Story Non-suicidal, “accidental” overdose on Sertraline (Zoloft), minimal amount - caused severe, unexplainable serotonin syndrome + ER visits. My story

[JassieDusk]

So this happened a week ago or so and it made me go through 3 days of literal torture.

I just got released from a psychiatric hospital and decided to sleep over at my friend's house. I forgot my usual medication (lithium, quetiapine, alventa) at home, so during the night while we were watching a movie I took random pills I kept in my bag. Yes, I didn't even bother to look at the package (huge mistake). My intention was to "replace" my usual medication for the night.
I ended up taking 300mg of sertraline, which is a very mild overdose, not even an overdose, so therefore the upcoming hallucinations, insomnia, severe seizures and confusion remain unexplained.
I was fine until we went to sleep. I "slept" in the living room on the couch. I couldn't even get close to falling asleep. I was shivering and sweating but besides that, I was still fine. The night was sleepless and time passed suspiciously quick. In the morning, when my friends woke up, I was washing dishes and, how they later explained, I was full of energy and talkative.

By noon the nausea kicked in, I couldn't take a sip of water without puking, my pupils were so dilated that you couldn't tell which color my eyes are. Despite that, I continued with my day, went to a bar with my friends and didn't tell anyone about the OD nor about how I was feeling like shit. I convinced myself that I'll be fine by the end of the day.

Well, I wasn't.

In the evening, I was heavily dehydrated, couldn't take a sip of liquids without puking and my heart was pounding like crazy. I asked my friend to take me to the ER because I might've overdosed. We went. They checked my pulse and my blood sugar, everything normal. I asked for an infusion of liquids, they denied and said they could only send me to a psychiatric facility, that physically I was fine and that my symptoms were psychological.

I went back to my friend's house, tried to sleep after watching another movie. Without success. My friend offered me to sleep in her bed (which was literally shaking together with me, how she later explained). That's when the hallucinations started.

I never had hallucinations before. I'm talking about severe hallucinations which I experienced while being fully aware that those were hallucinations. For example, the shadows on the wall came to life, became an animal and started eating grass. I heard a radio next to me while there was no radio. I vibed to music that was never playing. When my hands and feet started cramping and had a seizure-like posture, my friend handed me my phone to call an ambulance (she doesn't speak our local language). They said that "I sound fine" and that they don't have resources to send an ambulance, that I should call a taxi (what the fuck?).

That's what we did. Another trip to the emergency room. They diagnosed me with "psychotic features caused by drug abuse" without even testing me for any substances and sent me to another hospital.

No exaggeration, I was treated like a lying drug addict by the healthcare system the whole entire time I actually thought I was in a slow dying process. I didn't sleep for 36+ hours which could also be the reason for my hallucinations.

We waited in the hallway for an hour, me crawled up on the cold floor in a corner with my head on my friend's lap, shivering like crazy, clothes wet from sweat, mouth and throat begging for water.

I managed to get my way around a psych ward hospitalization and even got an infusion of liquids (after going from one doctor to another begging them for it).

So yeah, I don't know what shocks me more: the severe symptoms of a mild overdose or the disgusting treatment of health "professionals".

That's basically it. If I'll ever again overdose for whatever reason, I'll never take SSRI's again, because what the heck, that shit should be sold on the dark market.

 

[Fadenself00]

yes ssris can be brutal. if you are sensitive even a sub-clinical dose can do all of this (ask me how i know lol). it is all neurological/messing with your brain chemistry. some who take these seizure-like states seriously, call them psychological- or pseudo-seizures. i would propose "functional"- or "chemical"-seizures

 

[JassieDusk]

yes ssris can be brutal. if you are sensitive even a sub-clinical dose can do all of this (ask me how i know lol). it is all neurological/messing with your brain chemistry. some who take these seizure-like states seriously, call them psychological- or pseudo-seizures. i would propose "functional"- or "chemical"-seizures

Damn, feels good to hear this. Seems like I weren't crazy afterall

 

[Fadenself00]

by now you should have realized what a massive scam mental health"care" is.. humans are stupid, i would personally get off of as many meds as i could, in your situation.

---

a bit about my situation if it interests you; i had a severe crash with a medication, followed by extreme medication sensitivity and deficits. imagine the state you were in - i had for a span of 1.5 years non-stop (many months spent getting off of that ssri).. i almost (at least indirectly) died multiple times, was at risk of getting further drugged, had to avoid everyone and was completely alone and almost homeless at the time... everything can get much much worse - quick. end states typically are ending up as a complete vegetable, with either a schizophrenia, catatonia or something of that sort -diagnosis being stuck on you.. it is mesmerizing how perfect this downward spiral is

Damn, feels good to hear this. Seems like I weren't crazy afterall

we are in a society of ignorance, gaslighting and abuse. health care isnt excluded from that > symptoms of this are over-medication and producing existential torture beyond what the humans inflicting it, can comprehend.

it is a naïve, feel-good fantasy to not look at healthcare the same way you would look at, and question everything run by, humans

 

[OzymandiAsh]

So this happened a week ago or so and it made me go through 3 days of literal torture.

