MoFaw: Recovering from 4 day adverse reaction of Zoloft

[MoFaw]

Hi I'm Moe. I'm a 29 year old male.

 

I work as a neurology RN. I never would have thought that a reaction like this could come on from taking a medication for 4 days but here I am. I have about a year long history of health related anxiety. I had a pain in my throat that would not go away. Everything checked out and it was safe to assume it was anxiety induced, but my mind wouldn't accept that because the pain was still there. I took Lexapro in increasing doses up to 15mg over 6 months. My anxiety stayed and I became tired throughout the day so I stopped it. 

This was February 2023 to July 2023.

 

February 2024

The anxiety was annoying but under control. It did not effect my daily life. The throat pain persisted. I decided to try another medication to see if it would help with the throat pain. I started Taking Zoloft mid February. I was to be on 50mg. The first day I took it I noticed no difference. The second day, I felt nauseous. I then realized I had forgotten to take half tablets. The third day I started taking 25mg. I became so depersonalized it was nothing like I have ever experienced. Later that night I started having intrusive thoughts that I needed to harm myself. I pushed it out. The fourth day the nausea had become way worse, and I was getting thoughts of harming myself throughout the day. This was not me. I have never had that issue. I decided to stop the medication then and there.

 

The following days everything became much worse. I felt so nauseous I could not eat or drink. I was shaking, I had chills, I had thoughts I needed to die to end this, I could not enjoy anything, I could not focus, I could not work, and I could not sleep. After 2 days I went to the ER. They gave me fluids and Droperidol to help with nausea and calm me down. I had a dystonic reaction and left the ER traumatized after it was resolved. For the next week and a half, I experienced the worst thoughts, nausea, despair, and hopelessness that I have ever endured. I truly thought my life was over. I had family over every day. Without them I have no idea if I could have survived. After a week and a half, this went away. I felt like I was back to my normal self.

 

One night I awoke at 1am to the same chills, despair, panic, hopelessness, sweatiness, sadness, that I remembered from the first week. Since then, I have been dealing with waves of despair and hopelessness, trouble concentrating, nausea and loss of appetite, lack of motivation, general weakness, and anhedonia. It has not been as bad as the first week, but many are the same feelings. I feel overwhelmed by simple tasks of the day at times such as dropping off things at the post office or thinking about what I have to do in the day. It has been 43 days since I took the last dose of Zoloft. I have started therapy, I exercise daily, I am taking fish oil and multivitamin, I keep a journal of my good moments, I make sure to plan my days out, I am meditating multiple times a day, I am reaching out to family, and always looking for new things. The last 3 days in particular have been better than the previous days. I feel more in control. I have had one wave each day 1-2 hours long. I will likely regress and have a really bad day, but you can't dwell on it. Its easy to have a really bad day and think you're regressed. I think I am making progress, but it is certain that this experience and medication has changed my life. I'm here to get better. I want to work this out. I am not losing my inner peace and life due to some medication reaction. I am stronger than that. If you're reading this, you are too. We will break through the waves.

 

Positive outlook is how to beat this. Of that I have no doubt. Don't stop looking for healthy ways to get through the day. Meditation and exercise made all the difference for me. Medication breaks the cycle of "Am I feeling bad" or "when will I feel bad" thoughts. Exercise can give the boost you need. Power through the weakness, you're stronger than you think.

 

 

[Erimus]

Hello, and welcome to Surviving Antidepressants. We are a peer support forum to assist in tapering off psychiatric drugs safely, or recovering from psychiatric drug withdrawal.

 

This topic is for anything relating to you, and any questions you have. Please do not start another topic.

 

We have a small number of members who have experienced immediate adverse reactions after just a few doses of a drug. Recovery is common, but it may be slow and will follow a windows and waves pattern. The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

It sounds like you're on the way to recovery, and doing all the right things. Do not hesitate to ask further questions, and continue to read from the wealth of resources the site offers.

 

Best wishes,

Erimus

Edited April 2 by Erimus

[Farm24]

22 hours ago, MoFaw said:

Hi I'm Moe. I'm a 29 year old male.

 

I work as a neurology RN. I never would have thought that a reaction like this could come on from taking a medication for 4 days but here I am. I have about a year long history of health related anxiety. I had a pain in my throat that would not go away. Everything checked out and it was safe to assume it was anxiety induced, but my mind wouldn't accept that because the pain was still there. I took Lexapro in increasing doses up to 15mg over 6 months. My anxiety stayed and I became tired throughout the day so I stopped it. 

This was February 2023 to July 2023.

 

February 2024

The anxiety was annoying but under control. It did not effect my daily life. The throat pain persisted. I decided to try another medication to see if it would help with the throat pain. I started Taking Zoloft mid February. I was to be on 50mg. The first day I took it I noticed no difference. The second day, I felt nauseous. I then realized I had forgotten to take half tablets. The third day I started taking 25mg. I became so depersonalized it was nothing like I have ever experienced. Later that night I started having intrusive thoughts that I needed to harm myself. I pushed it out. The fourth day the nausea had become way worse, and I was getting thoughts of harming myself throughout the day. This was not me. I have never had that issue. I decided to stop the medication then and there.

 

The following days everything became much worse. I felt so nauseous I could not eat or drink. I was shaking, I had chills, I had thoughts I needed to die to end this, I could not enjoy anything, I could not focus, I could not work, and I could not sleep. After 2 days I went to the ER. They gave me fluids and Droperidol to help with nausea and calm me down. I had a dystonic reaction and left the ER traumatized after it was resolved. For the next week and a half, I experienced the worst thoughts, nausea, despair, and hopelessness that I have ever endured. I truly thought my life was over. I had family over every day. Without them I have no idea if I could have survived. After a week and a half, this went away. I felt like I was back to my normal self.

 

One night I awoke at 1am to the same chills, despair, panic, hopelessness, sweatiness, sadness, that I remembered from the first week. Since then, I have been dealing with waves of despair and hopelessness, trouble concentrating, nausea and loss of appetite, lack of motivation, general weakness, and anhedonia. It has not been as bad as the first week, but many are the same feelings. I feel overwhelmed by simple tasks of the day at times such as dropping off things at the post office or thinking about what I have to do in the day. It has been 43 days since I took the last dose of Zoloft. I have started therapy, I exercise daily, I am taking fish oil and multivitamin, I keep a journal of my good moments, I make sure to plan my days out, I am meditating multiple times a day, I am reaching out to family, and always looking for new things. The last 3 days in particular have been better than the previous days. I feel more in control. I have had one wave each day 1-2 hours long. I will likely regress and have a really bad day, but you can't dwell on it. Its easy to have a really bad day and think you're regressed. I think I am making progress, but it is certain that this experience and medication has changed my life. I'm here to get better. I want to work this out. I am not losing my inner peace and life due to some medication reaction. I am stronger than that. If you're reading this, you are too. We will break through the waves.

 

Positive outlook is how to beat this. Of that I have no doubt. Don't stop looking for healthy ways to get through the day. Meditation and exercise made all the difference for me. Medication breaks the cycle of "Am I feeling bad" or "when will I feel bad" thoughts. Exercise can give the boost you need. Power through the weakness, you're stronger than you think.

 

 

You were smart to stop. I had an adverse reaction to zoloft....burning, muscle tension. I was pretty much told that it was most likely anxiety. So then I tried Lexapro for 4 mo ths.  Still dealing with the fall out.  Finally seeing some small windows.  You will definitely heal faster. I think there is an adverse reaction thread on this site.