argh

[Shannon97]

ive been having a weird feeling on my tounge for over a week im on sertaline and not always taking it or sometimes forget to but since the story aboit sertaline ive not wanted to take it could this be the reason why im scared its something bad ☹️ does anyone else get this xx

[Kkimm]

Hi Shannon

I understand that you would be scared having read the scare story about this antidepressant but it has to be seen in context. Being on antidepressants is really common in UK and USA and Zoloft or Sertaline as it is called in the UK is one of the commonest antidepressants to be prescribed. The numbers of people who died taking it may not be much different to those who also died of similar heart problems in the general population. It would be withdrawn if there were any real worries about it. It is also not much different to all the other SSRIs so why would it be the cause rather than Prozac etc.

I think you should talk it through with your GP and if they are able to reassure you, go back to taking the correct dose daily. If you decide from this you are going to reduce your dose or stop you really need to cut down extremely gradually in a planned way which your GP will help you with. Taking it one day and not the next etc is not a good idea and may well be increasing your anxiety. It will also make it take longer to work for you in the long run.

I understand why you feel so worried, taking antidepressants is worrying but it can be what you need to recover. I am so glad I did not stop taking Venlafaxine despite often feeling that I would because it was so scary and difficult at the beginning. It is also important to set yourself little challenges every day and try not to dwell on your symptoms or on scare stories. There will always be lots of these about lots of different drugs. I do not plan to stop taking my antidepressant as a result of this scare story.

Very best wishes.

Kim