Sertraline 2- A second handholding thread

[freckles20]

This thread is a follow on to the original handhold thread- for those beginning or continuing their journey on sertraline. All are welcome.

This is a supportive thread, where all situations are unique and there is no judgement.

Hi, I’ve been on 100mg of sertraline for 5 weeks and am still feeling exhausted, down and unmotivated. Anyone else? I was on 50mg for 8 months and I seemed to be doing pretty well, but then went downhill v quickly in Sept. I’m 48 so it’s hard to know if being perimenopausal is making me worse, if it’s the whole covid thing or life in general with 2 difficult teens. Really hoping 100mg kicks in soon and gives me some get up and go

Just checking in with everyone - how is everyone feeling? I’m on day 14, no lightbulb moment for me yet but my anxiety has been so high for about 12 years I’m expecting it to take a little longer. I’m no longer feeling spaced out but have bad restless legs and and upset stomach today. Nothing I can’t cope with though so I’m going to keep plodding on with fingers crossed. Hope everyone else is doing ok.

I just wanted to come back to this thread a few months after starting mine. So many posts on here helped me to be brave enough to take the first pill so I wanted to share mine for anyone who comes after me.
I was in such a terrible place that I cried and vomited in fear before I took the first one. I was petrified of having some kind of adverse reaction and scared of how much my anxiety would flare up over the side effects, convincing me something was wrong.

I think maybe the first week was tough. I felt sick and exhausted , slightly spaced out, mild headaches, tummy troubles etc.

They settled after that and I can’t explain how grateful I am that I started them. Life feels bearable again. I can breathe.

Just hopping on quickly to say for anyone else reading this that my side effects really settled after about 3 weeks. I’m just coming to the end of week 4 and already feeling calmer

Hi all, I've been on sertraline for 3 years at 50mg, then just over two weeks ago, I got a recurance of anxiety which quickly led to depression. My doctor increased my dose to 100mg, I first went to 75mg for four days, then 100mg and it's now Day 3 of 100mg.

I'm feeling really afraid that the dose increase won't work, that maybe I've developed a tolerance to sertraline and will need to change meds which means tapering off first.

My depression/anxiety is very strange. It's extreme in the morning and almost non existent in the evening. Then I wake up and it starts all over again. Can anyone relate?

Are you sleeping better now?

@PurpleThistles84 I can’t relate to the morning/evening thing but my anxiety comes in waves - I can have a few weeks of hell, then relative normality. And so far I’ve found it helpful but am not sure if that’s just because I’m in a good period of time. I know several people who have needed to up their dose and I think you always have to give it 4-6 weeks minimum before deciding if it’s working, just the same as when you start.

I'm back again. After a lot of fun and games with opticians we've come to the conclusion that sertraline wasn't giving me eye pressure issues and so I'm back on it. Today is day 12 and I got a totally different set of side effects this time including constant nausea for the first 10d, loss of appetite, and a terrible sicky migraine (for which - gah! - I couldn't take sumatriptan because of the increased serotinin sysndrome risk!).

Today I am feeling reasonably calm even though I'm having tests for stuff. The problem with health anxiety is that sometimes you can't tell the difference between anxiety and actual health issues and any cause/effect. Making it imperative to break the link.

I started on 25mg to try and ease into it with fewer side effects but that didn't seem to make a difference, sadly. Still felt utterly dreadful so switched to 50mg after 4 days as I figured I might as well get to a clinically-useful dose faster.

The leaflet emphasises that the most common side-effect (for more than 1 in 10) is nausea. They aren't joking.

Can I jump on?

After lots of procrastination I finally bit the bullet and approached GP for anti-ds for suspected PND.

Only taken 1 tablet, and had mild nausea, headaches and spacey feeling, hence my googling led me to this thread.

Good to hear that things should calm down in a week or two.

Just been scrolling through this thread.. I've taken my first 50mg today and feel rather odd. Teeth / jaw clenched and a little dizzy / sick if I'm honest. Not been able to eat anything either. I'm not sure this is the best idea a week before Christmas!

