What special precautions should I follow?
Before taking sertraline:
Tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to sertraline or any other medications. So too, before taking sertraline liquid concentrate, let your doctor know if you are allergic to latex.
Moreover, please inform your doctor if you or anyone in your family has or has ever had depression, bipolar disorder, mania or if you or anyone in your family has thought about or attempted suicide.
Also tell your doctor if you have recently had a heart attack and if you have, or have ever had, seizures, iver problems or heart disease.
If you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breast-feeding, please inform your doctor immediately.
It is important that your doctor check your progress at regular visits, to allow for changes in your dose and to help reduce any side effects.
Do not take sertraline with or within 14 days of taking an MAO inhibitor (such as furazolidone, phenelzine, procarbazine, selegiline, or tranylcypromine). If you do, you may develop extremely high blood pressure or convulsions (seizures).
Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages while taking sertraline.
This medicine may cause some people to become drowsy, to have trouble thinking, or to have problems with movement. Make sure you know how you react to sertraline before you drive, use machines, or do anything else that could be dangerous if you are not alert or well-coordinated.
Additionally, sertraline may cause agitation, irritability or make people display other abnormal behaviors. It may also cause some people to have suicidal thoughts and tendencies or become more depressed. If you or your healthcare assistant notice any of these adverse effects, tell your doctor right away.
Do not stop taking this medicine without first checking with your doctor. Your doctor may want you to reduce gradually the amount you are taking before stopping completely. This is to decrease the chance of having discontinuation symptoms such as agitation, anxiety, dizziness, feeling of constant movement of oneself or surroundings, headache, increased sweating, nausea, trembling or shaking, trouble in sleeping or walking, or unusual tiredness.
Why is this medication prescribed?
Dosage and using this medicine
What should I do if I forget a dose?
What side effects can this medication cause?