My Husband Has Been Taking Sertraline For A Couple Months

Posted on Thu, 21 Nov 2019

Question: My husband has been taking sertraline for a couple months to treat his PTSD. Two weeks ago the doctor increased his dose. A couple nights ago he told me while he was at the store he heard a voice in his head (not his own) telling him to kill himself. It went away and he hasn%E2%80%99t heard it since but it scared him pretty bad. He said he will talk to his doctor at his next appointment in a couple weeks. Is this something that he can wait to tell the doctor or should he call immediately?

Answered by Dr. Olgeta Xhufka (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
If it happens once more call psychiatrist immediately.

Detailed Answer:
Hello dear, welcome to Ask a doctor service.
I read your query and here is my advice.

If it happened only once and he is not hearing them anymore I think he can wait to meet his psychiatrist and tell him. If he continues to hear them you should call his psychiatrist immediately because there is a risk of committing suicide while hearing those voices.

Hope I have answered the question.
Let me know if I can assist you further.

Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng