Feeling the effects of Sertraline on the first day? 🤔

[SnipperSnapper]

I was prescribed Sertraline today for anxiety & depression, I took my first dose this morning - I felt a little nauseous & drowsy at first but now for the last few hours I feel giddy & hyper. (For perspective i have the headphones on & I’m listening to rave tunes kinda dancing & doing house work - last night I was crying over the kitchen table, I hit a really scary low)

Now I’m not complaining about how I feel, I feel good & like I’ve got my mojo back but the Dr told me I wouldn’t feel any better for at least a month, I don’t think it’s the placebo effect as I really was not expecting to feel like this ....I think my fear is this an initial side effect (and not me feeling better) and once it passes i’ll Crash again.

Anyone else feel this after just one day?

Been on sertraline twice, both times it saved my life. The start up is always horrendous for me, but it's totally worth it. Never had a problem with orgasms though! I was on it a year and a half first time round, came off it no problem. Two years later I relapsed and have now been on it again nearly a year. This time round I don't plan on coming back off it.

Oh and snippersnapper, it is possible you may crash again. Recovery is not a straight line from A to B unfortunately but the important thing to remember is that you are at least on that road of recovery. It really depends on the severity of the anxiety and depression. First time round I was on 100mg due to a severe depressive episode and acute anxiety. Second time round I'm stable at 50mg probably because I was quick to seek help when i relapsed and prevented the anxiety from becoming severe.

I started at 50mg, not much happened either way, went to 100mg, for a week I was sick, massive anxiety, physically sick, but it passed after a week and was worth pushing through. Take care of yourself for the first while though.

I did then end up feeling a bit detached from emotions, but it was better than feeling completely hopeless and yes, what's an orgasm. Again better than alternative.

The idea is to have them to help you get on your feet and able to do things and want to do things that help you feel better in general. So if you feel you are picking up, run with it. Get outside, get some exercise, take care of yourself, anything you used to like or might like to take up. Make the most of it so your habits take over for you.

It's saved my life this time I think, was seriously suicidal before started it despite being on huge doses of amytriptaline for years, mostly for ME / fibromyalgia reasons. Made me feel rather sick for first week or so, then had to up them as wasn't coping still and was worried would get side effects again but didn't, and have been feeling lots better. Just had major slump though with DWP letter telling me I'm being reassessed for benefits, so may need to see dr and up it again as the stress of that has kick started the 'it'd be easier if you just killed your self' thoughts once more

It had an instant effect on me too. I felt a bit manic for a week then calmed down. I haven't noticed any difference in orgasms (can still have multiples) and my sex drive and insomnia improved as the depression lifted.

Good luck OP

basta, if you’re struggling with mirtrazapine venlaflaxine is a good alternative. Doesn’t make you put on weight either.

Sweating like a hooker in church, nausea, headaches, insomnia, nightmares, loose tummy, decreased concentration. All within the first week. This didn't change and neither did my mood so I came off them, found the same with other antidepressants. I would say after just one tablet this is probably more a placebo effect.

Sertraline really didn't suit me, I tried it only for a few days but I was dizzy, I described it to my GP as though I was having really heavy nights and felt weird and spaced out the next day. I was switched to citalopram which worked for me. I think it is different for everyone.

@RomeoBunny

^Watch out for your ability to navigate social boundaries disappearing. Also your impulse control/internal guilt sensors/etc will just fade away in to the background.

Oh... and good luck having any orgasms after 3 weeks grin^

I second this totally. Sertraline did not suit me at all, turned me into a complete nightmare and I'm incredibly lucky people I said hurtful things to forgave me. Also made me feel sick and unable to eat.

I gave up on the Sertraline, switched to Effexor and it was much better. Still didn't want to go back on any SSRI/SNRI after I became unable to take Propranolol for anxiety so I'm on a low dose of Amitriptyline at the moment.

@FastWindow Yes, that's right. I didn't take any more tablets after the first one as it made me feel so awful. Perhaps I should have stuck with it, but Sertraline agrees with me very well that I'm happy with that.

@CaptainCabinets I take amitriptyline and was advised to take it before bed. I feel fab the next day & no more headaches when I wake up.

What are these social things that were affected? I'm paranoid now!

My favourite side effect from the beginning was the vivid dreams. They felt so real! Slightly horrific when it was nightmares though 😂

Sertraline has been a boon to my sanity. I've had depression nearly all my adult life and it's kept those negative voices muted. It does sound like you're reacting already but it's better than feeling suicidal which is also a possibility whilst your brain rebalances

I've been really lucky with sertraline, by the sounds of things. I'm on 50mg (for severe anxiety) and it honestly saved my life.

