No coffee??

Hi all,
I read something online that said not to drink coffee (or have any caffeine) when taking Zoloft. What? OMG. I sort of think of coffee as one of my main reasons for getting through the day. I actually don't drink that much, say 6 oz in the am and 6 oz in the afternoon. My pdoc didn't mention it, but I'll ask him about it... God I hope it isn't true. That being said, I might feel more able to quit caffeine if the medication could help with the depression and give me a lift in energy. So far it hasn't affected the usual sleepiness and lethargy that accompanies my depressive symptoms. But maybe that will change. I'm still only around 50 MG.

Does the sleepiness go away?
Has anyone kept their coffee routine while taking zoloft?

I have no idea, but i sure wouldn't want to give up my coffee. It reminds me of when i was in the hospital and they wouldnt let us have real coffee and one of the nurses gave me some anyway.

HI Elana,

When I was on psych meds, which included Zoloft, I never gave up caffeine.

But in doing a google search, it does look like there can be certain types of interactions between caffeine and psych meds. So you're doing the right thing in asking your p-doc.

By the way, if mine had said to give it up, I would have been in big trouble

Printer

http://www.zoloft.com/

There isn't any mention of not drinking coffee on the zoloft web site. (Unless you might be adding alcohol )

Elana,
I took zoloft for a while and didn't give up coffee either. But, I've heard people say to use caution when combining caffeine and psych meds, in part because the crash in mood and energy that inevitably follows the cup of coffee can be really hard on people with depression. Also, caffeine tends to increase symptoms of anxiety and complicate sleep issues.
I'm not planning to give up my morning coffee anytime soon... I'm not having any ill effects that I'm aware of, and it really isn't my top priority. But I have heard from a number of sources (nutritionist, therapist, books on mood management) to use caution in this area.

garden gal

I've been taking Zoloft for about a year now and I haven't really "given up" coffee. I've had to reduce my caffeine intake in general b/c of pre-existing heart conditions. Personally, I wouldn't say cut coffee/caffeine completely out of your diet, but I'd reduce it so you don't become so dependent on it.

This is a hard distinction for me.

I use to take Zoloft and drank coffee while taking it. I never had any problems with it from what I remember.

Do any of you folks have any idea of the almost infinite quantity of b***s*** about pharmaceuticals and other ingestibles spread by all kinds of truly crazy people here on the web? If we want and intend to use the net for our own purposes and to our own advantage we really have to take an awful lot with a grain of salt and not freak out over some of the nonsense we all encounter several times a day. And this is particularly true when dealing with ingestibles of any type, whether products of big pharma or the kinds of things you find in so-called "health" stores.

If something as widespread as caffeine or coffee consumption was contraindicated for a product like Zoloft, don't you think we'd in some way have been alerted by our pdocs or the package inserts or the information dealt out on the respectable websites like the Mayo Clinic or WebMD? Or are you members of the various conspiracy cults to which so many belong?

I'm in no way putting down or dissing the individuals who raised the question here in this thread. They're concerned. But if you believe even fifteen percent of what you read on the net without checking it out seriously, as we all have the capacity to do, you're in deep, deep trouble.

I love coffee. I still drink it and energy drinks even though im on meds. Hasnt had any bad side - effects for me. =P

I applaud those who want to verify the information they are getting, and who have the courage to post and ask about it.
There is no such thing as a bad question! Ask away!

Over a year ago I did research and the finding was avoiding coffee or any form of caffeine was a healthy choice.
This was a level C study which means some testing has been done to verify. Please note I do not remember if it was concerning antidepressants or depression.

To much could make you hypo, your doc is saying dont drink buckets full , that an energy drinks could an does if taken to much make you a space cadet . My buddy is not on antidepressants, but he takes ibrufrin for pain in the morning ,an drinks a massive 3 litre bottle of coke in a short time . an he is flying like a bird at work all day. He say,s it improve,s his work load an he makes more money . Pretty cool for the moment but burn out will happen. Drinking normal amounts of coffee is ok ,but if you start to feel wired you are drinking to much.

I keep coffee to a minimum, as it can cause me great anxiety

My former p-doc told me not to drink (or eat) any caffeine. I'm bipolar. However, I do admit that I usually have a bit each day.....I've not taken Zoloft, however, so I don't know about that....

I would suggest, as folks say, to check with your p-doc. If you do chose to drink coffee, I would certainly agree to the idea of being careful. Could you "cut" it with some decaffeinated coffee--i.e., just have a bit of regular, but mainly decaf in your cup?

I most definitely avoid caffeine later on in the day regardless. None after lunch time is my general policy. As it is, I take Nuvigil in the morning to help keep me awake--prescribed by my current pdoc--since I take drugs that dope me up. Too much caffeine seems to contribute to my anxiety as well as to an inability to sleep at night. I haven't addressed the caffeine issue with her. But it does make sense to me to cut down on it, anyway.

You know, I seem to recall when I was in the hospital that we were always given the option of coffee in the morning--and I truly don't think it was decaf--but maybe they gave it to us and didn't tell us....

If you read about SSRI's (Zoloft is one) and study about the various kinds of side effects:

The most commonly observed adverse reactions in patients treated with ZOLOFT (seen in 5% or more of patients and at least twice as high as the control group) were nausea (25%), delayed ejaculation (14%), shakiness (8%), increased sweating (7%), lack of appetite (6%), and reduced sexual desire (6%). From: http://www.zoloft.com/about_zoloft.aspx

Side effects of SSRIs can include:

Nausea
Dry mouth
Headache
Diarrhea
Nervousness, agitation or restlessness
Reduced sexual desire or difficulty reaching orgasm
Inability to maintain an erection (erectile dysfunction)
Rash
Increased sweating
Weight gain
Drowsiness
Insomnia

From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ssris/MH00066

If you tend to be of a nervous, agitated, or restless nature (or otherwise have anxiety as a component of your depression or illness); caffeine may make that worse.

Too, if you are sensitive to caffeine (whether or not you are on other drugs) and are using that to help self-medicate your depression:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caf...ession/AN01700

The side effects on the med say weight loss, thats a joke weight gain in %80 long term. If you look on a paracetamol box there are just as many side effect,s as zoloft , dont mean you get them. If you do get some its mainly on start up. But long term is BAD ORGASM AN WEIGHT GAIN.

I asked a lady who used to be a dietician at state mental hospital about the coffee they served the patients. She said they ALWAYS got de-caf.
Just thought I'd pass this on, since I was wondering earlier about it. So, evidently de-caf is okay, anyway......I guess people might need to learn to like it, if they have to......