Hi, just adding to this thread for record keeping purposes.

after 10 days at 75 mg Zoloft and no problems, i went up to 100mg (on the 1st of January... ha! easy to remember!)

this is my 7th day at 100 mg so i am at steady state.

Possibly related symptoms/events:

General sedation & increased need for sleep:
i have been incredibly sleepy and needing lots of sleep (9+ hours) both with 75mg but especially early on in the 100mg increase. several times i have literally passed out in front of the tv, despite having had extra strong coffee in the effort to see the end of this or that movie. other times i couldn't keep my eyes open to start with. one night mom made me tea when i started getting sleepy. i was "in and out" - fell asleep with the cup in my hand poured it on myself! so the tea did wake me up, but not in the intended (or pleasant) fashion!

Blood Pressure decrease:
of note, it seems to be messing with my bp... once when i felt faint even sitting up in bed, mom brought the machine to my bed... i had 93/59! recently (since starting Zoloft) my bp has been running between 110/65 and 120/75. before zoloft, i was in the borderline high (130/80 -140/90) range. so this is good as long as i restabilize and don't have more of those steep drops. or i'll drop some time when i'm not sitting down!

this happened last time i took zoloft too, but that time, i had just become much less sedentary than i was (started working + commute with footwork), so i attributed the bp changes to that.

ironically SSRIs are most often used to help treat low bp! (however they can cause changes in either direction.)

Headaches (minor:
this week i also had "twinge" headaches... usu. brief ... 10 mins - 1 hour. low-moderate intensity pain but otherwise characteristic migraine type: unilateral (temporal) and throbbing. they could be unrelated twinges as i will soon be due for the usual monthly migraines.

~ waves ~

"And there we have it, folks. Kermit theeee Frog, Sesame Street News, returning you to your regularly scheduled threads..."

thank you for the update. one of the bp readings sounded scarey. how is it helping with your depression? nice to have you back. very nice.
love
bobby

thank you for the update. You have been missed.
I am working today so need to get going. hope your headaches stay short or better yet...go away entirely.
bizi

I am glad to hear from you and know what has happened in your life. I too take 100 on zoloft and need the sleep like you do. I hope you are OK today.
I am not so good, I got lousy news at the ankle specialist on friday. have to have another surgery and I am t____ked off. I can't stay out of the operating room and I am thinking about renting a room on a permanent basis. I need you all too waves, not having a good weeked. My doctors didn't communicate on a up in pain meds. so I am in some real pain this weekend until I can squack at them on monday.
I surely do need all my buddies here too. I think about you, and so many others on a daily basis. My list is long, and I am grateful for the people who share their lives. take care of yourself. ginnie

Hi, Waves,

That's good you are taking and recording your blood pressure.
How is Zoloft helping with mood?

Mari

seemed to be helping but... then it comes and goes and honestly i don't feel much different. still on very shaky ground. today was awful. you can probably tell, when i posted the other day, i was in a much better mood.

i have had chest pain all day, very mild - intercostal muscles. i know it is from anxiety because i have had that all day too. i know what set it off... usual crud - i don't want to talk about it.

depression. i also got depressed. i am having a big wave of it right now. some things worsen it. today it went hand in hand with the anxiety... same crud set off the combination.

i didn't take an anxiolytic but could have. maybe should have. it may have saved my "plans" to get out for the day. instead, i slept as an escape.

i did manage to get two essential things done.
1 - call my scripts in in the am, and
2 - fetch them from mdoc and get them filled in the evening.

(i was clear out of depakote.)

i will post some non-zoloft related adventures to the other thread.

~ waves ~

Dear Waves,
These are hugely important tasks and can be such a hassle.

M

When is your stress test?
bizi

Hi cutie !

I dont like the side effects zoloft is giving you.... Specially because it doesnt seem to be giving you much help with your mood or feeling good.... Or am I completely wrong ?

Dear Mari

yes. staying on medication is important. i had some 300's of the Depakote so i was getting most of my dose, but i was running out of those too...

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Dear Bizi

stress test is this thursday, the 19th, at 9.20 am. that's a 6 am wakeup time for me.

and here i am 4 days before my stress test, up at 4 am.... can't sleep. totally blowing away the early bedtimes from the past couple weeks that i managed to maintain, in view of this stupid test. my mother said well if it's that much stress just cancel it... oh well it's paid for. like "just throw our money away." thanks a lot mom, that really helped reduce my stress level.

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Dear Majo

it is not uncommon to have some side effects like that with a dosage change but they are likely transitory.

i have not had bouts of tiredness like that again. need to check my bp next few days, but i would have noticed had it gone that low again - it hasn't. therapeutic effect can take 2-4 weeks after target dose reaches steady state.

i have gotten sick. some of the tiredness may have been the stupid virus incubating although it would seem like a long time. or i might have been fighting things off in general before getting sick. there have been colds and parainfluenzas going around like mad.

thank you all for your support dear friends.



~ waves ~