Sertraline for anxiety?

[ItchySeveredFoot]

Has anyone else used it for anxiety? I've suffered my whole life with extreme feelings of anxiety and feeling really down. I've managed it by not doing anything. I avoid doing lots of things and didn't really finish school and don't work. I've annoyingly been too anxious to seek help.
Today after having a panic attack last night i finally reached out and am feeling quite proud. I told the doctor how I'm feeling and she suggested antidepressants. They're coming in the post as we're quarantined at the moment. I'm just really nervous as I've never taken anything before. But totally desperate for something to work. I feel like I'm wasting my life. Has anyone had positive results?

Yeah I take in the morning with breakfast. Felt sick if I took it on an empty stomach 🙁

@AvocadoPrime haha yeah I was like taking my pulse every two minutes 😂

@ItchySeveredFoot Another one rubbish at taking meds. I'll have to set a reminder or something. I am going to try and night as I'm having awful side effects and if they interrupt my sleep then I will try mornings.
I feel very sick and spaced out today, quite warm and a little anxious about side effects. Thank you for asking x

Just place marking so I can come back to it later x

Spoke to the doctor today. Staying on the same dose for another month but then maybe increasing it.

What dose are you on?

I take it and find it very effective and helpful. It took 2 weeks of feeling very weird to adjust to it, though.

50mg

I had them for a few years. Helped massively with anxiety. Would absolutely recommend.
I had never taken anything before medication wise and did have some side effects that I didnt really expect. I found for the first week or so getting used to them I was really tired. Couldnt face getting out of bed tired... and I had the shakes for about a week! Couldnt keep my hands still and found when my eyes were shut my eye lids would jitter for about 10 mins. Very bizarre but went away! Didnt have any side effects when I came off them.

I am on day 3 of 50mg. I feel really teary and withdrawn today. I just want to skip all the side effects and get straight to feeling normal again but I need to ride it out.

That’s good. Wish I’d stayed on 50 a bit longer. My GP offered after 4 weeks to stay in 50 or go up to 100 so I chose to titrate up. I think both are reasonable as this 4-6 weeks to take effect that we keep hearing is nonsense for a lot of us. I have been over 5 months now, titrating up from 50/100/150. I’ve been on 150 now 8 weeks and finally felling I’m getting the full benefit.

Yes, best advice I can give you is persevere. It’s tough at times but absolutely worth it when it starts to work fully

I'll see how I go. I do think I'll end up upping the dose though. Told the doctor that I'm still feeling groggy in the afternoons. She basically recommended rest. So I've told dp I have to go for gp prescribed naps

Does anyone have lack of sex drive as a side effect?

Maybe a little. But it's low due to anxiety at the minute anyway.

How long did it take you to feel better?

I've been on sert 8 days now, feeling a bit 'flat' or zombie like sometimes.

I'm on 50mg.

I started feeling "normal" at about 2 weeks. Still sometimes feel groggy in the afternoon though. But my dp says from about a week I seemed happier then I had in a long time. He said I started to smile and laugh more.

Awesome OP, really pleased for you!

Does anyone take ibuprofen on sertraline?

It says not too but I asked the nurse on the phone this morning and she said infrequently would be ok.