Sertraline for anxiety

[toastwithbutter]

I’ve always struggled with anxiety but it’s so bad currently. My morning anxiety (over nothing specific) is so bad I struggle to get out of bed sometimes.

I have lots of nervous energy and feel on edge most of the time.

i have negative intrusive thoughts.

I don’t think I’m very fun or relaxed any more, at all.

I’ve always been so scared to medicate myself but with two young children and a busy life I need to do something to overcome this crippling anxiety.

Can you give me your Sertraline success storiws please as this is what the doctor has recommended.

Will it help me feel less panicky and calmer? More relaxed and carefree? Less irritable?

I certainly think it’s added a lot to my life.
I felt more sociable. I was able to leave the house more.
The first week or two I felt a bit dodgy, a bit spaced out, but gradually I was able to live my life a bit more, rather than hiding in the house.
I have taken a lower dose (50mg) as part of my life now, for quite a few years.

Anxiety is truly horrible. It’s shocking, it’s exhausting and it’s scary at times. Even crippling.
May I ask how old you are roughly?
I do believe it is part of the human condition. Perhaps a reaction to life events?

I find it just levels me out , I don’t feel the real highs or lows anymore

In my experience it works for anxiety. I started on 25mg then moved slowly up the doses. They only do 50mg and 100mg tablets I think so break a 50 in half. Expect to possibly feel worse before you feel better this is a common side effect but it doesn’t last long. Give it at least 6 weeks before you decide if it’s helped. Good luck.

I've been described different antidepressants for anxiety, but they've really helped me take the edge off things so I can function.

I loved being on setraline. I felt great effect within the first few weeks

bedding in (1st couple of weeks) was hard - increased anxiety and dodgy belly… but once I got past the side effects very effective in anxiety.

titrated up to 200mg over time And was so much calmer and able to cope.

I took sertraline for anxiety and found it very helpful. I would describe it as sometimes just giving me a bit of space , between me and my thoughts. Like, I could maybe still see the intrusive thought, but I wasn’t consumed by it.
i stayed on the starter dose, for me it was enough.

as others have said, the first couple of weeks I felt a bit odd, a bit spaced out, but that passed.

i would suggest you try them, they can be really life changing. Im sorry you’re suffering with anxiety, it is truly horrible

Not sertraline but I was on citalopram, another SSRI so I imagine they work in the same way.
Best decision I could have made for myself at that time.
I felt a little worse before I felt better, but it was manageable. Eventually, i got better and better until i felt like who i am but without all the stupid anxiety or depressive thoughts.
I came off them again 6 months later and haven’t needed them since.

A genuine question to those who are taking sertraline.. is it masking your symptoms or curing it? I’ve always believed these drugs mask the way we feel. I’d like some insight. Sorry to jump on your thread OP.

If I may…
I think this depends on whether your anxiety and/or depression is situational. Mine was, so it gave me enough of a boost to get over the situation that caused it and enabled me to come off them.
I did have therapy at the same time though.

I came off them about 4 years ago and I have certainly felt anxious since but I’ve got better coping mechanisms for that now so I haven’t felt like I have needed to go back on them at any point.
I also fixed a lot of vitamin/mineral deficiencies that I think helped massively.

I could still feel when I was on them. I could still cry at sad films. I felt like me, just without the anxiety. I didn’t feel numb. I did however insist on staying on the lower dose rather than being boosted up so I don’t know if this helped

@woodpeckersounds oh definitely not a cure for anxiety, that’s for sure. But sertraline has helped with me personally, keeping things on some sort of even keel.
For what it’s worth OP…….when a GP prescribes this kind of medication, it can help many people. But it doesn’t suit everyone.
A GP also doesn’t have the time to help us evaluate what is going on in our lives, but I believe the drug can help to bring a little normality of sorts; to help us, the anxious souls that we are, get to a place where we can try to ‘sort ourselves out a bit’.!
It’s funny. We can only live forwards, but can understand life when looking back.
I wish I knew where anxiety comes from, and why. There’s also some very good audiobooks, I found them especially helpful alongside sertraline. “Anxiety…..panicking about Panic” by Joshua Fletcher is one I can personally recommend. Or of course, you can always read the physical book if you wish.
Please be ever so gentle with yourself. You’re doing the best you can.

I've been on sertraline for 4 years and don't intend to stop. I've not had a panic attack or irrational anxiety whilst taking it. I'm calmer , level and just feel normal whereas before I was anxious all the time, having regular panic attacks with no idea why. I took half a 25mg tablet at night for the 1st week, then 50mg for a week, them moved to 50mg every morning and this alleviated the side effects of the 1st few weeks.

Answering as a patient on sertraline and also as a pharmacist... Does insulin 'cure' your diabetes, does ibuprofen 'cure' your headache, does senna 'cure' your constipation? No, but they allow you to manage it. Same for sertraline and other antidepressants.

It's hard to say how it will make you feel. I didn't really notice a difference (other than I wasn't at rock bottom any more) until 6 months later when I was cooking dinner and dancing round my kitchen and just all of a sudden realised I was truly happy for the first time in a long time (perhaps ever?). It's worth a try.

