I can't take sertraline but I have to

How are you getting on nowLostTheWill29?
It is hard with the initial side effects.

You are doing amazing @LostTheWill29 focus on the positive steps.

CBT didn't work for me either, I wish I could tell you that there was some miracle cure or some wonder thing I found that helped me finally manage my anxiety. But honestly I don't really know what changed. Just one day I realised I felt calmer, less jittery. Less panicked by everything. I had tried a range of antidepressants and anti anxiety meds. The only one that eases mine is diazepam but I cam only take it for 6 weeks and then I have to come off it again.

Have you tried journalling?

You don't HAVE to take anything if it is giving you side effects. There are other options like CBT ❤️

It takes time to adjust, and I wonder if you’re now looking for every sign to be connected to the meds. Realistically it’s a very low dose below the treatment threshold so this time is about adjusting to the medication and hopefully for as short a time as possible so you can get onto a dose that can help your mood and mental health. You’re doing a brave thing taking them when it’s hard, I’ve been there! Sertraline saved my life. You can do this!

There is a good chance the headaches etc are connected to your general health anxiety. It takes 2-4 weeks for your system to adjust to the meds and your hormone levels to settle down. Your GP is unlikely to change anything until you have been on it a minimum time.

As far as the kids are concerned...it is the first week of the holidays, they need down time so be kinder to yourself lady!! See how next week goes, maybe push yourself a little and take them to a play park where they cam run off steam. Stay local to home so if it gets to much you can get home easily. If you can't make it out, Google recipes for play dough and get them making their own, or give them a tonne of scrap paper, envelopes, junk mail etc and get them to make collages. Let them make mess...have pj days with films eat snacks etc...they will love it and you can rest.

Hey @LostTheWill29, just dropped by to check on how you are doing.

Hi I hope you are feeling ok. I had a rocky start wth sertaline and almost stopped . I managed to stay on but had a rough few weeks but then settled completely. It was life changing for me and I am now off them completely. Wishing you the best xxx

Thinking of you today x

Hi, Fellow sertraline taker here. on a different dose to you. i was warned it wont work for everyone, but since the initial vile settling in period, ive found its more positives. would it help if you reframed it as a source of help, not a must take? and where the emetophobia creeps in could you not line your stomach with something simple like a digestive biscuit first and then take it. im really sorry if thats insensitive, i just wondered if it would be worth a try.

@LostTheWill29 Have you tried Pepto Bismol for the nausea?

there's lots of meds out there - I wouldn't use one that made me need another prescription med on top. How bad is it?

Well, I found sertraline did not agree with me at all. The bastard doctor made me stick it out for six weeks saying oh it will settle down. Six weeks of hovering close to the toilet 24/7 and throwing up so often I lost over 1/4 of my body weight, was severely dehydrated and my stomach was so raw, I’d vomit up blood and bile even when I had no food left to vomit.

I would personally ask for a different antidepressant/antianxiety medication before you are put in a position of having to wean off to start something else.

I would not go the route of anti-sickness tablets on top.

Oh, OP, I sympathise because I hate feeling sick (I have fairly bad emetophobia) and Sertraline made me feel really sick and panicky for the first couple of days too.

It did start improving quite quickly, though, and as soon as I felt that it was getting easier I was much less anxious about it - still not happy with feeling sick, but knew I wasn’t going to vomit, and was able to push through. It was only really bad for the first day; day 2 wasn’t quite as bad, and by day 4 it wasn’t really bothering me. After a week or so I no longer felt sick at all.

I basically spent days 1-3 in bed crying because I was so anxious that I wasn’t going to be able to handle it, and that there was no other possible solution. Neither of those things was true, but it felt that way.

First I’d say, if you can easily block out a couple of days in your diary to take it really easy and have no responsibilities, just do it. I find that part of my anxiety around being sick is to do with being unable to do the things I need to do, so if I can remove responsibility then it really helps.

Secondly, If you find it’s taking too much out of you to stick with it, speak to your GP or pharmacist. They might suggest breaking the tablet in half and only taking half for the first couple of days, and then maybe half in the morning and half in the evening for a few more days until you’re used to it. Or they might prescribe an anti-emetic. Or a different antidepressant (different people react differently to the various types).

Ive found Sertraline a real life-saver; hopefully you will too, once it settles down. But don’t be afraid to tell your GP if it’s not working for you; there are other things they can try.

Keep coming back here to talk!

You have a whole community of support

Got to pharmacy and ask for Buccastem / prochlorperazine. It’s an anti-emetic. BUT only sold OTC if you say it’s for migraines otherwise it’s not licensed.

Keep with the sertraline it will change your life

It will take a while to settle down but then you’ll feel much better. I’m on 125 and no longer feel any sickness effects x

Massive well done my lovely!!

I have struggled with anxiety most of my life so I absolutely get how you are feeling. But you should be so very proud of yourself for pushing through it. And yay for your dh supporting you.

It is a huge step but each day gets that little bit easier.

Also if you didn't feel sick till 4pm it is quite likely that there was some anxiety about taking the next tablet in there. The peak level in your bloodstream would have been earlier in the day.

Just by knowing it will get better I think. It's hard but temporary? Also although SSRIs take a while to take effect for depression they seem to start working to take the edge off anxiety sooner and once the anxiety is lessened then coping with anything is a bit easier. With that said, sertraline was not the best one for me and I got on much better with citalopram. Also, it is really important to keep telling yourself that anxiety causes nausea as much as any tablet does. So if you convince yourself it will make you feel sick it's inevitably going to make you feel sick. One thing that helped me was telling myself I can do/tolerate anything if it's for my kids. You can do this. And talk to GP about anti emetics tomorrow too. Hugs.

I'd also suggest experimenting with the time you take it. It made me so tired and if I took it just before bed I couldn't function before lunch time the next day so dinner time was best for me, whereas I've seen others take it in the morning because it disturbs their sleep. The first couple of weeks are really tough but it's worth it if you can figure out a way to take them that minimises the side effects.