Zoloft (Sertraline): What it is, Does, Side Effects.
In 2016, Sertraline or Zoloft was the most commonly prescribed psychiatric medication in the United States, and in 2019, it was the 12th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States with over 37 million prescriptions. This is a very commonly used medication. It is an SSRI. It is a first line treatment for anxiety and depression. Sertraline was first approved by the US FDA in 1991. It's been around for 31 years.
Sertraline has been approved to treat conditions such as major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder. Sertraline is not approved for use in children except for those with OCD. Now, Sertraline has been around for several decades. It's very commonly used. Many people have heard of Zoloft before, so some of the side effects of this medication include anticholinergic side effects like dry mucous membranes, dry mouth, constipation. You can also get other side effects like fatigue. You can get headaches, you can get brain, zappy like feelings, just to name a few of the side effects.
My advice when it comes to psychiatric medications is that you don't focus on the side effects.
In fact, I would just know what the really bad side effects are and disregard the rest. See how you do. You just need to know that antidepressants can make things worse. So you need to watch out for that. You need to see if your depression suddenly increases. And you have an increase in suicidal ideation, as it may be the medication
Zoloft is a good medication. It blocks that serotonin reuptake transporter. What it does is it allows that serotonin to stay in the synaptic cleft, which is that space between two neurons. The higher the level of serotonin in that space, the better you feel. Now, you can get too high, and it can lead to a condition known as serotonin syndrome, but you have to have really high doses of SSRIs, and it's usually a combination with other medications like trazodone or a tricyclic antidepressant or even an atypical antipsychotic that also increase serotonin.
If you're on an antidepressant alone, you can watch for symptoms of serotonin syndrome, but it's not very likely. When you have that increase of serotonin in that synaptic cleft, you feel better and you have more energy. When you have low levels of serotonin, that's what leads to depression and low mood. Similar to other SSRI medications, zoloft can have sexual dysfunction side effects. For men, it may lead to a difficulty in having an erection. In women, it may lead to not being able to have an orgasm. That's something to be aware of, and that specific side effect can be treated with other medications. Or you can try another medication of the SSRI class or other classes of medication in hopes of finding one that doesn't produce that side effect.
With Zoloft, it can be one to two weeks before any effects of the medication are felt. Potency may not be felt for up to six to eight weeks. This is a medication that you need to be patient with. As far as side effects go, you need to be patient with those as well. If they're not serious, if you're having some headaches, maybe a little fatigue. Maybe a little bit of body aches. They tend to relieve as your body adapts to the medication, as it gets used to having it and as it builds in your system. be patient. Side effects tend to go away. It may take a couple of months until your body really gets used to the medication. It may take even longer. You always want to give these medications a full try.
Typically, you want to start at a low dose. You want to raise it higher and higher until you get to the effect desired. And if you can tolerate the side effects, if you need it to feel better, you can get to those higher dosages. You want to give each medication a good try because you don't want to have to come back and repeat it later. If you're not getting enough relief from other antidepressants, you want to make sure you get at least to that eight-week level where it's evened off and plateaued in your system so that you can know how it really affects you.
