Sertraline (Zoloft) Diary [Archive] - Anxiety Forum - A Home for Those with Anxiety, Fear, or Panic Attacks

Jinaiya

11-06-2012, 12:18 PM

Hello everyone! I just made the switch to Sertraline (Zoloft) last night from Citalopram (Celexa). I spent many hours trying to research last night (being quite afraid of switching from one right to the next). I thought I would come on here and create a record of sorts to maybe help other people out who are also looking for some answers.

I have suffered from problems with anxiety for 15 years and on off. This last bout has been quite nasty and has left me obsessing over my health. I am constantly worried that I am going to die suddenly. Every pain and sensation means something fatal. It is certainly taking a toll on my ability to live happily.

Because of my fear of drugs (putting something foreign into my body), I decided to start with Celexa because I had taken it 5 years prior and felt relatively safe doing so. I was prescribed a dosage of 10mg which I was to increase to 20mg after day 4, and then up to 30mg a week after that. After joining this website I came across an old thread about Celexa being linked to heart problems and sudden death at higher doses (over 40mg). I wasn't even close to that dosage but because I am super sensitive, this news scared the crap out of me. I did not increase the dose past 10mg, but stayed on the drug until my next appointment. My doctor and I decided that it was pointless to keep me on Celexa if it was going to make me worry, so I made the switch to Zoloft last night. I was, of course, completely horrified that something bad would happen switching between SSRI's, primarily because I know that the Celexa is still in my body and will continue to be for at least a few more days. I asked around on here and spoke to a pharmacist and got the reassurance I needed to go ahead with the switch. So last night, rather nervously, I took the new pill and began my journey.

I am to take 12.5mg's of Zoloft for 4 days, increasing to 25mg. One week after, I go up to 50mg, with a follow up appointment shortly after that.

So far (12 hours after first dose) I feel mostly okay. I found I had some trouble sleeping, waking up during the night feeling "weird", possibly frantic that I was "going crazy". I do know that I was really concerned about making the switch, so a lot of that could have to do with anxiety. I have a mild headache today across the front of my forehead and suffered a mild panic attack about 1 hour ago, but I don't think today has been much different than any other day I've lived lately.

So that's the jist of it. I'll come back on here from time to time if I have anything relevant to report. Hopefully this thread will help someone out someday going through similar!

Take care everyone and may we all feel better and be on the road to recovery soon!!

Jinaiya

11-07-2012, 05:56 PM

RobinG

11-08-2012, 12:01 PM

Day 2:

I felt quite depressed today for awhile but that could be situational, not medication related. Had kind of a blah day at my doctors appointment today.

Still getting minor headaches, feel tired and lightheaded. 2 more days of 12.5mg. I'll probably write again once I have increased the dose as this dose may be too low for much of a reaction anyways.

I also jst started on sertraline. Today is 3rd day. My worse side effect is my stomache it hits my stomache hard! Seemed a little better yesterday see how today goes. Get light headed too but not real bad. 1st day headache. I want it to work!! I worry abt health in general, so the side effects giv me more anxiety!

RobinG

11-08-2012, 05:52 PM

I took 25mg first two days 3rd day today, i took a lil less... Feel much better today less stomach trouble!!! :-)

Jinaiya

11-12-2012, 09:26 AM

Day 7:

Increased my dose as planned on Friday. Nervous as always! Had trouble sleeping because I woke up a lot having to pee (4 times). :/ In the midst of waking up a lot I was paying attention to my heart, noticing it a pounding a bit, and didn't seem relaxed. Made me anxious...

Saturday was an okay day in general. I didn't feel any "weirder" or have any new symptoms to report.

Saturday night was horrible. I had panic attacks all night and hardly got any sleep. I was completely obsessing about my heart, feeling like it was pounding, and racing a little (what if's)... I gave up by 3:30 and played video games to get my mind off things.

Sunday was horrible. I had anxiety on and off all day, with a big panic attack in the middle of the afternoon. More heart focus and general fear. Maybe in part to do with the lack of sleep.

