Sertraline - please help

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I’m late 30s and suffered with anxiety all my life. It’s been pretty horrendous. Somehow I’ve managed to hold down a job and on the outside it looks like I have my life together. But I have huge bouts of anxiety which tips me into anger and sadness. I’m sick of living like this.

I have always resisted meditation, I suppose because that in itself makes me anxious. I also now have a toddler and I’m a single parent and I worry that taking sertraline could give me side affects which could in some way impact my child.

Ive tried talking therapies, cbt, etc and the worry and intrusive thoughts and anxiety remained.

ive been prescribed sertraline but I just don’t know what to do, has anyone had any experience please?

Op, sertraline is amazing. Please take it. You will feel so much better within a fortnight. I promise.

Hi OP, I’m sorry you are going through this. There was a similar thread here recently which you might want to look at-www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5264844-antidepressants-for-15-year-old-terrified?reply=141805874

Do you know what type of anxiety disorder you have? That would impact on what therapies may help. For example, if you have lots of intrusive thoughts and rituals (OCD) standard CBT isn’t the recommendation but exposure therapy. Depending on the severity the recommended approach varies, but for severe OCD it’s therapy and medication.

Sertraline can be very helpful for some people and not got others. There are some severe side effects for some people and others also really struggle to come off these medications (unfortunately very little research on likelihood of these outcomes but they do badly impact some people.) All you can do is research as much as you can from reliable sources and weigh up the pros and cons. If you haven’t had therapy that is specific to your particular condition then I would do all you can to access that x

Sertraline completely changed my life for the better. I never intend to come off it.

Be aware it can make you more anxious for the first couple of weeks. But I have had no side effects since then and that was years ago.

I started on 50mg a day and gradually went up to 100mg. On this dosage my anxiety and depression is totally gone.

I’ve been on sertraline for 4 and a half years and it’s really helped me, mainly with depression but also with anxiety and intrusive thoughts.

I’m sure this is meant kindly, but I don’t think we can give medical advice or make promises to the OP. She may find that sertraline helps her, or it may not. SSRIs can be life savers for some, do little for others, cause serous on-going side effects and withdrawals for some, others have no issues.

Just to add I was exactly like you before, OP. My anxiety ruled my life, since childhood. And on top of that I had regular bouts of really incapacitating depression. I tried other medications and they didn’t work for me.

But on sertraline I can have a normal life. It has truly been a miracle for me. In fact if anything I may be too chilled as I sometimes don’t get anxious about things that might actually warrant anxiety…

Again sure this is meant kindly, but we really can’t advise or offer reassurances. Yes, some people absolutely do find sertraline or other SSRIs really help, for others they are not effective. I guess what we’re all really saying is don’t give up, there are lots of things to try to improve your situation.

OP, just a bit concerned about some of the i posts on here, obviously meant well, and I think you’re hopefully getting the message that there are different options. However, if you do go on it absolutely do not just stop taking the medication-this can be dangerous (depending on dose) and you need to get advice about tapering off. Also, not to scare you, but persistent side effects and withdrawal are a thing. That absolutely doesn’t mean medication isn’t right for you, but you should make an informed choice as much as possible x

I’m on Setraline and Propanol here… No side effects but for the first time jn ages I feel in control of me and my thoughts. I too was resistant at first (stigma??) but just keep on thinking if I had an infection I’d take antibiotics. If I had a headache I’d take pain killers. My mental health is “broken” so I need these. Be kind to yourself xx

I get this OP but I figure it's a bit like having a vitamin or mineral deficiency and suffering from that - rectify the deficiency and you get better so, the tablet you'll take will address any imbalances and you will benefit.

I think the theory that anxiety/OCD/depression etc are caused by chemical imbalance is contested. It’s acknowledged that we don’t really know how/why SSRIs work. Clearly they do work brilliantly for some. That’s not coming from a place of stigma-I have suffered from severe OCD and am very open about it e.g. doing workplace talks. MH is just as important as any other aspect of health, but we don’t really understand a lot about how the brain works still

Just try it. Cut the pill in half if that's easier. I felt the exact same as you, compounded with a fear of 'if this doesn't work, I'll feel even worse knowing it hasn't worked.'

