Sertraline / symptoms

[Jamesearl]

Ive been suffering with a bad illness recently which ive been thinking i had hiv or something i started on 50 mg sertraline a week ago and i can feel my lymph nodes seem to have decreased slighty in size !

Can this happen ? Do you think the meds have done this ?

[ashler1977]

Couldn't agree more with you.

Was healthy as a horse all my life. All changed in Feb 2012, in a drunken night of unprotected oral sex (receiving) and protected intercourse. Two weeks later, a swollen lymph node and neck stiffness and then a painful UTI.

Since June 2012 (almost 1 year), this coated tongue and swollen (and sometimes sore) tastebuds at the tip of tongue. You can see pictures on my profile.

Tested for N things including HIV and other stuff. Something's wrong, because I never had these problems. But some doctors only advise to eat yogurt and take probiotics :S

I will continue updating on my case. There are some people with unexplained symptoms after a sexual exposure. And I don't think these symptoms are caused by anxiety (I wish that was the case)

[Paxiled]

I'm going to be a little contrary here -- there are a lot of people who are misdiagnosed or who have hidden viruses that take doctors years to discover.  It's not at all rare.  Conditions like this abound now -- chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic yeast infections, endometriosis, Lyme disease, auto-immune disorders, undiagnosed thyroid conditions, undiagnosed sugar imbalances, ciliac disease -- the list of "hidden" diseases is epidemic, not at all rare, and one main reason is doctors not believing their patients and not being competent and not taking the time necessary to properly find out what's wrong.  Then there are all the environmental contaminants we've introduced into our lives.  We have epidemics of so many things that didn't used to exist, such as allergies, auto-immune diseases, and, yes, anxiety and depression.  Why?  My advice is, given what you've said, is to try to get to some place where real medicine is practiced, such as Johns Hopkins or the Mayo Clinic, or if you can't or don't want to do that, try a natural approach.  Because it doesn't sound like anxiety to me, it sounds like you do have something that's hard to detect, at least given what you've described.  It isn't HIV, and it probably isn't sexual at all, but that doesn't mean you don't have something.  Anxiety isn't the cause of everything, anxiety sufferers get sick, too.  Just a thought.

[nursegirl6572]

I don't doubt that you're ill, especially if the doctors are actually coming right out and SAYING they think something is wrong.

I WILL say that most of your symptoms can be attributed to a severe and chronic anxiety situation.  I'll tell you two things that you can take for what they're worth..

1.  I've been posting on the HIV forum since 2008, do you know how many people I've dealt with who have had the same story as yours?  Fought for months, a year..more,  to figure out what the mysterious illness was...only to finally realize, after all that time, and all those tests, that they weren't really ill at all...and once they started addressing their symptoms as anxiety, and really ACCEPTED it, their long list of "symptoms" began to shrink.

2.  You're a young person.  It would be extremely rare that a team of doctors couldn't diagnose an illness.  The stories you hear about people having rare conditions that the docs can't find, or narrow down are just that, RARE.  SO rare that they're insignificant.

I'm not at all discounting anything you're going through, I just want to present that to you...so you can see that this kind of situation, after an HIV scare, happens with some regularity around here.  People have very severe symptoms, weight loss, swollen nodes, even some abnormal bloodwork, all kinds of very real symptoms.  In the end, there was not a thing wrong with them, except anxiety.

I just feel so badly for people that waste so much time chasing this elusive illness, to the point they make themselves sicker.  If the docs are stumped, and have not directly encouraged you to pursue all this medical testing...meaning if YOU are initating the medical course...asking for more work-ups, more tests...then that's another sign that you might be barking up the wrong tree. Doctors who REALLY believe there is a serious undiagnosed medical problem will be very aggressive.  YOU wouoldn't be following up with them, it would be the other way around.

I'm telling you this out of concern, and out of experience.  My gut tells me that your problem is 95% anxiety, and maybe 5% of some garden variety viral illness. Only YOU can come to the determination of which direction you want to go.  Seems like you have stopped living...either way.  Regardless, you need to do whatever it takes to continue tending to your mental health....because as that deteriorates, it will bring its own symptoms, and you will create even more doubt and stress for yourself.  It's one heck of a cycle.

Just take some time, and give those things some thought.  I'm being 100% honest with you...you'd be amazed at how often we see someone go through this.  They fight us the whole way through, until the end, when they come to a different determination.

Either way, I sincerely hope you figure this out soon.  I'm sure it's terribly stressful, and you're losing yourself in the process, which I hate to see.  We're certainly here to try to help you navigate through the anxiety.   Update us when you can.

[birdie0907]

Why don't you trust the 10 HIV tests that have been performed? HIV testing is old science so there is no way it is incorrect. What is there about it that you don't trust?

[Jamesearl]

Im experiencing a few side effects off the meds but these where here long befor i took these meds and there the reason why my doc has put me on sertraline !

Ive went too get more bloods today

Esr
Cbc
Liver function
Calcium
Ferretin
Blood sugars

Maybe these further tests will shed light on whats going on with me .

[Paxiled]

Keep in mind that starting an anti-depressant can have side effects which can include fatigue or the opposite, stimulation, and a whole range of effects that can make you feel ill.  Whenever I've started one that actually worked it was like I was running into a wall for a while.

[Jamesearl]

Yes im seeing someone too but its not helping these physical symptoms doctors aknowladge im ill but havnt come up with nothing .

[nursegirl6572]

You MUST stop messing with your lymph nodes.

On top of the Zoloft, are you getting any therapy??  It's a must!

[Life360_Dave]

Well since you did all the tests and are negative then something else is bothering you. In the past, when i was in fear of being sick i realized it was from my fear of dying. Since then i have become closer to my God and also have become more tuned in to the existence of other lives. I now realize that all things want a chance to live so i dont even kill and ant if its not necessary.
I realized that i was putting myself at the center of the Universe and learned now that there is room in the center for all living things.

[Jamesearl]

I have went overkill on the hiv testing too be honest  all negative and every other you can possibly imagine. I thought that i had it and still not completely convinced even though 10+ docs have said im conclusively negative

, i have definitely got some really harsh viral illness after exposure though thats for sure

[Life360_Dave]

Hi James, sorry to hear you not feeling well. You might want to get tested for HIV only to rest your mind as constant worrying will make you very anxious and not accomplish anything to put your mind at ease.