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.

My DS on day3 now of Sertraline at 25mgs...was sick last night. Just the once and very little but came very suddenly with no warning to him at all.

I've started feeling sick now too. Not fun. It does come up all of a sudden

My DS has been complaining of a pain in his chest!!
Is it just indigestion?...he's mentioned this several times since beginning these tablets
Might go to GP tomorrow and question a few things
My DS is convinced it's the new tablets! (worried he will refuse to take them now)

whatthe good idea to speak to your GP tomorrow. How is ds now?

I've been a bit hit and miss with my meds of late. Prob not the best of ideas but I'm getting terrible headaches and nausea. My eyes keep going funny too, like I can't focus properly. Plus I get tingly arms sometimes too.

No idea if these are all side effects, just can't think of another explanation

maybe you could lower the dosage for a week or so and then build it up again...if you've been missing taking them and then taking a higher dose again...it might be mucking things up too much for you...

You could probably request a quick chat with your GP on the phone about the best way forward for you again

Mild relapse today :( i thibk brought on by lack of sleep. Went for a long walk though and felt a bit better.

Think maybe I do need to speak to my gp. Literally just sat for half an hour trying to eat a sandwich and I managed a quarter of it. (I was at my mums so had to try...wouldn't of bothered making one if I was at home!)

hairytale hope you slept better last night?

notthedaddy tell me how it goes - i am 10 weeks PG and quit my meds and can't wait to go on sertraline once baby is born. I'd love to hear how you are feeling, if 25mg is a good dose, and also how it goes after the birth.

maybe i could try 25mg if desperate. a bit early now - i want the organ formation bit to be done at least before i go back on meds.

having said that, morning sickness wearing off a bit (touch wood) and feeling much happier than for a long time.

hope everyone feeling ok - good to hear that meds are working for most of you.

hope the little boy feels better soon whatthe
xx

DS is just refusing to do anything at all

I haven't the energy to battle with him today
We are both in our pjs doing sod all useful or needed

bad day here...I'm fed up and too tired today

whatthe so sorry it's not going well for you and DS...maybe it is worth chatting to GP? I know in my previous experiences of this medication, I often felt worse before I started to feel better. It is worth it in the end but I know it must be terribly difficult for you both.

somewhere I weaned off sertraline soon as I found out I was pg (totally unplanned ). To begin with I was miserable because of the constant sickness (dunno who decided to call it blooming morning sickness when it lasts all bloody day!). Once I was about 17 weeks I began to feel a bit normal again but had mood swings. By the end of my second trimester I was a wreck. The drs have been desperately trying to get me to start meds but I was and still am kinda very nervous about affects on baby and the possible withdrawal after birth. My plan was to wait until after birth but I have been so desperately low and totally suicidal that in the end I decided I'd better sort this crap out.

I'll keep you posted how I go. If you start to relapse in the slightest, get yourself help and back on meds before you end up losing it like I pretty much did.

Good luck with the pregnancy-hope sickness fades quick for you-it is the most horrible feeling! Xx

I've been switched to sertraline on purpose so I can get pregnant. Gp said the risks were so low and unproven that it was better for me to be on them. I did a lot of personal research on the topic and am happy that should anything occur to baby it is unlikely to be meds related and just bad luck.

Day 6 and I'm not feeling as sleepy tired but do feel sick bit of an upset tum and not a lot of physical energy. I've personally found the side effects minimal so far.

I'd agree with that Cupcake - the side effects have not been nearly as bad as I was expecting. Still a bit wakeful in the night but manageable and better than it was. I cant honestly report any changes yet though - hope that will come within the next week or two.

Hi notthedaddy is it your first? The first is the hardest i think, cause it shatters your sense of self, and i suppose it would be even harder if unplanned. But it's all worth it!

Brave of you to come off - i think it's worth it if you can do it, esp in early PG. I came of fluoxetine and it was awful. I'm actually feeling surprisingly ok today but i don't know if that's just relief that i'm not feeling MS.

cupcake and mynxie glad your side effects are not so bad.

xxx

Second for me. I found this pregnancy much more difficult than my first (planned). I was very sick to begin with first time but by 20 weeks or so I was really well with lots of energy and no depression at all. I developed PND after the birth though. Horrible nightmare.

This pregnancy has been awful. Sickness and then plagued by mood swings and finally a severe depressive episode. It's been far more difficult because I also have to look after a very boisterous 17 month old and he is a habitual early waker. I have felt lost, exhausted beyond belief and no longer look or feel anything like the woman I used to be. I'm just like a pathetic sack of potatoes now.

