advice to anyone who takes Sertraline. Make sure you take them with water, because...

[RedOnHerHedd]

Because last night I was shattered and went to bed forgetting to fetch my glass of water with me. And just thought, sod it, I'll just swallow them without water.

BIG MISTAKE!

I had heartburn like nothing is ever experienced before, and the burning was making my eyes water.

I tried to make myself vomit and tried antacids to no avail. The pain was excruciating for almost 3 hours.

Woke up this morning and it felt like something very hard and painful was lodged at the bottom of my oesophagus. It got worse throughout the day to the point it was agony to swallow anything.

Rang NHS Direct (Wales) and they advised me to go straight to A&E. While there I had a drip with different types of medication to help try to dislodge anything that was stuck, and told to drink flat Coke.

Anyway, it didn't work.
It's still there but not quite as painful as before. I have to give it another 24-48hrs and of it's still the same I have to have a camera put down, as the sertraline may have damaged my oesophagus.

So, word of warning:
To save 2mins worth of going downstairs to get water, I've ended up with 24hrs of pain.

Make sure you drink plenty of water, and don't ever take it dry, it's actually really dangerous and can cause a hole in your oesophagus.

Ouch sbowers that sounds pretty extreme! Has it settled down now?

I've done this with sertraline. Twice, would you believe it, didn't even learn my lesson! I was in so much pain it woke me up, couldn't settle, I honestly believed that I'd probably burned a hole in my oesophagus and was going to die. Horrible experience. I always drink quite a bit after taking it now to make sure it gets down into my stomach and not lodged anywhere along the way.

This happened to me but with an antibiotic. They were huge and it happened a couple of times and I was taking them with water....I think they were going down sideways, twisting round in the water as I swallowed.
I found the best way was to swallow it dry narrow way, then immediately drink a pint of water. That made me burp (sorry ...but...) and I didn't have another probelm..
I agree it was bloody painful - an agonising burning - and after it stuck drinking lots of different types of drinks and gaviscon etc did nothing... even taking the next lot didn't shift it...

Just resurrecting this thread to remind everyone to drink when you take sertraline. Forgot to take my tablet this am as normal (been on hols so out of routine) popped it this afternoon on way out to do food shop. Half way round supermarket thought I was dying with heartburn. Thought there was a real problem then rembered I had taken sertraline without water. 3 hrs later gave taken antacids, loads of plain yoghurt and two milky drinks and just starting to feel human (though burping like crazy). If you take sertraline take with water lesson learnt here!

Hhm. I have some of these to take and I can't swallow tablets water or not. Usually crush and take with yoghurt. Not sure I want to go down the AD route to be honest and now I've read this is best ask the pharmacist if they can be crushed. Sounds pretty nasty stuff!!!

I'm so glad I found this discussion.
It's now 1:30 am and I'm sat here with horrendous heartburn feeling. I took sertraline at about 11pm with just a small mouthful of water and lay straight down. I now understand why I'm feeling so bad. I will never be doing that again.
Thank you, lesson learned

Apparently that's a thing with any pill.

You're meant to use a full glass of water if not they can get lodged and damage the oesophagus.

Says she who almost never does this. I even take them with hot drinks so half melting them before they go down.

Oh I had this. It was so horrible. I drank practically a whole bottle of gaviscon trying to get rid of it.

Im going through the pain right now, never again, I just hope I don't have to contact any doctor.

Oh my goodness...

This just happened to me. I've always taken my pills without water but I was just switched over to sertraline and taking it without water has been the worst experience ever.
I have the most horrendous heartburn. Feels like there is stuff lodged in my through and it is so painful.. Hope it goes away soon. Don't know how much longer I can handle this.

I've had this twice. I didn't realise what had caused it the first time!
It was right before the school run and I ended up pulling the car over and puking at the side of the road! It was absolutely awful.
I did feel much better after being sick though.
I always take my tablets with a huge drink of water/squash now to wash it right down.

I've registered for this forum just to say...if you've had this more than once, ask your doctor for a bottle of viscous lidocaine to have on hand that you can mix with an antacid. Some call it the "pink lady." I've just experienced this with sertraline for the third time and this combination instantly saved me from pure agony. I feel silly moaning about this when it happens, but it's a pain you can't understand until you feel it yourself!

This is my first post on any forum and hope you can help, I am a 27yo bloke and have had severe depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember. I ended up gambling and drinking until I told my family and have subsequently sought professional help. I've been prescribed, and am now 8 days in to, Sertroline. I'm worried because I've never felt so sick and paranoid. I don't really know what question I'm asking but I would really really appreciate some advice and some reassurance that taking these pills will help.