I just got released from a psychiatric hospital and decided to sleep over at my friend's house. I forgot my usual medication (lithium, quetiapine, alventa) at home, so during the night while we were watching a movie I took random pills I kept in my bag. Yes, I didn't even bother to look at the package (huge mistake). My intention was to "replace" my usual medication for the night.
I ended up taking 300mg of sertraline, which is a very mild overdose, not even an overdose, so therefore the upcoming hallucinations, insomnia, severe seizures and confusion remain unexplained.
I was fine until we went to sleep. I "slept" in the living room on the couch. I couldn't even get close to falling asleep. I was shivering and sweating but besides that, I was still fine. The night was sleepless and time passed suspiciously quick. In the morning, when my friends woke up, I was washing dishes and, how they later explained, I was full of energy and talkative.

By noon the nausea kicked in, I couldn't take a sip of water without puking, my pupils were so dilated that you couldn't tell which color my eyes are. Despite that, I continued with my day, went to a bar with my friends and didn't tell anyone about the OD nor about how I was feeling like shit. I convinced myself that I'll be fine by the end of the day.

Well, I wasn't.

In the evening, I was heavily dehydrated, couldn't take a sip of liquids without puking and my heart was pounding like crazy. I asked my friend to take me to the ER because I might've overdosed. We went. They checked my pulse and my blood sugar, everything normal. I asked for an infusion of liquids, they denied and said they could only send me to a psychiatric facility, that physically I was fine and that my symptoms were psychological.

I went back to my friend's house, tried to sleep after watching another movie. Without success. My friend offered me to sleep in her bed (which was literally shaking together with me, how she later explained). That's when the hallucinations started.

I never had hallucinations before. I'm talking about severe hallucinations which I experienced while being fully aware that those were hallucinations. For example, the shadows on the wall came to life, became an animal and started eating grass. I heard a radio next to me while there was no radio. I vibed to music that was never playing. When my hands and feet started cramping and had a seizure-like posture, my friend handed me my phone to call an ambulance (she doesn't speak our local language). They said that "I sound fine" and that they don't have resources to send an ambulance, that I should call a taxi (what the fuck?).

That's what we did. Another trip to the emergency room. They diagnosed me with "psychotic features caused by drug abuse" without even testing me for any substances and sent me to another hospital.

No exaggeration, I was treated like a lying drug addict by the healthcare system the whole entire time I actually thought I was in a slow dying process. I didn't sleep for 36+ hours which could also be the reason for my hallucinations.

We waited in the hallway for an hour, me crawled up on the cold floor in a corner with my head on my friend's lap, shivering like crazy, clothes wet from sweat, mouth and throat begging for water.

I managed to get my way around a psych ward hospitalization and even got an infusion of liquids (after going from one doctor to another begging them for it).

So yeah, I don't know what shocks me more: the severe symptoms of a mild overdose or the disgusting treatment of health "professionals".

That's basically it. If I'll ever again overdose for whatever reason, I'll never take SSRI's again, because what the heck, that shit should be sold on the dark market.

Damn, thanks for sharing.
You are right, 300mg of sertraline is not a massive dose, the upper limit for daily intake is 200mg. However for someone like me who has been on 50mg that would still be 6x my daily dose.

I know this sounds crazy but your post makes me slightly tempted to give an overdose a try, but not to CTB, just a mild OD. I would be interested in the psychoactive effects, even though I know it would be a negative and nightmarish experience. I have a morbid curiosity about it like people who try datura, fly agaric or stuff like that for the hell of it. But I am also interested in the interactions with my FND (functional neurological disorder).

Originally one of my ideas for CTB before joining the forum was taking a tonne of sertraline plus an MAOI, which would have led to extreme serotonin syndrome, but after looking into how serotonin syndrome kills and how most people describe it, I prefer other methods now lol. But a mild OD like 300-500mg would probably be fun for me in a fucked up rollercoaster ride kind of way.

 

[Fadenself00]

yes ssris can be brutal. if you are sensitive even a sub-clinical dose can do all of this (ask me how i know lol). it is all neurological/messing with your brain chemistry. some who take these seizure-like states seriously, call them psychological- or pseudo-seizures. i would propose "functional"- or "chemical"-seizures

im assuming this has something to do with inhibitory/excitatory-balance being chemically thrown-off, whereas "real" seizures have more structural/underlying misfiring components playing a role. both therefore seem to be very closely related symptomatically, while only one can be more easily diagnosed

 

[OzymandiAsh]

yes ssris can be brutal. if you are sensitive even a sub-clinical dose can do all of this (ask me how i know lol). it is all neurological/messing with your brain chemistry. some who take these seizure-like states seriously, call them psychological- or pseudo-seizures. i would propose "functional"- or "chemical"-seizures

As opposed to what though? All seizures are disruptions of brain activity. This is why the line between supposedly psychogenic and supposedly not psychogenic seizures is quite blurry. They are common with my disorder (FND) and usually described as psychogenic or pseudo-seizures like you say, it's not one of my symptoms thankfully but others have to manage with it. I don't really know the difference though, I guess seizures are either epileptic or psychogenic.

