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Consumer Review: Zoloft Is Doing Crazy Things To My Vision And Seems To Be Destroying My Sex Drive.
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I have been taking 150 Mg of Zoloft for about 4 years now. I have noticed that, although I feel much better and less depressed, if I forget to take the pills or if I forget to refill my prescription, I become 10x more depressed beginning the day after my last dose. During these episodes I can't focus on anything, my tension is like having 20 monkeys on my back. I get panicky thoughts of things I've done and things I should be doing, making sketchy lists in my head. The worst part is that, although I can see clearly, my eyes don't seem to move right. I look from one thing to another even without turning my head and it is like I went through a warp of some kind. I get a flash similar to the posts I read before, but it does not blind me, just confuses the heck out of me. I come out of it wondering where I am and why I feel so spacey. I have gained weight on the Zoloft. I did lose some weight 2 years ago (for my wedding) but have gained it all back.
I have taken Zoloft so long that I am very afraid to stop taking it. I am afraid of being the way I was, but am afraid that it is no longer helping me as much. My doctor wants me to reduce dosage VERY slowly since I seem to have such profound withdrawal symptoms. I have, in the past year, noticed that I am just as confused and panicked as I was before I ever started taking the Zoloft, but I don't get depressed about it, I am just in a constant state of semi-happy confusion.
I am only 29 and I have noticed a serious decline in my sex drive. It is not climaxing that is the problem. It is that I have absolutely NO interest in sex. If I do some ritual stuff like take a hot bath or put on something sexy, I can get to a point of arousal, but I am starting to feel like I could really live without it altogether. I love my husband and AM attracted to him, but I just have this roadblock, and I think it might have something to do with the Zoloft.
I hope that someone out there will read this and realize that there are others with the same side effects. I feel crazy when I have these effects (especially if I suddenly discontinue the drug). No one would want to be around me because, not only is my self esteem in the gutter, but I can't concentrate in the conversation because I am dealing with the eye "warping" problem every moment I am awake. It is almost as if when I look from one thing to another, my eyeballs spin too fast and I lose where I was trying to look. Has anyone else ever had this?
Thank goodness we have these forums available to us!
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Response #1
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I have only been on Zoloft for 12 months, but am starting to get worried about the side effects already. How you've lasted 4 years, I do not know. But, I may have a solution. I don't know if you're open to alternative therapies, but I do know that when depression is the alternative, people's minds seem to broaden.
Conventional counseling dredges up all those issues you don't really want to talk about when you're as high as a kite on antidepressants, but hypnotherapy is very different. I was skeptical at first, but it really does work. Ignore those talk shows where you see people jumping up and down acting like chickens...it doesn't work that way. Hypnotherapy is a deep, guided meditation which helps your subconscious deal with whatever may be bothering you...even those things that you've never realized were a problem. And the best part is that you don't have to consciously decide to do anything. No radical life changing experiments, no special brain food diets, just a relaxing session or four that really will change your outlook. It's time to kick the drugs and your letter has made me, for one, all the more resolute.
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Response #2
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My husband has been on Zoloft for about 8 months now. It has helped his depression and mood swings considerably, but over the last few months I have noticed a tremendous decrease in his sex drive. It's as if he has no interest at all, no matter what I do. He is only 39 and I found it strange that he would loose interest in sex at this young of an age, so naturally I began to think that he was just not attracted to me anymore. I told him this and he keeps trying to reassure me that it isn't me, it's him. He says he is still very much attracted to me, but feels no desire to make love. Our sex life hasn't ended. We do still make love, but it's few and far between, which causes me great frustration. There were also a couple of times when he was unable to climax.
After reading this consumer review, it has helped me to realize that perhaps it is the medication he is taking and maybe if we talk to his doctor about it, he can offer a suggestion to this side effect.
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Response #3
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I take 200mg of Zoloft per day, plus Neurontin and Diezepan. I have also had similar problems with my sight and it is sometimes scary. It especially bothers me when I am tired or stressed. I asked my doctor about it, and he said he didn't really know what was causing it! But now after reading this and others talking about the same thing, I feel better knowing it is a side effect, not me going crazy. Since, in my case, it is not a big problem compared to all the good things Zoloft has done for me (like being able to go back to school and taking care of day to day affairs, contacting my friends and making new friends) I will keep on taking it happily.
I have also had a big problem relaxing, ever since I was a little girl. It usually escalates into a anxiety attack, with hyperventilating and the rest, unless I take a tranquilizer and time off for recreation. Talking to a good friend or a professional has also helped a lot. Because I have a big problem expressing my feelings, I would like to try hypnosis, but in my country (Iceland) that is expensive and my doctor doesn't approve of it, so I can't get it from the health care system.
I have tried many other antidepressant drugs, and my sex drive or interest was non existent. I am 27 years old, and for 3 years this put a lot of strain on my relationship. It is difficult to explain to your husband that you love him and adore him and want to raise a family with him, but you have no interest in sex. But thankfully he understood, and after starting on Zoloft, my sex drive returned. Perhaps you should think about changing to another drug, because they don't always have the same side effects on everybody...it is very individual. The risk is great though, because of withdrawal symptoms. Also, the new drug might not be as effective on the depression. Believe me, I have tried over 10 different antidepressants, and only two of them had any effect, and then only for a short time.
I am also very afraid of withdrawal symptoms because I'm on such a high dosage and I always have withdrawal problems when I am taken off a drug. And of course, I really don't want to get depressed again. I'm not sure I would survive another depression.
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Response #4
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I am a 49 year old, and I have been on Zoloft for five years. My dosage is a 100 mg a day. Ever since I have been on this medicine, I have had no interest in sex. My boyfriend is very interested, and I don't like to make him mad, but I just don't want it. He always wonders why, and I try to explain to him but he just doesn't understand. I have also had vision and headache problems since I have been on Zoloft. For five years now, I have had hallucinations ever since I have been on this drug.
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Response #5
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I have been taking zoloft 100 mg per day for at least 10 years, and I thought it was just me! I have also developed something called Pseudo Tumor Cerebri. I don't know if the two are related (symptoms include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, possible blindness), but I'm afraid to stop the zoloft. When I do, my family tells me I am unbearable, moody and such. I have tried in the past, but always end up back on it.
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