I didn't sleep too well last night for much of the same reason. Part of it did have to do with my daughter getting up in the middle of the night, which is out of my control. :) So far (having been up for about 1 hour), I feel mostly okay. Slightly anxious (just noticed I was bouncing my leg, which I do when I am anxious). My heartburn troubles are acting up a little more than expected which often makes me fearful too (what if I have cancer, what if I have something severe they can't find, etc). So yeah, that's basically it.

I have often heard of people complain that Zoloft can cause trouble sleeping, I have yet to determine if that is the case for me or not. Yes, I have been having trouble sleeping, but only because of frequent need to pee (another concern, unfortunately). Then, once I'm up, I'm screwed. I don't seem to have too much trouble falling asleep initially. I lay down, pop my movie on and I am generally asleep within 30 minutes.

I guess I did note that I woke last night to a racing heart which caused an instant panic attack. Seems I am becoming more fearful of sleeping at night.

More later.

Jinaiya

11-12-2012, 09:26 AM

I also jst started on sertraline. Today is 3rd day. My worse side effect is my stomache it hits my stomache hard! Seemed a little better yesterday see how today goes. Get light headed too but not real bad. 1st day headache. I want it to work!! I worry abt health in general, so the side effects giv me more anxiety!

Best of Luck to you RobinG!! Feel free to chime in on this thread about how you are feeling on the Zoloft anytime!! :)

Jinaiya

11-12-2012, 09:32 AM

I guess my biggest fear right now is that this medication isn't going to work for me and I'll have to switch again! :( Feeling really scared and helpless right now. Just want this to stop.

RobinG

11-12-2012, 10:06 AM

Best of Luck to you RobinG!! Feel free to chime in on this thread about how you are feeling on the Zoloft anytime!! :)

Thank u. Im doin ok, but getting anxiety again, panic attack yesterday. But time for me to up dose today, so i hope it helps. I take mine mid morning. No trouble going to sleep, but after 5/6 hrs i wake up & cant get back to sleep, not enough sleep givs me anxiety problems too! I get that heart pounding too, it had stopped when i began zoloft, so i hope my dose increase stops it again. My stomach trouble stopped too. I hope it works for u! Thoughts with u! P.s. im increasing my doses a1/4 at a time, mayb not enough, but it scares me so much this seems easier to handle. I started at 25mg but went down, today back to 25mg. Also, ive heard good stuff on results of this med. but to giv it time! Lets try be positive! :)

RobinG

11-12-2012, 11:13 AM

Jst to note: my doc told me use the zanax for anxiety/panic, while the sertraline gets in system first couple weeks. Then use less zanax only when needed.

Aprilmay4482

11-12-2012, 02:19 PM

Zoloft is the only medicine that helped me. I had no weird side effects and consider it (with therapy) the thing that put me back on track! But every body reacts different.

Jinaiya

11-14-2012, 08:29 AM

Day 9:

This medicine is definitely causing sleep problems for me. I have no problem getting to sleep initially, but I wake up after 2-3 hours of sleep with a panic attack. I usually wake up to my heart pounding (and beating roughly 80-85 bpm). I then have to spend a good hour or so trying to fight through my panic attack and by then I am generally wide awake. As far as day time goes, I have no complaints really. I wouldn't say I'm feeling better, but it's manageable.

I'm supposed to go up to 50mg on Friday and quite frankly I'm afraid to. What if these problems only get worse? :/

harleygrl8

11-14-2012, 12:43 PM

I was having major problems on zoloft.... was on 50mg.... feeling anxious, angry, stomache problems etc..... Docs suggestion up the dose.... boy was he wrong became even more anxious n crazy..... So it didn work for me. Went to dif doc got back on my reg meds citalopram and all the hyped up feelings went away. Whew! Best of luck to u

Jinaiya

11-15-2012, 01:23 PM

Day 10:

I am pleased to report that although I still woke up at 1am this morning, I experienced no anxiety. Instead I laid there and thought a little, eventually drifting back to sleep. :)

I got about 7 hours of sleep last night!!

Woohoo!

