Hi. I have been on Sertraline for about the last four years, and was prescribed it for severe PMDD which was just getting worse and worse thanks to the peri menopause. Overall it has worked like a charm, and I could honestly feel the benefits of it within the first week. I remember suddenly feeling very Zen after months and months of Hell which only lifted for a few days every month. I desperately wish that I had been prescribed it 10 years when my PMS got beyond a joke. As others have said, it was very much one step forward, two steps back at first, and each time I took a step back I was convinced it had stopped working.
But overall Sertraline has made my life so much better. I am much more balanced, very little phases me, I always feel positive and upbeat. Back before taking it, I only used to feel at my best around the time I ovulated, when I'd feel fantastic for about a week. But Sertraline makes me feel at my best all of the time. Well, except for the fact I do still occasionally have a nasty dip, where my mood really sinks very low and it's impossible to smile, coupled with anxiety. These dips always roughly coincide with my period starting so I know it's my flipping hormones trying to cause problems again. But it usually only lasts about a week or so. I'm having such a dip right now, the first since the start of the year, and probably not helped by my not taking my tablet for two nights at the end of last week thanks to a pharmacy error. And, quell surprise it looks like my period is starting!
If I'm honest, I would happily take Sertraline for the rest of my life if it continues to make me feel so good for 98% of the time. And while I still have periods I think it only wise to continue on it anyway, as my hormones can have such a devastating effect on my mood.