A grandmother died after taking a commonly prescribed antidepressant, an inquest heard. Grace Uludag, from Gravesend, Kent, was taking sertraline, a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI), at the time of her death on November 11.
The day before, the 55-year-old had reported dizziness and shortness of breath to her GP and was told to call an ambulance. She died the next day after falling at home and suffering a cardiac arrest. In February, the NHS issued a warning of a potentially lethal side effect of sertraline called serotonin syndrome, which occurs when levels of serotonin become too high.
The warning came after a major study into types of antidepressant medication by academics at King’s College London and the University of Oxford. The study found that certain antidepressants cause a fluctuation in weight, heart rate, and cholesterol levels within the first eight weeks of starting treatment.
