Sertraline Buddies - Part 2! Support for all on AD's...

[Chuffchuff]

New thread for when the first one gets full - welcome everyone

Hey all.

Nat - I'm so glad your op is over and you are home. The surgeon wouldn't say it looked okay if he really didn't think it looked okay.

This is day 6 for me. Quite a nervy day and I'm unbelievably shattered tonight. I'm focusing on being on this side of getting help. I remind myself that I feel better than I did before.

I had the resukts of the blood test after op and my lymphocyte levels still low as they were a few weeks ago so now so worried about that. They told me it was prob because of virus or infection and would right itself but I haven't had one and now it's still low. Has anyone else had this? Like I need somehting else to worry about, I'm a right wreck at the mkment :( x

thanks to those who suggested I drink more water, been doing this for the last few days and it's definitely helped with the headaches

mouse, I think it was you who said you hadn't felt any improvement after four weeks, it might be worth going back to the doc and having a chat. it took about 10 weeks for me to feel happy again after starting ADs but I was feeling like I was improving after about 2 weeks,having brief moments where I felt good and generally not feeling so rubbish

I agree that you should go and see your GP and have a chat with them mouse.

I'm upping my dose tonight to 45mgs. My GP told me to take 30mgs for 2 weeks, then go on to 45mgs for 2 weeks then go to see him to let him know how I get on. I have definitely felt better this past week so maybe 30mgs is enough for me but I will give it a go and see.

Hope you're feeling a bit better now Nat.

Had resukts today and all ok ! Xxxxx

Great stuff Nat.

Thank you! So now to concentrate on getting better slowly. After relief yesterday woke up in night feeling bit sicky snd tummy ache feeling which made me feel anxios but hoping just settling down after procedure x

Yes I'm on mirtazapine summer. I took 45mgs last night and I was knocked out within half an hour. It was such a deep sleep, I haven't had that before. It's supposed to be more sedating at a lower dose so why I felt like that I don't know, I was completely zonked!

That's great news about your results Nat.

Hi all hope you all doing okay. Great your results were good Nat.

Please try not to have any more procedures/ tests to find out if there is anything wrong with your health! Hope you can get mentally stronger now and focus on that all important wedding of yours and your super OH!
Glad the increased dose seems to be working for you Pandora.
Update with me. I have now weaned off sertraline and actually feeling better in myself. I'm due to be reviewed by my gp in 3 weeks time to see how I am off med and to consider trying another Ad. I have got propanalol in the meantime if I need it for anxiety.
I've had depression and anxiety before but this time I think my problem is predominantly anxiety. (GAD) I worry so much about everything and get so stressed it leaves me feeling low.
I feel bit hesitant to try another ssri as i seem not to be able to tolerate them very well. I have been researching other types of meds for this condition both prescription and herbal. It seems that a natural remedy called L Theanine comes out tops with no known side effects ( except not to mix with blood pressure lowering tablets) and very effective for anxiety. It also addresses insomnia and does have some action on serotonin and dopamine. Will check with my doc and might well give it a go. Obviously it would be instead of the propanalol as couldn't take the 2 together. It's worth reading up on.

Summer I had that hungry shaky feeling quite a lot on the sertraline but it did settle down.

So glad to have found new thread..... I am 46 mum of three girls, 18 in uni, 16 doing A Levels and 12 yr old just started high school and self harming a little :( we have had terrible time, 2010 my mum killed herself she had motor neurone like her own mum and 3 others, my dad found out he had cancer 3 days after she died and he died 6 months later, then 9 months after that my mother's sister my kids other grandmother so to speak also died of undiagnosed cancer. I then discovered I was carrying the motor neurone gene meaning my girls have 50:50 chance. I started in 2009 with fluoxetine and have tried mitrazapine, cirtalopram and duloxetine (I think that's all) been taking venlafaxine for about 10 months or maybe a bit longer, last time I tried killing myself was February 2014 and there were 3 other attempts since 2013. I had a set back 2 weeks ago after finding out how sad our 22 year old is (my fault). I went yo GP today who was great and I am going yo start today taking half a 50mg tablet of setraline with 1 37.5mg venlafaxine for 7 days then 50mg setraline. Is it best to take at night? I am worried. I go to university part time studying to be a counsellor and desperately want to start feeling better. The venlafaxine was making me feel hot at night, eat all the time affecting my sex life. All in all terrible. I need this new pill to help? ANY ADVICE welcome please?

