Zoloft: Best time of day to take it?

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Hi, I was prescribed Zoloft and I've been hesitant to take it because of side effects and because I've never had anything like it before. I've read about people suffering from insomnia and nausea and stuff. I was wondering, if any of you have taken it before, when is it better to take it - in the morning, evening, with a meal, etc? It's a low dosage of 25 mg, btw.

Thanks.

Zoloft can be given at any time of the day, but it seems people tolerate it best in the morning. It can be taken with or without food.

Having been on varying dosages of Zoloft (well, technically Sertraline) for well over a decade, I've been taking it in the morning and it seems to work really well. The evenings are dicey for me 'cause I'm way more likely to forget to take it.

I would advise taking it in the morning.

Thank you. I looked it up and saw some room for variation, but I was wondering what people here experienced. I'm partly hesitant to take it before work because I'm concerned about dealing with any side effects while I'm there. Once when I tried the birth control pill, I'd get the shakes and severe nausea about 4 hours after. I was wondering if timing plays into Zoloft like that.

We were taught to recommend taking it in the morning with food. In the morning because it can sometimes cause some sleep problems if taken near bedtime and with food because it was thought that it is absorbed better with food. I'm not sure if more recent studies suggest otherwise.

Be warned that the Zoloft might make you very tired, and if that happens, you might have to take it at bedtime. I took Zoloft for quite a while for my OCD. It didn't work, so I was prescribed several other SSRIs, which also didn't work. The SSRIs have doomed me to permanent chronic fatigue, which I am still currently trying to fix. I used to require very little sleep (average of 5-6 hours a night) before SSRIs. Just a forewarning. The SSRIs are great for a lot of people, and as others have said, they can cause insomnia as a side effect. I, unfortunately, had the opposite effect. The tiredness didn't start for me until around 75 mg, though. I initially was taking 25 mg. Eventually went all the way up to 250 mg, with no symptom improvement. I'm on Anafranil now, which is my OCD miracle drug.
-OddDuckNash99-

I noticed for a few weeks when going on zoloft being a little bit out of it for a few hours after taking it. Hard to explain, but you may want to avoid taking it before work until your used to it. After that, just take it however it seems to affect your sleep. I take it a few hours before I go to sleep if I remember. If not, then I take it in the morning. But I'm not really on much of a schedule right now as I'm unemployed.

If you want to find out what the manufacturer advises for any medicine go to

http://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/

click on the PIL for patient information. The SPC will give information which health professionals can consult to help with enquiries - it is available for anyone to access though people who aren't healthcare professionals may not understand it fully/correctly.[b]

the link to Sertraline is http://www.medicines.org.uk/EMC/searchr ... uickSearch

generally choose the most upto date record

The things to keep in mind is that all medication can have side effects, though quite often these are either infrequent, not serious and/or reversible. Medication affects people differently so you may take it without experiencing any or only very minor side effects. Also doctors sometimes use a medicine for a different reason than why it is intended or for a different patient group. If you have any queries about that then speak to the person who prescribed the medicine.

I hope this is helpful.

Personally, Zoloft made me tired, so I took it at night.

You can change when you take it, though, so it's not like you're locked into a pattern when you take your first dose.

This is from the drug monograph by Pfizer and is in my Canadian Pharmaceutical manual (CPS-Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties). This is the bible for pharmacists in Canada.

"Food appears to increase the bioavailability by about 40%: it is recommended that ZOLOFT be administered with meals."

http://www.pfizer.ca/en/our_products/pr ... ograph/137