Patient/caregiver was educated on precautions to be exercised while taking zoloft as follows:
- As the balance between the chemicals in the brain has to be finely regulated to help relieve the anxiety and depressive symptoms and experience feelings of well-being, the dose of zoloft also needs to be finely regulated, in order to accomplish this goal. Your physician could change the dose of zoloft, based on the response and side-effects developed. Maintain compliance with follow-up physician appointments and be accommodative to the plan of dose changes, until you show an optimum response.
- Notify your doctor of any unresolved and worsening anxiety and depressive symptoms or continuing unpleasant side-effects, so that, your dosage on the medication could be revised.
- Observe compliance with all physician visits and periodical lab draws ordered, while taking zoloft. This helps to timely notify your doctor on improvement/deterioration with symptoms of mood disorder and side-effects developed. This will also allow your physician to make appropriate changes to plan of care and dose of zoloft, as needed.
- Zoloft use in expectant mothers could harm the unborn baby and result in birth defects. So, zoloft should be cautiously used or avoided for an alternative drug during pregnancy and in women planning for pregnancy. Women in the child-bearing age group, taking zoloft on a regular basis, must employ effective contraceptive measures in order to avoid getting pregnant.
