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Please help feeling awful from sertraline

Posted , 4 users are following.

carmella36657
carmella36657

Please help I really don't know what to do. I'm either having some sort of reaction to sertaline or something I'm so scared and don't know what to do. I was already taking sertaline before for about 3 years due to being very ill from gallstones and surgery and now I think about it I think I might of had a bad reaction to sertaline then but didn't know it was that as I was already in so much pain from the gallstones and surgery ETC. So 3 months ago I decided to come of sertraline and unfortunately came of them way to quickly from a very high amount of 200mg down to 100mg and then nothing as I didn't know how bad this could make you feel. I felt the normal flu type symptoms for about a week or two then didn't feel as bad then suddenly about a month or two later I started feeling really bad anxiety and depression symptoms worse than I already had and my ocd had got so much worse. So then last Thursday I thought I would start taking the sertaline again thinking this would help. I took one tablet last Thursday and one tablet last Friday of 50mg at about 8pm then by 2am I starting having some sort of really bad adverse side affects. I had the worst panic attack I've ever had with uncontrollable crying and shouting out in complete fear for help as i didn't know what was happening. I was shaking inside out like a inside tremors and uncontrollable movements. sweating uncontrollably from my hands and feet. Feeling sick to my stomach. I couldn't walk or talk as I was shaking so much and didn't have a clue what was going on around me. I couldn't make a sentence and could hardly reply. my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. my skin felt like it was crawling and on fire with a kind of crushing feeling. I had the worst feeling of anxiety and depression I've ever felt in my life. my eyes felt like they can't focus and I have had what i can only explain as seizure type feelings. my stomach is upset and I feel sick all the time and I haven't been able to eat anything at all since last Thursday so that's 7 days with no food and I have to force myself to drink. all the symptoms I mentioned have been going on for 7 days now and are still just as bad and are not seeming to be getting any better. I had to have the paramedics come out last Saturday but they didn't really seem to know much and just said it seems like side effects and I phoned the doctors on Monday and they just said if it gets worse or no better phone back at the end of the week. I feel lost and so scared that no-one seems to know what is going on and doesn't know how to help. I've never felt so Ill in my life and I really need some help as I'm so scared of what is happening to me. also my symptoms seem to get even worse at night at about 6pm until early hours of the morning. someone please help I'm so scared and this feels like its never going to end please help any advice would really help. is there anything I can do for this or get help from anywhere and will this ever stop? I'm so scared.

0 likes, 15 replies

15 Replies

  • Lola82
    Lola82 carmella36657

    Posted

    hi I hope your okay. you are having withdrawal symptoms from the sounds of it. I'm surprised your doctor didn't tell you to slowly decrease the meds instead of stopping cold turkey. when you started to take the sertraline again it's like a restart so your getting the start up side effects again which one of them can be increase of anxiety which sounds like that is happening. Definitely talk to your doctor about the next step. Hopefully you can feel more like yourself soon

    • carmella36657
      carmella36657 Lola82

      Posted

      hi thankyou so much for your reply I'm so scared at the moment these symptoms are awful I've never experienced anything like it. would never of thought sertraline could make symptoms like this. it's like a really awful adverse effect to them or something and it feels like its never ending. I'm going to phone the doctors again today but last time I spoke to them it wasn't much help to be fair so I'm hoping this time they might be abit more helpful as I'm so scared and worried about this as I've never felt so ill before and my symptoms haven't got any better at all. do you know how long these symptoms could last for? and is there anything that can help these awful symptoms at all?

    • Lola82
      Lola82 carmella36657

      Posted

      yes its awful at first for sure. Usually the awful side effects is gone in 2 wks so hopefully that is the case for you. oh yes the increased anxiety is awful and you feel like your heart is coming out of your chest. Normally a doctor prescribes an anxiety medication along side sertraline for the first bit while the medicine starts to work since it tends to get worse before better. I hope you can talk to your doctor. I found a breathing technique that helped me during the high anxiety moments. You focus on your breathing and do a count of 6 as you breathe in and count to 6 as you release that same breath and repeat a few times.

    • carmella36657
      carmella36657 Lola82

      Posted

      it really is awful isn't it. I have called the doctors early this morning and now waiting for a call back so I'm hoping I can get some help with this today as these symptoms are so awful and scary. thankyou so much for the advice with the breathing technique I'm definitely going to give that ago. I also had been Looking up that some vitamins are helpful like fish oil and vitamin e so might try that aswell.

