# Zoloft and Red Eyes



## extreme (Jan 10, 2007)

I'm currently taking Zoloft and it hasn't really given me any side effects except for one thing, my eyes are extremely blood shot. I take 50 mg before bedtime and sleep just fine but I wake with the worst case of hang over eyes in the world. My eyes stay red all day. I've tried using visine and moisture drops but nothing takes all the red out. Anybody ever run into this?????


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## When-All-Light-Dies (May 10, 2007)

The pills must be drying your eyes out, having bad dry eye, and a host of eye problems, I guess I wont be trying zoloft.


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## extreme (Jan 10, 2007)

Well I'm sure everyone reacts differently from Zoloft but it is mainly affecting my eyes. Maybe I'll just be living with visine daily.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

That's something I never heard of before.

I've tried as high as 300 mg a day (the drug never worked), but I never had any eye issues with it nor any other med, so I don't know what to say.


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## extreme (Jan 10, 2007)

Yeah......strange. I've read that itchy or red eyes are something that is not common. Its quite irritating in the morning trying to wake-up with my eyes all dry. Throughout the day my eyes get better but its right when I wake up that its the worst. Don't know......maybe it will subdue over the days. I just started it so we will see.


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## Speak Easy (Jun 27, 2006)

And the list of possible SSRI side-effects grows! My hypotheses:

1. You may need to augment the dose and wait 3-6 weeks before judging whether or not the problem is due to the medication, itself, or something utterly unrelated. Have you ever had this problem in the past? Or something similar eye-related?

2. Zoloft incites minimal sedation, so it's about average in terms of stimulation vs. sedation in an SSRI. You have no trouble at all falling asleep/getting to bed? Do you wake up any earlier than usual? Are you jittery in the morning? I ask this, because my second far-fetched hypothesis would be that your subconscious is not getting enough sleep at night (red eyes are a symptom of insomnia), and thus, you are experiencing this. Nothing else would make sense (med-related), unless, of course, it's completely unrelated to the Zoloft. 

If you augment the dose and it doesn't work, then simply try taking a sleep-aid at night. And if that doesn't work, you should probably see your GP (or maybe just do that before anything else), and he'll probably prescribe some special eye drops like Restasis, which will makes your body think you're crying like a baby all day long. 

Or how about this 3rd far-fetched hypothesis! Your Zoloft is working so well that you can't cry at all from any sort of bout of depression, and now your eyes are permanently tear-free and you have chronic dry eye syndrome! :b


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## gracie07 (Jun 21, 2007)

I've been taking zoloft for the past couple of months and have never experienced red eyes. 

yet speak easy does have some good points. Perhaps you're not getting enough sleep. Since taking zoloft myself, I have not had a good night's sleep. I usually wake up very very tired.


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