are. i've been on sertraline 50mg for 13 days and my heart has been going mental. I am constantly getting chest flutters which are making my anxiety go mental. I also have health anxiety mainly cardiophobia too. I'm also with you on the strong and fast heartbeat which like you i tend to get more when i stand or move.

  • Edited

    forgot to add it got so bad last week i went to a&e and had ecg, blood test and chest x-ray all clear but that didn't help ease my mind.

    • Edited

      Hi James. Today makes my 21st day on Sertraline. The rapid heart rate seems to be getting less and less since i made the original post but its still there. I also have the "flutter" or maybe what Id call a skipped beat or extra beat from time to time as well. I was also having that when I wore the Holter Monitor for a week and was told that all was normal so I can only assume that my cardiologist isn't concerned about it. Pretty much anything heart related worries me though because my mother and my grandfather on her side both developed Atrial Fibrillation later in life. I know the palpitations are a side effect of anxiety and those types of symptoms tend to be amplified for some people when they start Sentraline but the funny thing is i never seem to be anxious when they occur. For me the physical symptoms seem to come first and then i get anxious. Overall, I do feel better on a more regular basis now than I did before starting Sertraline so maybe that will continue. Do you have any other symptoms that go alone with your anxiety or the sertraline?

    • Posted

      i have also had stomach problems on them. Do you have any other side effects Kyle?

  • Posted

    hi Kyle, i feel the same in terms off the skipped beat or extra beat make the anxiety come on. The last three days have been really tough for me. I am also quite short of breath most days and also have quite bad acid reflux. I had extra beats show up on holter monitor but was told its normal and okay. I was struggling with being lightheaded but that is not as bad anymore. Do you feel the flutters then get a racing heart?

    • Posted

      Hi James. I sometimes get a flutter feeling but other times its just the fast heartbeat. It still only occurs when im standing up. It doesnt really happen when I am sitting or lying down. It seems to get be getting better slowly or either im noticing it as much one or the other. I get the shortness of breath at times as well. Not so much now as before starting the sertraline. I also have chest tightness quite regularly. It seems to come and go. Weird thing is that i dont feel anxious and im not sure what brings it on. Anxiety is an odd and terrible thing.

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