Sertraline and any other ADs support thread

[hathorinareddress]

Following on from a suggestion by LittleWhiteMice on a thread I have going on here, I am starting a support thread for anyone taking Sertraline or any other AD.

I started taking it yesterday after eventually plucking up the courage to go to the doc on Thursday.

I feel a bit weird but not too bad.

Oh, I'm so glad everyone hasn't vanished- I was starting to worry I'd scared everyone off somehow....

Maw- I thought I was ok till I ended up in floods all over gp. Nice to know im not the only one! Just dashing to do bath time but will check in properly after kids' bedtime.

Xx

Not disappeared, either. Having family about makes it hard to post, as certain of them think nothing of looking over your shoulder when you're using a laptop and commenting away.

A bit stressed about them being around, really, which is more to do with my head than them. I don't really want to whinge on about it here, though, as I'd never stop!

Seeing GP tomorrow, I think she will up my dose, too. Feeling low and tired, and have a really nasty bug, which my OH has caught- though of course, what he has is glandular fever rather than what I have, and has necessitated two days in bed. Poor love.

Nice to hear from you Meh but sorry to hear things are still tough. And god bless your OH-!

The other day mine told me he cd take the view that as I'm home all day and have help w kids and a cleaner (please don't flame me, I don't think I can cope with that), that he cd take the view that the house should be tidy when he gets home and that dinner should be on the table, but that he's accepted it's more important that we're all happy. (ie so house isn't immaculate and often he makes dinner or at least helps). Which is all well and good but now I can't stop thinking that the house SHOULD be immaculate and dinner on the table, and that I'm failing somehow, but to be honest, I just can't do that. I find it so hard to be nice to myself and accept that at the moment, I just can't do much. and I hate that I can't do much and want to be my normal self, flying around at 100 miles an hour.

Am meeting 2 friends tomorrow. Slightly dreading it as I feel I have to "buck up" for them, or at least one of them. She makes the right noises but I don't feel like she really understands at all.

I spoke to my eldest Dsis on Monday. DD was starting to tantrum in the street, so it was brief but even so Dsis seems to have totally missed the email re pnd... I know she has her hands full w3 DS, one of whom is only 6 weeks old, but she seems to have understood everything else in the email chain (re DM's 65th in July). FFS!

Im still here but have been lurking to keep up with everyones progress.
Not posted because i seem to have lost the words to describe what im feeling.
I dont feel depressed anymore but it seems to have been replaced with something else....if anyone can remember my last post then not much has changed. The inability to sit down, the constant cleaning, feeling like my blood is rushing round my body,i cannot deal with the energy i have. The other night i even went running in the rain to burn some energy and came back piss wet through and shivering
Just trying my best to act normal which is probably another reason for not posting. i feel ought to be honest with everyone here.
Hope everyone has a good day.

Loopy- you may be right and are clearly a nicer person than me- I just assume she doesn't give a sh*t, esp as w DD the same DSis told me I didn't have PND (hmm, cheers sis), and I just felt really told off.

Foxee and Loopy- so glad to hear you're still around though sorry to hear you're still restless and strange head space respectively.Foxee- the questionnaire my counsellor gets me to do weekly includes restlessness as one of the qs- maybe it's the opposite to wanting to sleep all the time but the same cause- not wanting to feel feelings (just speaking for myself)? Have you got any support or help? And surely here is the one place we don't have to be normal?

How about you Loopy? How's the 3am wake ups? Xxx

Oh I think you meant my friend. Yes, you may be right.

irish yes i understand what u mean. have been filling out the questionnaires every 3/4 weeks with a very nice and supportive health visitor i have.filled it out today and my score has increased by 6points and is quite high now.i told her pretty much everything as iv said on here so been very honest.apart from the illusions iv been having.....
Am going to be very honest now so please bare with me if its long.
I keep getting visions of my dc getting hurt. Everytime we walk to school im paranoid that something horrific will happen eg they get run over or snatched. Everytime i blink these images flash up and it scares me so much.
Im convinced that if i am this brutally honest with my gp that he will think i cannot cope and take my dc away from me.
They are literally the thing that keeps me going and i quite succesfullt manage to keep things as normal as poss.

Thankyou loopy it means a lot for you to say that having experienced ss first hand.
I think im just very worried about opening up to my gp as when i went after dc3 was born he was rather flippant and had a look at my notes saying 'mm i see you have had ad's before heres a prescription,you probably just have a bit of depression'

I think im going to have to swallow my pride,request another gp,spill the beans and hope for the best.

