How Do You Take Sertraline
Its pretty simple. If you come and see me at my GP surgery, I explain that the starting dose is 50mg a day in adults. Thats one tablet a day. We then up-titrate the dose in 50mg increments over weeks or months depending on how you respond. The maximum is 200mg in a day. Courses can last from six months to a lifetime for some.
What Should I Know About Storage And Disposal Of This Medication
Keep this medication in the container it came in, tightly closed, and out of reach of children. Store it at room temperature and away from excess heat and moisture .
It is important to keep all medication out of sight and reach of children as many containers are not child-resistant and young children can open them easily. To protect young children from poisoning, always lock safety caps and immediately place the medication in a safe location â one that is up and away and out of their sight and reach.
Unneeded medications should be disposed of in special ways to ensure that pets, children, and other people cannot consume them. However, you should not flush this medication down the toilet. Instead, the best way to dispose of your medication is through a medicine take-back program. Talk to your pharmacist or contact your local garbage/recycling department to learn about take-back programs in your community. See the FDA’s Safe Disposal of Medicines website for more information if you do not have access to a take-back program.
What If I Want To Stop Sertraline
If youre in the headspace for stopping, then its time to see your doctor. The dose of sertraline needs to be slowly reduced over weeks, monitoring how your mental health responds to this along the way. If you stop cold turkey you may experience symptoms of dizziness, nausea, rebound anxiety and depression, as well as flu-like symptoms. Let your doctor guide you through this period.
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What Should I Do If I Overdose On Zoloft
An overdose of Zoloft could be fatal, so seek immediate help or call the Poison Help Line at 1-800-222-1222 if you overdose. Overdose symptoms can include fatigue, drowsiness, agitation, dizziness, fever, vomiting, fast heartbeat, sweating, shivering, confusion, muscle stiffness, nausea, loss of coordination, diarrhea, seizures hallucinations, mania, or loss of consciousness.
What Drugs Interact With Zoloft
Zoloft may interact with cold or allergy medicines, sedatives, narcotics, sleeping pills, muscle relaxers, medicines for seizures or anxiety, other antidepressants, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs , blood thinners, cimetidine, fentanyl, St. John’s wort, tramadol, L-tryptophan, heart medications, or migraine headache medicines.
Zoloft may also interact with digoxin, linezolid, lithium, or valproate.
Do not take Zoloft if you:
- take a monoamine oxidase inhibitor . Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist if you are not sure if you take an MAOI, including the antibiotic linezolid.
- have taken an MAOI within 2 weeks of stopping Zoloft unless directed to do so by your healthcare provider.
- have stopped taking an MAOI in the last 2 weeks unless directed to do so by your healthcare provider.
- take any other medicines that contain sertraline .
- take the antipsychotic medicine pimozide because this can cause serious heart problems.
- are allergic to sertraline or any of the ingredients in Zoloft. See the end of this Medication Guide for a complete list of ingredients in Zoloft.
- take Antabuse® due to the alcohol content.
If Zoloft is discontinued abruptly, withdrawal side effects may include abdominal cramps, flu-like symptoms, fatigue, and memory impairment.
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How To Use Zoloft
Read the Medication Guide and, if available, the Patient Information Leaflet provided by your pharmacist before you start using sertraline and each time you get a refill. If you have any questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Take this medication by mouth as directed by your doctor, usually once daily either in the morning or evening. The tablet or liquid form of this medication may be taken with or without food. The capsule form is usually taken with food. Swallow the capsules whole. Do not crush or chew the capsules.
The liquid form of this medication must be mixed with another liquid before use. Just before taking, carefully measure the dose using the medicine dropper provided. Do not use a household spoon because you may not get the correct dose. Mix the dose with a half cup of water, ginger ale, lemon-lime soda, lemonade, or orange juice. Do not use other liquids to mix this drug. The mixture may appear cloudy, which is normal and harmless. Drink all of the mixture right away. Do not prepare a supply in advance.
If you are taking this medication for premenstrual problems, your doctor may direct you to take this drug every day of the month or for only the 2 weeks before your period until the start of your period.
Tell your doctor if your condition lasts or gets worse.
