Sertraline - love the no-lows but am I missing highs?

[teawamutu]

I've been on it for five years, and it's been such a good decision. I sleep. I don't spend days in a tearful spiral. I'm a better parent and partner because I'm not too stressed to listen.

But... Been thinking the last couple of days. I've had an appalling, shitty week at work, treated like crap and squeezed out maybe two tears for the first time since I started the Sertraline. Still felt dreadful, just couldn't cry.

Then I was talking to a friend who came off it because she didn't get the lows, but she didn't get excited about anything either.

I don't really get excited either. I'm contented, I'm usually happy, I find loads of things hilarious and I take a lot of small joys from everyday.

Can't work out if I'm missing out at all and actually life is much less exciting in one's late 40s 😁; if I am, is that a fair tradeoff when I am pretty happy?

I know only I can make the decision, but anyone else had the same thoughts?

Don't know, but following as I recently started on this. I foolishly stopped after a few weeks s I thought I didn't need it but the dark thoughts have returned so back I go.

I've never taken sertraline but I came off anti depressants years ago for the same reason. I felt fine, but couldn't get excited about anything!

What dose are you on?

It's the trade off unfortunately.

I came off earlier this year after a very long time on (years) and felt so good… until I didn’t. Have been through two weeks of emotional hell and currently considering going back on… following this thread with interest 😕

This is exactly how I feel. Like I'm numbed but in both directions.

As far as I can tell, the general feeling of being content, able to cope with normal things, lack of rage, etc is worth the trade off. I do still take happiness from moments and general pleasure in a lot of life now.

The thing I miss is the massive love rush in relation to my children. I think they are amazing, beautiful, clever, funny etc (most of the time) but I remember feeling more than that before. Less detached from them.

Overall I'm a better, calmer, cheerier parent and I don't have uncontrolled intrusive thoughts etc so it's worth it. I know I love them madly. I just can't quite feel it.

I reduced my sertraline a while ago, it wasn't that I was missing highs exactly, I just felt like was losing empathy. I was on 100mg and felt numb to anything.

I thought I was ok until I yelled at my 3 year old and upset him. It wasn't the upsetting him that was the worst bit it was realising I didn't feel guilt. It just didn't bother me. Not how I want to live my life and not habit I want to get into. It was also around the time of the Turkey/Syria earthquake and I realised I just wasn't feeling anything watching the news. It should be natural to be upset by some things.

I'm on 50mg now and it's a good balance. Takes the edge of the really hard days but I can still feel. I think I'm a better parent for it too, the fun times actually feel fun!

I'm currently job hunting and think not being able to get excited may be a good thing! It's tough out there and I've come close to an offer 4 times! I hate the rollercoaster and the tenterhooks so maybe this will be a good thing!

I'm contented, I'm usually happy, I find loads of things hilarious and I take a lot of small joys from everyday

Seems pretty good to me. How much more exciting do you think your life will prove to be?
Is it worth it?

50mg so very low.

Well, this is the bit that interests me.

I don't know that I am missing highs - like I say, late forties, bringing up kids, working and coming home. Not much to get excited about really!

I've just been prescribed Sertraline. Took half a 50mg pill for 2 days and I've ditched it already. Day 1 was nice but by day 2, I felt spaced out and like I didn't really care about anything. I had totally lost my edge and I felt sick. I'm not convinced that something good for you would make you feel so bad! I'm doing hypnotherapy and focused on that instead. I'm also taking ashwaghanda complex which is amazing for stress and anxiety.

I felt like this on fluxotine (spelling?). Like I didn't give a shit about anything. I could be doing my absolute favorite thing or walking into traffic and neither would evoke much of a reaction/emotion.
However this was many years ago and now I take sertraline 50mg (for the last year) and I can cope with life now. I can deal with the day to day. I also make a point (however silly this sounds) of living in the "now". A term I picked up from a favorite novel. I stop what I am doing, a couple times of day and enjoy what I'm currently doing. Wether it's sitting outside with a nice coffee and listening to the birds sing, or really looking at a cloud and trying to memorise it to paint later.
I really feel there is a lot to see in the "now" which, before sertraline I didn't see.
HTH

Interesting. I’ve been on 100mg for around a decade and think I just feel normal. I still have my moments of tearfulness when things are truly awful, and can still get giddy in the right circumstances. They just don’t come along often. I actually think life has numbed me a bit. I’m also late 40s. I’ve been speaking with other, non-medicated friends, and we’re all a bit blah. It hadn’t occurred to me that the meds might play a part.

I’m on 50mg & also been on it nearly 5 years. I find it great to be honest. It really helps my anxiety. I don’t feel numb. I do sometimes still feel low but I don’t get that anxiety that would cause insomnia & send me spiralling. I still get excited about things I think. It’s hard to tell as life is less exciting generally these days!

I felt fantastic when on sertraline- was on 50mg. Was on it for about 5 months then stopped as I felt better. That was a year ago. I think that maybe I should go back on it as I felt so good. Just like really happy and light.

For me, yes, the trade-off of SSRIs is that I don't get the real highs but I'm preserved from the terrible lows. When I get to where I start to miss the highs it's usually a sign I'm ready to start tapering down. But challenges to my mental health have generally been situational and not super long term. If I struggled more long-term with low mood I think it would be better to stay on them and have that stability. I don't think there's an easy answer, in short, and a lot depends on the tradeoff for the individual.

This really resonated with me. I wandered along today happily enjoying birdsong and blossom. Don't recall doing that before.

The odd high Vs actually appreciating the daily joys is a much better way of presenting the question.

Completely empathise, OP. I had been on it for a few years and had made a point of building a life that made me happy so I didn't need the antidepressants. I came off them last year as I just felt so content, no emotional peaks or troughs and felt I could handle my emotions in this lovely life I had. I made it about six months before I was back in the very deep depression hole and went straight back onto my previous 100mg dose and levelled out again.

I've accepted now that content is good! As PPs have said, the occasional highs for me are not worth the fear of and the experience of the lows.

I found Sertraline to be rubbish. It failed to control the anxiety and depression and I had to come off it. I'm having a lot of fun on Venlafaxine now and the anxiety and depression have gone. This is the best I've felt in years.

I felt like this. I was on them for about a year. But when I started taking them I was paralysed by anxiety and fear and just general feelings of doom and it was so nice to feel able to do things again. No intrusive thoughts, no paranoia, I could meet everything good or bad with the same even-headed temperament.

but after a year I began to miss my highs and feeling things more deeply in general. Passion is what I missed.

I think of them a bit like antibiotics, for me. Fairly short term thing to put you on an even keel, even out the brain chemistry and almost prove to yourself that nothing bad is going to happen if you stop worrying and panicking.

I've not long changed from these tablets and I have been on a different brand a few weeks now and one thing I've noticed is I laugh again!!, I didn't even realise at the time I didn't laugh. Just less mood swings.
Also sorry for too much information but I just could not climax on sertraline!.
Life wasn't bad on them but I wasn't happy either.

I've ended up on 50mg sertraline daily and my anxiety and depression scores have come right down to normal levels. I have just seen this very concerning article though. Can anyone relate? www.madinamerica.com/2023/07/antidepressants-can-cause-chemical-castration/