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

[Chuffchuff]

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

Can I join?

I've been on 150 mg of sertraline for 4 years now, and about to start a slow wean. Going to 100 mg next week.

My gp (that I've seen twice now) isn't a fan of long term ad taking. He was quite rude really, and thinks I should channel my anxiety into a positive use. All well and good, but he didn't seem to understand that in the grips of an anxiety attack I can't eat/drink, breathe etc, which lasts for weeks. But I'm willing to try and see how things go.

Welcome gimme, that gp sounds charming! If you are ready to see how weaning goes than great, you are in charge of your well being, not him. If it's too much than you can always go back up.

Hi!

I am a regular with a name change. I am on Sertraline but have been on a few other anti-depressants.

Here to talk if anyone ever wants an ear.

Hi everyone, sorry not been on here all week, but have been feeling really good the last few days . Welcome gimme and butterfly

mouse. I used to get hideous pmt too - my GP said it was pmdd as it was so severe - but the sertraline has worked wonders for it (and am only taking 50mg). I can still feel a difference in my mood depending where I am in my cycle, but now I just feel a bit more tired & a little more anxious for a few days around my period, rather than feeling terrible for two weeks every month. I do still get a bit anxious generally now an again, but I'm sure I'm still heading in the right direction .

I've been on it for five month now and it probably took me a good two or even three months to feel a consistent change if the better, mood-wise. So anyway yes I agree that eight weeks in is early days...

Someone was saying upthread that they can be feeling absolutely fine but then make themselves feel all anxious again by constantly 'checking up' on themselves and analysing how they feel. Well I was terrible for doing that, but I read a way of helping to get out of the habit. Basically every time you catch yourself thinking about how you feel, you just tell that thought to sod off in your head - ie I think 'oh fuck off annoying thought' (supposed to work better if you're quite rude!). That makes me laugh at myself and stops me pondering over my feelings for ages. Seems to be working for me, anyway.

Oh and meant to say - butterfly what dose are you on and has it helped you?

I am on 100mg at the moment.miring inlay was 150mg for depression and mild OCD and then gradually cut down to 50mg whilst pregnant.

I struggled post natal with intrusive thoughts and low mood / helplessness so am back at 100mg and DD is 17 months.

Mostly helpful yes.

I used to be on Prozac when a teen but that really messed me up.

It's definitely the best I've been on and also combats intrusive thoughts and in the head counting. It does make my tired though.

Meant originally - sorry.

Makes me tired too - but I was so hyper and wired before starting on them I quite like that side effect!

Having a really difficult 3 nights with little sleep. Really worrying v before I go to bed about not sleeping and it's driving me mad. Took zopiclone again last night and did manage to get a decent sleep (I think), feeling all notty and stressed again today worrying about tonight. Any tips please, feeling desperate

Deelozza it's interesting that your GP wasn't concerned about your bruising as mine has taken some blood tests to check my platelets, white cell count and clotting. He's also reduced my dose back down to 50mg in the mean time. Am feeling a bit nervous about that as I'm going through a tough time at the moment but will see how I get on.

Sorry you are struggling Mouse.

Have you tried a routine ? Some that helps some that makes more stressed.

Have you tried listening to calming music before you sleep - I find it helpful.

Also avoid heavy foods 3 hours before bed. Fruit, yoghurt and chocolate all can disrupt sleep due to taking a long time and effort for stomach to digest.

Hi, everyone :)

Mouse - I've found the Simply Being app quite useful in getting to sleep while buzzing. I'm extremely irritated by most of the voices on such things, but this woman didn't annoy me.

So, I've found a silver lining. Sertraline really takes the edge off the first-trimester constipation. You have to laugh at these things, don't you?

Thanks Mouse and hi everyone.
I hope everyone's sleeping patterns are sorted?
Is it right to feel tired all the time? I get exhausted doing anything, it's worse at work. Does this go away?

Pandora that is interesting re the bruising - I did some reading up online at the time and I recall saying to the GP that there was some bruising and that I'd read in some cases that can be cause to stop the treatment but she looked at my bruises and was not concerned (they had faded and reduced by that time but there was a period where the bruising was large and dark). Interested to hear how you get on once the results come back re platelet and cell count etc.

I don't get the bruising now anyway and I'm at the 4 month mark. Have an apt with GP on Thurs to discuss the possibility of tapering down with a view to being off at the 6 month mark but will see what she says.

Not experiencing much in the way of SE's now - still have extreme tiredness about 4-5 hours after taking my pill in the morning and sometimes have to shut my eyes for 20 mins but other than that, I feel ok!

Deelozza I didn't have any bruising when I was on 50mg, it only started when I increased my dose to 100mg. My GP called my bruising "quite significant" and that if it has affected my blood in any way then I'll have to stop it. I haven't had any new bruises since my dose has been reduced so maybe 100mg was just too high for me? I'll get the results in a couple of days so I'll post on here and let you know.

