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.

Yikes!! I'd heard they were a little religious but not to that extent

That's the problem with 12 step programs. I think all of them require you to believe in a god.

Arana, you shouldn't go cold turkey from Sertraline. Please start your new meds, what Loopy says is right.

I think I may have scared Cats away. She sent me a pm and I replied honestly. I find lying difficult though.

Loopy, it's like at Christmas : you can't judge yourself by normal standards as it's holiday times, so you need to use holiday standards, and holiday tricks for helping yourself. Glad you're doing better.

NT, honesty may hurt but it's better than otherwise. I hope Cats comes back, too.

I'm currently on a long bus ride to visit some friends run away from my 3 yo and responsibilities for a few days. I do wish people women of a certain age didn't feel the need to bathe in perfume! though maybe I'm not one to talk, as showering this am didn't happen

Hi all,
NT You haven't scared me away . I just haven't had a lot to post about over the last couple of days.

I think I am doing o.k. but I am finding it hard to sleep all night. Last night slept from 12 till 4 then got up, went back to bed at 6.30am and up again at 8.00am.

I seem to feel worn out at 8.00pm but then get more energy again around 9.00pm --once the DC are asleep-- Then I don't feel like going to bed.

If you think you're doing ok then you are. So glad proclaiming ignaorance doesn't worry you.

Good for you Muddy, a few days away should do you good.

Sorry you feel like that NT. It has been a bit hard to get on here with the DC at home. They like to go on the computer too! I didn't want to seem ignorant! I just don't have the right words to say to other people sometimes so I feel rather than say the wrong thing I would rather say nothing. Social anxiety is like that! Sorry you got the wrong impression of me.

Help. Struggling. I'm losing it.

So much for my 'you can do it' post a few weeks ago. Utter rubbish. I feel like I've been thrown in an alley, run over by a rubbish truck a few times, and no-one is listening to my pleas for help. Thank god for you lot.

I frickin HATE ADs. I am STILL trying to come off Sertraline, and I feel worse than I did before I went on it. I've read up on the side effects, and you name it I think I've got it...

• nausea (so awful I don't wanna get out of bed);
• dizziness;
• brain 'zaps' like in a weird movie or horror film;
• unbalanced, like the ground keeps shifting;
• hot and cold;
• goosebumps and itchy crawling flesh;
• extreme rage - why the hell my husband hasn't walked out I don't know, it gets so bad I want to smash everything up in the house;
• headaches;
• weird up and down dreams;
• very low mood - very, very low - the sort of mood I was prescribed ADs for in the first place;
• feeling isolated;
• constant crying.

To top it all I'm about 5 weeks pregnant (yay!) and I should be glad but I feel like crap! I don't feel happy at all. I already feel sorry for this baby being born to a person like me. If I'm like this now what's it gonna be like if I get hit with PND again?

AND - I've fallen out with my family, the very people who should be really happy they're gonna get grandchild no. 2 but are actually really quite indifferent (no emotion WHATSOEVER when I told them I was pregnant). I haven't spoken to my mum for almost a week (we normally see each other every day) and when I saw my dad Friday last he was as cold as Frosty the snowman. These people are supposed to be boosting me right now - this latest facade has made me realise part of my PND last time around was because of my messed up relationship with them [very controlling father, cold emotionless no affection mother].

Haven't been to the docs cos I don't trust them after the grief I previously had with Social Services. Am waiting to see a midwife I know from previous preg to get booked in etc, but will have to be economical with my feelings in the event that SHE lands me in the proverbial with Social Services. [Note my son IS safe].

The little leaflet you get with these drugs tells you all about the side effects you can get when taking the drug, but it doesn't warn how fragile you can become, how poorly, when you try to wean yourself OFF them. I'm down to 25mg every 2 days and it sucks. Obviously I wanna be off them totally so that my pregnancy isn't affected.

I just wanna crawl into a hole and be left alone......

Hi Oven, I remember your earlier post wrt coming off Sertraline. As I recall it was a HV that got SS on you wasn't it? Didn't your doctor refer you to a counsellor? I think you need professional help here. I know you don't like ADs, I don't think anyone does, but if they help...

I would honestly go NC with your parents, they're no good to you with their attitude.

Another thing: if you go back on ADs get something like Lorazepam to help with the anxiety. Look after yourself.

Oh Loopy that's a bit shit. Oi, Loopy's H, give her some privacy, you utter minkle.

