
What Does Stiffness In Body And Neck While On Zoloft Indicate?

Such symptoms can occur due to poorly controlled anxiety
Detailed Answer:
Hello thanks for asking from HCM for your health related queries
I can understand your concern. You are taking Zoloft (Sertraline) for your anxiety and OCD symptoms. Sertraline is a SSRI drug and the drug is a commonly used drug for anxiety and OCD. The drug is known to reduce heart rate in some patients in various studies.
The symptoms you are having like feeling cold, stiffness of body, jaw and neck, trouble in talking and confused thinking etc are occurring due to anxiety most likely. As you are taking Sertraline so this has probably lowered the hear rate but the drug is also probably not controlling anxiety which is the reason for your symptoms. Yes if Zoloft fails to control anxiety then anxiety may present in form of physical symptoms.
Few thing I would like to know in follow up question-
- What doses of Zoloft are you taking?
- Whether these symptoms are occurring in episodes or are presenting continuously?
- Are your symptoms of OCD still persistent?
- At what time are you taking the Zoloft like in morning or evening?
- Since how many days you are taking the Zoloft?
Thanks, hope this helps you. Don't hesitate to ask again for more doubts and please provide the details I asked in follow up question.


As per my opinion increase the doses of Sertraline to 100 mg per day
Detailed Answer:
Hello, thanks for providing history in detail in follow up question
Zoloft or Sertraline as I have mentioned earlier also is a SSRI drug. The drug is usually used in high doses for control of OCD symptoms like in 100-200 mg doses. The doses of 50 mg you are taking are in lower range and it can control anxiety to some extent but not completely.
Due to infection in stomach and later with antibiotic doses (you have not mentioned specific antibiotics but most of antibiotics may potentiate anxiety) the anxiety got worse and this resulted in relapse of symptoms. These symptoms has started improving and as per my opinion would reduce in some days.
As per my opinion there is not much use to take the drug at 50 mg doses for last 2 years. If anxiety symptoms are under control then reduce the doses gradually and then stop completely or alternately try to increase the doses again to 75 mg for a couple of weeks and then increase again to 100 mg doses. This would result in control of anxiety symptoms completely and would reduce any relapse of OC symptoms.
Thanks

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