Still here as well. Foxee, i have similar thoughts about something happening to dcs. Just before all this kicked off i'd booked a day trip to france on ferry. We couldn't go in the end because kids were ill, but i kept having visions of us all on deck and then realising ds2 wasn't there and dp and i saying " i thought you'd got him". Was awful and i couldn't get it out of my mind. Awful panicky feeling. Think that's what set me off actually.

Nothing much to report. I'm sort of okay, but not quite right. Think i need to start this cbt thing. Hope i,ll get an appt soon. Feeling a bit flat today. Went out last night and had one beer and woke up this morning feeling more anxious. Now just flat. Everyone keeps encouraging me to drink more because they think it will relax me. They just don,t get it that it makes me WORSE. Arrghh!

I heard a technique for dealing with unwanted thoughts such as those you mention deleting. When the thought enters your mind, immediately say in your mind "cancel, cancel". Don't let the thought take hold and keep cancelling it until it goes away. It sounds a bit unlikely, but I have found it to work for me.

I had my psychiatrist appointmnet today and it went really well. He asked me to give the Lofepramine another week or so to see if the side effects subside to a bearable level and if not, he will change me on to either Sertraline or the other one which begins with C, the name of which I can't remember just now. He has also reduced the dose of my anti psychotic medication which may give me a bit more energy because it does have quite a sedative effect. He also is willing to write a letter to the children's centre to say I should get priority for a place for ds2. No idea if it will make any odds, but it's good that he is willing to do it.

I am feeling that finally things are coming good. It's been 5 months since I was psychotic, so it's a long time to feel out of sorts.

I know you were worried about going to your appt, but it all sounds really positive mawbroon.

Thanks for the technique, will give it a go.

pissed off. dp has just had a go at me. was reading a thread on here about which stephen king novel is the best and he's read a few. anyway i brought up Thinner, which is one about someone who is cursed and can't stop losing weight and joking it was like me and he just turned on me asking why i'm joking about it and that i'd be getting myself into a panic again and then he'll have to take more time off work and having a go at when i was in bed for a few days and saying "when do i ever get to spend days in bed!" I know it's been a worry for him as well, but does he really think I was skiving in bed? I was in bed because I couldn't cope with anything or anyone and was a gibbering wreck and he's envious?

Hey, all- just checking in while I have quiet moment.

Hope you are feeling re-assured, foxxee- deleting and Loopy are right, of course. What you describe is typical anxiety, by the sound of it... and adrenaline will do funny things to you. Don't worry about telling someone you can trust, it might help defuse it. The technique you mention sounds really good, mawbroon. I will remember that in case I need it!

mawbroon - was it Citalopram? My sister is on that, and has had really good results.

deleting - sorry to hear about that incident- it must have been unsettling, especially when you were trying to make light of the situation, to get bitten like that. I don't know your partner, of course, but could it be that he is stressed and worried and hasn't got any outlet for it? I doubt he's envious, unless he is very, very unobservant.

I have had a good couple of days since the relative has gone home- possibly the medication is starting to kick in? Managed to take my daughter to a car boot sale in Saturday morning and get her a load of clothes and toys (a couple of which have been a big hit!) and a couple of bits for the house. It was sunny and there was a nice, fun atmosphere with plenty of people for the baby to flirt with from the backpack I had her in.

Then a nice evening with my partner: felt a bit more, er... 'interested' in him again, which was nice for both if us!

Today, a friend I haven't seen in years visited and I was able to introduce him to my flatmate, who is involved in some very similar projects - I think they may be able to spark well off one another as their work is very complimentary. I know I am feeling better in myself, because I see not only the possibilities there for the future, but I am really happy for them both... and I am not using their success as a stick to beat myself with. In fact, ironically, their work (and that of my friend's wife, who is a high-up psychologist/researcher) has a lot to do with combating depression and negativity.

Feeling much, much closer to my daughter, too, which is a relief as I had been feeling kind of remote.

Anyway, fingers crossed this is part of an upwards trend, rather than a blip.

Wondering what has happened to hathor, though- are you lurking still? Hope you're doing ok.

Hi everyone.
Hope you are all doing ok.
Got a phonecall from dr this morning to book an appointment..he seems worried after seeing the questionnaire i filled out last week.its on weds and im not looking forward to it.
Got to be done though i suppose.

