Sertraline…to ask if this is normal?

[Yiie]

I’m on 50mg of sertraline for anxiety. I took 25mg for a week and now been on 50 for another week. I feel exhausted. Like first trimester pregnancy tired. Also spaced out and lethargic. On the plus side I don’t feel as anxious. However I literally don’t know how I will function at work tomorrow as I’ve felt totally drained all day! Is this normal?!

Your food pipe and stomach burn horribly. I was chugging gaviscon and freaking out. It did resolve itself while waiting on the second doctor callback but it was an unpleasant night!

My Dr doesnt believe mine is related to peri either. I'm 42. Apparently they frequently prescribe sertraline with HRT, but my Dr doesnt think my symptoms require HRT too. Despite my frequent night sweats which have not stopped...

Took 8 weeks for me to have any energy on setraline

I've just came off it after a few bad months trying it, and gone back to my old faithful venlafaxine

I really think it's worth going back, it took me another 2 years before I was able to get hrt, (I stopped using the sertraline much sooner as the anxiety and mood swings were better than wanting to sleep all day!) and I felt so much better almost immediately. I was also having the worst night sweats which stopped within a couple of weeks.

Everyone is different and will have different side effects to drugs. A lot of people get the tired feeling at first but that wears off for most people after about a month or so. If you can't get on with it there are plenty of other antidepressants you can try. Give it a bit of time before you try and swop though.

Completely normal but took about two months to wear off for me. I used to take it before bed so I wouldn't forget and I could sleep until lunch time the next day then nap in the afternoon. Started experimenting with the times and realised about 5/6pm was best for me. Slept well at night and wouldn't be sleepy in the morning. If I took it earlier I was falling asleep at 6/7 on the couch and if I was later, the next day was a struggle. Still taking it months later and it doesn't affect me the same way now. Your body likely just needs some time to adjust. Remember your body and mind is also recovering from a constant fight or flight so will be more exhausted than you realise. I was actually signed off work to let me adjust to the medication. I couldn't have stayed awake never mind perform my job as I should.

I spoke to a 2nd Dr who told me to give the sertraline a few months, and then to go back and demand HRT if my other symptoms hadn't gone (such as night sweats which aren't anxiety related). So for now, I'm tracking my symptoms and will go back in a couple of months to ask again. It's so frustrating though isn't it? We shouldn't have to fight so hard for medication just because of our age. My aunt and cousin both went through peri around this age so clearly it's not that uncommon in my family!

I'm glad your symptoms have improved x

@Mousespace why is this??!

This might not be the case for the OP...but it's depressing to read this thread and see repeatedly what hard work it is to get HRT...including ridiculous feedback that 40s is too young (mid-thirties is not too young) and that the GP would prefer to hand out anxiety meds for peri symptoms.

I know so many people this has happened to. GPs need better training.

I've been on and off sertraline on a few occasions over the past 15 years. The utter and complete exhaustion is now a familiar sign of recovery for me! I know I'm getting better when the exhaustion kicks in. Someone medical once explained it to me that as your body has been running on full pelt with over thinking and racing thoughts and panic and worry for so long it's now recovering from all that extra mental toll. It's finally having some down time, and trying to recover itself and get healthy again, so it just hijacks all your energy.

It's usually about a week or 2 at the very most for me. This time (I restarted 4 weeks ago) it was 10 days.

It made me tired, spaced, and nauseous at first, I switched to taking it at night (I had some pretty vivid dreams, but no insomnia), which worked better for me, symptoms settled by about three weeks.

For me it's like the worst heartburn you could imagine, I was up all night once, couldn't settle sleeping on any side. My chest felt like it was under such pressure too. I was also retching a lot of thick fluid during the entire night. I didn't put the 2 together until did same another time and then it clicked!!

Close relative took Prozac and had really bad heartburn. He took it before food.

I was totally saved out and sweating the first time I went on it. This eased after a week. They say give new medication 6 weeks to level out.

I second taking it on a night. Found that eased those initial symptoms slightly but deffo do with plenty of water and don't lie down for a while. If it gets stuck half way down without you realising it's absolutely agony and you won't sleep at all. It really burns your oesophagus.

Saying that, I have come off mine and had to go back on them. They really do help me.

I had the opposite experience to many of you. Was going through some horrendous things and struggling to cope. The GP would only prescribe hrt, which obviously didn't help. I went back and was given sertraline.

Sertraline worked very quickly for me to ease my anxiety, but I was never lethargic with it. I did grind my teeth a lot when I started, or when dose increased, but that wore off. It absolutely annihilated my sex drive, and that hasn’t wore off.
My max dose was 200mg, currently down to 50mg and hoping to come off entirely following guidance of GP.
Everyone responds differently though and the important thing to consider is if something is working for you or not, regardless of anyone else’s experience. There are lots of alternatives if sertraline not a good fit, it’s just trial and error at this stage.
You’ll get there 😊

Oh, really? This is what the head of Integrated Psychological Services gave me. I literally couldn't function with severe PTSD, panic disorder, OCD and GAD.

I didn’t have this with setraline . Quite the opposite- happy and energetic

Thanks @Mousespace @Dugs2010 thats really helpful to know x

@EdnaTheWitch- Sertraline also destroyed my sex drive, and it didn't come back after stopping the medication. 😕 I am now perimenopausal so maybe that is a factor.

I took about ten days to adjust to setraline. After that I had no issues and it was effective for anxiety. I understand though that not all drugs will sort all people and there are alternatives available. So give it a little longer and if you do not settle go back and see your GP. It is just a question of getting the medication right and as our bodies are all different the only real way to do this is a bit of trial and error.

I found sex drive went completely and I poohed myself on a few occasions.
It addressed the anxiety issue, but I felt so upset with the p issue that I found that and the lack of sex drive depressing too and obviously having to constantly think how far I was from a toilet added to anxiety.

I took it for about two months and then came off it.

However, I appreciate it is different for different people.
Do take it with lots of water!

@FarmGirl78 thanks for this insight, this is really interesting. I feel like I’ve had masses of nervous energy in the past and that’s sort of gone. I feel like this weight is on my physically almost, like I am drowsy but can still function properly. It’s such a strange feeling. I am almost scared for it to stop in case I ‘wake up’ and start to panic and analyse everything again