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Original poster

Positive experiences of sertraline?

150 replies

Laurap25 · 12/01/2019 12:15

Ive been suffering from depression & anxiety for most of my life, it's been particularly bad these past 5 years, I've been so reluctant to go on antidepressants I've been trying everything, like herbal remedies, hormone balancing vitamins, nothing is working. My doctor prescribed me sertraline 50mg a few months ago, I tried them for around a week but the side effects were terrible, I couldn't stick them. I'm at a point now where i need to do something, I can't live my life like this anymore, I've started the sertraline agian but I've cut the tablet in half to make it 25mg, hoping that the side effects won't be as bad. I'm on it 2 days now and I feel awful, my anxiety is through the roof. How long will this last? I'm reading reviews on line and they are quite mixed so i was looking for some people's positive experiences to give me hope! I'm determined to stick it out this time because I need something to change

OP posts:
Pissedoffdotcom · 12/01/2019 12:22

I've been on 50mg sertraline since about November. The side effects were horrific, i won't lie, but once it settles it has honestly helped massively. I have a history of depression anyway but was AD free until after i had my son...usually i recognise my decline & act accordingly. This time i felt absolutely fine in myself but would cry at stupidly random things, often nothing. Could never explain why. GP put me back on sertraline & i feel so much better.

Stick with it, take the full dose as prescribed & work through the side effects. They shouldn't last too long & the result could be that you feel a lot happier in yourself

Whywonttheyletmeusemyusername · 12/01/2019 12:30

Oh please stick with it op.....the benefits massively outweigh the side effects. They've changed my life.

Original poster
Laurap25 · 12/01/2019 12:32

Thank you, how long roughly did it take for the side effects to lessen a bit? I'm fine when my husband is here but when he goes back to work on Monday I don't know how I'll cope with the kids when I'm feeling like this

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fairgame84 · 12/01/2019 12:34

I've been on sertraline since 2015. The first few weeks were bad but once I got through that I've been fine ever since.

Whywonttheyletmeusemyusername · 12/01/2019 12:34

I've just seen you're cutting them in half. ...I don't think thats going to work in the way you think it will. I was prescribed 50mg the first time, and I told the doc that there was no way I was taking 50mg when I'd previously been on 10mg Citalopram. She assured me that 50mg is the equivalent of 10mg Citalopram.....Disclaimer...please check thats correct with ur doc.....if I'm right, you're literally taking 5mg Sertraline, which won't make a difference at all

MsLucyLastic · 12/01/2019 12:35

The side effects at first are grim. But my body adjusted and, it sounds really dramatic, Sertraline saved my life.

Nothing else had worked to ease the constant merry-go-round of anxious thoughts. I couldn't function and, with the depression too, I wanted to die.

Now, I feel like me again. It has given me my life back and my DD her mum back.

MsLucyLastic · 12/01/2019 12:37

Oh, and the side effects lasted a couple of weeks at most, but I don't think cutting tablets in half without speaking to the Dr is a good idea.

25mg is a sub-therapeutic dose. So you may only be prolonging the side effects, instead of taking the 50mg and getting them over and done with.

Flowers
Pissedoffdotcom · 12/01/2019 12:39

Yep couple of weeks but it eased off as the time went on so the second week wasn't as bad as the first iyswim.
50mg is the starting dose for sertraline any lower & it isn't doing the job. I questioned this exact thing with my GP after a swap from citalopram at a lower dose.

Zwischenwasser · 12/01/2019 12:40

DONT cut them in half. Many tablets are coated to stop the active ingredients being damaged in the stomach.

Setraline saved my life. Crap side effects for 3 weeks, the vivid dreams and night sweats never went away. But the sheer blessed relief, a month or so in. I suddenly realised I felt like me again. It was indescribable.

Yoyooyo · 12/01/2019 12:42

I've been on them for two months now the first week was intense felt so dizzy but now those side effects have stopped but I feel extremely fatigued but it has stopped the bad thoughts and the crying spells. Hoping it's still balancing out for me and I'll still get more improvement

Original poster
Laurap25 · 12/01/2019 12:44

Yeah maybe I'd be best to just take the 50mg then, I'm terrified of the side effects, I have no help with my kids when my husbands at work plus I run my own small buisness so im worried about how I'll manage that. I have an appointment on Monday with my doctor so I guess I'll find out then what my best option is

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Sienna04 · 12/01/2019 12:46

I'm day 3 into them, taking them at night before I go to bed because when i took my first one a few weeks ago in the morning I felt horrendous and physically couldn't function so I decided I'd start again after Christmas but at night time. I feel awful but keep searching for all the positive comments. Dreading going to work on Monday as I started these Wednesday night and haven't worked since x