Hi ladies, can I join you?

I am on day 2 of Fluoxetine, feeling o.k. but a bit zoned out. I have a strange sense of calm which I suppose is a good thing.

Can't think of much to say but then I have been like that lately.

Welcome, Cats. Well done for taking the first steps- and hang in there with the side effects. I think most meds take a wee while to 'bed in'. I haven't had Fluoxetine, but remember feeling similarly when I started on Sertraline.

It's all gone a bit quiet... mind you, Mumsnet does keep falling over, which won't be helping. Hope everyone's doing ok today. :)

Welcome Cats. I'm still here too. Ditto on the symptoms, so hang in there.

I've been feeling brighter in myself the last few days (4 weeks in taking Sertraline) and had a lovely weekend and a great birthday yesterday w children (walk, picnic, baking fairy cakes for tea party w DH who got home a bit early from work). That said, I'm still utterly exhausted and after taking DD to nursery this morning I was fit to drop so had a big sleep. I'm trying not to resent the tiredness, and to accept it's where I am right now, but not always easy.....

Meh- I'm with you on being a bit more interested in DH- thank the Lord! It makes me feel a bit more like me, ifswim?

Hope everyone else is ok. Xxx

How is everyone coping with their dc's?

DS2 is 2 and I am finding it hard to connect with him. When he laughs, I feel nothing, when he cries I feel annoyed. I leave him to his own devices most of the time so that I can have some head space and luckily he is happy with that, yet I know that I should be interacting more with him. I don't play with him, I don't read to him and if I take him out, I get annoyed with him for being, well, like a 2yo. I hate it. I want to feel normal again.

DS1 is at school all day, and I don't seem to feel the same about him. Then I feel all guilty that I might be favouring ds1 over ds2 when they are supposed to be equal and then I worry that this is somehow harming ds2.

God, it's shit sometimes.

Hi all, I have a 3 yr old and an older child at school. Finding the 3 yr old hard work at the mo.

Well I finally made the doctors appointment, its next week and I have to see someone else so we will see what he says.

Been putting it off but bullied myself into it yesterday

I just really hate having to go and sit and explain how I feel, when I dont really understand how I feel. I also think they must think i'm putting it on (daft I know).

Glad some of you are starting to feel better now you have been on medication for a while.

Welcome cats and henwelly hope you can find some support from this thread.
Iv got my drs appointment tomorrow and am shitting em....trying to think of reason not to go but i have none. oh said i should go and be honest with gp as they are there to help,but am not convinced after the last time i went.
Struggling with the thought of been honest and telling gp about the images i keep seeing.
Regarding the dc....i dont struggle at all tbh but everything i do with them i*s almost robotic.i feel rather detached from them. i love them with all my heart but at the same time i dont seem to enjoy them in the same way oh does.
I dont know i guess im rambling a bit now.
Hows everyone else at the mo??

Ps well done henwelly for taking the first step in making the appointment and hope you go and be honest with them/have bigger balls than me

hi,can i join you ladies

was on prozac years ago then put on to sertraline for the past 4yrs

havent read all but i sound like a complete junkie compared to many on here

2 x 100mg a day and also been perscribed tamazepan 1-2 x 10mg a day

2 nytol one a night also

only been on the temazepan last month

no bad side effects but have put on alot of weight

ive been on AD for over 10years and really feel that not doing that much,a temp doc was shocked when he saw what and for how long they been perscribed

does this sound alot to you

will try and catch up on previous comments on this thread

thanks

Hey, thought I'd join you on here.

Been on Sertraline for 3 months, and just gone from 150mg to 200mg (max dose) so not looking forwards to being antsy and sweaty for the next couple of weeks, but fingers crossed it might start to touch my depression.

DCs are 2 and 4, and in full time daycare since I went back to work 3 months ago. I'm finding work much less stressful than being a SAHM.

I had a nervous breakdown after we emigrated to Australia 8 months ago, and was referred for anxiety and depression. Have since realised that I've had depression on and off since early childhood. I tried citalopram at first, but the anxiety from that nearly killed me.

I have also just been diagnosed with adult ADD and taking ritalin for it, which is a real help, although not the wonder drug I was hoping for.

Just taking one day at a time.

Feeling a bit frustrated. DH told me off last night for not being interested in stuff (we need to do work on our house, which he is itching for me to organise. I can't face the idea of it). Yet again I explained how hard it is to do anything. I feel like I'm talking to the wall at times....