    • carmella36657
      carmella36657

      Posted

      hi I've got a update now so I have spoken to the doctors now and they have said it could be a mild case of serotonin syndrome? which has really scared me. they said if it doesn't get any better over the weekend I'll have to phone back and I might need to go to hospital which is also scary as I have really bad ocd over catching anything and with covid being so high at the moment I'm scared incase I catch anything else on top of this if I have to go to hospital. do you know much about mild serotonin syndrome at all? And do you always have to go to hospital to treat it or can it get better with time ETC? I'm so scared right now.

    • Lola82
      Lola82 carmella36657

      Posted

      hey, that is awful if that is what it is. Did you take any other medications lately that you could think of that could possibly interacted with the medication. Seratonin syndrome is pretty serious if it's not treated if symptoms get worse. Google it and see if it sounds like it's what you have been experiencing is my advice and of course if it does worsen then the hospital is the best option as they would be able to give you seratonin blockers if that's what you need. I wish you all the best and hope you feel better soon.

    • carmella36657
      carmella36657 Lola82

      Posted

      I can't believe this is all happening in so worried now. I'm going to ring back the doctors on Monday and see if there is any other way of getting better before having to go to hospital and see if there is any other options. if there isn't then I guess I'll have to go in. I'm so scared of all of this it's a awful thing to have to go through it feels like I'm never going to get better at this rate which is making me even more worried. thankyou so much for getting back to me this website is really helping with information and people's advice and what they are going through to.

    • Lola82
      Lola82 carmella36657

      Edited

      that sounds awful. I'm so sorry your feeling this way. You definitely want to listen to your body and if you need to go to the hospital then that's okay. if it makes you feel back to normal then it might be worth it instead of risking your life.when was the last time you took a 50mg?

    • carmella36657
      carmella36657 Lola82

      Posted

      it really is the worst thing I've ever experienced it's awful. I think I'm going to ring the doctors again tomorrow and get a second opinion on everything and see if there is anyway or anything I can do more to treat this before going to hospital and if they think I should still go to hospital then I'll probably have no choice but to have to go. I last took the 50mg sertraline last Friday.

    • Lola82
      Lola82 carmella36657

      Posted

      okay good idea to ring your doctor. it's been over a week now since your last pill and you still feel dreadful. keep me posted. I hope your okay.

    • carmella36657
      carmella36657 Lola82

      Posted

      I know it feels like its never ending. I'll phone them in the morning and hope they will do a telephone call back appointment hopefully. I'll let you know what happens once I've spoken with them. Thankyou for staying in touch by the way this is so scary all of this I can't believe it.

    • Lola82
      Lola82 carmella36657

      Posted

      it all does sound very scary. I'm glad you are asking for help today to see if it could be something else or if anything else can help. Goodluck

  • david57454
    david57454 carmella36657

    Edited

    Carmella

    Please seek advice from a gp , your experiencing is down to possibly restarting setraline , on the upside when they do start to work then they do really improve my low mood ,

    Your experiences are common , dont be scared be kind and honest with your self and then the true benefits of this drug will lift your mood.

    All of us have been there , been desperate , and most of us have got better.

    Keep sharing with us so that we can support you so that your feelings of depression and anxiety dissipates . Take each day at a time , you have my sympathy i was where you were recently, today im back at work , find people you can trust and confide , if not than use us on this site or private message us.

    XXXXXX

    • carmella36657
      carmella36657 david57454

      Posted

      hi there thankyou so much for your reply. I've phoned the doctors this morning and now waiting for a call back today so I'm really hoping they can help with these awful symptoms I'm having as they are not getting any better at all and it's been just over a week now and that's without the few months of feeling awful before hand when I had came of them. I used to be on sertraline before for 3 years but came of them. the first few weeks was really bad with flu like symptoms but then it wasn't so bad for a while then after a month or so my depression and anxiety came back worse then ever also my ocd symptoms came back worse than they had ever been that's why I decided to try sertraline again thinking it would help but then after only being back on it for two days I've had some sort of awful reaction to it with all the symptoms I put in the original post and it's still going on a week later and hasn't got any better at all. I had spoken to a doctor on Monday and they said to stop taking sertaline for now as it seems like a bad reaction I was having and to call back if it continues which it has been continuing for the rest of the week with all the same symptoms and more as to why I phoned them back today and now waiting for a call back today so hopefully they will be able to advise on what to do as these symptoms are so awful and scary I just hope they can help with this because it is becoming unbearable.

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