Cold sweat

[stressedanxious]

I was sleeping and I woke up In a cold sweat. My clothes were damp and I had chills run through my body. When I woke up , I took off my shirt and I had another episode of my body just sweating out of the blue! It freaked me out and it drove me to a panic attack. I checked my temperature and had no fever. It felt like I had the flu . I need to know if this can be a side of Zoloft or is this something different.

[panic_down_under]

I need to know if this can be a side of Zoloft or is this something different.

It can be a side-effect of sertraline and most other antidepressants and also an anxiety symptom. With ADs it mostly occurs when first taking them. How long have you been on sertraline and how much are you taking?

[stressedanxious]

I’ve been on Zoloft for about a week I only take 25 mg for now. I plan on taking 50 mg later on. I’m really scared though. Because I thought I had the flu. The cold sweat was so bad and scary. I don’t want to feel that way again. And now I’m scared what if it’s not Zoloft related what if it’s a disease or something . I just feel horrible . And anxious what if it happens again.

[Scissel]

Yep yep.. get the sweats here also. Some days are worse than others. I'm on 100MG and I'm surviving. I wouldn't worry too much about diseases - its the Zoloft!

I hope you feel better soon :)

[panic_down_under]

I’ve been on Zoloft for about a week I only take 25 mg for now. I plan on taking 50 mg later on. I’m really scared though. Because I thought I had the flu. The cold sweat was so bad and scary. I don’t want to feel that way again. And now I’m scared what if it’s not Zoloft related what if it’s a disease or something . I just feel horrible .

I can't say whether you have the flu or not, but based on the above the most likely cause is the heightened serotonin activity triggered by the sertraline. Serotonin is not just a brain neurotransmitter. It has many roles in the body including in the regulation of blood vessel tone (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3818135/), constriction and dilation and sertraline is probably affecting this. The skin and the fine blood vessels just below the surface use about as much serotonin as the brain, a little less than 2% of the body's total. SSRIs are also mild blood thinners which may also be having an effect.

The good news is that the body will usually respond to the increase in serotonin activity after a while by down-regulating serotonin synthesis and expression and any initial side-effects should then begin to diminish, although they can linger for some. They may also return for a while after dose increases, however, typically not as severely (this shouldn't be a reason to delay increasing to at least 50mg which is the minimum effective dose for most).


And anxious what if it happens again.

It isn't a sign of harm, just a short-lived nuisance side-effect from taking a med which may greatly improve your quality of life.