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.

I have done this several times as took me a while to make the connection. Last time was a couple of days ago - I found moving around to get burps up was the best way!

I’ve just done exactly the same took order and got straight in bed, I’m now sat up in agony I’ve had water, milk, tonic water made a chamomile what time will you be home? But every sip of that makes it worse
And I’ve tried to be sick.

I woke up with an awful hard limp feeling I. My throat/chest earlier in the week and it was really painful to eat for 2 days sp it must of been the same thing!

Last time I was on them this never happened once and I always took it just before bed either dry or with a small sip of water

Lesson learned for sure, I hope it goes away soon I’m tired 💤

My DD15 started sertraline last Monday. She is in a lot of pain in her throat and chest. Ive asked the psychiatrist to call me so I can have a chat with him about how to lesson the side effects if possible, Ive also booked her a GP appointment for today. It's so worrying watching your child go through side effects.

OMG I am having horrific heartburn too after taking my Sertraline earlier.

I've been on it for over 4 years and never had a reaction like this. I only swallowed it with a small amount of water and when I went to bed just now the horrific heartburn started .

I can't lie down as it hurts too much. Tried drinking milk and loads of water but it keeps coming back.

OH has just gone out to get me some Gaviscon, bless him. Hoping that will help as I have a rotten cold at the moment and really need to sleep

Having this right now, second time it's happened and I genuinely feel like I'm going to die. This is horrendous. I took it with water but not nearly enough. It's coming in burning waves and the roof of my mouth has swelled up. Fucking hate this.

Have you got any Gaviscon? If so glug that.. it really helped with my HB.

Hope you're ok this morning.. it's horrible 😩

Has anyone experienced excessive saliva, prompting vomiting (to stop it)?
And the feeling of burning/excess acid?

My DP suffers with this sporadically, and always within 15 mins of taking the sertraline. We cannot put it down to one specific thing, although alcohol and fizzy drinks have been big contributors..

As it doesnt happen every time he takes it, it's difficult to pinpoint!

my dd15 now takes a proton inhibitor tablet (Lanzaprole) before having her sertraline. Its done the trick in helping the heartburn and indigestion

Well just an update . I started taking Zoloft brand name a couple months ago. All was good but the heartburn started again but not as bad.

I've never felt pain like it, just 3 hours ago I took my sertraline with no water. Never ever again. My mouth was watering like a rabid dog and then the ingestion pain started, it felt like said rabid dog was chewing on my osephagus for giggles. It is starting to subside now but I only got 3 hours sleep after getting in at 0430 am and am working again tonight so sod all sleep for me.
I'm no drama queen which isn't an option anyway with work but I had visions of a trip to A & E. So hopefully another hour's sleep before I'm bombarded with the usual Saturday shenanigans lol.

Holy balls! Have just had this. Stupid enough to take without water. Fells like I’m being stabbed with a fiery roof in my bag and a ball of lava in my throat. The pain is horrendous 4 ant acids and water later the pain is not much different. But I plan to try sleep through it if the pain lets me. Found that something cold pressed against the point of agony is helping. Well and truly messed up my oesophagus. they need a warning on the box!!! No one should feel like this. I’m lucky I was visiting my mum for the week as I went full fledge anxiety attack on top of burning.

Gosh OP sounds awful

What are the symptoms after having it with citrus juices? I drink quite a lot of OJ, mango, apple juice etc. I just feel tired and like my limbs are so heavy all the time.

There's so many swear words I'd like to say right now. This has happened to me before but hasn't in years. I took half the tablet and when I tasted it in my mouth I knew this was going to happen!!! I have such alot of saliva coming up! Pain is terrible... I don't know what to do but rock myself to and fro!

Took a pill for heart burn now and I think it's helping ( it's either that or the rocking )

I was taking these last year and never realised this was a side effect, was diagnosed with costochondritis, however started on there sertraline pills again a few weeks ago and chest pain, pain swallowing and cold feeling in my throat again makes me think its got to be these pills !

I know this is an old thread but this happened to me last night. I tried Rennie, Gavison and drank loads of water all to no effect. Then in desperation, I had a few teaspoons of plain yoghurt that just I happened to have in the fridge. The relief was immediate! Just thought those of you that have this a lot might want to give it a go.

I am so glad you have bumped this thread up!! I have only just started taking sertraline but have a habit of taking tablets with no water. Will also take note of the no citrus fruit warning!!

Yes, so glad to have found this thread! I started taking 25mg sertraline 6 months ago. It seemed to make me tired so I take it before going to bed, rarely with much water since I don't want to have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The heartburn slowly and very randomly started around when I started taking it. I immediately googled zoloft and heartburn and didn't find much. So for months I have been trying to figure out what foods and amounts are making me have this horrible and frustrating problem! I upped my dose one month ago to 50mg, the same day my Dr prescribed me proton pump inhibitor (PPI). That greatly helped with the waves of a horrific lump at the bottom of my esophagus, but I have still gotten the acidic burning further up in my esophagus a handful of times since taking the PPI. Doesn't seem to matter how much I eat, what I eat, or when I eat it. The heartburn feels like it comes randomly. Hopefully now that I can finally make the connection after reading this thread (feeling SO silly it took me 6 months to do so) and can be more mindful of when and with how much water I take it, it will make a big difference. Not being able to sleep, sit still, or eat and also have confusingly and tremendous pain was a little scary. So glad to hopefully have an answer/solution.

To add to my earlier post, before I started with the PPI, I was taking maalox, zantac, and 8 tums, none of which touched the burn!

After a while I would start taking ibuprofen when I would feel it start to come on. That did seem to help once it kicked in. Otherwise I would have it for at least an hour, maybe up to 3. The throat burn would last another 24 hours usually.

Baking soda water also did not help. Felt the vomit sensation in my throat when it was all at its peak. Ran to the restroom and almost vomited once or twice.

Incredibly happy to have found this post after spending all day trying to work out what the cause was and drinking almost a full bottle of gaviscon.
Seriously.
Do NOT take your sertraline without water. Holy shit I’ve never felt pain like it.
My throat was completely on fire - and absolutely nothing seemed to relieve it.

Any advice to people reading about sertraline side effects/do’s and donts, plz plz PLZ just take it with water and save yourself this absolutely crippling feeling

I'm so glad I found this discussion. This just happened to me and I thought I was dying. First time this has happened to me, I took my 1 and 1/2 pills with some water, but then laid down. The burning started almost immediately and was awful. I didn't know what was happening. I drank lots of water, but yogurt really helped. I guess I will fall asleep sitting up.

Been taking sertraline for 5 days and get awful heartburn, also restless legs and Siatic pain, can I take ibuprofen? TIA

Thank god I found this thread on a google search. I took mine tonight without water in a rush. Never again.
I was nearly sobbing from the pain. Took rennies but it did nothing. I just sat on the bathroom floor wailing and gagging.
Googled it and read the thread, chuffed a load of water and an hour later I felt so much better. Thank you!

I doubt it has exacerbated sciatic pain. Restless legs maybe a reaction however I wouldn’t worry about it. Speak to your healthcare professional. As for the heartburn - this thread should hopefully reassure you we all get it. Just make sure you’re drinking plenty of water with it and never taking it on an empty stomach. If it helps try remaining upright for at least 2 hours after taking it to prevent reflux