Gen2 asked this question on 4/28/2000:
I have been taking Serzone since October. I was taking 400mg, but now I am down to 300mg. When I was taking 400, I was having weird vision problems. I take it at night and for the first 30 minutes after I would wake up, I would see "trails" from movement of my own or my boyfriend. Its kinda like watching a cartoon of a character that moves really fast and it leaves post-impression type images behind it. It also would make me feel weak and nauseated. So I started taking 300 at night at 100 in the morning. The symptons still continued. If I forget to take it at night, when I wake up in the morning, I am nauseated and sometimes actually get sick. I told my Dr., but he was not familar with those symptons from Serzone. He suggested I continue at 400mg, but that I could go to 300 if needed. Now at 300mg, I am back to battling less severe bouts of depression, and still having problems if I forget to take it at night. I am a small person, about 5'4" and 115lbs if that has anything to do with it. Has anyone else heard or experienced this? I am reluctant to change meds because I don't want to go through the withdrawal. Just taking this 8 or 9 hours late makes me physically sick. I am also afraid of my depression coming back to the point it was when I started on the Serzone. I couldn't make it to work somedays and I was very scared. I would greatly appreaciate any advice. Thank you in advance for your time!
Imagika gave this response on 4/29/2000:
I've never been on Serazone, but I am on Zoloft and Trazodone. Maybe it's just me... but that seems like an AWFULLY high dosage. When my former psychiatrist had me on massive doses of Zoloft, I too had really odd side effects. Not so much trails as it was hallucinations. I also don't think that the nauseated feeling you get after missing a dose is normal either. Has your doctor done bloodwork on you recently? Being on anti-depressants (especially with such a high dose) you should have your liver functions checked every six months, as these meds do take a toll on your body. I think that maybe it's time for you to have a good heart-to-heart with your doctor and tell him/her that your side effects are UNACCEPTABLE and you want to try a different medication. Go to your local library and see if you can find a copy of the Physician's Desk Reference (PDR) and look up the normal dose for Searazone (I'd be willing to bet that it's NOT 400mgs.). You need to inform yourself about your treatment or else some doctors will take advantage. My former psychiatrist, upon recognizing my manic symptoms took me off of the 150mgs of Zoloft (cold turkey) and wanted me to immediately begin 900mgs of Lithium. Despite how manic I was, I still looked up Lithium and saw that the dosage was nearly 3 times the normal dosage. I dropped that MD so fast it made her head spin. I'm now doing well and am STABLE at 50mgs of Zoloft, 50mgs of Trazodone at night to help me sleep, and 5mgs of Ritalin. Has it out with your doctor... there has got to be a better alternative for you that will keep you out of the darkness of depression, and not make you sick. Take care of yourself!!!
The average rating for this answer is 5.
Gen2 rated this answer a 5.
Thank you for your advice. I had not thought about the PDR, and I will definitly check it out!