SERTRALINE SIDE EFFECTS (PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL) - ARTE - 2025

The side effects of sertraline can be increased appetite, insomnia, depression, depersonalization, anxiety, decreased libido, dizziness, tremors, palpitations, diarrhea, and chest pain.

Sertraline is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor medication that is used as an antidepressant to treat mood disturbances. Its main use lies in the intervention of major depressive episodes, although it is also frequently used to treat obsessive compulsive disorders, anxiety disorders, agoraphobia, social phobia and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Zoloft is a brand whose active substance is sertraline

It is consumed orally and, after its ingestion, its active principles access the brain regions where they carry out the action of the drug's name: they selectively inhibit serotonin reuptake. This fact means that when sertraline is consumed, the amounts of this substance increase in the brain.

Serotonin is a chemical in the brain (a neurotransmitter) that is responsible for many activities, but above all it controls mood, self-esteem, relaxation and well-being.

For this reason, when suffering from depressive episodes, by increasing the amounts of these substances through sertraline, the mood improves and depression decreases.

However, by modifying this brain function, other types of unwanted effects may also appear.

What side effects does sertraline cause?

Chemical structure of sertraline. (1S, 4S) -4- (3,4-dichlorophenyl) -N-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalen-1-amine

The consumption of sertraline can cause a large number of side effects, so its consumption should always be done under prescription and medical supervision.

Although the side effects, as we will see below, are numerous, it should be noted that these are not usually very frequent, nor are they exceeding in quantity and severity with respect to those of other medications.

In fact, if the drug is administered correctly, in people who require this drug and with adequate doses, these side effects are unlikely to appear.

However, in the world of medicine, controlling all the variables is practically impossible, so whenever we take a drug we expose ourselves to possible adverse reactions.

The main symptoms that can appear with the consumption of sertraline are:

Increased appetite

Sertraline can cause appetite disturbances. The most common is that this increases, although other types of symptoms may also be witnessed.

In general, the consumption of sertraline may slightly increase appetite, but if the alteration is very noticeable, the doctor should be consulted to evaluate the dimension of the side effect.

Insomnia, nightmares, and drowsiness

Sleep can also be disturbed by sertraline. These alterations usually occur especially at the beginning of treatment and can gradually resolve over time.

However, one must be alert to these symptoms as they can significantly affect the well-being of the person.

The most common is that the medicine causes drowsiness but it can also cause the opposite effect, causing insomnia and even nightmares.

Depression

As paradoxical as it may sound, an antidepressant medication like sertraline can induce depression.

These effects are especially important when the drug is administered to treat conditions other than depression and should be consulted promptly with the medical professional when they occur.

Depersonalization

Depersonalization is an alteration of the perception or experience of oneself, in such a way that the person feels "separated" from the mental processes or the body.

This experience usually lasts a few seconds and during its course you have the feeling that what is happening is unreal.

Anxiety, agitation, and nervousness

Especially with the first consumed doses of sertraline, you can experience pictures of anxiety, agitation or nervousness.

If the activation symptoms do not resolve quickly it is important to consult with the doctor to review the treatment.

Low libido, ejaculatory failure, and erectile dysfunction

The active principles of sertraline affect quite directly on brain regions that control sexual functioning.

In this way, this drug can cause alterations such as decreased libido, ejaculatory failure or even erectile dysfunction.

These alterations usually subside when the drug is stopped.

Dizziness, nausea, and vomiting

The effects of sertraline on the central nervous system can cause dizziness, nausea and vomiting.

These three effects are very annoying symptoms that appear as adverse reactions in a large number of medications, including sertraline.

Tremor and hypertonia

The consumption of this medicine can also affect the function of the joints and cause tremor or hypertonia (increased muscle tone).

Attention disturbance, visual disturbances, and paresthesias

With regard to the cognitive level, sertraline can produce secondary effects on attention.

Less frequently, it can also cause visual disturbances and paresthesias.

Palpitations, hot flashes, yawning, and dry mouth

Apart from dizziness and nausea, activation of the central nervous system caused by sertraline can cause other symptoms.

Palpitations, hot flashes, yawning and dry mouth are the most common. When these symptoms appear, it is especially important to consult a doctor.

Diarrhea, constipation, dyspepsia, and abdominal pain

Sertraline can also affect the digestive system and produce very diverse symptoms such as constipation or diarrhea.

In addition, dyspepsia (a gastric secretion disorder, gastrointestinal motility, or gastric sensitivity that disturbs digestion) and abdominal pain may also be experienced.

Arthralgia, myalgia, and chest pain

Finally, the last side effects that can be experienced as a direct form of sertraline consumption encompass a large number of pains.

