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.

Ow. I’ve had one experience of taking sertraline without water before, and NEVER AGAIN. Strangely though I’ve just taken my four nightly tablets and had the same symptoms despite drinking plenty of water... Trying an apple, good tip - really hope it works or I’m in for a long night!

Well...I do like to jump on a bandwagon but this one was less fun. I did my usual of gulping my sertraline and vitamin D down quickly before I put the baby down for the night.

Clearly not enough water. Soooooo much pain.

Thanks to the OP for creating this thread and THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO SUGGESTED APPLES! 🙏🏼

A litre of water and a double helping (one giant swig from the bottle) of gaviscon did nothing. Luckily I'd bought apples today as part of the 'lose the baby weight finally' snack plan.
What luck. Still hurts but bearable now.

Apples, people. APPLES! 🍎

Another idiot here who took their Sertraline at bedtime with no water - cue being awake for the last 90mins in so much pain! Glugged the gaviscon, eaten an apple and drinking lots of water. Unfortunately can’t have any milk or yoghurt as DD has CMPA and I am still breastfeeding her.

The worst part is she’s having her first decent night sleep in ages (she’s 10 months old) and I SHOULD be sleeping myself but here I am - fool!

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎
APPLES PEOPLE. APPLES!
Thanks to all the other idiots who took sertraline with one small mouthful of water before immediately lying down in bed. We are collectively a right bunch of twonks.
All those who mentioned APPLES 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎you have redeemed yourselves. I woke up in agony four hours ago and read every post in this thread before setting up an account just to say thanks and to make sure everyone else knows about the whole APPLES🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎 thing.
Two of the Jazz variety for me and now I can finally go to sleep at 4am. Praise the Lord God, Allah, Buddha and Yoda for APPLES! 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎
Did I mention the APPLES?
🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

Guess which tit took her Sertraline and laid down immediately?

The same fruit who is sitting here eating an apple at bastarding midnight. Please work.

Eat the damn apples!! I made an account on here close to midnight just to thank all you beautiful people on this post. Especially the person who suggested apples. You saved my life! I seriously thought I was dying and was quietly contemplating how I was going to tell my husband. Instead I asked if he would bring me an Apple, and it WORKED. Please eat an apple for all you suffering pill takers and don’t forget a giant glass of water too. Good god that was horrible.

Honestly I’ve been on these meds for years and this has happened several times. It will just randomly happens. The pain is severe and brings me to tears. The “pink lady” is the only thing that will kill the pain once it starts. My doctor prescribed it and I always have it in the fridge. Nothing else will work. I thought maybe taking them before bed was the problem but I’ve switched to mornings and it will still randomly happen. I recently noticed the pharmacist put warning stickers to consume these pills with food. After years of taking them...without that warning.
Feel better everyone...it’s a pain I don’t wish on anyone.

I hadcthe same happen. Didn't realize it was the serialize. Ended up in emergency with horrific chest pains. Felt sheepish when indigestion diagnosed and Maalox with lidocaine help shift it a bit. Still took a day or so to be completely clear.

Thanks for the 🍎 apples 🍏 advice! It really worked. I was in agony and puking and came across this thread. Thanks goodness!!!

I am sitting in the dark eating apples, trying not to wake DH, who has to get up at 4:30am for work. Omg please work, I'm in so much pain I thought I was having an allergic reaction. First week on Sertaline and of course I've been swallowing them dry....

I’ve been on for a year now and this happens occasionally, tonight is particularly bad. No apples or yoghurt in the house so I’m considering a vomit

Oh my god. Well on the bright side, now that I’ve found this thread I know I’m nit dying. Made the mistake of taking my pill before bed with a tiny sip of water. So much pain, burning and saliva. It’s been an hour. No apples in the house or anything suggested really. Yogurt didn’t help. Puking didn’t help. It’s gonna be a long night.

Islandbear83 it’ll actually be worth your while to leave the house and buy apples. The relief is almost instantaneous.