RobinG

11-15-2012, 06:13 PM

Glad to hear u got sleep!! My 10th day also, my anxiety/panic is subsiding alot! My mood up & head much more clear!!! Yay!!!

lostone

11-16-2012, 03:06 PM

I am on day number 15 of Zoloft and today was the best I have felt, still have some anxiety but seems to have to started to work alittle. I am starting have my appetite back and I slept for a good 6 hours last night, which is better than 2 or 1. Looking forward to see how to goes from here :)

Jinaiya

11-17-2012, 07:02 AM

Day 12:

I write this as I am having a severe anxiety attack. I have been having trouble sleeping all night because my heart is racing. At the moment symptoms are: Heart racing (although it has slowed a little - probably about 85 down from 100), some little chest pains, sweaty feet, lightheadedness, stomach ache, mild headache.

This was my first night with the dose up to 50mg. I took it at 10, went to bed at 11. I woke up at 12:30 to my heart racing and pounding which immediately started a panic attack. Fell back to sleep 2 hours later. I woke again at 5 to the same thing. I thought my chest felt "funny" so I checked my pulse. I have been laying in bed trying to breathe, trying to picture something nice, and distract myself with a movie. My heart continues to race even after I am relaxed (I'll check 10 minutes later), which causes me to worry again. I am having thoughts like "What if I'm having a bad reaction", "What if I'm allergic", "What if I couldn't handle 50mg and am overdosing"... I'll then say things like "It's okay, same old nonsense"... "But what if it's not?!"

10 minutes later. Heart rate is 85, still bouncing my leg nervously (a habit I have gotten into), sweaty feet subsiding, still feel afraid. Had a couple more chest pains. I feel so tired. :(

This is such a drag because last night and the night before I did mostly fine sleeping. I did wake up both nights but was able to get back to sleep within 30 minutes and experienced no anxiety.

Guess I'm back to square one. I hope I can handle the medication... For now I feel really scared, tired and generally awful.

RobinG

11-17-2012, 11:31 AM

Jinaiya hope u will b feeling better, it sure seems to come & go, the anxiety etc i mean. Mine has as well today is my day 12, zoloft, i didnt sleep well last nite. Im grateful for ur post & others, its really help me realize im not alone w this stuff. Thank u. Best of luck.

Jinaiya

11-17-2012, 05:05 PM

Jinaiya

11-17-2012, 07:36 PM

Will NOT be taking the 50mg again tonight. Back to 25mg until I see my doctor on Monday. Last night and today have been way too hard.

Jinaiya

11-18-2012, 09:08 AM

So I took the 25mg last night. Hopefully I'll be down from this horrible trip soon.

Last night was easily the worst night of my life as far as anxiety is concerned. I was emotional, crying one minute, calm the next. Anxiety coming at me from all directions.

Then came bedtime. I could not get comfortable. If I had blankets I felt overheated and sweaty. Without them I shivered. Had sweats and chills all night. Nausea on and off.

30 minutes after I first laid down, I suddenly felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. I was terrified and paced about the living room. Eventually I sat down because I was feeling light headed and thought I was going to pass out. I felt like I couldn't breathe properly. I felt so cold. My chest felt cold and "nervous" (best word I can think of). It was like having butterflies in the stomach, except this was in my chest.

Called a friend and calmed down after 30 minutes. Went to lay down, but just couldn't... too anxious. This went on for about 2 hours, trying to lay down every 30 minutes or so. Finally at about 1:00am I was able to keep myself calm enough to stay down. Unfortunately sleep was not going to happen. I may have dozed for 15 minutes here and there but I didn't sleep last night overall. Mostly just laid there with my eyes closed trying to relax.

I hope I don't end up frightening some poor person coming on here looking for a positive out look on this medication. If you are that person, allow me to please tell you that every medication is different for every person. Some will work really well for you, and others do not. Even though I feel crummy, I don't regret trying Zoloft. I needed to make a change in my life, and I knew it was possible I may not react well with this drug, BUT it's just as possible that this drug can help me feel better. My logical side knows I am safe from harm and this will pass. I also am keeping in mind that I was starting to feel mostly okay 2 days ago on the 25mg dose, if this drug was really bad for me, I'd probably not have been feeling okay at any point. Maybe the jump to 50mg was just too much for my overexcited body. I have a doctors appt tomorrow so I'll be able to check in and see what she thinks is the best move for me.

