Wonder drug stopped working

[NanFlanders]

I've been on sertraline for about 10 years and it's really made me feel normal. Paroxetine and fluoxetine before that, but always crashed when I tried to come off meds. Anyway, about 2 months ago they stopped working and I was back to early morning waking and self-loathing. Doc upped my dose from 50ml to 100ml four and a half weeks ago. Got worse if anything, but at my 4 week review he advised giving it another 4 weeks to work. Has anyone had a good outcome with a drug after this length of time? Hoping for positive stories. Thanks.

I take 75mg of Sertraline. My psychiatrist added in 2.5 mg of Olanzapine. This has a boosting effect in the sertraline & is a mood stabilizer. It has been the best combination for me. I can't cope with 100 or 150mg of sertraline as I get too many side effects.

Hi Aquamarine. Thanks for that. The 100ml hasn't really done the trick - Though the side effects haven't been too bad. Coming off it on the next couple of months and then trying Venlafaxine.

I have heard some people get good results on Venlafaxine. Unfortunately for me it was one of the worst ones I tried. It's also hard to wean off from. I hope you find something that works for you.

Thanks - I am hearing mixed reports about venlafaxine too. Might give the 100ml one more week. Glad the olanzapine us doing the trick for you. Must admif i hadn't heard of thst one.

I found that sertraline would work for me for a while, and then I'd need a dose increase - then it would be fine for a while again, and then I'd need more again. It would usually take 3-4 months for me to see a really noticeable effect.

I switched off it when it seemed 200 wasn't working any more, and moved to venlafaxine: one thing I will warn you about it (though it's working for me at the moment ) is that the side effects are very weird - I didn't have any to begin with, at 225 they were absolutely horrendous (only getting 3-4 hours sleep every third night) but at 300 they've settled down considerably.

For me, it's worth it, as without I would no doubt have succeeded in suicide, but they are a pain in the bum: now, I just have a very slow metabolism (a very rare side effect - most people lose weight on it), horrific night sweats, total exhaustion (if I go into work, for example, the next two days I will be sleeping solidly: strange for someone who's never been much of a sleeper!) and vision problems. Like I say, though, still preferable to have something that means I can broadly function, which I no longer could with citalopram, escitalopram, sertraline and fluoxetine.

Good luck