Day 2 of Sertraline and thank goodness for this thread and apples. Been in agony all day after just taking it with a few sips of water. I have a hiatus hernia and was convinced I’d caused myself terrible damage by taking the Sertraline 🤦🏼‍♀️

I get this without fail almost every time I take sertraline, without food or with, and always drink water with it. I have a huge phobia of vomit, but it gets to the point I want to just to get rid of the pain. So sorry you had to deal with it too, as I know just how awful it is, cannot be explained!!

I’ve had this a few times. I find oatmeal and fruit (apples would be my suggestion) work really well to hold the medication (25 mg). Also a large glass of water to wash down the medication near the end of your meal.

If there are any adverse reactions like acid reflux I found taking anti acids immediately once something doesn’t feel right can help soften the onset of acid reflux.

Hope this helps

Hi guys, I've been taking sertraline for two years and have had this burning sensation dozens of times,I have mostly ignored it. I thought it might be laying down while taking them or not using water but I've taken my pills with/out water and took them standing up and down and it doesn't make a bit of difference for me. I did notice eating citrus fruits and orange juice made it appear. A previous post brought this to my attention and also the fact I ate a whole bag of oranges a week ago and took my sertraline( 50mg) straight after. I haven't felt the burning sensation nearly that violent before. I also got headaches and my anxiety has been out of control since then. I have felt very high since then and have opted to miss a dose as I think there might be took much sertraline in my system? I thought maybe missing a day might help me get back to myself, it's all I can think of.

I might be wrong but as my sertraline has come with grapefruit warnings and it has been documented that citrus fruits have a certain chemical in them which If I remember correctly inhibits the breakdown of sertraline and other ssris it can rapidly increase the amount of serotonin in the body and can contribute to serotonin syndrome, which is probably why the stomach burns. This is all a theory but hopefully this helps someone.

Charlie

I made an account just to post in this thread and bump it to help some other stranger in the void.

I've been on sertraline for a few years now and have had the Death Burn a handful of times. I've never dry-swallowed but sometimes I wouldn't drink more than a few sips of water. Never made the connection that the amount of water was causing the burn, the only direction I got was to take the pill with food so I was always really surprised when it happened even after I ate! I can't believe they don't warn you about this when it's obviously a very common issue.

Anyway, it happened again this week and I've had persistent mild to moderate heartburn since. It's been about 3 days. No over the counter antacids are helping, it feels like my esophagus is literally burned and I just need to wait for it to heal. This is the second time I've had long term discomfort and I'm hoping that correcting how I take the medication will prevent further damage. If it doesn't subside in a few days I'll be calling the doctor.

As far as advice, I don't have much to add that hasn't been said already. It sucks but it usually doesn't last more than a few hours, I usually just sip milk and try to keep my mind off it by playing a game or reading. Hang in there, you'll be okay!

I have literally just done this I am in agony. If anyone has suggestions of what will ease it please let me know

Boyd99x The only cure is 3 or 4 apples.

On a side note. Take a sertraline tablet, put a few droplets of water on it and then smudge it on your finger/arm/wherever. The white stain of the slightly wet powder is the IMPOSSIBLE to remove. Like it welds itself to you. This is what I imagine is happening on your oesophagus when you only have small sip or no water. It’s like a welded acidic chalk. Brutal.

Literally going through this right now and I want to cry. Of course it’s the middle of the night and there are no apples to be found in the house anywhere. I’m currently “sleeping” in the rec room because I know I would be keeping my fiancé up all night.

Has anyone found a similar solution to apples? I chugged milk, had Tums, a banana, yogurt and nothing. I also made myself throw up hoping that would help, nope.

Also going through this currently. Took it last night without a huge amount of water then lay down. Big mistake. Awful nights sleep.

Have just thrown up. So that’s Sunday started off in a super fun way

Hi guys. Also had this a few times. Now awake at 4.30am!

For UK mums you can report your side effects on yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/ hopefully if enough people report it they might at least include it on the datasheet!

Oh my days. Just another person joining the heartburn crew! I've had it once before from when I dry swallowed my sertraline and have always been so careful since.
However last night, I was in bed and ended up taking the tablet kinda laid down still.
Woke up about 2am in so much pain. I've made myself sick, had milk and just eaten an apple. Oh and the downing of water of course.

Hopefully starts to ease off soon