Brutal this is a very sad story. My heart goes out to you all. The effect suicide has on a family are devastating and you have had all the other losses and illnesses too. I do have some understanding because I lost my mother this way too. It was 12 years ago but I have come a long way since then. I strongly recommend getting in touch with survivors of bereavement by suicide. You can find them online and they have a helpline number.
As for the sertraline I know it is very helpful for some people. Some take it at night, some in the morning. Maybe worth checking with a pharmacist or your gp as you are combining both meds at the mo. All the best with it.

Sorry meant bruja.

Thank you Willfeelbettersoon, I got my new pills and read again, it's one venlafaxine for a week then half of the other for a week and then a whole one after that. Going to check with pharmacist as I won't be combining just coming off the evil V first hoping and praying it won't be too tough x

Bruja hopefully it won't be too bad for you, you may feel bit wobbly for couple of weeks. Is it worth taking couple of weeks off uni so you can rest a bit or would uni help take your mind off things?

Bruja - I started Sertraline almost 2 weeks ago. In fact, I go back to my GP tomorrow so that he can check that I'm okay.

I take it in the morning and so far the side effects have been minimal.

Bruja it really depends on the individual as to when you should take sertraline. I took it in the evening because it made me feel sleepy. Plus I took it in the morning a couple of times and it made me feel really sick, probably because it was on an empty stomach. But I know people who take it in the morning with no problems. I'd be inclined to take it in the evening to start with in case you have side effects, so at least you can deal with them at home. You've been through a lot, I hope you start to feel better soon. Sertraline was great for me, hopefully it will be for you too.

I'm not sure mirtazapine is doing much for me to be honest. It's stopped me crying the past couple of weeks, although I cried tonight and I'm not entirely sure why. I'm still feeling emotionally numb and apathetic. I seemed to be much bouncier on sertraline, I felt a lot more motivated. I do feel more motivated on the higher dose of mirtazapine but I don't know I just feel a bit....flat. Like I'm not really living and drifting through each day. But then I feel like that when I'm depressed. Weirdly, I felt better when I was on 30mgs, since going up to 45mgs I've felt numb again. It is helping me sleep though, so that's something I guess. I should be seeing my GP next week to see if I'm going to continue. I'm scared to come off them as they have been helping me cope, just about. I don't feel great now but I don't want to go back to crying all the time, and I don't know if I want to come off them and have to start something else and go through all the side effects again and risk feeling really low. I'm coming towards the end of my course and haven't got time to be mucking about with my moods like this. I think I may just have to stick with it until I've finished and then if I still haven't improved, try something else. I lost weeks where I could have done work switching medications because my depression came back and I can't afford to lose any more time.

Hello, can I pop in here please?
I've been on 150mg and am reducing to 100 at the mo.
Gp seems keen for me to reduce, but wanted to hear people's experience on how long it takes to taper it?
I feel like it should take best part of 6 months with a small reduction one a month or so, but apparently it's normally much quicker than that?

Hi pandora, do you go to counselling or CBT at the moment? Did the gp say how long before you felt the benefits of mirtazipine? Like you said to me a few weeks back it can take weeks and weeks to feel the full benefit, it's just hard work getting to that point :((

Welcome just, when I reduced sertraline the first time I was only on 50mg so I did skip one dose for a week, skip two doses for another week and than stopped......unfortunately, I'm back on them now though at 100mg but hey ho!!!

No I'm not having any counselling, I've been on my uni's waiting list since June and have heard nothing. Bit of a waste of time now when I finish there in a few months. I have been seeing someone in student support but haven't seen her for about 6 weeks, she's nearly always fully booked so getting an appointment with her is hard. I do want to try counselling but I'm thinking I'm going to have to go privately.

The GP said when I finish the tablets that I have now, we should have a pretty good idea of whether they're going to suit me long-term or not. I've got a week's worth left so need to see him next week. Weirdly, I feel worse since increasing my dose which doesn't make much sense.

How long have you been on the increased dose Pandora? If it's only been a couple weeks may just take bit more time to get benefit. I know what you mean about wasting time with tablets that aren't working. I do hope you find the right thing if these don't work.
I can't seem to tolerate the side effects of prescription meds recently so am now looking at alternatives such as 5 hip and l theanine.

Sorry meant 5 htp