adrian90: Visual disturbances and tingling feelings

[adrian90]

Hello,

 

I have been almost 6 months on Sertraline. I was prescribed an antidepressant because things at work were quite stressing (serious bullying) and also because of crazy weekends. Taking antidepressants was not helpful, right at the same moment I started to take antidepressants they put me to work in a very low stress position temporarily and people thought that I was a different person because of the antidepressants but actually I attribute it to the fact that my new job was so easy. Still, even working at this easy position I had to deal with the work environment and my anxiety was kept up. Today, I am completely off work and feel pretty much myself, strong. Better than I have ever felt. The crazy weekends are out long time ago (that has helped) and my situation is... awful, but at least I feel strong not having to deal with some of the stuff I had to previously.

 

I have taken Sertraline in a pretty reliable way, except a couple of weeks ago that I missed for 3 days (in which I felt oddly well, except the first day).

 

Since month two I started to feel a tingling sensation all over my body which randomly comes and goes, like electric feelings. Also yesterday I had a pretty scary event in which I felt suddenly visual disturbances, I felt like when you look directly at a light and see patches in your visual field and it got to the point I struggled to see at all, this lasted for 40 mins. Still today I have 'visual snow' and I am quite feed up. This adds to the fact I feel more than fine, questioning why am I taking something that seems not being agreeing with my body. The visual snow stays since yesterday and there is no sings of improving.

 

Anyone with these visual disturbances/visual snow? I will comment with my GP on Monday, I'll leave it some time to see if it improves.

[Altostrata]

Welcome, adrian.

 

Those electric feelings are either an adverse reaction to sertraline or withdrawal symptoms from inconsistent dosing. Have you been taking sertraline at irregular times? It's very important you take it at the same time each day, to avoid triggering those symptoms.

 

Skipping doses a couple of weeks ago may have set you up for additional nervous system instability.

 

Please get regular with your sertraline dosing and let us know how you're doing. Given your current symptoms of autonomic instability, after you stabilize, you might consider tapering very carefully, see Tips for tapering off Zoloft (sertraline) , to avoid setting off worse symptoms.

 

[adrian90]

Hey, thank for your message.

 

I have been taking it in a pretty consistent way... mostly in the morning. I have changed the time I take it, yes... but the symptoms do not correlate with the times I did it.

 

My main concern is the visual disturbances. I felt it was very messed up. Still, I have visual snow since. No changes in dose of schedule. Full eye test... all normal, no damage to optic nerve. All this points to something psychiatric rather than real damage. Just wanted to check if visual snow and visual patches are normal or there might be something else wrong.

 

 

[ChessieCat]

Here is SA's topic:

 

vision-symptoms-floaters-snow-blurreddimmed-vision-twitching-and-pain

 

 

 

[Altostrata]

On 3/15/2018 at 3:07 PM, adrian90 said:

All this points to something psychiatric rather than real damage.

 

Not psychiatric, perhaps neurological. There's a lot about the nervous system that medicine does not know.