Sertraline and vomiting

[AlleyRose]

Hi all,

My DD(19) suffers horrendously with anxiety and emetophobia (fear of being sick). Her fear of eating out or socialising is taking over her life. She literally won't leave the house and when she does she is constantly washing her hands, using wipes and hand sanitizer etc.

Her GP has suggested trying sertraline but she won't entertain the thought as she's searched it on TikTok and is now convinced that everyone who takes it suffers with vomiting in the first few weeks.

I've scoured the threads on here and can see that nausea is common, but wondering how many people were actually sick?

I am emetophobic (much better now than I was) and was prescribed antibiotics depressants years ago for ibs. I didn't take them for the very same concern. However I was prescribed sertraline last year and had no nausea and certainly no sickness at all when taking them. I think it very much depends on the person. Saying that I've been through two pregnancies and had very slight nausea with both but no sickness.

Nope, didn’t even feel nauseous. Same for my daughter and niece.

Thank you so much for replying - it's so reassuring to hear that 'real' people aren't being sick.

Hopefully this will persuade her to give it a try 🙏🏻

I was put on Sertraline a few years ago and it’s fantastic. I did feel really sick for exactly 7 days then woke up the next day, absolutely fine. Despite feeling sick, I was never actually sick. X

If she's that worried, there are things you can get OTC for nausea, like these

https://www.boots.com/buccastem-m-8-tablets-10086568

I'm on duloxetine and GP gave me anti sickness tablets to take in tandem when I started / upped my dose for 10 days. Felt a bit nauseous but never vomited. Take them at the same time each day (+/- 30min) with food. My main issue was utter fatigue and tiredness 😴 with depth perception being wonky

I had the same concern as your DD, and started on a very low dose and was prescribed anti sickness tablets at the same time.

I actually didn't end up taking them so can't say how it went, but she should ask about being prescribed some cyclizine or something. Just having the antisickness tablets there might help her

No side effects at all for me.

I didn't realise the GP would prescribe anti sickness tablets. That's really good - I've taken them myself for nausea and they really do help massively.

If you do still feel nauseous, take any warm clothes off and lie down on your left side. Or run cold water over your wrists and face. I get it a lot so I've experimented with solutions.

Thanks so much for all the replies. It never occurred to me to get her to ask for anti sickness meds. That's a great idea.

She's read all the replies (doesn't trust me reading them out to her 🙄) and I think she might give it a go.

Thanks again!

It's early days for dd, she's just taken her 3rd tablet, but she's not had any nausea or any side effects yet 🤞

Another emmetophobe here.
I avoided them for exactly the same reason for years .
Then went for it .
I did have nausea but not the sort of " knowing you will throw up " nausea
More like pregnancy nausea for me
It went after a week or so

I was prescribed them years ago and unfortunately did vomit after just one. But I don't think it's as common as people think. Hope she gets on ok with them 🤞

I felt nauseous for the first week or two while getting used to the sertraline, was never sick though. but please tell your daughter she will feel so much better for taking it ☺️ it helped me so much. defo get the anti sickness medicine so she has that to had if she starts feeling a bit off. wishing her all the best 🩷

I'm an emetophobe and I've been on Sertraline for 9 years.

What I meant to say was, no nausea at all

Hi lovely,
I am emetophobic and on sertraline too and was worried about it too but dr told me the side effects leaflet says that just because a teeny tiny proportion of people will throw up but they are the “sickier” types of people anyway typically. So they are the sort of people who naturally have a sensitive stomach and can throw up for no apparent reason, which is the opposite for a lot of emetephobes like myself!

If it makes it easier for her maybe ask if she can start it staggered, I did 25mg for a few weeks then built it to 50mg then it got upped to 100mg when I needed it to and this ensured no side effects other than a little bit of acid reflux which I am prone to regardless so they gave me reflux tablets too.

Any questions please don’t hesitate to PM me x

I had very mild nausea for the first 3 days. It really helps to take it straight after a meal. And she must drink a glass of water with it to make sure it goes down properly otherwise it can give you heartburn.

I am one of those people who can get sick out of nowhere. If it provides extra reassurance for anyone reading, sertraline isn't a medication I'd expect to make me feel sick. I've taken SSRIs before briefly and they were fine in that respect.

I haven't taken sertraline but have been on another medication for anxiety, citalopram, for a long time.
I also suffer for quite severe emetophobia and the GP prescribed me cyclizine to take at first.
I also had a very bad time when my children had norovirus, and was the most anxious I've ever been. I explained this to the GP, and again was given cyclizine. They made it clear it's not something they would prescribe on a regular basis, but knew that my phobia was impacting the anxiety and felt happy to give me about a week's worth each time.
I really hope your daughter manages to take the medication and is able to enjoy her life x

Thank you all so much for your lovely supportive answers, it's so reassuring - for her and me!

Emetophobia is ruining her life. And I don't say that lightly. I'm desperate for her to do something that might help her a bit.

I've read out every single reply and it genuinely does seem to have made her feel a bit more hopeful about trying it.

So thank you 🙏🏻

I'm emetophobic too, I switched meds to sertraline when I was pregnant and although they didn't work for me, I didn't have many side effects and didn't feel sick. I got bad heartburn though x