Thanks to everyone who is following this. I hope you have a safe and happy day.

Jinaiya

11-19-2012, 09:15 AM

Still having trouble at night with racing heart. I did manage to sleep a little last night though (4 hours). I got up at 5 because I was fed up dealing with my racing heart. Doctors appt today!

becki

11-19-2012, 09:28 AM

Tell yourself this has happened before and you will be fine. It's tough I know. Play a stupid mind game naming in abc order things you find in your house. Anything to distract yourself.

Jinaiya

11-19-2012, 05:43 PM

Tell yourself this has happened before and you will be fine. It's tough I know. Play a stupid mind game naming in abc order things you find in your house. Anything to distract yourself.

Thanks Becki, I do try distraction regularly but there is always a surge of fear that gets me going... :(

The doctors appt didn't get me anywhere. She told me she wasn't prepared to give up on the Zoloft because it's not at a theraputic dosage yet (still at 25mg). She believes anxiety is causing all the problems and the Zoloft isn't the culprit. I have a hard time believing that because trouble sleeping and anxiety in the middle of the night were never issues for me before I started taking this med. I'll admit that my anxiety could cause trouble getting to sleep initially some nights, but once I fell asleep the first time, I was always good for the whole night.

She advised me to try taking it in the morning from now on, so I'll skip it tonight and start tomorrow. She told me to stay on the 25 until I was ready to go up and that I could go up half a pill at a time if I needed to. She said she hoped to see me back in 2 weeks on 50mg.

I feel like if I could just get a few goods nights of sleep I could get on the road to recovery. I am so tired right now my head is buzzing. I feel heavy and wiped out. Wish I could just fall asleep.

RobinG

11-19-2012, 07:50 PM

Thanks Becki, I do try distraction regularly but there is always a surge of fear that get me going... :(

The doctors appt didn't get me anywhere. She told me she wasn't prepared to give up on the Zoloft because it's not at a therapeutic dosage yet (still at 25mg). She believes anxiety is causing all the problems and the Zoloft isn't doing anything wrong. I have a hard time believing that because trouble sleeping and anxiety in the middle of the night was never a problem before I started this med. I'll admit that my anxiety could cause trouble getting to sleep initially some nights, but once I fell asleep the first time, I was always good for the whole night.

She advised me to try taking it in the morning from now on, so I'll skip it tonight and start tomorrow. She told me just to stay on the 25 until I was ready to go up and that I could go up half a pill at a time if I needed to. She said she hoped to see me back in 2 weeks on 50mg.

I feel like if I could just get a few goods nights of sleep I could get on the road to recovery... I am so tired right now my head is buzzing. I feel heavy and wiped out. Wish I could just fall asleep.

Jinaiya... I hope u get sleep! And that the morning dose works! I take mine in the morning, a little while after eating something. Been working ok. My stomach acts up i use antacid it helps. Today i went up to 50mg, dnt feel to good! Was light headed & dizzy & upset stomach. I went up 1/4 at a time. Yesterday i felt great though. Best wishes to u.... And that we both adjust!!!! :)

Jinaiya

11-21-2012, 10:54 AM

RobinG

11-21-2012, 11:08 AM

Day 17:

Slept fairly well Monday night. Took my first morning dose (25mg) yesterday. Didn't notice any major differences. Had 3 panic attacks total yesterday (all focused on my heart racing or pounding) so not any worse than usual. Went to sleep with little difficulty last night, within 20 minutes. Woke up at midnight to my heart racing, but it didn't take me long to get back to sleep. Woke up for good at 6am to my heart racing. I got about 7 hours sleep last night, so not bad! Progress is progress!

Hopefully I'll tackle my night terrors for good. I'll probably stick with the 25mg for a couple days before bumping it up, just so I feel okay about it mentally, and adjusted, etc...

