To think something is seriously wrong?

[Ye181]

I’m late thirties with a toddler and dp. I started taking Sertraline a few weeks ago and initially felt very tired and then that went away and felt back to normal.

However in the last week I’ve felt beyond exhausted … I’m working from home a lot and have to sleep at lunchtime to make it through the day. I’ve had blood tests and all came back within the right range. I take multivitamins too.

i can’t understand it. I’m barely able to type this message as I could just fall asleep again. I don’t know how I’m going to collect dd shortly. I’m not getting anywhere with the gp as they say all bloods are fine!

Tiredness can be a side-effect. When do you take your tablets? Some people prefer to take them last thing at night because of this.

It's an example of how a medicine can have similar effects to the the illness it is treating. A common symptom of depression is lethargy and extreme tiredness, unfortunately sometimes the treatment also carries the same effects.

It may be that you need to discuss alternative antidepressants with your doctor. Sertraline tends to be the "go to" starting point for depression because it's relatively cheap and does not usually lead to severe side effects (some antidepressants can be dangerous if misused, sertraline isn't really like that). There are plenty of alternative drugs they can try out on you - not everyone gets the right drug for them the first time.

I was absolutely shattered on them for a few weeks but they were great when they kicked in properly.

It can take 6-8 weeks for the side effects to ware down, I’d say by 3 weeks they are getting right into your system now. Only you know how you feel but I was always told 6 weeks

What dose are you on? My friend was moved down a dosage as her side effects were really affecting her, that seemed to help until her body was used to them

This level of tiredness doesn't sound normal. I'd be pushing for further investigations from your GP.

Hi Op, I’ve just been moved up from 20mg to 30mg of Citalopram and have the exact same symptoms as you! I’m now 5 weeks in and slowly feeling a little better but I am still very tired. Doctors have done all sorts of bloods and scans & everything has came back normal so it is definitely a side effect of these! Very strange though because when I went onto the 20mg a few years ago I had the opposite effect and barely ever slept!!

Tiredness is a known side effect of the drug. See this
https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/sertraline/side-effects-of-sertraline/