I felt I had to post on this thread because I read so many horror stories when first prescribed sertraline that I was afraid to take it! However, it’s been absolutely amazing for me.
I was suffering from anxiety and depression and feeling lower than I’d felt in a long time. I was put off by the stories I’d heard about feeling worse in the first couple of weeks because I couldn’t bear the thought of feeling worse! I was worried about insomnia too because I’ve struggled with that in the past I think as a result of anxiety.
After a couple of weeks of hesitation I finally bit the bullet. This is what happened:
Week 1: Took 25 mg. Felt weird and spaced out for the first day, but was able to work and behave normally. After that was fine and slightly better mood than before I started taking them, with a pleasantly buzzy hour or so a couple of hours after taking pill (I took it in the morning).
Week 2: Went up to 50 mg and noticed a dip in mood, more anxious/obsessive and down, but nowhere near as bad as I thought, and because I’d felt better the first week I still wasn’t as bad as before I started taking the pills. This phase also didn’t last long (see below).
Somewhere between week 2 and week 3, same dose: started feeling LOADS better. The change was absolutely amazing. Much more positive mindset, able to enjoy life and be in the moment so much more, much less easily stressed and much better able to cope. Concentration is so much better. Anxiety levels are so much lower and I feel joy again which I didn’t even realise had gone from my life!
I’m on about week 6 now and still going strong. I couldn’t be happier with what it’s done for me. Am still on the same dose.
Side effects: minimal. I’ve tried Prozac before and found that it gave me quite bad insomnia which was why I was worried this time, but my sleep has been great - I would say better than before (I take the pills
first thing in the morning). I do find it harder reaching orgasm and my libido is definitely dampened but not so much that I can’t have a good sex life. A weird side effect which I also found with Prozac is that I get out of breath more easily when exercising! I also get less of a “runners’ high” than I used to, which I do miss.
In the first couple of weeks I also had a bit of an upset stomach but nothing at all major.
Overall Sertraline definitely outweighs the disadvantages in my view. Im conscious that it’s different for everyone but I wanted to share a positive experience, having been afraid by what I had read. Don’t believe all the horror stories - people are far more likely to post online when they’ve had a bad experience than when they’ve had a positive one.
Happy to answer any questions. X