sertraline

[peppapiglet]

i finally went to gp today and got prescribed sertraline. anyone else experienced this drug and did it help?

I'm on it now and it does seem to help :)

It does work,has made a massive difference to my life and my family. But the first fortnight on it I felt worse. Stick with it.

I'm on 100mg of Sertraline, and have been for a few months now. The side-effects were a bit grim for the first couple of weeks, but they make a real difference to me now - I'm calmer, more patient, sleeping better, arguing less with DH.

I'd recommend seeing your GP again after your first month is up to see how you're getting on :)

IT helped me at first, but I don't think it is doing much now. The first 3 weeks were utterly horrendous though.

hi
thanks for your responses :-)
well this is the second day and i am not sure if it coincidence but i feel a little spaced out and like my head is "numb" does that make sense? I have completely lost my appetite and have an upset stomach and feel sick.. i am a bit frightened to continue on them. i can be very down for a few hours crying etc then am ok, but i am generally trying to stay away from people. it is a reaction to life events. i feel like i need to stabilise, it is not very pleasant at all

I've been taking setraline for a few months now (50g). I felt really really hideous for the first 2 weeks - so bad that I actually thought I might stop taking them tbh. But I did persevere and it was so worth it.

hi bajs
thanks for sharing.
what symptoms were you having and how have they helped? do you genuinely think it was the tablets or more just progression of time that helped?

Sorry hit post instead of preview!! That was my thread when I started. Bit more onfo on there

hi where is the post, were you going to link it?

Oh poo. Maybe I didn't link then?? here it is Sorry about taht!

Hi,
I am interested in hearing what people have to say with regards to taking sertraline. I went to see a psychiatrist today after being referred by the community mental health team and he suggested that I start taking this AD. I am unsure as to what to do so I am keen to hear if anyone is taking it and if it helps. I am 32 weeks pregnant and I have been feeling really low for sometime now. Without going into too much detail I feel like I need something to help me through all this. I fully intend to breastfeed (which I did for a year with my first born) so I need to make sure that whatever I take doesnt hinder BF in anyway or endanger my baby. I am scared that if I dont sort things out now then I will suffer a lot more with PND. I am really confused and have no idea what to do.
I didn't suffer with any depression with my first and have never taken any medication like this before.

Please share your experiences.
Thank you

I have taken it for many years (with breaks, but always ended up needing to start again), was pregnant on it (tried to cut down coming up to third trimester, hit a point where it was very obvious I needed to go back up and actually in the end needed to take slightly more than usual), apparently if taken at the end of pregnancy can cause babies to be a little jittery. Hard to know if it had any effect on them.... anyway breastfed as long as I could, which was nearly 2 years with DD, still taking the pills.

They give me back myself..... have tried all sorts of talking therapy, to no avail - and it seems pretty clear that there is a genetic tendency to significant depression - but really; they take a while to work, but have saved my life.

thank you desertgirl.
I dont think talking is going to be of any help to me and I think that maybe if I wasn't pregnant it might be a more viable option to invesitgate first as I would have time on my side. I dunno. I am nervous about taking pills but I am more nervous about what will happen if I dont start taking them and things get worse. Then I will be stuck in a desperate place with a newborn and a three year old and I am scared as to how I will cope. Nothing has gone wrong in my life to have caused this depression so I am struggling to understand why I feel like this. It's so hard to try to explain to my husband and my mum how I feel and I just feel stupid. My life on paper is pretty perfect so why on earth do I feel so crappy.

it's not a logical disease, there hasn't been anything wrong in my life to cause it either... Maybe find them something to read about depression that explains you don't need a reason.

Nobody would suggest random pill taking, but if you discuss your concerns with your psychiatrist and make sure you are monitored, they wouldn't be suggesting pills if they didn't feel the benefit was worth the risk (assuming they are remotely competent). And you do need to take for a couple of weeks before you see an effect so would be a good idea to start soon, make sure the particular pills agree with you, to give you the best chance of being back to your usual self by the birth.

thanks bajs, i will read your thread. i am on day 3 now. dont know if it is becauase it is friday, however i am feeling a little brighter, more miserable than depressed (is that good?!)
side effects so far, are that i had a really bad head all morning. however that could be worry... also no appetite, which is great in a way as i want to lost a little weight. its unfair how some people just never experience this. sometimes i think it may be outlook on life. but that doesnt explain the ultimate depair, lonelyness and physical symtoms. like you are on the outside looking in at everyone else, not feeling a part :-(

I take 100mg sertraline daily. I used to take citalopram but the dose was getting higher and higher with marginal effects. My gp suggested trying sertraline and it has been a revelation.

There can be some side effects, however I felt more balanced and calm after about 5 days.

I am 22 weeks pregnant. I tried to cut down but it really didn't work out. In terms of risk, the extent of my pre-natal depression with DS means that I wouldn't want to even attempt coming off them yet.

i was prescribed it but i couldnt cope with the side effects of it initially at all - made me feel so sick that i couldnt function, no good for me at work.

i didnt go back to the gp

Vicar, presumably you needed help enough to be prescribed the pills - are you ok now?? of course you can't be taking pills that make you sick, but there are others if one lot don't agree.

Are you taking care of yourself??

Im on 150mg per day and i have taken them for two years. I took the same amount thry pg and bf and dd is 7 months old. My pg was fine i had to stay in hospital for 48 hours so the could monitor and obs because i was on sertraline but she had no affect from the drug. She is however a very calm and serious little thing that only crys when she needs feeding or nappy change and is a good sleep - i dont know if this is just how she is or if its the affect of the drug?

ivw been on these for years 7+

ive now come to the point were i dont feel their working at all and im worse than ever

im suppose to have a review every 6mths but avent had one for years

i think im immune from these now

back to the GP i think

I've taken sertraline since it was invented in 3 different periods. It's a great drug if you can get past the initial side effects.

I had it initially pre-dc but had been off it a year when I got pg. Then went back on it after dd1 wad born - I got the baby blues And Just never came back up! Was on then bf dd1 for a year, gthen through pg with ds, then bf ds for 15 months, then pg with dd2, then bf dd2 for 2 years.

I finally came off then in September last year. I'm pretty sure they saved my life as I was very ill at one point. But I also think the psychiatrist and especially later the clinical psychologist were a huge part of that too.

Hi
thought I'd give you an update. I woke up in the night, my heart pounding with anxiety :-( i then fell asleep and when i woke up this morning i felt very dizzy and hungover (have had no alcohol). walked around town today and feel very low, on the verge of crying, however strange as it seems felt a little relieved that i am feeling something. saw a lady on tele this morning talking about how when she got divorced her life felt like it fell apart and i just burst out crying. (i think i have been keeping feelings in)
not sure if these are side effects however;
my head has felt "numb"
I feel a bit spaced out, detached from people around me.

I really hope things improve soon. could this be the medication?

Definitely the meds. When I had mine upped from 150mg to 200mg, I once spent about an hour curling and uncurling my hand and watching my fingers in wonderment. It can be quite entertaining when it's something like that, but the feelings of detatchment, of being about half a second behind everyone else, of feeling like you're not in your own body - those can be more horrible. I hope your reactions settle down soon.

As mentioned, I'm on 200mg Sertraline. I've been on Sertraline since Aug 2009, and it's really working for me.