Since I posted I have thought a bit more about the signs and symptoms I had when I started. I started on 50mg. Within three days I could no longer cry. Even things that would have set me off prior to me gettin ill did not make me cry. This was a relief though as I was crying constantly. I had the empathy and sad feeling but no tears.
My libido has gone entirely. I have no ability (or desire) to orgasm.
The first ten days I had no appetite and in fact I didn't even want to drink tea coffee or water. I just wanted to stay in bed the whole time. I did drink water but I barely ate a thing. That passed but my appetite is till suppressed.
I have always had bad dreams right from being a kid but they were more frequent and more vivid. I have my normal dream sequences now. I have episodes where I wake up and can hear DH snoring and the owls in the wood but I am also still having the dream I was having before having woken. The sounds and visuals of the dream overlaying the reality of looking at the ceiling and the figures on the clock radio. This was scary at first but I have got used to it now.
After two weeks the Doc wanted me to go up to 100mg but as soon as I did I started with what can only be described as psychic events. I am more scientific than woo but these had me going back to 50mg and staying there. I was so improved on 50mg and have always been very sensitive to drugs anyway that I decided to stay at 50 for now.
These events consisted of the fact that a few split seconds before an occurrence, I saw it in my minds eye but it wasn't far ahead enough for me to do anything about it IYSWIM. I was walking in front of DH going down some steps and I knew he would trip on the bottom one. I turned around to voice this just as he did exactly this. This sort of thing happened half a dozen times before I knocked the dose back.
My anxiety was terrible in the mornings. I would be shaking like a jelly all morning but by the evening I felt almost well. I was becoming triggered by even leaving the house though so I had to go to the Doc.
I was having menopause sweats which were part of what was driving me mad. I was still getting hot flushes but instead of them feeling like they were emanating from my bones, like menopausal flushes do, they were much lessened, and felt more like just being overheated on a hot day which is much more manageable.
I have a much less polarised reaction to things that stress me. I can be more sanguine about stuff. This was how I used to be before I got ill. Sertraline has sort of normalised me. I wish I had gone on it a year before as the year I delayed has affected me badly. I suspect my hippocampus has shrunken as a result of the stress. I am more forgetful, I have to make lists and diaries to remember things. I definitely function less well. I was ten times worse priot to taking the Sertraline though.
I think this thread is a good idea as it is a great resource for others like yourself OP