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Sertaline need help!

15 replies

Mummyto4boys1122 · 31/05/2023 10:45

Started sertaline 50mg last month for anxiety after 2 weeks felt a little better but after finishing my menstural cycle last week my anxiety has gotten so bad I can’t function I also have low ferritin and folate which I know dosnt help but I’m breaking down daily , having panic attacks can’t focus or consentrate and feel to drained to even speak atm spoken to my gp yesterday and she’s told me to up my dose to 100 which I have but I’m feeling so bad and scared feel like a zombie and so spaced out and panicking and just want to sleep is this normal?

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WhiskersPete · 31/05/2023 11:15

It took me 6 weeks to start feeling better on Sertraline but then it was life changing so stick with it.

off · 31/05/2023 11:31

Yep, it often takes about six weeks, at an effective dose, for an antidepressant to start working (if it's going to). And you won't know until you get up to that level what the effective dose is going to be for you. For some people on sertraline it might be 50mg, or for others it might be up to 200mg. Initiating and titrating the dose upwards is the worst part, and can take a lot of patience and strength, because you have to deal with the side effects at their very worst while the drug hasn't even started helping yet.

All kinds of different reactions are normal, but what should happen is that, after six weeks or so at an effective dose for you, the side effects should be minimal enough that they don't bother you, and your mental health symptoms should be improved. If that doesn't happen, then it's not the drug for you.

You're right that both low folate and low ferritin can exacerbate your anxiety — are these being treated?

Mummyto4boys1122 · 31/05/2023 12:00

Yes I’m on ferritin and folic acid but as soon as I have a period the levels drop so I’m just feeling so rubbish the confusion and unable to focus is the worst and sometimes my words come out jumbled so my anxcity is making me freeze up and unable to talk sometimes :(

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off · 31/05/2023 12:28

That sounds shitty, I hope you start to feel better soon.

I think one of the cruellest things about anxiety is how it can bring on symptoms that make the thing you were anxious about even harder (or even if you were anxious about nothing in particular, it can make just general functioning difficult). Like, I used to have social anxiety, and getting anxious would make me blurt out stupid stuff to people, which is exactly the kind of thing I would get anxious about doing!

Have you ever looked into any techniques for dealing with panic attacks? There are some useful strategies from CBT, or from 3rd-wave therapies like ACT, or mindfulness techniques, to help you ride out the panic.

DRS1970 · 31/05/2023 12:41

I am a fellow Sertraline user. It can take several weeks to get the effect of Sertraline, and a few tries to get to the correct dose. You can go up to 200mg a day on Sertraline, so you have a way to go before you give up on it and try something else. So just give it time - although I know that with anxiety and depression a day feels like a lifetime. Be kind to yourself, and hang in there. If you want to chat you can always PM me.

roarfeckingroarr · 31/05/2023 12:43

That's quite a low dose and might not be enough for you. Im on 150mg currently, recently up from 100, and it's life changing.

applespearsbears · 31/05/2023 12:46

Take it at the same time each day, weird but it helped minimise side effects for me

Mummyto4boys1122 · 31/05/2023 14:28

It’s mainly health anxiety with me iv gone through some difficult things in the last couple of years from watching my baby nephew die of cancer to having my little one diagnosed with a brain condition when born and iv now developed a fear of cancer dosnt help iv been unwell for abit and suffering bad with TMJ:( the low ferritin and folate threw me off as felt so poorly then the anxcity just got so so bad I started feeling a little ok 2 weeks of being on sertaline but then over night it all started again and I feel worse than ever the lack of focus and confusion panics me like I feel detached from my body and spacy it’s a horrible feeling :( I’m miserable

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off · 31/05/2023 14:52

You've been through a hell of a lot in a short space of time. It must be really hard… maybe looking up grounding techniques might be useful, for when you start zoning out?

Mummyto4boys1122 · 31/05/2023 15:16

Il look in to that!
yes it’s been really hard :( had a lot of things happen since too, feel like my head is really foggy like it’s had enough if that makes sense :( I just want to feel normal I know they say antidepressants can highten anxiety but this is another level

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Emily29 · 31/05/2023 15:23

Sorry to hear you've had such a difficult time. I too have suffered with health anxiety in the past and take 50mg Sertraline. Keep going with it, it will get better I promise. Even if it doesn't feel like it now. Can you also be referred for CBT? X

off · 31/05/2023 16:29

You sound kind of… mentally overloaded to me, though that's not exactly a diagnosis and I'm hardly an expert, just another human being who's also had mental health struggles. But it makes sense to me that when we get overloaded, things shut off — like you say, you've had enough!

Hopefully if you can get your folate/ferritin under better control, and the sertraline starts kicking in, your mind will be better able to sort through all the stuff that's been thrown at it. Grounding techniques for anxiety and dissociation might help in the meantime — I find holding and focussing on a heavy object good for bringing me back into myself and into the moment, but you might find something else more useful, like focussing on all the different sounds you can hear, or making and drinking a hot drink while paying attention to all the sounds, sensations and flavours, or whatever you find works best for you when you're feeling detached and zoning out.

If the anxiety keeps on being worse than it was before, then it might be that sertraline isn't the right medication for you, but if you can give it a chance first, it might end up being helpful for you — the side effects you get can be different at different doses, and often decrease after the difficult initiation period.

I second Emily's point about a therapy referral — sometimes local NHS talking therapies services offer self-referral, if that's easier for you than going through the GP, though they will inform the GP that you've referred yourself.

Mummyto4boys1122 · 01/06/2023 16:59

Thank you so much for all ur help! Spoken with my doctor today and he wants me to take it at night and see how I go he also said my folate was really low and can cause some of the symptoms I’m having

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off · 01/06/2023 20:10

Glad you got to speak to him! That's a good point, sometimes taking it at a different time of day can help.

Good luck with it all — I hope you start to feel better soon.

Mummyto4boys1122 · 03/06/2023 16:01

Having another bad day today, 3rd day on 100mg is it normal for my anxcity to increase now iv upped my dose? I feel so on edge and panicky and can’t concentrate at all :( wana just sleep

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