Zoloft

Depression is now a serious life-threatening mood disorder affecting about 17.6 million Americans every year. It destroyed many family relationships and led to significant number of suicide cases in the United States. Suicide is ranked as the eight leading cause of death in the world and many countries, including the United States, are spending millions of dollars to treat patients with illness of depression and Zoloft is one of the wonder drugs the medical world has produced to combat the emotional disease.

Zoloft is the brand name for the generic drug sertraline, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) used to treat or relieve depression, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive behaviors. The drug works by elevating mood through increasing serotonin chemical production that helps treat depression and reduces panic attacks and unpleasant thoughts associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder, which results when imbalance or inadequate serotonin production occurs in the brain.

Taking in Zoloft requires not only a doctor’s prescription but supervision as well. Early stage of anti-depressant medication increases suicidal tendencies of the patient especially those under 18 years old. The patient must be regularly monitored by the doctor and supervising family member for worsening symptoms of depression to control or change drug dosage. Medical history such as liver or kidney ailments, seizures or epilepsy and drug abuse should also be disclosed with your doctor to achieve proper dosage prescription of the drug. Patients are usually prohibited to take the drug when currently taking other drugs such as pimozide and monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor drugs, which could lead to fatal reactions when used together with sertraline. A 14-day gap allowance is commonly required before taking in any of the two drugs.

Zoloft and pregnancy is another concern doctors consider in prescribing the drug, which is categorized as a pregnancy category C that could potentially harm the fetus especially during the third trimester of pregnancy. Medical reports have been released about health complications of newborn babies after being exposed to Zoloft while inside their mother’s womb. The exposure to the drug increases the risk of developing pulmonary hypertension that could lead to death of newborn babies.

The drug could be taken in with food. Recommended dosage is once daily with strengths ranging from 50 mg to 200 mg depending on the doctor’s prescription. It is very important to strictly follow the prescribed dosage of the doctor so the medication would be effective. In case you miss a dose, take it as soon as possible. If you do not remember missing dose until the next day, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Avoid making up for the missed dose by double dosing. One should also avoid taking alcohol while under medication. Zoloft and alcohol act upon similar brain chemicals, which means the drug could intensify the effect of alcohol in the human brain by either aggravating depression symptoms or affect motor skills.

Moreover, improvements may occur earlier from taking the drug but the body’s full response to the medication may take four weeks or even longer.

Just like other drugs, Zoloft can incur many side effects such as skin allergies, aggressive mood changes, appetite loss and drowsiness. But more alarming concerns have been raised on its effect on sexual drives of an individual. Zoloft sexual side effects include decreased sex drive, ejaculation failure, and even impotence. Some would abruptly stop taking in the drug to avert the continuance of the side effects but doing this might even lead to another serious complication called Zoloft withdrawal with alarming symptoms of anxiety, agitation, and headache. That is why it is advised to always consult your doctor while under medication.

The effectiveness of the drug, however, varies from patient to patient. Combating depression should not only be depended on drug medication but should also be accompanied with strong emotional support and understanding from the family.