Would you increase the dose of sertraline in this situation?

[Yeoaa]

I started taking 25mg (half a tablet) once a day, two weeks ago, for anxiety. I felt better within a few days which I recognise could just be placebo effect…but I did very much notice physical symptoms had lessened and my mind just seemed to be less bothered (though still very anxious in general).

I was told after two weeks I could increase to 50mg a day if I felt I needed it. I do feel calmer but still have big feelings of anxiety, I just seem to react in a calmer way. I don’t know if I feel a bit better because my anxiety was SO horrendous that any small change is good, or whether I should increase it more even though I do feel things are much better already. Any advice welcome!!

Who prescribed it OP? 50mg is usually considered the standard therapeutic dose and 25mg is a starter dose to get your body used to it. So yes I would increase to 50mg personally BUT I’m not a doctor, so am curious why your prescriber said to only increase if you felt you needed it?

Hi op maybe wait 2 more weeks then decide I’ve taken them in the past and they just make me cope better I built up to 50mg the dr will probably want to assess you first before increasing them.

I’ve been on 50 before and have just started again on 25, as my mood has dipped and anxiety ramped up. My GP suggested 25 as I didn’t want to totally switch off all my emotions so just going to see as how I go.

@millymoo1202 do you think 50 really does switch them all off then?

I’ve noticed on 25 that I have cried once briefly in the last two weeks whereas I would cry with great ease before, maybe a few times a week. I also feel less out of control of my emotions even though the anxiety is still very present

@YoshiIsCute i think maybe because i was terrified to take it in the first place. So she said start with that and then look at it again after two weeks but it was up to me and how I felt it was working

I started sertraline recently on 50mg. There was no suggestion of titrating up from 25mg. I've been fine on it OP. Not numb, just stronger and able to cope. Like you I felt a difference after only a few days. I stopped crying all the time which made a big difference. I had my 4 week review a few weeks ago and the GP asked if I wanted a higher dose but I'm happy to stay on the 50mg xx

I started on 50mg and realised the adrenaline and anxiety hadn’t fully stopped so I was increased to 100mg. It took a good 6-8 weeks for it to kick in as I wanted to increase it even more, but now I feel fine. You know your body best so if you don’t feel 100% then increase it. Give a few weeks between before making any big changes, you can always slowly lower the dose if you feel it’s too high.

I think if you're still feeling anxious, there's no harm in increasing to 50mg. That was the dose I started on and then went up to 200mg over about 6 weeks so you're still taking a pretty low dose (which is good because it means there's always scope to increase it if you need it!). Ultimately though, it's your choice totally.

I’ve never heard of anyone being started on 25mg. I only did 25mg when weaning myself off them. 50mg is the standard starting dose so yes, I’d take 50mg.

Yes do that now. It’s absolutely worth trying

I have never been on it but I come across it in my job , not many people are on 25