That choking feeling: Zoloft side effects
I have to take my Zoloft with food. If I don’t have enough food with it, I get this horrible feeling in my throat, like choking to death, only I can breathe okay. I realize that this description makes no sense unless you’ve had the same feeling yourself, but that’s what it’s like. It’s not exactly pain, but it’s extreme discomfort. This particular discomfort feels a lot worse than some things that cause actual pain, and when I experience it, it’s all I can think about until it goes away, which usually takes about two or three hours.
The first time this happened to me, which was over eight years ago, I didn’t know what was going on and I was terrified that I was going to stop breathing and die. Luckily, when it happened again the next night, I quickly figured out that I should probably eat more food when I take my Zoloft. This was a completely random guess, a shot in the dark, but it turned out to be correct.
Occasionally, the amount of food that is generally enough to prevent the choking feeling will not work, and I will still be in extreme discomfort, despite having eaten the same amount that I usually do before I take my Zoloft. Tonight, I ate more than I usually eat before taking my Zoloft. I ate more today than I’ve eaten on any other day in the past two months, without throwing any of it up, and I was all proud of myself for my progress with the eating disorder thing. I ate lunch. I ate supper. I ate a good-sized snack and then took my Zoloft and Epival. And I still feel kind of like I’m choking. It’s not as bad as it usually is when it happens, thank goodness. Moderate discomfort as opposed to extreme discomfort — if it was the extreme choking feeling, there is no way I would be able to type this right now.
When I have a really bad night with the choking feeling, then I really don’t want to take my meds the next day. Or any time in the near future, really. There’s all this trepidation and uncertainty. Usually, I eat something and take my Zoloft and I feel fine, but other times, I eat something and take my Zoloft and feel like there’s a giant hand closing around my throat.
Does this happen to anybody else? I once had a doctor tell me that this side effect that I was experiencing did not exist. If he traded esophagi with me and took some Zoloft without food, he would never say that again.
May 10th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Vitamins do that to me. Almost like a reflux; but when your throat feels like it’s choking, it sorta spazzes out and just makes it worse(tighter)…like that?
I wonder if your body and whatever coats the Z don’t play nicely together. Just a thought.
May 11th, 2007 at 12:50 am
You, too? Zoloft feels like it gets stuck in my throat. Goes partway down and stops. Zoloft burps are horrible.
May 11th, 2007 at 2:21 am
“I once had a doctor tell me that this side effect that I was experiencing did not exist.”
Yes, they used to say that back in the early ’90s to vomiting, fainting, wildly suicidal patients before it was verified that SSRIs produce nasty withdrawal effects if stopped abruptly. I actually keeled over in my shrink’s office while he was taking my blood pressure and he still told me it was all in my head. (Which it was, if you think about it.)
The choking sensation you describe rings a bell… I never experienced anything like it on Zoloft, but I definitely experienced it as a teenager, while on the older anti-psychotics. It was like I really had to concentrate in order to breathe. Such a reaction is recognised as being a common side-effect of those kind of drugs. Given that the shrinks and pharmas like to overstate the specificity of action of different classes of drugs, you’d expect that they’d also claim that certain side-effects go with certain drugs, and that you couldn’t get a side-effect normally associated with anti-psychotics while you’re on an SSRI.
May 11th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Hey there…I’m generally okay with taking pills. Zoloft was my first AD back in 1998-1999 so it’s almost long been forgotten (except for my OD on it…oops…)
I can’t believe your doctor said that but…well, I can. A lot of docors do not listen to the patients who know their own bodies and actually take the meds. I guess keep taking the pills with food and one other suggestion might be to mix it in with a soft food to help it get down like some ice cream or something? It might aid in the swallowing process?
I also wanted to come by and say thank you for the blogroll. Flattered…very.
Take care,
PA
May 11th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Off topic….Polly…just wanted to thank you for your comment on my blog. I know it’s hard to respond and just so you know I check your blog daily too!
Be well.
May 14th, 2007 at 2:33 am
Even the best doctors I’ve had eventually tell me some experience I’m having can’t be happening. “It doesn’t do that.” “It doesn’t work that way.”
Since it’s such a common experience, you’d think that THEIR doctors would say it to THEM and then they’d know not to say it to me.
Or it could be the hypomania talking.
I like your writing, and have been meaning to say so. Time gets away from me.
Rose
May 18th, 2007 at 8:07 am
When I was in the hospital, after nighttime medications I really thought I was going to choke to death , ( I didn’t O.C) but I remember writing a note “It wasn’t an accident” for those that would find my body. Today when falling asleep I still get that choking feeling.