 

[Fadenself00]

Damn, thanks for sharing.
You are right, 300mg of sertraline is not a massive dose, the upper limit for daily intake is 200mg. However for someone like me who has been on 50mg that would still be 6x my daily dose.

I know this sounds crazy but your post makes me slightly tempted to give an overdose a try, but not to CTB, just a mild OD. I would be interested in the psychoactive effects, even though I know it would be a negative and nightmarish experience. I have a morbid curiosity about it like people who try datura, fly agaric or stuff like that for the hell of it. But I am also interested in the interactions with my FND (functional neurological disorder).

Originally one of my ideas for CTB before joining the forum was taking a tonne of sertraline plus an MAOI, which would have led to extreme serotonin syndrome, but after looking into how serotonin syndrome kills and how most people describe it, I prefer other methods now lol. But a mild OD like 300-500mg would probably be fun for me in a fucked up rollercoaster ride kind of way.

it is considerably worse than a fucked up rollercoaster-ride and has the potential of devastating lasting effects. dont. do. it. please.

As opposed to what though? All seizures are disruptions of brain activity. This is why the line between supposedly psychogenic and supposedly not psychogenic seizures is quite blurry. They are common with my disorder (FND) and usually described as psychogenic or pseudo-seizures like you say, it's not one of my symptoms thankfully but others have to manage with it. I don't really know the difference though, I guess seizures are either epileptic or psychogenic.

seizure-like states from meds are not really in the same boat though (unfortunately mainly in that they can barely be diagnosed and the overall presentation can mimick psychosis/bipolar much more closely than "normal" seizure activity.. Also it makes a lot more sense to think of every med having its own unique profile, per person.. if you decide to do it you may know what i mean. for example there is a somewhat intuitive time-component in it as well. if such a seizure-like event is right in front of a "severely happy" one, you will/would(!, please dont do it twice), notice how it behaves in the same pattern, if you do it again after its over and it has been some time.

 

[JassieDusk]

by now you should have realized what a massive scam mental health"care" is.. humans are stupid, i would personally get off of as many meds as i could, in your situation.

---

a bit about my situation if it interests you; i had a severe crash with a medication, followed by extreme medication sensitivity and deficits. imagine the state you were in - i had for a span of 1.5 years non-stop (many months spent getting off of that ssri).. i almost (at least indirectly) died multiple times, was at risk of getting further drugged, had to avoid everyone and was completely alone and almost homeless at the time... everything can get much much worse - quick. end states typically are ending up as a complete vegetable, with either a schizophrenia, catatonia or something of that sort -diagnosis being stuck on you.. it is mesmerizing how perfect this downward spiral is

we are in a society of ignorance, gaslighting and abuse. health care isnt excluded from that > symptoms of this are over-medication and producing existential torture beyond what the humans inflicting it, can comprehend.

it is a naïve, feel-good fantasy to not look at healthcare the same way you would look at, and question everything run by, humans

Ahh you're so real for that. The mental health system really does fuck you up. It might feel empowering to be medicated and have a diagnosis and be hospitalized and everything because "someone cares enough to act". Well no, all they care about is isolating us from society to avoid disturbance and drug us until we're good to go and play by their rules. I remember a quote someone on SaSu wrote underneath a thread of mine, "choose life or choose death, but don't choose psych". And yeah things can go to shit literally overnight. But as long as you're not a disturbance for the system, they won't care. No matter how deep in shit you are.
I can't wait to leave this disgusting ass world

Damn, thanks for sharing.
You are right, 300mg of sertraline is not a massive dose, the upper limit for daily intake is 200mg. However for someone like me who has been on 50mg that would still be 6x my daily dose.

I know this sounds crazy but your post makes me slightly tempted to give an overdose a try, but not to CTB, just a mild OD. I would be interested in the psychoactive effects, even though I know it would be a negative and nightmarish experience. I have a morbid curiosity about it like people who try datura, fly agaric or stuff like that for the hell of it. But I am also interested in the interactions with my FND (functional neurological disorder).

Originally one of my ideas for CTB before joining the forum was taking a tonne of sertraline plus an MAOI, which would have led to extreme serotonin syndrome, but after looking into how serotonin syndrome kills and how most people describe it, I prefer other methods now lol. But a mild OD like 300-500mg would probably be fun for me in a fucked up rollercoaster ride kind of way.

I feel you. I feel the same with hardcore drugs. I want to just experience something. Anything. And I get why my experience my sound tempting, it's not worth it. At least in my case. I have the same mindset as you and I'd probably be tempted too (I have BPD lol).
But those 3 days were literal torture. It's not fun. If you want to experience substance abuse, it's better to get some street drug than overdose on SSRI. Your skin hanging from your arms from dehydration, throat hurting when you swallow, every atom in your body begging for water, not being able to drink a sip without gagging…it's not fun. And the seizures….it's just torture pure torture. I know you're still tempted, but at least don't take the amount I did, at least not for your first OD experiment with SSRI's. It was a very ugly experience. Also I doubt that it has a high chance of killing you. If you survive (which you most likely would), you'd go through hell. Please spare yourself further torture. You got enough problems already