That sertraline makes me realise how mental I've been for the last decade (at least)

[glassecase]

Honestly never felt better, well maybe pre-18 years old.

Amazing stuff and I don't feel like I'm 'on' something.

It's amazing, my first three weeks were so rough with it, with increased anxiety and panic. But I am so so so pleased I persevered, I am 99% back to my normal self after seven weeks. I can see me being on it for awhile, it's been a complete game changer to how I feel inside.

[quote ssd]@Bicnod, I'm the exact same. I panicky over everything relating to health, I catastrophe everything. I have been diagnosed as having health anxiety, cbt didn't help. I have propranolol but the thoughts are still there. I really don't know if sertraline will help.[/quote]
Sertraline has changed my life relating to health anxiety! You should join us on the health anxiety thread, we're all in the same boat there X

@ssd I understand your fears. With my mum being a manic depressive I thought I would be numb or addicted forever. Taking sertraline is the best decision I made. I feel that can cope with life. DH was worried I would hurt myself or have a breakdown. He made me call the GP. My family have noticed a real difference.

@glassecase Thank you for this thread. Only DH and 2 friends know I take it so it’s been good to share my experience and see others.

Me too. Saved my life.

Thanks for this thread. I have teen who just started Sentraline, going on 2months. He has just been moved from 50-100mg. For the first time in his 16yrs,he is not having severe intrusive thoughts and wakes up with a bounce in his step each day. He smiles and talks about what he’d like to do in ‘future’. The sick knot in my stomach hasn’t been there for a while too.
My one worry however, is I read an article about the ‘unspoken’ effects of Sertraline. A lot of men suffered from long term sexual dysfunction. I know most are women on here but I need to ask what your experience of this if any is? Am we trading one problem for another problem? Do you know any men who Have been affected in this way?

@MrsBobDylan

I have done nearly 14 years of therapy and it really helped me process and come to terms with my abusive childhood.

However, it didn't touch the fear I felt everyday. Two years ago, with encouragement from dh, I spoke to my doctor and have been taking sertraline ever since.

My childhood permanently damaged me. I healed what I could through counselling, CBT and adapting my life. I did pretty well and I am proud of the happy family I managed to build and the genuine joy I have in my life. But my parents damaged me and I am delighted that there is a tablet I can take to alleviate some of the pain.

Also, I am not different, or overly happy and I can still cry when I want to, so I really don't see the problem?

Exactly. Good on you

@glassecase

It's a shame this thread is turning into a debate but that's my fault for posting here.

I'm so glad to read all the positive posts from people like myself!

Actually this has been a really useful and informative thread. Thank you for starting it,

@ssd

When is the best time to take it?

I took the first one this morning while I was still in bed then I got up and had breakfast, but I usually take vitamins before breakfast but I didn't want to take them all together.
Has anyone got any advice?

I take it first thing in the morning. I had sleep issues at the beginning which s why I do that. Probably ok to take whenever though.

Thanks

Can you take paracetamol or ibuprofen when you are on sertraline?

It’s a great thread. Thank you OP for starting it. It’s very interesting to hear so many experiences and it’s so easy to feel alone.
I’ve been mumsnetting for a few years now. Under a few name changes. I’m trying to get braver and keep my name no matter what I’m posting. Threads like these are very informative and comforting.

@ssd

Thanks

Can you take paracetamol or ibuprofen when you are on sertraline?

Paracetamol yes, long term ibu - no

I set up a reminder with Alexa for taking my tablets. Then another reminder 3 hours later to make sure I have taken it. They sit right next to my kettle, so I don't forget between rooms.
I can't be arsed with what people think of me, my health is more important. Although having said that I've had a lot of years of practice ignoring people.
Now my child is going through their own mh issues and it bugs the shit out of me, how slow people are in getting the help dc needs.

I'm exactly the same OP, I started citalopram this year and have suddenly realised how bonkers my behaviour has been over the years. I'm discovering what it is to be happy and "normal" at long last. I'm making friends, life is so different.
I can hold it together at work but my private life has been a disaster.

@ssd

Thanks

Can you take paracetamol or ibuprofen when you are on sertraline?

Yes! I mean always check with a GP but in my experience you can do everything as before.

I’ve never taken ADs but I know what people mean about opiates. I was prescribed them after an upsetting sudden surgery that left me permanently infertile. Because I was on strong painkillers I didn’t feel the pain of it (literally, emotionally or physically) until I stopped taking them, several months after I was in physical pain. They became my crutch and I felt euphoric. I realised I was having to take more and more for the same effect and thankfully I managed to talk myself out of taking them. The withdrawal was brutal, and then the infertility pain caught up with me. I’m now thinking I should have spoken to my doctor about proper support (which may have been ADs) rather than self medicating. Anyway, this was years ago now, and I don’t want to derail your thread, it’s just that a prior post resonated so much (and made me sad).

