sertraline with emetophobia

[naomicharlotte]

Hey, this is my first post as i only just signed up - i found the site today.

I was recently diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder by an adolescent outreach team, and while i wait before my proper treatment is organised they prescribed me sertraline to use to take the edge off the way i have been feeling.

I've always had a big problem with taking medication as I have a really bad case of emetophobia (terrible phobia of being sick), and now i'm really concerened to take this as i have heard that being sick is a common side effect. I know that sometimes you have to put up with a few side effects to get the benefits of what it will help, but there's no way i'd carry on taking most things if they were making me sick, it's just something at the moment i can't put up with.

I was just wondering if it really is a common side effect or if it's just the feeling sick, what other people's experiences are and whether they are worth it? I'm only 17 so i don't know if that would make the side effects worse. I'm quite small so i can't really afford to lose any more weight either, so a loss of appetite wouldn't be a good idea. Could anyone give me any advice please?

Thanks :) naomi xx

[Deb284]

Hi Naomi, please try not to worry. I know thats easy to say ...but hey I was prescribed sertraline and was on it for 3 years and I had no sicky side effects at all.
I cant say I know how you feel as I dont suffer from that sickness phobia but I do know what its like to worry yourself crazy over something (for me its fear of dying).

My nephew is 16 housebound due to OCD and fear of airborn germs from other people. He is terrified that he will be sick. Please let me know if you do decide to take the medication and if it helps at all. I would love to be able to give him a bit of hope.

Take care of you

Deb x :hugs:

[naomicharlotte]

heya deb thanks for the reply

I just started taking them, today I took my second pill. Luckily so far I haven't been sick, although they have made me feel very nauseous. It's made me lose my appetite a bit because of the feeling sick, but so far it's not too bad to handle. I also heard this can go off after about a week or so, so i'm looking forward to that :P

Another side effect i've experienced after the pill i took was insomnia, I only got around 2 hours sleep last night. I'm not really sure if the side effects can kick in that quickly though, so could be due to something else? It was unusual as my sleeping is mostly very good.

Not feeling any noticable effects so far but I have been told that the tablets take a while to work. If your nephew has been offered them I would definitely suggest that he tries them like me - i'm not sure if they will work but I figured there would be no harm in trying, as long as they didn't make me sick :P i'll let you know when if it starts to have an effect or if anything else happens while i'm taking them.

naomi xxxx