Zoloft for stomach issues

[Cody130]

I have been fighting stomach troubles and nausea for 3yrs now and my dr. Has prescribed 25mg of zoloft a day. I have been treated for gerd and acid reflux with no change. I am an Iraq vet withild PTSD and have been fighting every day to maintain my mental stability  Dont get me wrong I'm not crazy I just have some anger issues  Im terrified if I start this med I may fix one problem and lose my mental stability. That and why would a dr. Prescribe a med that's side effects are partially the same as what he is trying to treat with it.  Advice plz

[CalGal]

Pebble, zoloft and many other of the antidepressants ARE for the stomach and a lot of other GI issues. They can sometimes help calm down GI problems when all other drugs fail.

[pebble88]

Zoloft is not for the stomach, it is an antidepressant.. Nexium is wonderful for the stomach!  It has helped my son and I both with stomach issues we have had.

[CalGal]

Cody, there's a big mind/body link. The same neurotransmitters in the head (and their receptors) are also found in the stomach. Through trial-and-error docs have found that patients on 'head meds' had fewer GI issues than a lot of other people. That suggested a link, and for a number of years, they've been giving out Zoloft and other 'head meds' at lower doses to those with GI issues to try to help calm to affected parts of the GI system. In some it helps, in other it doesn't.

If you've tried everything (diet and meds?) to bring your stomach issues into line, this might help. There's no guarantee, but for many it is worth a try.

The problem is there's no way to tell whether or not one med vs. another is going to help since every individual is different. You're going to have to trust you doc - and yourself - to know whether it's helping or not. If you try it and it doesn't, get off of it.

Another suggestion, slightly off the beaten path. There are a lot of vets who have tried craniosacral therapy and have found it very helpful for PTSD. We have a number of them out here in Los Angeles, and a lot of them say that it helps them 'maintain.' It's not for everyone and some people scoff at it, but you might want to consider it. It's based on sound osteopathic principles, although a lot of M.D.'s don't believe in it because they're not trained in it. And, yes, I do know people who use it and swear by it - including a couple of vets. If you can find an experienced practitioner who really 'knows their stuff' you might want to consider it.