Kadbay34: Sertraline - Bad reaction

[Kadbay34]

Hi everyone

 

Just thought i'd reach out for some support as I have been browsing this site for a few months now. Basically 18 months ago I ate a pot brownie which triggered an absolute breakdown for me (I was quite stressed at the time I consumed this). Over the next year I was recovering slowly and starting to find a decent bit of calm in my life again even though I was still pretty shaken at how hard the previous year had been. That takes me up to the middle of last August, I decided that I would try an antidepressant to help speed up the recovery process. I had tried antidepressants in the past but they had always given me bad initial side effects which led me to stop, but that was many years ago and I had read a lot of positive things about them so I decided to give it a go. I took sertraline (Zoloft) for 12 days and I actually felt really well on it. The first dose was weird as it felt like I was coming up on some kind of party drug, after that it levelled out and I thought great this might actually help me this time 

 

Unfortunately on the 11th day, I suddenly got a host of unpleasant symptoms,

Extreme panic

Feling of terror

Depression

Ringing ears

Akathesia

Hot flushes

Burning brain

Teeth grinding

Waking up in a panic in the night

 

There was many more and these came on in a matter of seconds. I continued to take my dose the day after these symptoms started but that was the last dose, so I was on them for a total of 12 days. The first week after I stopped taking them was hell. I was in an extreme state of terror and crying a lot. It felt like I had just been reincarnated from a past life where my whole family had been killed and I was still feeling the raw pain of it. It was so hard to cope so I went to the doctor and was prescribed benzos which I took for a month and they helped take the edge off things so that I was at least able to function and go to college. Interestingly, about 3 weeks after stopping the antidepressants, I started to feel quite normal again and thought I had gotten away with just short discomfort. This continued for about a month until the extreme anxiety returned. For the past month I have had a lot of the systoms return, burning brain, trouble sleeping, extreme chemical anxiety, derealisation. I also recently developed a really bad swallowing anxiety where I have this "mental block" when I try to swallow food and I panic because I think I am going to choke

 

I dont see a huge amount of bad reaction forums on here. Just wanted to share my experience and get some support and advice. Things are really scary right now, especially the panic about swallowing food and severe anxiety/derealisation. I am thankful at least that the akathesia that I was first experiencing has not returned. My last dose of sertraline was 14 and a half weeks ago 

Edited December 12, 2024 by Emonda
Name to title

[Emonda]

Welcome @Kadbay34

 

On 12/12/2024 at 7:58 AM, Kadbay34 said:

I dont see a huge amount of bad reaction forums on here.

 

Sorry to hear of your experience. Have you seen this link:

 

 

On 12/12/2024 at 7:58 AM, Kadbay34 said:

I went to the doctor and was prescribed benzos which I took for a month and they helped take the edge off things so that I was at least able to function and go to college.

 

I can't see this in your signature. Can you add the specifics. Are you still taking it after a month? If not, did you stop the benzo CT? If so, that's likely part of your problem.

 

Once you add to your signature, someone will try to assist.

 

Regards, Emonda

[Kadbay34]

Hi Emonda

 

I have updated my signature. I was taking a small dose of benzos for a month, they helped take the edge off things but once I stopped taking them the anxiety came back similar to how it was before. I didnt notice any new symptoms when I stopped taking the benzos apart from the ones that were already triggered from the antidepressant. I have severe swallowing anxiety at the moment which makes eating so difficult