Zoloft and What Happens When you take it late...

[Kaylis-Americanis]

I take Zoloft daily, but sometimes I sleep really late and/or don't take my medicine until a sizeable number of hours later than usual. Whenever this happens, my upper legs itch like crazy. I wasn't sure about any correlation, but since it has happened about 5 times in the past few months, I think there is a relation between the two events (late meds and itchy legs). Does anyone else have weird effects like this if they mess with their medicine schedule (antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication, most likely, although I am in no way an expert)?

[Kaylis-Americanis]

Additional comment:

My mental state is usually okay unless I still haven't taken it about eight hours after the regular time. Thats when s*** gets f****d up.

[Sophist]

Have you looked up side effects? Maybe it's listed. I've never taken it though.

The other stuff may be due to withdrawals; unaware of what the Zoloft half-life would be.

[Kaylis-Americanis]

I think they say the half-life is a few days, definitely not measured in hours at least...I have looked up the side effects, but I forgot what they are lol...maybe I'll do that.

[Kaylis-Americanis]

Zoloft has a half-life of about one day. That means that for every day that passes without taking the medication the level in the blood falls by 50%. When one stops Zoloft too rapidly discontinuation syndrome may develop. Among the symptoms that may be experienced are nausea, tremors, lightheadedness, muscle pains, weakness, insomnia, and anxiety.

Zoloft withdrawal symptoms can occur at any dosage. Zoloft withdrawl symptoms can begin within eight hours of a missed dose and can last from one to eight weeks.

Zoloft side effects
Pain in Limb - Sudden, sharp and uncontrolled leg discomfort.
Muscular Tone Increased - Uncontrolled and exaggeration muscle tension. Muscles are normally partially tensed and this is what gives us muscle tone.
Paresthesia - Burning, prickly, itchy, or tingling skin with no obvious or understood physical cause.
Restless Legs - A need to move the legs without any apparent reason. Sometimes there is pain, twitching, jerking, cramping, burning, or a creepy-crawly sensation associated with the movements. It worsens when a person is inactive and can interrupt one’s sleep so one feels the need to move to gain some relief.
Shaking - Uncontrolled quivering and trembling as if one is cold and chilled.

Holy crap, I posted the things (of the ones I skimmed on that one page I was on) I experience on a regular basis ....not while "withdrawing"/missing a dose...what could that mean...maybe I need to up my dosage? Or, as everyone says, get off Zoloft completely? But tht's dumb because it works, so I never understand why they say that once it starts working you should get off it....
Maybe I will talk to my mom about this soon, after more research.

[Aspen]

Maybe if you took it twice a day in a divided dose, that would lessen the effects of taking a dose a little late.

The pills are scored, so they are pretty easy to break in half.

Maybe if you are having side effects, the dose can be lowered a little?

[adhocisadirtyword]

Could you have a fast metabolism? My body goes through medication effects very quickly.

[Sophist]

Yeah, taking half in morning, half in evening might be something to discuss with your doctor. Like adhoc says, you may metabolize it more rapidly and so spreading it out more like Aspen recommends may solve that problem. Especially if the dose you're on is having the desired cognitive effects.

PS: Some medications, like SSRIs, don't hold with the usual logic of "If I use more, it'll work better". Many times a more minimal dose has the best effects. Think of it like seasoning in some foods: certain seasonings, if used too much, make the food taste horrid, but at the RIGHT dose make it delicious.

[Kaylis-Americanis]

Hmm.... I take 125ish mg in the morning ("ish" because I take one 100 mg pill and a fourth/ a bit more or less broken up pill)

I think I'll keep everything the same though at least until January when I come back from my first international vacation to visit the Boyfriend and the Family

[hibiscus]

Itchy skin means your nerves are going crazy. I would guess it's because the medicine is wearing off and that's the way your nerves are responding. I could be wrong, though, so I recommend checking with your doctor to be sure. It doesn't sound like a pleasant side effect. It's not worth sacrificing your health.