Robin: How did you manage going up 1/4 of a pill at a time? Did you increase by 1/4 daily? Did your doctor advise this or did you decide to do this on your own? Maybe I'll try your method as you said you didn't notice much a difference.

Hi Jinaiya.. So happy u hav progress. I asked my doc abt the increase a 1/4 at a time, she said it was fine! So i hav gone up my last 1/4 to full 50mg. Today is third day, i jst took it. First day at 50 i felt sick to my stomach & dizzy light headed, but no worse than b4. Second day alot better mostly jst stomach trouble. Id get some hot then cold feelings too. See how today goes!!! Last 3 nites i hav slept well, and panic attacks arent near as bad either!! So givs me hope!!! Good luck! Im glad ur on this forum, thanx!

Jinaiya

11-21-2012, 02:55 PM

Hi Jinaiya.. So happy u hav progress. I asked my doc abt the increase a 1/4 at a time, she said it was fine! So i hav gone up my last 1/4 to full 50mg. Today is third day, i jst took it. First day at 50 i felt sick to my stomach & dizzy light headed, but no worse than b4. Second day alot better mostly jst stomach trouble. Id get some hot then cold feelings too. See how today goes!!! Last 3 nites i hav slept well, and panic attacks arent near as bad either!! So givs me hope!!! Good luck! Im glad ur on this forum, thanx!

Hi again Robin!

I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better!! :)

When you increased 1/4 at a time, how many days were you going in between the increase? I think it's what I will do as well.

RobinG

11-21-2012, 06:46 PM

Hi Jinaiya .... I went 5 days with 3/4 of 50. Now my 3rd 50mg day today has been pretty good!! Yay!!! Hope u do well!!!

Jinaiya

11-22-2012, 01:55 PM

I'm really glad to hear that! I hope you continue to have good days!! :)

RobinG

11-22-2012, 07:52 PM

I'm really glad to hear that! I hope you continue to have good days!! :)

Thanx.. Hope ur good! If ur celebrating Thanksgiving hope its a good one!! I had some anxiety earlier the morning, but i hav settled down now most the visiting is done!

Jinaiya

11-23-2012, 09:55 AM

Thanx.. Hope ur good! If ur celebrating Thanksgiving hope its a good one!! I had some anxiety earlier the morning, but i hav settled down now most the visiting is done!

Hi Robin! I'm doing about the same, which isn't where I'd like to be but I'd call my symptoms stable. I am feeling really dizzy this morning, which is not a normal symptom for me, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Will probably do one more day of the 25mg and then go up 1/4 pill on Saturday.

RobinG

11-23-2012, 11:16 PM

Hi Robin! I'm doing about the same, which isn't where I'd like to be but I'd call my symptoms stable. I am feeling really dizzy this morning, which is not a normal symptom for me, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Will probably do one more day of the 25mg and then go up 1/4 pill on Saturday.

Hi Jinaiya... I wish u all the best with increasing ur dose! Im ok so far, at a event with alot of ppl & noise & had bad panic attack!! But i suppose they aren't going to jst end this fast!! I hav been doing much better tho!!!

Jinaiya

11-26-2012, 06:17 PM

Day 22:

I have managed to get my dose up to 35mg since Saturday. Tomorrow I will go to roughly 37mg (1 and a half pills) and keep it there for 2 days, slowly increasing until I reach my target of 50mg. This seems to be the much more gentle way of doing this and I am not having any trouble like I did when I jumped to 50mg from 25mg last week. Thank you so much Robin for coming on here and telling me your story, without you I may have given up instead of trying it this way. :)

As far as symptoms are concerned, I am sleeping a lot better, but not fully as I'd like. I have noticed in the last 2 days I have not been as obsessed with my heart, have maybe 1-2 panic attacks a day, which is an improvement. In the last two days I have developed vertigo so that has not been helping my life any. Also noticing a lot of stomach upset right around my naval area... :/ I'm not saying that these two symptoms are related to Zoloft but it seems reasonable to mention ANYTHING I experience while undergoing my Zoloft journey.

