Zoloft side effects

[Lunacie]

I've been taking Zoloft (generic sertraline) (for anxiety) for over a dozen years with no issues at all, but I stayed at a low dose. Sixteen months ago I had kidney failure from a new med for migraines, better now, but it really disrupted my system. Zoloft began causing daily diarrhea, more explosive by the day. Doctor said "Nope, it's not the Zoloft so I took it for another month. But it was only getting worse. Sorting my meds one day I realized I had 3 months worth of Cymbalta left from before the kidney failure, so I didn't get a refill of Zoloft and began taking the Cymbalta. Day by day the diarrhea disappeared. Diarrhea is a common side effect with Zoloft. How the H*** do we get doctors to listen to us and look up medication side effects instead of dismissing them/us???

 

[Deleted member 324]

How the H*** do we get doctors to listen to us and look up medication side effects instead of dismissing them/us???

I have the exact same question. My cardiologist won't listen even when I am quoting clinical studies from well known and highly respected sources that have been peer-reviewed.

I think it's a mindset of "Ignore Dr. Google" but there IS valid medical information on the internet and we ARE intelligent enough to separate the bs from the accurate stuff.

 

[mist]

Indeed, I have presented certain side effects to my GP and they have stated they have never heard of such a side effect, but a simple google search returns hundreds if not thousands of similar experiences.

 

[Deleted member 324]

Medical profession seems to be quite closed-minded, pretty much just doing everything by rote.

 

[Lunacie]

Medical profession seems to be quite closed-minded, pretty much just doing everything by rote.

Yeah, they just listen long enough to go "Yeah, take this med." Then when you report a side effect from that med, they say "Okay, take this med for that symptom." And on and on until you end up taking 14 meds and still suffer from the original issue.

 

[Deleted member 324]

until you end up taking 14 meds and still suffer from the original issue.

AND all the side effects and cross-interference of the different meds!

 

[Ozzy47]

It seems to me with most meds and their side affects, they dismiss any unknown ones if they don’t happen in their test groups.

 

[Deleted member 324]

It seems to me with most meds and their side affects, they dismiss any unknown ones if they don’t happen in their test groups.

Exactly. And you ain't in the test group so therefore you're just mistaken!

 

[Ozzy47]

Exactly. And you ain't in the test group so therefore you're just mistaken!

Exactamundo!

 

[Lunacie]

It seems to me with most meds and their side affects, they dismiss any unknown ones if they don’t happen in their test groups.

But the side effects that listed on the package insert are ones that were known to happen in the test groups. I was having a known side effect and the doctor said "nope, not because of the med." But it's right there on the package insert. Or on www dot drugs dot com. It takes me about 2 minutes to look up side effects on that website but the doctor doesn't want to take the time, or doesn't want to admit they don't know without looking it up, or don't want to figure out whether a different med or a different dose would eliminate that side effect. Arrggghhhh!