Original poster
Laurap25 · 12/01/2019 12:53

Sienna,
That's exactly what I'm doing I physically couldn't function after taking them in the morning so I've started taking them at night, I've woke up these past 2 mornings with really upset stomach and diarreah! I'm lucky my husband is so supportive but I don't know what I'll do on Monday when he goes back to work. Mental ilness is the worst, I wouldn't wish it on anyone 😢

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Whywonttheyletmeusemyusername · 12/01/2019 13:02

I think my side effects lasted about 2 weeks....and PPs are right...they're literally life savers. Take them at night....If I remember right, that was recommended by my doc

Almostthere15 · 12/01/2019 13:04

I used to take them before bed. I really wouldn't cut them, that night be contributing to the upset stomach.

Could your husband maybe call in sick next week, i had different side effects (very dizzy and sort of spaced out) but once I'd worked through them the fog started to lift and for the first time in ages I realised I was feeling like myself again. It was worth it for me, stayed on them for a year and gradually weaned with help from the gp.

A few weeks in I realised that my back muscles weren't constantly hunched up, and I saw a photo of me and my daughter where I knew that I'd actually been smiling rather than pretending to smile and I looked so different to photos taken even a month before. I hadnt realised how much effort it was to get through the day and how much effort went in to pretending I felt ok when I was anything but. I hope you get there too Flowers

Rodders92 · 12/01/2019 13:04

I’m taking them for the second time and have found them very helpful for anxiety. The initial couple of weeks were grim as the anxiety was much worse initially, the GP can prescribe something to help with the initial side effects, I had a short course of Valium first time and that was bliss

Sienna04 · 12/01/2019 13:25

I'm just hoping I'm at the worse stage and it can't get tougher than this. If I wasn't a mum I reckon I'd just ride it through and lay in bed but I can't:(

bellainthemiddle · 12/01/2019 15:34

I've been on it for almost 4 weeks now (50mg too) and I'm definitely feeling less anxious and low... BUT, I've felt sick and no appetite at all for almost the whole time and it hasn't really improved. I'm actually pregnant, so I'm a bit freaked out by how much weight I'm losing and it's getting to the point where people are starting to comment (i.e. 'You look like a bag of bones' as my co-worker kindly said to me yesterday). I am not sure what to do... I was supposed to have a GP appointment to review but the surgery cancelled it by mistake and I had a telephone appointment yesterday which was only 2 mins and I just mumbled something about side effects, which the doctor didn't really seem bothered about. So I'm now feeling anxious again, ironically!

Sienna04 · 13/01/2019 20:38

Laurap25 how do you feel? I'm dreading work tomorrow. I woke up feeling horrendous this morning. But I didn't feel too bad this afternoon. I don't know what I will do if I wake like that tomorrow :(

Verytired2019 · 14/01/2019 06:26

Hi Sienna, I'm also feeling worse in the morning and better in the afternoon. I need to go to work today and am dreading it.

Sienna04 · 14/01/2019 07:06

I'm already at work :( and I'm here til 8 :( I will get through today :) just have to keep being positive x

Cooloncraze · 14/01/2019 07:16

OP I could’ve written your post a couple of years ago. Luckily I got great advice on here and from friends who also take sertraline. Like other posters say... don’t cut in half. Take the full 50mg. It will get better.
The first few weeks are AWFUL. Then it eases. I couldn’t even leave the house or get into work.
Get some nice films to watch and be really patient and kind to yourself. It absolutely will get better.
I only really felt the benefits of the medication after a couple of months. I still take 50mg and don’t plan to stop. It’s been life changing. It’s so hard to start it though.

SimplySteve · 14/01/2019 08:01

I've been on 150mg for a year now. I suffer from depression, anxiety, PTSD (and cPTSD).

My GP is convinced Sertraline is directly responsible for my self-harm.

No other SSRI/SNRI has ever caused this and I've taken them since 23 (wasn't starting any drugs until DD was born). The only other drug changes, which happened before the Sertraline was an anti-emetic (anti-nausea/sickness) med prescribed months before.

So just be very, very careful.

SimplySteve · 14/01/2019 08:02

Yay, forgot to name change... oh well.

Original poster
Laurap25 · 14/01/2019 15:36

Sienna
I'm not feeling as bad today, still taking 25mg.i have an appointment with my doctor in an hour's time, he'll prob put me on 50mg. So I don't know how I'll be with that after I take one tonight, I hope it's not back to square one. Sorry to hear you're not feeling better 💐

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