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.

meant to say, if you're feeling shit, don't hesitate to go to your gp as a first port of call and ask for help

@ChocoCho

It stopped being having an orgasm for months. Now I can but maybe not 100% takes longer to get there. I now just explain to sexual partners. Your DD needs to know that this is a totally normal and common side effect and its ok. A partner will understand and the trade off is so worth it. Openness is key here. If he wont talk to you about it encourage him to talk to future girlfriends, openly and without shame.

DS* sorry, so many typos...

Same here! I was so anti-medication, thought that I would be a zombie just going through the motions of life. I've been on it for 1.5 years now and flipping love life! Sertraline has saved my life, I'm so grateful :)

[quote Cissyandflora]@HighlandLiving I totally agree with you regarding the outdated and ill informed ideas about medication.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]
I've never called them happy pills

@Peppermintgreen

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.

Why isn't your partner supportive?

@LimitIsUp

My dd felt like a zombie on sertraline- no anxiety, but no joy either. She's good on citalopram. It's funny how different medications suit different people.

I was the exact opposite, very flat with no joy on Citalopram. But I can laugh, cry and sing on Sertraline

@Youngatheart00

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.

Honestly anti depressants are not self medicating in the same way as taking an opiate. And I totally understand your cravings for opiates. I have my own battle with that on another thread! There is no ‘high’ with anti depressants though. It’s about adjusting the chemical reactions in your brain to a normal. Not to make you feel more ‘happy’ as an artificial boost. It’s a very treatment. I know a lot about drugs. But as you can see - even some people who use anti depressants call them happy pills. So there is a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation around. If you ever need the treatment do not hesitate. You will not be popping a pill to mask anything or to feel a happy feeling. In fact if this were the case the drugs would be abused in the same way opiates are. They are not of interest to drug abusers because they are not going to have an effect of a high. It’s a subtle rebalancing to get your brain working normally. It’s definitely not the same as self medicating with alcohol or street drugs etc.

@glassecase sorry OP! I thought you called them happy pills upthread. It must have been someone else. I’m grateful for this thread. It’s helping lots of people. I’ve taken antidepressants for 25 years now and it made a huge difference to my life. But is definitely a very misunderstood treatment.

@Joeblack066

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

That was me - tried citalopram first, awful side effects but sertraline was even worse. A rare side effect but I had serotonin syndrome - I’d never heard of it before and I certainly wasn’t told about it when I was prescribed it, even though it’s documented what happened after the citalopram and that I can’t have certain meds that are also linked to SS.

Felt the same about citalopram when I was on it. Off it now due to pregnancy and wish I'd been on sertraline instead because you can still take it! 😭 But was too worried to start something new while newly pregnant. Really feeling it now though so when baby is born might look at sertraline to enable me to breastfeed whilst also not being mental 😁

It's amazing when you find something so simple as taking a pill every day can lift the awful horror of depression. Hard not to be evangelical about it to others suffering who aren't interested, I have to bite my tongue a lot when my friends/family with depression and anxiety say they "don't want to be medicated". I respect their choice but in my experience it's bloody fantastic.

Does sertraline affect your libido? Those that are taking it

@Justneedadvice636465 I just asked a very similar question upthread but only @HighlandLiving replied. Thanks for your reply. Someone said the thread was being turned into a debate which is not what they wanted, so maybe that’s why people didn’t reply.

To that poster, I’m not trying to derail the thread, I just thought this would be the right place to ask about people experiences for my young DS on Sertraline and it’s link to sexual dysfunction especially for men.

@Justneedadvice636465

Does sertraline affect your libido? Those that are taking it

Since the birth of my son, three years ago, I really went off my husband. I'm not sure what's happening now because I'm becoming more like before, where I really fancy him again, and that leads to more libido for me!

[quote ChocoCho]**@Justneedadvice636465* I just asked a very similar question upthread but only @HighlandLiving* replied. Thanks for your reply. Someone said the thread was being turned into a debate which is not what they wanted, so maybe that’s why people didn’t reply.

To that poster, I’m not trying to derail the thread, I just thought this would be the right place to ask about people experiences for my young DS on Sertraline and it’s link to sexual dysfunction especially for men.[/quote]
It was me saying about debate etc, I wasn't aiming that at you at all.

@Justneedadvice636465

Does sertraline affect your libido? Those that are taking it

Not for me. If anything my pre-sertraline mood affected my libido, I could ever relax. Now I don’t feel anxious I’ve found I want to have sex!