Thanks for reading, hope everyone is well.

RobinG

11-29-2012, 11:32 AM

Jinaiya

11-29-2012, 02:40 PM

Jinaiya... Hope ur well. My side effects hav dropped off alot now. At 50mg now week & 1/2. I see a huge improvement!! I look forward to more improvement, i feel more positive, calmer, sleeping, its easier to apply coping skills when anxiety does come up. :)

Very glad to hear you are doing so well!!

I am nearing my goal of 50mg. Hopefully be there by this weekend. Still fairly anxious, and experiencing vertigo, but aside from that, I do see a little bit of change in the right direction.

Are you sticking with 50mg or increasing? My doctor said she thought I'd do well on 75.

RobinG

11-29-2012, 05:28 PM

Very glad to hear you are doing so well!!

I am nearing my goal of 50mg. Hopefully be there by this weekend. Still fairly anxious, and experiencing vertigo, but aside from that, I do see a little bit of change in the right direction.

Are you sticking with 50mg or increasing? My doctor said she thought I'd do well on 75.

Im glad u see some improvements, after 3-4 days at 50mg i saw consistant improvements. I still get anxiety but nothing like before. So far im staying at 50. Wishing u all the best!! :)

tmdarling

12-01-2012, 02:49 PM

Jinaiya

12-01-2012, 08:07 PM

I'm have gone from 50 mgs that I began on in 2005 clear up to 200mg and now back to 150mg. At 200mg I was disturbed by the fact that I began to feel robotic, almost outside myself - and even more anxious.

That sounds intense. I think I have some idea how you're feeling. I experience that, but try to NOT think about it too much, because it makes me really anxious. :(

Jinaiya

12-01-2012, 08:09 PM

Im glad u see some improvements, after 3-4 days at 50mg i saw consistant improvements. I still get anxiety but nothing like before. So far im staying at 50. Wishing u all the best!! :)

I think I am doing a little better. It's hard to say because the vertigo is still really bad and that is making me anxious. I did almost get through yesterday with no panic attacks at all. Have had only one today.

Would be nice if the vertigo and headaches would go away so I could see if the meds are really helping.

Doctors appt on Monday. I'll be at 50mg by then.

RobinG

12-02-2012, 10:24 AM

I think I am doing a little better. It's hard to say because the vertigo is still really bad and that is making me anxious. I did almost get through yesterday with no panic attacks at all. Have had only one today.

Would be nice if the vertigo and headaches would go away so I could see if the meds are really helping.

Doctors appt on Monday. I'll be at 50mg by then.

Jinaiya.... I had headaches too very bad. Last couple days ive noticed they r going away! Ive always had the dizziness so unsure how meds effect that! See how u do after u get to 50mg. At least for me, thats when alot changed. As always good luck:)

Jinaiya

12-05-2012, 11:00 PM

Having a bad night... Pounding and racing heart, fear and worry. :(

Had to get out of bed because I felt out of breath and was unable to enjoy the movie I was trying to watch as a distraction.

Not exactly sure what triggered it, though I have it narrowed down to a few options.

Still not at 50mg yet, but close. Letting my fears get the best of me.

Life can be so tough. :/

Jinaiya

12-08-2012, 03:06 AM

Annnnd again tonight. Woke up at 1:45am to my heart racing. Tried to fight it, freaked out. So here I sit, waiting it out again.

Had a really bad attack earlier this evening, but snapped out of it fairly quickly, about 15 minutes and my heart was back to 65-70bpm. I went to bed about 10 and had no trouble getting to sleep, was relaxed.

Had an attack this morning as well, I decided to go out for a power walk. This helped.

Yesterday was great for the most part, minus a couple bumps. I did sleep all night which was great.

Wondering if breakthrough anxiety like this is normal or not. I've been advised from a few people on this forum that Zoloft probably isn't the drug for me. I'm afraid to give on it and have to jump to something else... What if I'm uncurable? :/

Edit: 5 minutes later. My heart has slowed back down to mid 80. Still feeling pretty anxious though (that icky racey feeling in my chest I experience and the need to bounce my leg nervously). Hopefully I'll get some more sleep tonight in awhile. Thanks for listening.

