Struggling with fatigue on Sertraline

[PeninsulaPanic]

Been on it since end of August last year, 100mg for the last 2 months. Some days I feel less anxious than usual and more confident interacting with people, but other days feel depressed and despondent. What really doesn't help is the bone-tired feeling that keeps hitting me. I'm a chronic pain sufferer and unfortunately I'm coming to the conclusion that the sertraline is causing me more pain. Can anyone relate to that? My GP is reluctant to increase the dose because of the fatigue, he thinks it will worsen, so I'm not experiencing this as a reliable antidepressant, and I get anxiety breakthrough some days too which is unsettling. I was taking amitriptyline daily for pain last year but with the sertraline it gives me increased heart rate so I'm hardly taking it now, but in more pain much of the time, which is really getting me down. Got a telephone assessment /screening with the psychiatrist on Friday, GP thinks they might advise adding something like venlafaxine or duloxetine to the sertraline. I'm worried that I just have such little get up and go/motivation to exercise at the moment and it's making things worse for me when actually my idea of an effective antidepressant is that it would make me feel lighter and more keen to be out and about getting fit and joining stuff.

I'm so confused and disheartened at the moment, so much I want to do but I feel like my life is effectively over in so many respects. Sorry, there's much more detail to this but I'm shattered and losing the will! Just wondered if anyone else has had similar experiences and come out the other side with improved energy levels, more motivation, more controlled pain levels? I can't even think straight some days and this post probably doesn't say what I need it to but actually I've always struggled to understand things accurately and articulate effectively. Really worried these days that I'm just too stupid to be taken seriously or have a positive sustainable impact on my own life

Feeling more positive today because I'm not in as much pain as I have been this last week or so, although still slept for a good 2 hours this afternoon. I tend to get any virus going and think I may have had another recently, it gets so hard to know where one ends and the other begins! But that might explain the increased pain, rather than it all being down to the sertraline.

I'm in no doubt that taking sertraline helps me some days and I'd hate to put anyone off taking it. Realistically I've only been on it a few months but this is the first time in my life my depression and anxiety have been treated anything like long term, so the medication has quite a tough job! Plus, after struggling for so long I can't help feeling sometimes like I need every single day to be easy and 'up' and of course that's just not going to happen.

Managed to do a fairly deep clean of my kitchen over yesterday and Wednesday, so feeling positive for that. I've been referred for a 3 week residential pain management course and got a call from the OT on Wed. He was concerned about my sleep pattern because at my assessment I told them how messed up it gets. I've been worried about talking to him because they might not let me do the course, but he was really helpful and they're going to let me wait until later in the year so I have a chance to do some stuff to help my sleep hygiene. So that's a relief.

I get you.

I was really suffering with the fatigue. I changed the time of day I take it and it has helped massively. Originally I was taking it at night to avoid side effects. I now take it in the morning, the initial side effects I was avoiding have gone and I feel much better.