Joint pain (arthralgia) in muscle groups (myalgia) and chest pain are the most common. The appearance of any of these symptoms after taking sertraline, should be consulted with a doctor.

The doctor should evaluate the present symptoms, assess whether it is caused by the direct effects of sertraline, and make decisions regarding treatment to mitigate the adverse reactions suffered.

Pregnancy and use of sertraline

There are no studies on the effects of this drug in pregnant women. In animal studies, teratogenicity is not evidenced, but negative effects are seen in fetuses born.

The use of psychoactive drugs during pregnancy, including sertraline, is generally discouraged. However, in cases of pregnant women who require psychiatric treatment, the benefit / risk of ingesting sertraline should be assessed.

Regarding breastfeeding, it is also recommended to avoid the use of sertraline if a newborn is to be breastfed. However, as in the previous case, in each case a medical professional must carry out a benefit / risk assessment.

Sertraline and conduction

One of the main doubts that appear when taking psychotropic drugs lies in the effects they have on driving. Can I drive if I take a psychotropic drug? How will it affect my driving? It is dangerous? It is illegal?

These doubts can appear whenever a medicine is taken and as a general rule, you should consult with your medical professional to find out about doubts.

Without denying what has been said so far (consultation with the doctor must always be done), sertraline is not, a priori, incompatible with driving. In this way, a person taking this drug, who responds well to treatment and who does not experience side effects, can drive without problems.

However, if the consumption of sertraline produces any of the symptoms described above such as sedation, nausea, drowsiness or dizziness, greater caution must be exercised.

In general, potentially dangerous tasks are strongly discouraged when these symptoms appear, so driving or using heavy machinery should be avoided.

If, before the appearance of the side effects, the doctor is consulted and the treatment can be restored, achieving the elimination of the side effects, it will be possible to drive again.

Thus, the relationship between sertraline and conduction is not so closely linked to the characteristics of the drug but to the effects it causes in the person.

If the drug causes any symptoms that may endanger the act of driving, this activity should be avoided entirely. However, if it does not cause any adverse reaction, optimal driving conditions can be ensured.

Warnings and precautions for the use of sertraline

Structure of sertraline in 3D.

The main therapeutic use of sertraline is in treating psychopathological disorders. The mental disorder for which it is most indicated are major depressive episodes and depressive disorders. However, this drug is also effective to intervene in other types of psychopathologies.

The most common are anxiety disorders: obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, social anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Despite this, there are a number of warnings and precautions that may advise against the use of this drug. These are:

• The use of sertraline is not recommended in people who have suffered from manic or hypomanic episodes, have schizophrenia, epilepsy or have a history of bleeding disorders.
• The use of sertraline in children should be avoided, except to treat obsessive compulsive disorder.
• Special precautions should be taken in the use of sertraline in the elderly, diabetic people, or individuals who perform or have performed electroconvulsive therapy.
• Sertraline treatment is avoided in people with closed-angle glaucoma or a history of glaucoma.
• Treatment with sertraline should be withdrawn gradually, over several weeks or months to avoid 'rebound symptoms'. It is strongly discouraged to stop taking the medication from one day to the next.
• Giving sertraline together with other medications such as other antidepressants, antipsychotics, dopamine agonists, and opioid medications increases the risk of hyponatremia and serotonin syndrome.
• It is not recommended to take the medicine with grapefruit juice.
• It should be used with caution in people with liver failure.

Why does sertraline cause side effects?

Sertraline is an antidepressant medication that, as such, is designed to target regions of the brain that modulate mood and depressive symptoms. Specifically, sertraline acts on one of the most important substances in regulating people's mood, serotonin.

Serotonin is a series of chemical substances that are distributed by different brain regions. High amounts of this substance in the brain are related to good mood and low amounts are related to depression.

In this way, sertraline manages to increase the amounts of this substance in the brain regions, inhibiting its reuptake. This reason explains that it is effective for depression, since increasing the amounts of serotonin increases the mood.

However, this factor also explains the appearance of most of the side effects of the drug, since serotonin not only controls mood.

Thus, by modifying the functioning of serotonin through sertraline, the activity of the rest of the mechanisms that this substance controls is also modified.

The main processes in which serotonin participates are:

• Produces melatonin and regulates sleep. The alteration of these functions would explain the secondary symptoms of insomnia, nightmares and drowsiness that sertraline can cause.
• Regulates hunger through satiety. This mechanism explains why sertraline can cause appetite disturbances.
• Balance sexual desire. The important role that serotonin plays with regard to sexual functioning justifies the appearance of symptoms such as erectile dysfunction, ejaculatory dysfunction or decreased libido.

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