Zoloft Side Effects
As with most prescribed drugs, the chances are good that there will be some Zoloft side effects, both common and more uncommon. While I am not a doctor—and am therefore not dispensing any medical advice of any kind—I find that the better a drug like Zoloft works to alleviate or minimize symptoms, the better the chances of Zoloft side effects occurring.
More Common Zoloft Side Effects
The most common side effects reported by those prescribed this anti-depressant include (in alphabetical order here, not in order of severity or frequency) decreased appetite delayed ejaculation, delayed orgasm, and other possible sexual side effects; diarrhea, drowsiness, dry mouth, feelings of agitation, increased sweating, indigestion, insomnia, tremor, and upset stomach or nausea.
Less Common Zoloft Side Effects
Less common Zoloft side effects, that factor in depending upon a patient’s overall health, age, and other conditions, include the following (according to legalconsumerguide.com and other sources, combined):
In elderly patients prescribed the SSRI (selective seratonin reuptake inhibitor), Zoloft has been found to be associated in cases where clinically significant hyponatremia (low sodium blood level) was extant.
Zoloft has been reportedly associated decreasing serum uric acid levels (at an average decrease of approximately 7%). However, it is unknown how clinically significant this particular side effect is.
In depressed patients and clinical testing, 0.6% of those using prescribed Zoloft experienced and/or displayed mania or hyomania.
An additional Zoloft side effect has been reported as occuring in these SSRI-treated patients: an increased state (or increasing states) of agitation lead to violent behavior, directed both at the self and outward, at others. Pfizer, the manufacturer of the pharmaceutical, lists agitation and agitated behavior as side effects, while patients treated with Zoloft (and with many of the other SSRI’s) have reported the drug has induced the suicidal and homicidal behavior noted above. Documented research and reports show that these patients had no prior record or history of illegal or violent activity, or even of agitated feelings and behaviors prior to taking Zoloft. However, it must be said that based on numerous complaints in 1991, which patients issued to the FDA, the FDA found after extensively researching the complaints that there was no correlation between the SSRI Zoloft and the reported Zoloft side effect of illegal behavior due to agitation. In addition, while FDA remains adamant, so do many other Zoloft patients who have never experienced the described effects of violence caused by agitation directly or by Zoloft directly or indirectly.