I took various antidepressants in my 20s for pretty severe depression and anxiety and to be honest nothing medication wise really worked for me. I literally never felt any benefit from any of them and some had awful side effects. Therapy helped as well as just a massive shift in perspective + getting older. Better nutrition helps me too. I am generally quite well these days but it would be great if there was something that actually worked for me. I read a few years ago that having taken antidepressants speeds up ageing and causes more facial sagging, it was an actual study but no sure what came of it. Puts me off a bit taking them in future though. Still I suppose mental health massively trumps beauty!

This sounds amazing. I’ve been trying to pluck up the courage to see gp since the first lockdown which completely amplified my short temper and feelings of inadequacy and led to several episodes of self harm.
Can I ask a very shallow question-one of my ‘triggers’ is feeling like I’m fat (ter than I want to be-I’m not actually overweight) so anything that made me gain weight would do more harm than good. Do you find it makes you put on weight or increases your appetite?

I’m a mental health nurse and I take fluoxetine (long-standing anxiety and low mood). I don’t feel the stigma because I’m very realistic about what the alternative would be for me if I didn’t take it. I take it like I would a vitamin, everyday without fail.

It’s also so lovely to see my patients who have suffered for years find the right medication for them. I’ve seen people come back to life! There is so much we are yet to understand about psychiatry - it pisses me off when people get high and mighty about enthusiasm for psychiatric meds. I’m so pleased for all of those on this thread who have rediscovered their lust for life.

I was on citalopram and didn’t have any side effects but it made me feel numb. Now I’m on 100mg of sertraline, I got bad side effects for a while, dry mouth, night sweats, I couldn’t orgasm, tiredness. But after a few weeks they evened themselves out and now it’s brilliant

@Crashnburn

This sounds amazing. I’ve been trying to pluck up the courage to see gp since the first lockdown which completely amplified my short temper and feelings of inadequacy and led to several episodes of self harm. Can I ask a very shallow question-one of my ‘triggers’ is feeling like I’m fat (ter than I want to be-I’m not actually overweight) so anything that made me gain weight would do more harm than good. Do you find it makes you put on weight or increases your appetite?

I can honestly say apart from the first week of light headness I suffered no other side effects.

Was the best decision I made.

@OliverBabish

I’m a mental health nurse and I take fluoxetine (long-standing anxiety and low mood). I don’t feel the stigma because I’m very realistic about what the alternative would be for me if I didn’t take it. I take it like I would a vitamin, everyday without fail.

It’s also so lovely to see my patients who have suffered for years find the right medication for them. I’ve seen people come back to life! There is so much we are yet to understand about psychiatry - it pisses me off when people get high and mighty about enthusiasm for psychiatric meds. I’m so pleased for all of those on this thread who have rediscovered their lust for life.

This is lovely to read. I have monthly telephone calls with my GP and she said how happy she was to hear such a change in me. I would never have taken them without her. She took the stigma away and explained it in scientific terms. I wasn’t suicidal but DH was was worried I might breakdown or hurt myself in ‘one of my moods’. Of course I still cry, but i feel so much more in control of my life.

@Crashnburn I don't want to be accused by anyone of encouraging sertraline usage as a means of weightloss. First and foremost I use it so that I can function and enjoy life. I have personally found that I lose weight on Sertraline. Everyone is different though and this isn't the case for some. I think it's mainly to do with appetite and mood. When I'm sad I eat my feelings which is why sertraline helps me lose weight. But if you are the kind of person who doesn't eat as much when you're depressed but eats lots when back to your "normal" you may find that you gain weight. Obviously being conscious about calorie intake would stop this, I'm not aware of any real metabolic effects. Just to repeat that is my experience and logical explanation, it may not be true for all.

I’ve seen people come back to life

This is exactly what it is. People say that the current lockdown is just “existing” rather than living. I think depression is the “lockdown” of the mind. You exist but you don’t really live.

I can remember so many times sobbing my heart out in the bathroom (so no one could hear me) just wishing I was dead. I never want to feel that way again. Now I look forward to each new day (even with what’s going on right now).

I agree with what’s been said in that we just don’t have the MH services to help everyone to the level they need. Maybe it isn’t ideal that we’re relying on medication instead but what’s the alternative? Just sit and suffer? I don’t know if it’s my brain chemistry or if it is something that could be improved with the right interventions. At this stage in my life, with the services not available anyway, I can’t take the risk of trying to find out. The medication works so I’ll take it.

@OP so sorry, I thought you were insinuating my post was bringing the mood down and thought that was possibly why people weren’t replying. Sertraline has been given not just my DS but all of hope that we can finally move on.

Thanks to those who’ve replied saying it affected them initially but then things got better.