You Should Only Take Sertraline As Agreed With Your Doctor
You will get the best effects from your medicine if you take it every day at the dose prescribed by your doctor.
Make sure that you know your dose. If it is not written on the label, check with your pharmacist or doctor.
You will usually take it once a day. When you start treatment, it is recommended that you take it in the morning and not at night, in case it affects your sleep.
To help you to take you tablet regularly you should choose a time that you will remember. This could be a mealtime or when you brush your teeth.
You will start with a low dose, which will be increased slowly to a dose that is effective for you. This may take several days or weeks.
You can take it with or without food.
Swallow the tablet whole with a glass of water – it tastes bitter if you chew it.
Do not drink grapefruit juice while you are taking sertraline – the juice increases the amount of sertraline absorbed from your gut.
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Is Sertraline The Same As Other Ssris
Given the rates of mental health, coupled with our prolific media coverage, you probably know someone who is on an SSRI. In the UK, the commonest include citalopram, fluoxetine , paroxetine and sertraline. Sertraline tends to be the first line drug therapy for a number of mental health conditions over other SSRIs due to less side effects. Though with that said, some people naturally get on better with others.
What To Do When Ssris Fail: Eight Strategies For Optimizing Treatment Of Panic Disorder
University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Am Fam Physician. 2002 Oct 15 66:1477-1485.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are the drug of choice for treatment of patients with panic disorder. Most patients have a favorable response to SSRI therapy however, 30 percent will not be able to tolerate these drugs or will have an unfavorable or incomplete response. Strategies to improve management of such patients include optimizing SSRI dosing and ensuring an adequate trial before switching to a different drug. Benzodiazepines should be avoided but, when necessary, may be used for a short duration or may be used long-term in patients for whom other treatments have failed. Slower-onset, longer-acting benzodiazepines are preferred. All patients should be encouraged to try cognitive behavior therapy. Augmentation therapy should be considered in patients who do not have a complete response. Drugs to consider for use in augmentation therapy include benzodiazepines, buspirone, beta blockers, tricyclic antidepressants, and valproate sodium.
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How Long Will I Need To Take Sertraline For
You will need to take sertraline for several months after you feel better, otherwise your symptoms can come back.
Your doctor will advise you how long to take sertraline for, as it depends on why you are taking it. For depression it might be six months, for OCD it might be 12 months and for other anxiety related conditions such as PTSD and panic disorder it might be up to 18 months.
If you stop taking the sertraline too soon, there is more chance that your symptoms will come back.
If you have bipolar disorder, it is likely that the doctor will advise for the sertraline to be stopped sooner. This is because, in bipolar disorder, there is a risk of your mood becoming too high if an antidepressant is used for too long.
See your doctor if you want to stop sertraline.
Zoloft For Treatment Of Anxiousness In Children
Recent studies have revealed that Zoloft is quite effective in treating anxiety disorders among children. Children suffering from social phobias, generalized anxiety, and separation anxiety can be treated with substantial dosage and psychotherapy. To treat anxiousness in children, the dosage is started low that tend to go higher if needed. Generally, kids aging 6 to 12 years are given 25 mg at the beginning. The number of pills may increase weekly up to the eighth week. Effectively, the dosage may reach 146 mg daily in case of severe anxiety.
However, it was also detected that children can be cured with lower drug dosage followed by an effective psychotherapy treatment.
After undertaking various researches at the National Institute of Mental Health, it was zeroed that Zoloft is one of the safest and most effective drug to cure comprehensive disorders among children. The symptoms of anxiety almost disappear, thus comforting the parents as well.
According to the researchers, it was found that children who worried during the start of the treatment where 99% at ease after the completion of the therapy and medication. The therapy followed by Zoloft medication not only cures anxiousness among children but also brings positive attitude among them.
