Posted by CM on December 15, 1999, at 4:15:28
Hello...Yesterday I swallowed my first tablet of Zoloft (50 mg).
I've started taking them for panic disorder/anxiety, which I've
suffered from for about 1.5 years. I took it around 1100 when
I woke up. Already an hour later the first effects appeared.
I had a slight panic attack that lasted for like 20 seconds.
Another hour passed, and I started to feel something going on
in my stomach, and I got mild diarrhea. The diarrhea lasted for
the rest of the day, but this wasn't really a problem. Actually,
I felt kind of better, in a happier mood, almost a speed-like
effect. But, of course, this is not the end of the story.When the night arrived, around 2300 o'clock, I felt very tired.
But one has to take in consideration that I had only slept 4
hours the previous night. I felt like it was so easy to just
"dive" into the dreamworld, in other words, very easily fall
asleep. When I was lying in my bed ready to sleep, I felt that
a panic attack was on its way. And I was right. This time it
was quite severe, but far from the worst I've been through.
It lasted for something like two hours, not as bad all the time
though - I tried to calm down as much as possible. I felt like
I was going to faint, and had rapid heartbeats and a sense
of impending doom/fearful thoughts, chaos in my head, nausea.
All typical symptoms of a panic attack. I finally fell asleep
and slept for 2-3 hours before I awakened 0500 in the morning.
The anxiety was still present, but not as much. I probably had
like 2-3 smaller attacks after this, and here I am, writing this.
I was a little unsure if I wanted to take another tablet this
morning, because I don't really want to go through this again.
So 90 minutes ago I took half a tablet (25 mg). Just now I don't
feel very bad, but earlier this morning I was a bit shaky
and generally just felt like shit, with the anxiety lurking in
the background, waiting for an opportunity to break out. But
I know that it is the Zoloft that triggered these attacks, because
I've had a very good period lately before I started on them.I wonder if this is a common reaction for people taking Zoloft/other
SSRI's for panic disorder/anxiety. I thought this medication was
supposed to stop the anxiety, not trigger it. I called my doc and
she said that this was very common like for the first week or so.
So I have to go through this hell for a week?? *puh*...
Well, I'll see how this day ends.Any answers/comments to this would be appreciated!! Thanx!!
CM
poster:CM
thread:16938
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991212/msgs/16938.html