First week was grim - upset stomach, bit of nausea, insatiable hunger, pins & needles, daily headache always around my left eye. Within 3 weeks, most of the weird side effects were gone - and the anxiety had faded out dramatically.

The side effects that have stuck around (now it's been over a year on the same dose, still 50mg) are crazy dreams and restless legs in the evenings. I also have my suspicions it's turned me into a lightweight, but that could also be down to being 28 and not 19, and frankly, I'm not complaining about it. Can still have orgasms - sex drive isn't great, mind, but not entirely absent.

Oh, and in the early months of taking it, if I forgot to re-order it in good time and missed a dose, the rage and irritability that ensued were quite something to behold. Only made that mistake twice.

So mine is mostly a positive sertraline story, but everyone is different, obviously, and I'd guess that a lot of people have to try a few different types before they find the one that suits them. Hang in there!

I felt woozy and discombobulated and just kept falling asleep. I stopped taking them

The thing with depression is that its a symptom not a cause. So sticking everyone on setraline has very very different outcomes for different people.

Its like giving everyone antibiotics whether their actual problem is a bacterial infection, cancer, virus, broken leg etc.

So if your problem really was bacterial infection then the ABs work fantastically almost immediately. But for a lot of people eg. those with broken legs, they don't work at all.

So I'd take it as a win that the first thing you tried is working well. The whole 'it might take months' business is just a way to fob off the people who you aren't treating correctly because you haven't bothered to find out what is actually wrong.

I was prescribed sertraline and took half a 25mg tablet the first day, I felt manic at first (having been severely depressed and on the verge of a breakdown) and then I couldn’t get off the toilet for hours and hours, and I felt suicidal. It was horrendous.

I phoned the docs the next morning who prescribed me mirtazapine. I only took the lowest dose as any higher dose didn’t agree with me (tried for 3 weeks) though I am very sensitive to medication. I was on it just over a year, and while it no doubt saved my life, I put on a lot of weight and was so tired and foggy and aching joints.

For me in the end the side effects outweighed the positives and I was also out of my abusive marriage which helped!

I took it years and years ago. Started on 100mg and I shook for two days after starting them, had to call in sick to work. I didn't feel any better from them for four weeks but they helped me once they kicked in.

Yep same affect when I took them, it worn off after about 24 hours - then the side affects kicked in, terrible shits and vomiting the whole time I was on them. Also a strange feeling of everything being fake. I hated it so much after two months I weaned off them ( which was just as bad tbh ) I'm now doing CBT which is going better

I take mirtazipine and although I sleep well I have very vivid dreams, to the point where I can wake up upset about them through the night and in the morning. I had one last week where I dreamt my dh told me he didn’t love me anymore and it felt so real it took me a day to get over it. Sounds ridiculous I know, but the dreams feel so real. 99% of them are bad. I have also piled on weight, sweat loads and am generally feeling incredibly unfit. My mental health is good from being on them but I’m going to see my gp to look to change them.

I started taking it last Tuesday for anxiety. For the first few days I felt like I 'wasn't really there' and woke feeling sick during the nights. I also noticed that on an evening I am fidgety.
I slept for 6 hours last night, that's the most in 9 weeks. Don't know if due to the tablets or being so overtired all of the time?

Oh and I also have been dreaming since I have been on them. I didn't have any dreams (or at least remember any) for the 9 weeks prior, probably as I hadn't been to sleep.

btw it is recommended to take setraline in the morning. Taking them last thing in the day is a recipe for nausea and bad sleep.

Checked my pulse there and it’s normal for the first in a long time - I assume because my anxiety is dissipating.

I don’t feel as hyper today but I feel good. I haven’t felt that stomach churning anxiety all day.

I’m worried about putting on weight cause I’m already overweight 😕 I assume the weight gain from an increase in appetite? I didn’t comfort eat last night & mustered up the motivation for a walk so I’m hoping it’ll help me slim down.

Regarding the social thing, basically it removes all inhibitions. Good and bad. For a lot of people.

So while you may now be able to sky dive without fear, for examples... you may also speak without thinking, your brain filter will turn off and what you're thinking is what will come out. No matter how nice and sickly or how blunt and mean. I once told my old boss he was an arrogant arse and his methods of work were "to put it bluntly" shit.

Also everyone I know who has taken it who has a spouse has thought nothing of kissing (or more) other people on nights out and things like that. You can lose sight of all boundaries... or rather they just dont appear in your mind any more.

I was the same on Citalopram too.