Jinaiya

12-10-2012, 12:58 AM

Here I am again. :/

Increased dose to 50mg (finally) this morning. Have had 2 panic attacks today. First was this morning because of racing heart and palpitations, then again while in a grocery store because I felt dizzy and like I might pass out after having a series of chest pains.

Had a nice evening, heart was relaxed, everything was great. Got into bed and read for a half hour, did the meditation, felt fairly decent, with some anxiety trying to rear its ugly head. I decided to put a movie on after the meditation. I dosed off after about 15 minutes and woke abruptly to my heart racing. I battled with this for about 2 hours until finally just giving up and coming to my computer, enough was enough.

Yesterday was rough in the morning. More heart racing. I went for a brisk walk hoping to brush it off. I did feel better by the afternoon and went to sleep without any trouble. I got a solid 8 hours of sleep. I'm seeing a lot of this pattern. Seems like one night I'll sleep great and the next I'll sleep horribly.

I'm frusterated.

Who's to say if this is the medication or my mind causing these dramatic and scary events. I'm tired of it though and wish it would just stop. Despite all the tests I've had on my heart, I often think they just overlooked something and I'm going to just collapse. I can't imagine how my heart can take this much of a beating and not just stop working. Its insane how often it races out of control, it just can't be normal or healthy for a 29 year old.

I'm scared all the time.

I feel so alone and so desperate. I just want to feel better, even if all that means is that I can get through a day without experiencing my heart race, pound, skip... I'd like very much to not have all these chest pains. I'd like very much to just feel like a normal human being. The angry, fed up part of me hopes that if its a heart problem, it'd just hurry up and happen. I'm terrified of dying and certainly don't want to die, but if I did, all of this would not matter anymore and I could quit waiting for it. It would just come, I'd die and then end of story. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suicidal and would never take my own life, I just hope that if my symptoms are medical and not mental that they hurry up and happen. This is no way to live, and its also hurting everyone around me.

Thanks for listening, I fear this is becoming more of an anxiety journal than a drug discussion and I apoligize for that. Its nice to have a place to come and vent though, knowing that whoever reads this is probably going through much of the same thing.

Take care.

- Jin

Jinaiya

12-10-2012, 03:11 AM

Jinaiya

12-11-2012, 07:37 AM

2 hours later. Same shit. My chest feels almost buzzy... It's hard to explain past this. I feel kind of jittery. Sleep isn't happening.

Either this med is not the one for me or I truly do have some form of heart condition. I need to find out though and I need help. Im so so scared. This is out of control.

Calling my doctor tomorrow and getting off this med. I can't take this anymore. I'm done.

Called my doctor first thing in the morning. I did not sleep at all. It was the most awful experience ever. I am switching over to Paxil, and will be decreasing the Zoloft gradually over the next few days, and then combining the two for a week at low doses.

I guess that concludes my Zoloft journal. If I experience anything while coming down from this drug, I will certainly come back and mention it. Also, this thread is open to anyone using this medication to add to it with their experiences, good or bad. I think its helpful to have as much information as possible for us as anxiety suffers. Its helps us make the right decisions and feel confident making those decisions.

RobinG

12-11-2012, 11:28 AM

Called my doctor first thing in the morning. I did not sleep at all. It was the most awful experience ever. I am switching over to Paxil, and will be decreasing the Zoloft gradually over the next few days, and then combining the two for a week at low doses.

I guess that concludes my Zoloft journal. If I experience anything while coming down from this drug, I will certainly come back and mention it. Also, this thread is open to anyone using this medication to add to it with their experiences, good or bad. I think its helpful to have as much information as possible for us as anxiety suffers. Its helps us make the right decisions and feel confident making those decisions.

Jinaiya... Hope ur switch to paxil works for u!! I for one would like to know how the switch goes. Plz let us know! I feel like ive been on this journey with u & as u said we need all the information we can get & know we are not alone!! Best of luck to u:)