Good luck love, hope all goes well.

Hullo...

Loopy, I hope you turn out to be wrong about your DH. That would be very out of order of him if it were true. If you are, in fact, reading this, Loopy's DH- you should be ashamed.

Ovenready not much to add to what has been said, but I feel for you. (Congrats on the pregnancy, though!)

Anyway, have been kind of wobbly in places since I last wrote. Had one or two destructive freakouts (kicked in a kitchen cupboard door before I could stop myself). A couple of friends who I lived with abroad years ago were in town at the weekend and so we went out and got v. hammered, but it has led to a lot of mixed feelings. (Paranoia about not being liked, being weird and being a total failure, mainly.) Still feeling kind of fuzzy and down when I think about it, and finding it hard to not spiral into very negative thoughts.

Hey, ho.

oven are you feeling better today? You sound kinda... trapped with respect to the medical services in your area. Can you find out circumspectly what they will and won't call Social Services about?
loopy best of luck with the DH and the early waking, not getting enough sleep is a shitty situation :(

As for me, I've brought the Cold of Doom with me from my friend's place think I may have brought it there, am hoping I didn't get them all sick as she's a bit imunocompromised at the moment, and am trying not to get all paranoid that it's some exotic bacterial infection rather than just being a cold, which is what my head is saying is most likely but am generally in good spirits. Had a good chat with my boss today who wished me well only one point did I want to SH and the ice cube trick worked, wish I remembered what it was he said that sent my mind/feelings in that direction... it was something about the woman that neither of us get on with, I think

I see my GP tomorrow to discuss whether Lofepramine is working, I'm not 100% convinced that it is helping, but maybe I'm just delusional about how bad I am/was/would be without it? As in some ways, i'm still worse for taking it and for being off work than I was when I was just keeping a brave face on it, but on the other hand... things that others have said here have resonated in a bad way with me (as in, everyone agrees that something isn't right in someone, and I was doing that before I went off, so that means I was that ill, too?) I guess I just don't want to believe that I'm sick :( We're also discussing whether I'm fit to work , no idea with that one, but have already booked travel to see the in-laws for 2 weeks that slightly overlaps the time I'm off ill, so whether I'm fit for work or not, I won't be in the office until the end of the month...

Would it be ok for me to join you all? I have just been prescribed sertraline and have taken my first one today.

I posted on the mh board before as a few weeks ago I was prescribed citalopram for anxiety, however they made me feel really spaced out and I wasn't "that bad" so we were just going to try counseling. Things have gone downhill since then.

My anxieties are related to health and wellbeing of myself and my family. I am terrified of illness and always think worst case scenario (most recently it was pointed out that ds2 who is 5 weeks has a white ring around his pupils which I then googled. If you look at white and pupil it brings up loads of sites about retinoblastoma and since reading about it I keep taking photos of both my boys with the flash on to make sure they still have the red reflex as I am certain they are going to get it).

To top it off I also have developed pnd. This has manifested in my anxieties going into hyperdrive for ds2. I can't sleep as I need to keep checking he is still breathing. Noone else can have him, I don't even like them holding him.

Unfortunately, it has almost destroyed my relationship with ds1 who is 4. I have no patience with him, shout at him every day and have visions of me hitting him (although rationally its something I would never do as I was beaten as a child by father). I have told the Dr this.

I feel like my children hate me, I sometimes feel I hate ds1 and don't want him anymore (although this is not what I really feel).

It's like my head has been split in two and I'm struggling to cope.

I'm lucky my mum works for mind so is very supportive as is my dh and sil. Noone else really understands and find it uncomfortable, my sister is on citalopram for stress caused depression and even she found it uncomfortable to hear.

I just need to talk to people going through a similar thing and especially need support going through the probable side effects.

Sorry for hijack and self indulgent long post.

Noone in rl other than Dr knows hitting ds goes through my mind as they would rightly be horrified and disgusted as I am and sure you are reading it. I don't deserve my children.

Hello Kat. Please dive right in. Your story is why I contend that PND is the cruelest of illnesses. Give the Sertraline a chance, and in the meanwhile try to get referred for counselling. It's great that your close family is supportive, there are so many that aren't due to not understanding MH problems.

DS1 doesn't hate you, he probably feels confused as to why his beloved mummy is shouting at him. DS2 needs you to be rested and well. Your DH needs you to trust him, both with your DCs and with helping you get better.