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Why I Chose To Take Zoloft For Anxiety And Depression
Medicated. It sounds like such an ugly word, doesnt it? Do you ever wonder why people look down at others for taking medication? I dont and I wont ever understand, seeing that I chose to take Zoloft for four months and it changed my life. Ive wanted to write about my experience with anxiety and depression for quite some time, but I was afraid to speak candidly about this period in my life. You never know who might be reading your blog
In 2010 I started teaching elementary school. My first year was exhilarating and filled with adventure! I loved my first grade students and felt like I was finally fulfilling my dreams of making a difference in the world. There were challenges, as all teachers face, but for the most part Id say it was a success. I went into my second year of teaching excited, but the thrill fizzed out by Christmas break. My class was very large, extremely difficult, and I had a ton of behavior issues. I found myself dreading work each morning, fearing student tantrums not only in my classroom, but from surrounding rooms as well.
This was only the beginning
Are There Any Disadvantages To Zoloft
The biggest disadvantages of Zoloft are the potential side effects. Talk to your doctor about what medication is best for you.
DISCLAIMER: The information contained herein should NOT be used as a substitute for the advice of an appropriately qualified and licensed physician or other healthcare providers. This article mentions drugs that were FDA-approved and available at the time of publication and may not include all possible drug interactions or all FDA warnings or alerts. The author of this page explicitly does not endorse this drug or any specific treatment method. If you have health questions or concerns about interactions, please check with your physician or go to the FDA site for a comprehensive list of warnings.
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Fast Forward To My Third Year Of Teaching
I was coming home daily from school miserable I felt angry or on the verge of tears. My class of 31 students was a handful I had multiple children with severe behavior disorders and little to no support. On one occasion, I was conferencing with a students Aunt about his behavior when I was told I didnt know how to do my job. She said it was my fault he acted out. A few weeks later, a different child attacked me after destroying my classroom during a tantrum. He punched me repeatedly when I tried to call the office for help To say I was at the end of my rope is an understatement. I couldnt quit my job or Id lose my teaching certificate, but I hated going to work every day.
After one appointment I was diagnosed with severe anxiety due to my profession, as well as depression. The psychiatrist prescribed me Sertraline , a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor used to treat depression, panic attacks, and more. At that time in my life, I thought anti-depressants and anxiety medicine were known for making people numb to the world. I didnt want to change how I was around others, but I also didnt want to feel like I did anymore.
Were it not for the Zoloft, I dont know what could have happened. The darkness I saw during the weeks before my breakdown was horrible. I felt alone, scared, and hopeless. My life was spiraling and the sadness/anxiety was overwhelming. No one should EVER have to feel this way never ever.
Strategy No : Encourage Cognitive Behavior Therapy
CBT, a form of psychotherapy that is usually short-term and focused on symptom resolution through the observation and change of cognitive distortions and their subsequent behaviors, should be encouraged in patients with panic disorder. The basic premise of CBT is that internal cognitive distortions are linked with maladaptive behaviors , which are then reinforced because this behavior usually temporarily reduces anxiety.19
The gains made with CBT tend to be maintained after the treatment is discontinued, which is generally not the case for pharmacotherapy.10 The high initial cost for the treatment may be offset by savings in the cost of long-term medications. CBT is particularly effective for agoraphobic or avoidance symptoms, an area where medication alone has limited benefit.20 CBT can also reduce the risk of relapse during a medication taper.20 Finally, panic disorder may be refractory to medications alone CBT can be useful in these cases.21
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How To Take Sertraline
Sertraline is available as either an oral tablet or a liquid.
Typically, a person takes a dose in the morning or evening, once a day. People using it to treat premenstrual dysphoric disorder may take it every day or only on select days of the month.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, sertraline comes in the following doses:
- 25 milligram tablets
- 20 milligrams per liter of liquid
A person taking sertraline should follow these general guidelines:
- Take it at about the same time every day.
- Take with or without food.
- Follow all instructions on the prescription packaging and from the doctor.
- If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember to, but do not double the dose the next day.
- Take only the amount that the healthcare provider has prescribed.
When using the liquid, dilute it in a drink. According to the National Library of Medicine, a person should mix 4 ounces of medication with one of the following beverages, then drink it immediately:
- water
- ginger ale
However, the right dosage will vary, based on a persons age and weight.
Typically, a healthcare provider will prescribe a low dose and increase the amount over time, but no more than once per week. It can take several weeks before a person feels any effects of sertraline.
People should not stop taking the drug without speaking to a doctor, even if they are feeling better. This may mean that the drug is working, and missing a dose can result in a return of symptoms.