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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Headaches After Taking Sertraline?

my daughter 15, is on several meds proscribed by her mental health dr, dealing with ADHD, sleep problems and anxiety. She recently started the sertraline for anxiety, and has been complaining about head aches. In addition, around the same time, she became infected with a staph infection. The first antibiotic was not effective, so she has now been taking SMZ/TMP DS for the past 8 days. The head aches and body aches are increasing. OTC pain medication is not effective, she is behaving as if she has a non stop migraine. Her skin is clearing up, and her moods and anxiety over irrational things has improved greatly, however, she is now worried about every ache and pain her body is producing. As a mom, because she tends to be dramatic I don t want to over react, but when she shuts herself in a dark room at 4pm and falls asleep through dinner, I am concerned that the new meds may be the cause. Should I go back to the dr.?
Sat, 21 Jul 2018
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hello and welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.

Headache may be due to tension headache. If she doesnot have proper sleep and if she is stressed out that may be causing her headache. But definitely you need to rule out other causes of headache of which migraine is most common. Consult your doctor regarding this. Common symptoms include:

1. Eye pain
2. Sensitivity to light or sound
3. Nausea
4. Vomiting
5. Severe pain, usually on one side of the head that some individuals describe as "pounding".

Sinusitis may be another common cause. Since she had staph infection there is a possibility of sinusitis causing infection. A course of antibiotics as suggested by your doctor and some home remedies like steam inhalation, staying away from dust etc will help in curing sinusitis. She also needs to get eye tested. If there is refractive error then that will cause chronic headache. For her anxiety symptoms apart from taking medications like sertraline as prescribed by her doctor she needs to follow some lifestyle tips

1. Do regular exercise atleast half an hour per day
2. Socialize with people, family and friends
3. Develop some good hobbies- music, sports, reading books
4. Keep herself busy. An idle mind is devils workshop.
5. Learn meditation techniques.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
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What Causes Headaches After Taking Sertraline?

Hello and welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice. Headache may be due to tension headache. If she doesnot have proper sleep and if she is stressed out that may be causing her headache. But definitely you need to rule out other causes of headache of which migraine is most common. Consult your doctor regarding this. Common symptoms include: 1. Eye pain 2. Sensitivity to light or sound 3. Nausea 4. Vomiting 5. Severe pain, usually on one side of the head that some individuals describe as pounding . Sinusitis may be another common cause. Since she had staph infection there is a possibility of sinusitis causing infection. A course of antibiotics as suggested by your doctor and some home remedies like steam inhalation, staying away from dust etc will help in curing sinusitis. She also needs to get eye tested. If there is refractive error then that will cause chronic headache. For her anxiety symptoms apart from taking medications like sertraline as prescribed by her doctor she needs to follow some lifestyle tips 1. Do regular exercise atleast half an hour per day 2. Socialize with people, family and friends 3. Develop some good hobbies- music, sports, reading books 4. Keep herself busy. An idle mind is devils workshop. 5. Learn meditation techniques. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.