I have been taking Sertraline for about 18 months now and I think it has helped me a lot. However, one thing I am now plagued with, which seems to have coinsided with when I started to take it, is night sweats.
I know that hot flushes are listed as a sdie effect, but this is FAR worse than this. I would say about 4-5 nights a week I wake up and I'm sweating so much it's like I've just got out of shower. It's totally gross!!!
My bedroom is not too warm and I don't feel too hot when I gp to bed. The Dr has done blood tests to see if anything abnormal shows up, but that's all OK.
I would be really interested to know if anyone else suffers with this. I don't want to come off it or change if it's nothing to do with the Sertraline, but it's become a real problem in my life!!!
I'm having night sweats too. It really is horrible. Saying that, I seem to be having all the side effects of this drug. The worst is the upset stomach, I've lost over a stone in two weeks I've been on them
Hi, I've been having really bad night sweats on Sertraline which my GP has put down to the menopause, I'm 47. I don't have any hot flushes in the day though. They are very distressing and seem to follow no particular pattern. I am in the process of reducing the drugs but the night sweats are just as bad. I'm hoping they'll go
though. They sound very similar to yours, I often have to change the bed in the night.
I have been slowly coming off sertraline for the last couple of months to see if the night sweats improve, as I was finding them very distressing and they made me feel disgusting. However, the sweats are still as bad, but interestingly I found that when I went away skiing for a week recently they were almost negligible. So, I decided to do some research on the net. I found a lot of comments that memory foam mattresses can cause people to overheat and also that down duvets are not good at wicking away the moisture. We bought a memory foam mattress about a year ago and changed our duvet from synthetic to down about 6 months ago, so I am wondering if my prob is actually these two things compounded!! So I have ordered a woolen duvet and will consider getting a mattress cover or at a last resort changing the mattress. I'll laugh like a drain if it was nothing to do with the Sertraline!! I am just about coping coming off it, but I do find it a constant struggle, but would rather not be dependant on the drugs unless I really need them. I'll let you know how I get on with the change of bedding!!
I have already bought a wool filled duvet and my mattress is topped with memory foam but I was fine on it until I started Sertraline. Be careful with the duvet, a lot of wool ones are lined with polypropylene which will make the sweating worse. I got mine online from baavet to try to stop the night sweats, I love the duvet but it hasn't made any difference to the problem.
Oh no, don't say that!! I was hoping it would be my salvation!!! Oh well, maybe the Sertraline is still in my system - I went down to half dose for a good while before I stopped last week so could still be. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences. I hope we find a solution!!
Its not necessarily Sertraline Katharine. I get night sweats too and i'm on Fluoxetine (Prozac). It could be the illness not the drug as my sister who used to be on Fluoxetine gets them too. I am a bloke btw.
That's interesting and certainly would make sense. Perhaps the change of bedding will just help to control it. My new duvet should arrive early next week.
Hi, yes I also get very vivid dreams every night. Not particularly unpleasant ones, thank goodness. I have dropped my Sertraline gradually from 150 to 50 mg and am finding myself to be more anxious, short tempered and stressed. I am hoping these will pass. I also feel very tired unless I have a good 8 hours plus sleep per night. Does anyone else feel like this?
I got really bad night sweats on Citalopram a few years ago, so I then tried Sertraline when I needed to go back on the meds again (for anxiety), and they also gave me really bad night sweats, continually for months. As soon as I came off them, the night sweats stopped in both cases.
I'm now back on Sertraline (100mg) but after 6 weeks I haven't had any night sweats yet (fingers crossed it stays that way). I do, however, feel nauseous a lot of the time, have the occasional upset stomach, still feel quite anxious and have some VERY weird dreams.
Despite all of that, it definitely does me more good than harm, so I'm sticking with it for now.
I have been taking 100mg sertraline for over 5 years after having an accident . i was getting upset after being diagnosed with PTSD . i was feeling anxious and crying for no reasons 5 or more times a week . After taking 100mg sertraline daily the crying reduced to once or twice a fortnight .
I recently tried to reduce the medication with consent from my GP . I found that after only one week of taking 50mg instead of 100mg i was crying again and feeling very depressed and unsociable . After 2 weeks i was thinking suicidal thoughts and having very bad dreams . So much so that i could not bring myself to go to bed , and ended up having cat naps through the day to get by . I returned to my GP who put me back on 100mg . After only a week i was feeling better .
The only side effects over the years have been some sweaty nights sleep , bad dreams once or twice a month , lack of motavation and no sex drive .
My personal thoughts are that without sertraline my life is a lot worse , so I am more than happy to remain on 100mg and accept these minor side effects .
Its almost certainly the sertraline. I've been on it for 8 months 100mg daily.I stopped drinking alcohol 2 months ago and now I sweat bucket loads every night and some very vivid dreams . apparently the alcohol was suppressing the side effects .
I just stumbled over this thread whilst searching to see if night sweats were a side effect of sertraline. I've been on 50mg for about 6 weeks, and for about the last month have had a few night sweats a week. The last week it's been every night. I have to put a towel in the bed (I'd change the sheets in the night but don't think hubby would appreciate being disturbed!) and keep changing the bedding. However, better than being in the state I was in before taking the sertraline so no plans to stop yet. I'm just pleased it's the tablets and not something sinister! Cheers guys.
Hi All. I've been on Sertraline since Nov 2014. I had no night sweats for the first few months but have started experiencing them over the last few weeks. I have noticed tho, that each new monthly prescription seems to land me with a different brand of the product. The last two months I've had "Ranbaxy" and this is when the night sweats seemed to start. So this is just a suggestion that you may wish to switch manufacturers and see if this helps? I realise that perhaps my lack of sweats in the beginning (when I was on some or other brand) was due to the fact that the drug had not yet accumulated in my system. I don't know. but it may be worth seeing if different brands make any difference.
I had exactly the same experience, started in Nov 14 but only started getting the night sweats after Christmas. I was lucky enough to get the same brand all the way through so it was probably just the fact like you say that it hadn't accumulated in the first couple of months. However, the last script I picked up was a different brand and the sweats stopped for about a week and I felt my anxiety coming back, so my GP increased my dose and I'm back on track with a return of the night sweats! She swears it's nothing to do with the brand, but I do wonder if it is.
I suffered night sweats on 40mg of Prozac and they only got worse when I switched to 100mg of Steraline. Doctors have tested me for HIV (negative), certain cancers, and heart conditions with everything being normal. Since my switch to steraline I've been getting extreme head aches, and vivid dreams. I've asked to be switched to another antidepressantantidepressant, but haven't heard anything from the doctors yet.