It was a lifechanger. I had constant panic attacks after having DC3, couldn't eat or sleep, severe nonstop rumination and OCD. I was actually prescribed the medication after I called 111 and said I felt like I wanted to jump out the window if the panic attacks didn't stop. After the medication kicked in I was fine again.

Propanolol 80mg twice daily. Works fab!!

I had really bad anxiety mid 30s. Until realised I have adhd. I take concerta now and don't need sertraline or propanolol anymore fill an online form in and see if you have adhd

Setraline started me bleeding within 2 days, which as I'm post meno, was worrying and i was referred to hospital. As i took it for health anxiety this was the last thing i needed. I came off it and I've been too scared to try anything else.

But i understand this wasn't normal at all. I was gutted as i felt a difference taking it straight away.

I bloody love sertraline. I'm late 30s with crippling anxiety and ocd. Like barely functioning, couldn't hold down a proper job kind of thing. This health anxiety and constant worrying kept me up at night, and I was not a very good wife or mother at that point. I went to the GP and was given sertraline, and even though the first three-ish days were a bit uncomfortable with nausea and headaches, I was pretty much cured after that. It's amazing really because I'm only on half a tablet and I was not expecting it to work so well. I still worry about things sometimes, but the knot in my stomach is gone, I'm not ruminating, I'm way more confident and social stuff is a lot easier too. It's been two years for me now and I think I'll stay on sertraline for the foreseeable.

Give it a go, OP. You haven't got anything to lose. If it doesn't work for you, there are different meds available too. Good luck!

Sertraline was a godsend for me. On the first day of taking it, I felt myself lifting higher and higher until I felt drowsy and cosy. I slept at 6pm and remained asleep until 6am. My insomnia was cured and I could start to feel like myself again. Then the anxiety
and depression shifted and I felt normal again within 2 weeks.

It took me out of a vicious cycle of spiralling downward and feeling paranoid and really mentally ill.

Sertraline changed my life. My anxiety was awful. The dread and fear that something awful was going to happen all the time. It’s hard to put into words how it’s helped but I just don’t catastrophise any more. I still experience emotions but the crippling anxiety is gone. Took a couple of weeks to get used to it. I had a very dry mouth and some headaches but I would always recommend it to someone if their GP had suggested it.

I loved Sertraline. It helped me more than any other antidepressant. I had to change it though as I started taking another med that clashed.

Sertraline helps me massively. I treat it like a diabetic taking insulin. It's just something I'm deficient in, keeps me functioning properly.

This is exactly what Sertraline cured for me. Has been genuinely life changing. Tickly throat at night for about a fortnight, but no side effects after that.

I took it for anxiety and post natal depression and loved it, but build up slowly; cut the pills in half and take half a pill per day for 2 weeks then go up to full dose. When it’s time to wean off, cut the pills in half or go on to half mg dose for at least a month, then half again for another month.

I loved it, and it really, really helped me. But I know people for whom it hasn’t worked; don’t mix with other meds, don’t eat grapefruit and tell your GP if you have any other illness such as depressive psychosis, as it wouldn’t work safely with that.

It can be really useful for anxiety, I have previously taken sertraline and now take a different SSRI, I really struggle with intrusive thoughts as well and although I’m always sceptical about self help books, I have found this one very good at understanding and dealing with the thoughts

Please take it op and allow 3-4 weeks for it to help. My son takes Sertraline and had the most awful health anxiety which had taken over his life .2 years ago he was hoping to go to Oz and I just thought…absolutely no way with his MH so poor.
Fast forward 2 years and he is now in Oz too far away living the life,working and a happy less anxious guy. Sertraline has been his life line ,give it a positive go.

OP, I’m so sorry that you’re going through this. I have had anxiety for as long as I can remember and reached breaking point a few years ago. I started sertraline and talking therapy which helped enormously, though the sertraline took a while to work. I was also frightened of taking medication but wish I’d done it years ago. I still have anxiety but am no longer crippled by it. Wishing you all the best x