Had another post...got lost in the forum errors I guess!

To sum up, I started Zoloft this last Tuesday, 25mg. I was 100% healthy when I did(both physically and emotionally). On Wednesday I woke up with the beginnings of a cold/flu. So I am having trouble differentiating between Zoloft problems and cold/flu problems. I had a bit of trouble going to sleep Wednesday, and a lot of trouble going to sleep Thursday (even with Nyquil). I woke up today drowsy, cold has lessened, but with a sharp pain on the left side of my head. When I get headaches they are never centralized in one region.

Though I was not depressed at the time I started (mine comes and goes...triggered by anxiety, hence the Zoloft). So I'm just wondering if these symptoms (especially the being too drowsy to do anything, but too alert to fall asleep--which is the worst!) are typical for the first week/month then fade for everyone...or just hit some people with this particular drug, and require a sleep aid (using other drugs to counter the side effects of other drugs just makes me nervous, too much dependance!).

I know everyone's case is different..but some general idea would be helpful. I can tell my doc isn't well versed in this field, and I can't afford a psychiatrist (nor is my problem dire enough to dig into savings for it). So you guys are a wonderful resource :) The perscription says to move up to 50mg after 6 days, so I was also curious if side effect increase moving from 25mg to 50.

Many thanks for the reponses, sure is nice to have a forum where people are going through the same sorts of things

This post has been edited by MacGyver: Jun 26 2009, 02:59 PM

When I first started Zoloft I also got headahes localized in one region. (Coming off Zoloft was even worse..I thought I could feel my heartbeat in my teeth my head hurt so bad). I'm not so sure about the cold/flu symptoms. I've never heard of anyone else complain with something like this. Perhaps you have a cold/flu and it's not actually side effects of the Zoloft. Zoloft did make me drowsy and just "run down" feeling when I took it and almost like I was in a brain fog of sorts. At night I was also too anxious to sleep good so I mostly napped during the day. I think that's a fairly common side effect with Zoloft. Most of the "start up" side effects should lessen and eventually diminish once your body gets used to the Zoloft. If it's unbearable I would contact my doc to see if he can switch your meds.

I had the horrible headaches starting on Zoloft as well. They were almost every day, all day long for the first couple of weeks.

The sleeping part, yeah, that was my worst side effect by far. It took weeks and weeks for me to be able to sleep normal again. For the first 2 months I used Benedryl, an over the counter allergy med, to help me fall asleep. It worked really well, but I still would wake up 5 or 6 times a night, sometimes sweating profusely. That lasted for a couple weeks I think. Even after the sweating stopped, I still couldn't sleep through a night without waking up multiple times.

It's been over 3 months now and I've stopped taking the Benedryl almost completely and am falling asleep easier than I ever have. I've always suffered from insomnia so it's nice to actually be able to fall asleep when I lay down now.

I just started on 25mg of Zoloft a week ago..since starting this medication my anxiety level has almost tripled..has anyone else had this problem? I am worried about this as I got diagnosed with panic anxiety a year ago and depression a couple weeks ago.Will this go away>I thought this medicine was supposed too get rid of my anxiety not cause it too get worse...someone please help me I feel like I'm going crazy!!!

Looks like my other post re-appeared now, sorry about the double post :)

So the sleeping thing may fade, good to hear, can just hope for the best!

The cold/flu thing is definitely unrelated, I was just saying it was making it hard for me to identify side effects. :)

Sorry Missy, no experience to answer you I'm afraid, good luck!