Zoloft, day 2 of upping my dosage from 6.25 to 12.5

[NYGirl]

.....and 12 hours after taking my 2nd, 12.5 mg dose I have a
wicked headache and I'm shaky. Is this normal?
Thx!

[insights]

.....and 12 hours after taking my 2nd, 12.5 mg dose I have a
wicked headache and I'm shaky. Is this normal?
Thx!

Possibly, but given this is still a small dose, only a quarter of the usual start dose for depression, I'm not convinced it is. You just might have a headache. Acetaminophen should help, and is preferable to painkillers containing aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen.

Ian

[NYGirl]

To follow up from last night....
12 hrs after I took the second 12.5 mg, I started
to get the shakes, dilated pupils, racing heart and had
an awful headache (which I took Tylenol for and it helped).
These are the same symptoms that I had back in Oct.
12 hours after I took the 2nd 25mg of Zoloft when I
tried to go back on it again. (And just a note, I don't have
depression, just Anxiety, GAD not Panic.)
I called the psych. last night. She told me that those
reactions are rare cuz I was on such a lose dose and that
it sounds like I had a panic attack. Told me to take a quarter
Klonopin in the am and a quarter Klonopin in the pm. Said I
can still do 6.25 Zoloft. I beg to differ on the panic attack
comment she made. I haven't panicked in 15 years. And when
I did, it wasn't like that. I never had a headache like that or dilated
pupils.  I was on Zoloft for 15 yrs for panic with agoraphobia and
some depression at the time. I never had a reaction like the two
I experienced from trying to go back on it.
Thoughts?
Thx!

[insights]

Apart for possibly the headache, I still don't think it is the Zoloft. The maximum concentration of Zoloft in your bloodstream occurs about 6 hours after being taken and the levels then slowly drop. It has a half-life of 24-26 hours, so at 12 hours you have some 25-30% less in your system that you did at 6 hours. If it was the drug I would expect the symptoms to be worst at the peak plasma point, not when nearly a third of the drug had been metabolized and eliminated.

Try taking a dose of Klonopin 9 hours after you've taken Zoloft as it takes 1-4 hours to reach maximum effectiveness. If it stops, or greatly lessens the Zoloft symptoms you'll know they were probably anxiety related.

Ian

[NYGirl]

Thanks Ian!  I appreciate it!