PatientsLikeMe : Zoloft (sertraline) Treatment Report

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What is Zoloft?

Zoloft is a brand name for sertraline, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant. It is used in the treatment of major depression; obsessive-compulsive disorder; panic disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder; premenstrual dysphoric disorder; and social anxiety disorder.

Reasons taken & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Reasons taken	# of patients	# of patients evaluated by
Depression	339	62
Treat my mood condition(s)	135	29
Anxiety	108	28
Other	39	11
Emotional lability	20	4
Panic attacks	14	4
Bipolar Disorder	12	1
Fibromyalgia	12	2
General health	11	1
Fatigue	10	3
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD	9	2
Mood swings	6	0
Obsessive compulsive disorder OCD	6	2
Problems concentrating	5	2
disease-related symptoms	3	0
Slow my MS progress	2	0
Insomnia	2	0
Support another treatment	2	2
Pain	2	0
Migraine Headaches	1	0
Vulvodynia	1	0
Stress	1	1
severe anxiety	1	0
Cognition	1	0
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)	1	0
support another treatment	1	0
Social anxiety/phobia	1	1
Brain fog	1	0
Major Depressive Disorder	1	1
anxiety, depression, confusion, falling down	1	0
for pain	1	0
SEROTONIN DEFICIENCY SUSPECTED	1	1
Excessive daytime sleepiness (somnolence)	1	0
Slow my ALS progress	1	0
Don't know	1	0
depression and anxiety	1	0
Depression & Anxiety	1	0
Heart Palpitations	1	0

See all 38 reasons taken ▼

See all 589 patients currently taking Zoloft

Mouse over the table for more information

Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	14	12%
Moderate	20	17%
Mild	30	25%
None	54	46%

Most commonly reported side effects

Loss of sex drive (libido)	35	30%
dry mouth	25	21%
Fatigue	22	19%
Emotional withdrawal	20	17%
Weight gain	18	15%
Migraine Headaches	12	10%
Insomnia	9	8%
makes me goofy	7	6%
Nausea	5	4%
Diarrhea	4	3%
Depression	3	3%
Anxiety	2	2%
Apathy	1	1%
hand shaky	1	1%
Paranoia	1	1%
Tremors	1	1%
Depression with suicidal thoughts	1	1%
Inability to cry	1	1%
Nausea/Vomiting	1	1%
MORE depression!	1	1%
Robot/Zombie feelings	1	1%
Anger/Irritability between doses	1	1%
joint pain	1	1%
Excessive yawning	1	1%
obsessed thoughts	1	1%
social tension	1	1%
anger	1	1%
Sleepiness	1	1%
It made me lethargic	1	1%
Mood swings	1	1%
Loss of taste	1	1%
Rash/skin problems	1	1%
Dizziness	1	1%
paresthesias	1	1%
slight paranoia	1	1%
MILD DIZZINESS	1	1%
Swollen tongue	1	1%
Agitation/restlessness	1	1%
Depression when not taken correctly	1	1%
bad thoughts	1	1%
Heart Palpitations	1	1%
elevated prolactin level	1	1%
lack of concentration	1	1%
Allergic reaction	1	1%
INNABILITY TO ACHIEVE ORGASM	1	1%

Mild
Moderate
Severe

See all 45 reported side effects ▼

Dosages

Top 10 dosages based on patients currently taking Zoloft. See all 25 dosages ►

100mg as needed	50mg as needed	daily	10 mg daily	12.5 mg daily	20 mg daily	25 mg daily	37.5 mg daily	40 mg daily	50 mg daily	62.5 mg daily	75 mg daily	100 mg daily	125 mg daily	140 mg daily	150 mg daily	200 mg daily	225 mg daily	250 mg daily	300 mg daily	400 mg daily	500 mg daily	1300 mg daily	10000 mg daily	25000 mg daily
1	1	17	2	1	13	36	1	1	170	1	19	196	3	1	46	78	1	7	5	1	1	1	1	1

Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Zoloft (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Did not seem to work	61	39%
Doctor's advice	51	32%
Side effects too severe	38	24%
Other	32	20%
Course of treatment ended	14	9%
Expense	9	6%
Personal research	7	4%

See all 152 patients who’ve stopped taking Zoloft

Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Zoloft

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
7	21	31	61	54	146

Stopped Taking Zoloft

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
20	24	16	22	29	40

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always	103	87%
Usually	10	8%
Sometimes	4	3%
Never	1	1%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very	9	8%
Somewhat	7	6%
A little	23	19%
Not at all	79	67%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+	0	0%
$100-199	2	2%
$50-99	5	4%
$25-49	7	6%
< $25	58	49%

See more information, including instructions, precautions, side effects, and interactions.

Patient Evaluations

See all 118 patient evaluations

MammaMia2

Sex: F

Pain: Little

Fatigue: Most

Sleep: Some

Stiffness: Little

function: Some

external_stress: Most

Stickman: some

Description:F36y

FM:1y

See profile
MammaMia2

25 mg daily

since Jun 24, 2009
Efficacy Moderate for SEROTONIN DEFICIENCY SUSPECTED
Side Effects Mild
See full evaluation

cupatea

Sex: F

Pain: All

Fatigue: All

Sleep: All

Stiffness: All

function: None

external_stress: Most

Stickman: all

Description:F36y

FM:1y Dx

See profile
cupatea

50 mg daily

since Dec 10, 2008
Efficacy Major for Depression
Side Effects Moderate
Advice/Tips Take them while you need them. Do not go off cold turkey. They are my happy pills. Have taken them before and realize when I need to go on them. See full evaluation

ferretgirl

Sex: F

Depression: 3

Emotional: 1

Compulsion: 1

Anxiety: 2

Mania: 1

Physical: 1

External Stress: None

25 F

Function: High

Distress: Moderate

See profile
ferretgirl

50 mg daily

since Aug 24, 2008
Efficacy Major for Anxiety
Side Effects None
Advice/Tips Good med best one i have has so far See full evaluation