I'm on day 3 of 25mg sertraline. Appetite has shrunk for sure and my mood is very low and negative today. Feeling very very tearful and suicidal thoughts plaguing me

Been on sertraline for two weeks now and my appetite is pretty much gone. Apart from that no serious side effects. Feeling a bit better, not sure if it's the drugs or the changes I've been making in life. Perhaps both. Doctors appointment today and I always get a bit nervous seeing her even though she's quite nice.

notthedaddy i so feel for you. My first PG i had very little sickness but i definitely had ante-natal depression. I was a wreck for my first 2 trimesters, just so upset about every little thing, i felt very like that woman in the guardian the other day - no idea what i was on the earth to do, no joy in anything. I'd lost myself.

then i was inexplicably cheerful in my last trimester.

then after i definitely had PND. I loved my child but my self esteem was rock bottom and and I felt being a mum was all i could ever do, and i couldn't do or be any of the things i was before - work, socialise, enjoy life. it was like my life had shrunk from this large, varied world of possibilities to a tiny grey postage stamp, with the only good thing my baby.

this time round i've had massive sickness and it's been so horrendous i've not been sure if my problems are physical or psychological.

my main trouble has been not being able to work (as a freelancer that's a problem). This knocks on to not being able to clean the house, get in the shower, wash my hair, wash my kid, cook meals. Everything has just ground to a halt. I have lost myself again. It's a bit different, and I can hide a lot more (last time I wasn't working from home). I don't yet know if it's worse or better - i'll tell you when the MS wears off.

i haven't had suicidal thoughts but i have wondered, if anything goes wrong with this PG, can i ever go through another first trimester?

i got in touch with the maternity mental health people and they were really good - definitely take as much sertraline as you need, they told me. i'm struggling on for now but i would later in the PG if i needed to.

I've also cobbled together the money for 1-2 months of counselling while i wait for the NHS to come through with some mindfulness/CBT counselling specifically for PG AND women.

I'm so sorry to hear you are having suicidal thoughts - it's the saddest thing. I hope you are only thinking, and that you know it is the chemical effect of pregnancy on your brain, and that you only have a short while to go, then you can raise your dose. did sertraline work well for you before?

Would you have left a longer age gap if you had planned it? i remember my DS was a hopeless sleeper at that age.

have you tried reading Pregnancy Blues (it's on amazon), its quite interesting.

the birderer so pleased you feel better

xxx

i mean i really know what you mean by 'not the woman i used to be'. it's like you are stolen from yourself.

YES! Exactly-you hit the nail on the head-twice! The bit about my world shrinking to the size of a postage stamp,and that I couldn't be anything more than a mother-and the feeling that I've been stolen from myself.

I was happy, outgoing, confident and considered to be attractive. Now I'm a big fat ugly heap with no confidence, unable to leave the house and barely able to get myself showered and dressed. Cooking is really hard but I try to do it for my son's sake.

As I was so horribly depressed after my son's birth, I probably would never have 'planned' another to be honest but it's happened now so I just have to try my best to deal with it as best I can.

I intend to take 25 mg for next few days and will increase to 50 mg (which is dose I was actually prescribed) once my body has adjusted to side effects. I was on 200mg sertraline in my younger years after my first severe depressive episode and 150mg with the PND.

I know what you mean about the sickness. No one can quite understand unless they've experienced it. I couldn't move off the sofa but I had to try and look after my LO. Thankfully, my mum and dad stepped in, else I may have topped myself long ago. They truly saved my life (a few times!)

I'm increasing my dose to 75mg tomorrow - PND symptoms are back - not as bad but I really need to knock this on the head!

I'm increasing to 50mg tomorrow. Let's hope it helps. PND is such a horrid illness.

having a bad day today.
i have my nuchal in 2 days and its sitting like a block of ice in my chest.
xxx

ps notthedaddy you will get back to that person. i will get back to that person. we just have to suffer on the way.
xxx

Hope everyone is starting to feel a bit better and unmumsnetty hugs to those struggling.

I have just seen my psychiatrist and am staying on 50mg for the next month to see how I cope with side effects

I have a huge problem with clenching my jaw and grinding my teeth and they really hurt. Psych said it was not a side effect but pointed out to him that there are studies to prove it is.

Starting to feel a bit more like me.

Here to hold hands with anyone who needs support xxxx

notthedaddy so sorry you've had such a rough time. PND is horrendous. In my first really bad anxiety attack I was having the most hideous thoughts and really felt like I was going properly mad.

Notthedaddy and Somewhere I'm sorry you are both having such a rough time. I hope you both start to feel better soon.

The expression "stolen from myself" is the most accurate description of depression I have ever seen. Before I started my medication I was a bit weird about having a shower. I can't explain it but I would put it off and put it off all day, thinking that I can't be arsed but then getting anxious and stressed because I hadn't done it. Now I set my alarm to get up half an hour before ds wakes and get out of bed and straight into the shower. That way I don't even think about it, I just see it as my new rule.

I found taking my meds at 8 pm really helped to manage the side effects, as they would wipe me out completely. If I took it in the morning I would want to sleep by lunch time then be awake half the night and knackered the next day, vicous circle.

I remember saying to my GP that I don't feel like me anymore and that I was looking forward to feeling better.