I don't understand the fear of medicating yourself. As above, I bet you'd take ibuprofen for a headache or insulin if you had diabetes. I tried fluoxetine before and didn't find it helpful, so if after a couple of months sertraline hasn't helped it doesn't mean you need to write off all tablets.

It was great at first but you need more as time goes on. I came off it in the end. I’d prefer to use other methods.

@Newmum738 do you mind sharing what works for you?

Mindfulness and meditation are genuinely very good. It sounds like a cliché but it's true. Also exercise, fresh air and eating well. Thing is, I wasn't in the headspace to do those without the sertraline. It doesn't have to be one or other, you can take sertraline as an adjuvant to lifestyle and mindset changes.

I started taking Escitalopram for lifelong anxiety and it has been life-changing.

Thank you for asking 🙏

I was on Seroxat for 20 years but a year ago they suddenly stopped working. I had all the original anxiety and depression symptons come flooding back. I had to wean off seroxat for one week before I started sertraline. I had a bit of nausea as a side effect with more frequent bowel movements. It took 16 weeks for them to fully kick in. However, that timeframe changes for everyone. What it does it make you not think about your symptons. You can function day to day and see light again. You think they are never going to start working but they will. The only downside is the vivid dreams but I'd rather take those than the horrible, crippling anxiety.

I do think they mask anxiety. I can go days or weeks and think I haven't thought about hyperventilating or wanted to keep swallowing today. They can divert your attention away from your symptons so you're less likely to panic etc.bloody lifesavers.

For me, a bit of both. My antidepressant reduces my anxiety to a level where I can go out and try things, which means that instead of the anxiety and panic being reinforced and growing (and my world shrinking), it reduces over time. It also means that I'm able to engage and work with therapy, which again reduces my symptoms longer term. But for me, I still need medication to keep my anxiety at bay and to stop it spiralling. If I didn't my anxiety would grow to a point where I couldn't go about my daily life and apply the things I've learnt. I don't think it's possible for my anxiety to be fully cured, but it's well managed. And one of the things that keeps it well managed is the anti-depressant.

Rhodiola Rosea supplements worked quite well. Hypnotherapy- Paul McKenna has loads of free stuff on You Tube and I do that every night. Sea swimming - I’ve done this weekly all year round. Sleep. Really good self care. Acceptance. Breathing. Being kind to myself and accepting my limitations. Generally slowing down where possible. The Sertraline helped and I needed it but I’m glad I’ve come off it now. Carefully weaned myself off - got down to 10mg every third day before stopping completely.

Thanks everyone.

i started today. I was too chicken to take the 50mg so split it in half. Have been psychoanalysing how I feel all day. Mostly relief to be honest to know I’m doing something.

Ive made a list of how I felt ‘before’ - it’s pretty bad. Hoping I look back in a few months feeling much better!

I feel a bit vulnerable doing this but I’ll pop the thoughts around how I’ve been feeling here incase anyone can relate….

Feel I have lost sight of what’s normal
Gotten worse since having children
Lack of sleep and hormones are a trigger

Very bad morning anxiety maybe 60% of the time for no reason (just physical symptoms, brain feels clear but anxious in the pit of my stomach the moment I wake)

Nervousness around social events or anything out of the ordinary - dread for days beforehand
Panic feelings with work to presentations or review/121 situations
Overthinking and feel paralysed sometimes like I cannot concentrate or do anything at all
Occasional panic attacks and a constant fear of panic attacks
A feeling of being unable to be present in the moment as my brain is constantly working overtime

Physical symptoms - shaking, loss of appetite, insomnia, intrusive thoughts, feeling sick, exhaustion, obsessive thought eg ruminating on what could happen and worrying about it
Dry mouth, heart palpitations, throat closes up

Worrying about the world and very upset about current news especially children suffering in the world

Everything feel heavy, I don’t feel light mentally

Not wanting to leave my children - ever

Lack of fun and relaxation - mostly unable to properly relax or let go and have fun any more

Good days and bad but anxiety is there probably 75% of the time

Want to feel calm and able to cope, instead I feel like if anything went wrong it would tip me over the edge, feel on high alert, fight or flight, full of adrenaline - exercise is the ONLY thing that helps

If a friend told me she felt like this… I’d probably tell
her to get some medication so trying to do the same and tell my brain it’s fine.

Oh bless you OP. One day at a time while the meds kick in. At some point, hopefully you will wake up and suddenly realise you can face the day. As I said before, the tablets make you not think about those things because they balance things out in your head. As you're not worrying so much, the physical symptons will go. They may come back briefly now and then but will go quickly with your new coping strategy. Stay away from negativity and surround yourself with just your family and anything positive. Good luck and let Sertraline do its thing xx

I feel quiteva few of the symptoms you have described @toastwithbutter but I think they are situational and have to do with my relationship.
So I'm very worried of going on meds and the side effects... I have a job where I need ti focus a lot, and there arw multiple things I need to manage at the same time... Can anyone help to advise on how it affects your ability to focus ans be "on the ball"? (Sorry, I hate this expression too)