@HighlandLiving I totally agree with you regarding the outdated and ill informed ideas about medication. It’s why I cringe when i hear the term ‘happy pills’ which even the op used. Anti depressants do not get you high!
No one suggests- I hope- that diabetics should wean themselves off insulin. That asthmatics are cheating by using inhalers. Etc.

@Youngatheart00 sorry for what you’ve been through. I totally understand about opiates. I have lots of experience. They are nothing at all like anti depressants. But I do think people have an idea that you take an anti depressant and get a high. Not at all true. But opiates yes- they work in a different way and give the immediate relief. You’ve done well to get off the opiates but please don’t be afraid to use anti depressants if you ever need. They are very different.

Thank you so much for starting this thread.
Reading about how it’s helped you all has had me in tears again.
I want to feel normal again and not plagued by anxiety and anxious thoughts. I have just started a thread about getting help for my MH. My partner doesn’t want me to but I think I need to.

HandsFaceLace
"I feel sad with these threads. On the drug yes, the brain is telling you it's great. But it's a drug. Not a healed, naturally better you. I was on ssri's for two years. They did help but I came off them very gradually by myself and am so much happier and realer for it. I've actually worked on improving my life and my 'self' rather than glossing over it all with a pill. I agree for really tough times they help but it shouldn't be the emotional crutch if society."

This is exactly the kind of bullshit attitude that makes people feel compelled to hide their mental health problems. Shame on you.

20 years of abuse - sexual abuse as a child, followed up by being abducted by a serial rapist, then having my drink spiked and raped again just months later, then 5 years of serious domestic abuse - is not something that can easily be talked out, even if it was available on the NHS, which it's not.

If society was perfect, functional and equal, then maybe we wouldn't need medical support. But it's not, and some of us do. I refuse to feel bad about that because quite frankly I've got enough on my plate.

Thanks @Cissyandflora for your lovely reply.

Yes, I think I’m just self aware of my own tendency to abuse medication for the wrong reasons (to manage emotional pain)

Even though I haven’t taken those tablets for more than 2 years I still crave them often.

I’m actually feeling ok within myself over the past 6 months or so but will definitely speak to my GP if I feel those despairing feelings come back.

It’s so good reading this thread, knowing that there is sensible help there, which doesn’t involve abusing meds or self medicating with alcohol etc.

I always thought as I'm relatively happy I didnt need anti depressants, I'm not depressed, I get on with life, have my good and bad days, but underneath it all is an undercurrent of anxiety that is finally tipping me into something else. That's why I started sertraline today, I want to manage the anxiety instead of being terrified of it and it running my life .
Due to this thread, I dont expect to feel any different except hopefully have less anxiety and panic, that would be a life changer for me. And its taken more than 50 years to face it.

[quote Cissyandflora]@HighlandLiving I totally agree with you regarding the outdated and ill informed ideas about medication. It’s why I cringe when i hear the term ‘happy pills’ which even the op used. Anti depressants do not get you high!
No one suggests- I hope- that diabetics should wean themselves off insulin. That asthmatics are cheating by using inhalers. Etc.[/quote]
There is nothing wrong with calling them "happy pills". It's what they are, they increase the "happy" hormone. It's got naff all to do with being high.
Plus I call them my happy pills when talking to my child.

I feel prompted to say this as some pp have asked if it's safe to mix medications, others have mentioned taking supplements (vits etc.) alongside their medication, there have been hints at 'natural' treatments and someone early in the thread mentioned St John's wort.
DO NOT take ST John's wort alongside your antidepressants!! It can lead to serotonin syndrome which can be extremely serious. I know someone who started taking SJW alongside their (prescribed controlled monitored) ADs and didn't think that there may be any problematic interactions because 'SJW is natural'. She ended up in hospital and said it was one of the worst experiences of her life.

SJW may work for some people but one of the problems with herbal 'treatments' is that the levels, doses and effects aren't tested, controlled and measurable, and it's use isn't monitored in the way that prescription medication is.

I truly understand the desperation to get well that can come with mental illness - I tried everything. In the end, after trying different SSRIs, my wonderful GP prescribed an SNRI and it just worked. No matter the reasons for me having the thought processes I did, seeing and dealing with the world the way I did, and feeling the way I did (and talking therapy may have helped me to work through some of that), taking a synthetic chemical medication sorted out my brain chemistry to the extent that I felt 'normal' ( not high or happy all the time or numb or zoned out) and I was able to function well on a daily basis.

Be wary- it’s fab for some people but makes others suicidal.
It’s not a one size fits all.