This happened to dfriend too!
He was petrified - the pill felt stuck and he thought he was dying.

Tom, I would chat with your gp or prescriber. They will reassure you best. With df, i have to say, it did get worse before it got better - but persevere, he's seven eight weeks in and slowly feeling brighter. Try taking at night if the side affects in the day are too strong.
Best of luck, it can feel like you're not moving forward, but you are...

Tom, I'm so sorry for what you've been through but you're doing the right thing talking to someone. It's pretty normal to have some nasty side effects for up to two weeks when you start an SSRI. And as you have probably heard, they take up to 6-8 weeks to fully work. That said, if you feel like you can't function in your daily life with these symptoms/are having hallucinations or suicidal thoughts, please call your doctor. They deal with this all the time. Most people have to shop around before they find a medication that works for them. I felt horrendous on paroxetine and I just knew it wasn't right, I couldn't function or keep up with schoolwork at all. I then tried sertraline and after 2 weeks was feeling the positive effects. Been on the max dose now for 2.5 years and plan to stay on it for the foreseeable future. It has made a drastic difference in my life, totally evened me out, but that's not always true for everyone. My advice is to keeping talking to a professional, I'm not sure if you're in CBT but that can be very helpful for the first 6-8 weeks of a new drug and longer if it helps. Hang in there, you are doing the right thing and as a random stranger, I'm proud of you.

😧

Just googling to find out if I'm dying because that's what it feels like, and found this thread! Took sertraline about an hour ago with a mouthful of water. Been taking it for years with no problem. But right now my throat/chest is burning, I feel sick and am in so much pain. Feel like I will never sleep tonight!! Never had this before and wouldn't have believed how painful it was had it not happened to me. Am guzzling water and may try sleeping sitting up!!!! I daresay this thread will next be read by someone in the same situation as me - googling in the night to try and find out what's wrong with them. Good luck!!

Yes, 24 hours later and here I am. Regular antacids don't seem to work. I think I will have to wait it out but at least reading the above gives me hope.

I have experienced this heartburn since sunday. realise now its the sertralune as took it at night with no water. only been taking it for 5 weeks. used to take it in the morning but felt very tired during the day. now take at night for past week but not had water with it. reading these posts has confirmed that sertralone causes heartburn. sunday i was awake grom 2.30 a.m. and was in so much pain. i didnt sleep at all. i used pillows to sit up in bed but it didnt help. the following day it reduced slightly. took my tablet without water again and work up at 4 am and was in a lot of pain again with acid refux. bought zantac .....ranitadine...over the counter medicine recommended to me. took one and then second one an hour later. this has helped. i have lost a lot of sleep this week and had a lot of pain. i nearly stopped taking sertraline. but having read these comments i will persrvere. howver...i recommend taking it after dinner with water way before bedtime to avoid heartburn. never had heartburn like that ever and it was horrendous.

i did same as you....googled during the night as i was in such pain with heartburn.

I have a terrible time with sertraline , I'm going to try w/milk , but am also considering asking the pharmacist for an empty capsule just big enough to hold the pill.

Blimey. I had this once too. Thought I was about to die. ☹ It was when I was switched to another generic brand. Maybe coating was thinner??? These days I take them in the morning ( or as soon as I am able to drag my sorry carcass out of bed 😉) with my first mug of coffee and all is well.

Oh my good god. I just registered for this site purely to tell you all how glad I am to have found this post! I take sertraline as part of my anxiety treatment and the horrendous heartburn I've had definitely made me worry!! I took mine with a few sips of water which is the norm for me but this time it was obviously not ok. I was up all night trying to drink water, gaviscon or be sick just to feel better. Finally fell asleep sitting upright but not before frantically googling my symptoms. Feeling reassured I'm not actually dying!

I have had this, with water too.I find an e.pay stomach can cause it too. I also found a cure, for me anyways. When I got it. I ate apples and that would work better than anything else.

I just took my 100mg tablet this morning - stoopid me took it dry 😩
NEVER AGAIN!!! I've been sick, milk hasn't calmed the burning sensation either nor has gaviscon. I've just eaten two slices of dry bread to shift it if it's stuck. Feels a little bit better but still burns.

I ended up in A&E yesterday morning. I took Sertraline with no water. It felt like I had swallowed acid. I was given Omneprazole tablets and told to take Gaviscon, don't eat hot food or drinks and have plenty of full fat milk. I've been awake since 3am with a horrendous sore throat. They said it will take 2/3 days to calm down. NEVER again.