Deelozza I've got my results and I have got slightly abnormal clotting and I think something slightly abnormal with my platelets as well, although I didn't really understand what my GP was showing me. But whatever it was, they were just outside the normal reference range. He's liaising with my local hospital to try and find out if we should stop the sertraline, but they're going to get back to him as they're not sure and want to look into it further. My GP said it can be a side effect from all SSRIs rather than sertraline itself, in which case I would have to stop taking all SSRIs. I don't remember this being a problem when I was on fluoxetine but then again I wasn't on it very long.

Anyway, I'm going to reduce down to 25mg in the meantime whilst the hospital look into it. My GP doesn't want me to stay on 50mg as I've got a few new bruises come up, they're only small but he doesn't want to risk it. He was talking about switching me to venlafaxine but apparently that has blood disorders listed as a side effect so he decided it wouldn't be a good idea. He said he might switch me over to mirtazapine if the hospital say I should stop the sertraline. I don't really understand what the difference is between SSRIs and other anti-depressants, it seems like they're the go to anti-depressants for most people. Does anyone know the reason behind that?

Thanks Pandora that is interesting and something I might mention to my GP but it prob isn't relevant now as I no longer get the bruising but it does sound as though this is something that should perhaps have been looked at at the time.

I don't know anything about the differences between SSRI's and other AD's other than that typically SSRI's are preferred as they are newer with less side effects and lower risks of addiction and ongoing dependence (or so I believe - Sertraline is my first AD and have only been on it for 4 months so think I have been quite lucky that it seems to be helping me a great deal.

Ah well if you don't get the bruising any more Deelozza it's probably okay but maybe you could have a blood test just to be on the safe side and double check? I've just noticed a few new bruises come up that weren't there this morning so I'm thinking unfortunately I'm going to have to stop taking it, I doubt my GP will be happy for me to continue when he hears that. I've been on sertraline for 2 months now and I've only had the bruising for the last 3 or 4 weeks. How long did you have yours for?

I've just been speaking to a mental health nurse I know about it and she said that mirtazapine had good results for lots of people she's worked with and that it also helps with sleep, which could be good for me as I do have insomnia sometimes. So that's reassured me a bit.

Pandora I can't really remember how long I had the bruising for but I think about 4-5 weeks of what I would say was quite significant bruising - particularly to legs and forearms - but that I didn't have this as soon as I started taking Sertraline but after about 2.5 months of being on it (I am just finishing month 4 at 50mg but I did also have one month at 25mg so I'm at 5 months in total).

Slightly concerning for me that this is something that could potentially indicate a problem with my platelets etc - although I am unsure what the consequence would be if there was an issue but I assume it may have an impact on the bloods clotting ability or something? I will definitely ask my GP about it though - even though I don't get the bruises anymore they may still be an issue.

That's good that you have had some encouraging advice from a MH nurse - even if you do have to come off Sertraline there are so many other options out there

Yes Deelozza lots of bruising would indicate a clotting problem.

My GP has spoken to the drug department and they said it probably is the sertraline causing the bruising so I've now got to come off it. It's a shame as I felt it was helping but never mind. So now I'm going to take 25mg every other day for a week to wean myself off it and start taking mirtazapine at the same time. I'm going to start off on 15mg and I think I can go up to 45mg. My GP said it can have more of a sedative effect than sertraline which worries me as I remember I was extremely tired when I first started sertraline so I'm scared I'm going to be comatose now! I'm not thrilled at having to start a new medication and potentially having to deal with more side effects but will just have to see how I go I guess. My GP said he doesn't know how long the bruises will take to go but if I still have them for a long time he will have to talk to a haematologist.

I'm new. Just started Sertraline, two weeks in.

Does Sertraline make your periods worse? My last one I was on for two weeks and extremely heavy and this one it's heavy and I'm getting serious back pain. Which I never normally get. I'm normally heavy but not like this and neither am I on for 2 weeks. Feeling a bit anxious and don't want to start googling it otherwise I really will panic! Sorry for the details but not sure whom to ask!

Curlygirl I just looked on the NHS website and it has got heavy periods listed as a side effect but it's rare, 1 in 10,000. It's hard to say if it's the sertraline as it could be a gynae problem or a coincidence, periods can change over a woman's lifetime. How long have you been on sertraline? I'd give it another month and see if it happens again and if it does then go to your doctor.

Hi all - welcome to the thread Amethyst . How are you doing on the tablets?

Curly I think the problem is that if you google just about any medical problem you can find it somewhere on the web as a side effect for somebody. As Pandora says maybe give it another month in case it was just a blip in your cycle?

I've been taking sertraline for six months now and it doesn't seem to have affected my periods, other than making my PMDD disappear, which is pretty amazing!

How's everyone else doing? I've not been on here for a bit...

Hey Chuffchuff and Pandora, I've been on it 8 weeks today! So maybe it's too soon to say if it's sertraline screwing with my monthly cycle. I'll give it another month before I go back to the doctors. I never normally get any symptoms with my period. Other than a few aches and a heavy flow. So back pain and being on for 2 weeks were making me panic! I've refused to google anything because a lot of the time it's misinformation and it's not worth getting myself worked up over that as it may not be that!
Although I am starting to feel a bit like my old self. I hope everyone is ok! :)