I’ve just taken my first sertraline tablet this morning. I ended up breaking it in half and going for 25mg as I’m worried about side effects. I wanted to wait until after Christmas to start, as I was so worried about side effects, but I have to try something as I’m feeling so terrible. I was prescribed it for severe PMS, which has descended over the last couple of days and honestly I just can’t go on like this.

Hope those of you who have just started don’t have too many side effects . I was tired first few days and a day of increased anxiety but didn’t suffer much else .

I've had very little sleep and still feel quite jittery this morning.. I'll half the does today so I can at least function. I was warned by the doctor I'd feel worse before feeling better but like the previous poster I have try something now.. so I'm hanging in there.

Hello. I don't expect anyone to see this today of all days (Happy Christmas by the way )

I started 50mg Sertraline about 6 weeks ago, upped to 100mg nearly 3 weeks ago.
I've had disrupted sleep, constant headaches, indigestion, nausea, and this week awful upset tummy since Weds. But the absolute worst thing is I am having awful health anxiety (which is what I suffer from anyway) and it's back to the extent I had a panic attack in the middle of last night, with hot and cold sweats, shaking, feelings of doom and thinking i was having a heart attack. I've been googling symptoms and that's not helped to allay my fears. GP has advised reduce back to 50mg and see if that helps.

I'm supposed to be hosting Christmas day with all my DC's today!!!!

This is shit! I keep crying from fear, anxiety, shame and feeling like I need to keep up an appearance of being smiley and happy today when all I want really is someone to tell me everything is going to be ok.

Hello. I took my first sertraline today - happy Christmas to me!

I already feel worse or is that because I am expecting to feel worse!!!

Mental health is such a b@tch.

If anyone wants to chat today I am here xxxx

@PollyGray you’re not alone. I’ve been on sertraline for health anxiety since Sept and it really helped me and I felt sooo much better. All a sudden I’ve gone back to square one but the HA is about my DD which makes it even worse. :( I feel like I’ve hit a wall and it’s so sad. Can’t believe this has happened before Christmas. I decided to up my dose to 75mg a few days ago to see if it would help but no luck yet x

Hey how you doing? I'm struggling also.. Christmas Eve I had a terrible panic attack abs had to pull over in the car to calm down. Got through yesterday relatively Ok but was awake again at 3am and my head has been banging for days now! I halved my dose on day 2 after feeling so bloody shaky but that's calmer now and I'm wondering if I should be looking to increase by the end of the 2nd week... all in its not been great so far but I was warned I'd feel worse before I felt better so I'm hanging in there with my fingers crossed.

Hi everyone.

Sorry to read of those struggling lately.

I started 50mg in April and increased to 100mg in September..not sure how I am now really. Fed up I guess.

I had a really peaceful and quite happy stretch early on while on 50mg and I’m not quite sure now why I seemed to sink again, or how I’ve got to where I am right now.

How much is circumstance and how much is mood.

There’s a lot of pressure around me lately but also support and good things on the way. Sometimes I feel fine and cheerful and others almost paralysed by feeling so low.

Anyway, sending lots of positive thoughts out, hope those of you in the v early days are well supported

Sorry to those who are struggling at the moment .

After 3 1/2 weeks my dr suggested going up to 100mg . I decided not to until after Christmas as actually started to feel a but more stable and better. . I have switched brand though with the latest prescription and had a lot of stomach aches etc but could also be down to Christmas food . Has anyone else experienced issues with changing brand ?

Can I join? I've been on sertraline for a few weeks now, after coming off Peroxatine.

I've had some health problems and stresses which have affected my mental heath.

Had a few anxious moments at the very beginning but starting to feel better now, thankfully. ❤️

Meant to say in my first post that I'm on 50mg.

Getting some side effects.... the headaches are horrendous sometimes. Thank god for cool
And soothe ❤️

Not to mention disruptive sleep. Keep waking up at odd times, and struggling to relax.

I take back everything I was saying... just had the worst night ever. I couldn't get to sleep at all.

Hello all, I'm on day 11 of sertraline and the nausea is wiping me out. The first 2 days I had terrible headaches but they've gone now, but this constant feeling of sickness is so uncomfortable. Does it eventually go