It's good that you've told your GP. I'm not disgusted nor am I horrified of your feelings, but I can see that you are.

If you've read the thread you'll recall I said several times there is no shame in being mentally ill. Your brain is ill, you're taking medicine to help it recover. Exactly the same as if you had Tonsillitis you'd take antibiotics. There is no difference. :)

Trust the professionals, and take your meds. You can beat this. Have faith in yourself, you're brilliant. You must be, you admit that you're struggling.

Thank you. I have seen your name across the thread (didnt read it all as I'm struggling to concentrate but read a fair bit). You are very supportive to people and seem to know the right thing to say.

I feel quite nauseous and clenching my jaw already which I did on citalopram but even on tablet one with citalopram I was spaced out and not "in my body" so this is an improvement so far (optimistic day 1 let's see how long that lasts!)

Hi, I am trying to help my dd deal with her depression. First diagnosed with pnd when dgs was about 6mths given fluoxetine worked well came off them fine for many months then depression came back, went back on same ads again worked well and able to come off them. Dgs now 3.6 and few months ago depression returned back on fluoxetine but last week dd broke down and confided that she was getting worse. I visited her Dr (dd refused to see dr at that point felt they couldn't help) who was lovely reassured me I was doing right things and suggested dd may need different ad, also said if she has to stay on ads long term/forever that is ok.

DD then saw dr who changed ads to sertraline (she also takes amitriptyline at night for nerve damage to ribs). DD very upset today been taking new ads for 1 week and she can't stay awake, can't be bothered to do anything, back to dr today who says its side effects try to persevere and to cut amitriptyline to 1 tablet.

Basically I want to know if these side effects last long does sertraline work - silly question everyones different.

I just want to help my wonderful dd get back to feeling herself again. She asked me today why me? breaks my heart that I can't make her better that's what mums are supposed to do.

Thank you Kat, that is kind of you. How about getting something like Lorazepam to help with the jaw clenching, which seems to be a common side effect. You only need a tiny dose just to help. This again is suggested by someone else upthread.

Hello Adoremy and welcome. It's great that you're supporting your DD. Not all ADs work for everyone. Sertraline takes from 2-6 weeks to work properly, so get her to stick with it. Keep doing what you're doing, she needs your help.

Hi adora Welcome. Will you be showing your DD this thread, too? Re your side effect q, if you search the thread, people have talked about the length of time side effects lasted for them... I believe others have had the side effects only for a week or two?

Hi Kat, welcome to the madhouse the AD support thread. You are not the only one who has thought about hitting her child on here Have you heard the expression "Depression Lies"? I first heard it with respect to "it tells you that maybe people would be better if I'm not around" but I also think "it" tells me other horrible things about myself... the odd smack isn't physical abuse anymore than the odd shout is emotional abuse I had to look up the details on the NSPCC website before I realized that, no, I probably hadn't crossed that line... meanwhile my depression was telling me that if I ever raised my voice with my daughter I was getting abusive, or damn well close

I wanted to respond yesterday when I first saw your post, but my head was in a real mess in the afternoon (had a good or possibly manic morning, though! Even mostly enjoyed a trip to the park with DD and our Childminder :) ). The bad afternoon was possibly not helped by a trip to the GP.

I am not sure that the lofepramine I'm on is working, so she suggested increasing it to 210mg (split into 1 pill in the am in addition to the 2 pills at night that I currently take). She also gave me sleeping tablets (because sleep is worse that it had been before starting the meds)

The thing is, I think it's doing the opposite of helping and i'm not sure I made it clear to my GP that that is the case :( It DID work for about a week, but now I feel like I'm more depressed now that I'm taking these and off work than I did in the first place :( SOME of it is that I now have the space for all the feelings I was bottling up to get on with things, but... I am not convinced that that is all of it. I didn't used to fantasize about how to kill people, and I think these thoughts are due to the meds.

So... yeah. that's me. Any advice, please? hope this doesn't get me sectioned

Mrsmuddypuddles I would mention it to your gp. I wouldn't think you would be sectioned for the thoughts but I'm not sure. It's horrible when our minds tell us things that aren't true or we wouldn't normally think.

TMI ALERT

Side effects today are still nausea and jaw clenching accompanied by diarrhoea. It's making looking after my children (4yo and 5wks) hard. Dh is trying to get a half day to help but not having much luck. Have put ds1 on computer to play angry birds because I can't function properly which is just great parenting!