Has anyone had these side effects with sertraline?

[angelislington]

I've been taking sertraline for two and a half weeks. It was prescribed for anxiety because I was suffering what seemed to be physical effects of stress - feeling sick most of the time, not able to eat, and sleeping badly. I'd been ill with a physical illness for several months and was ground down by it, although it seemed to be slowly getting better.

I've been having (what I assume are) side effects of the sertraline. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I have physical symptoms of anxiety all the time - rapid heartbeat, shaking hands, and the muscles of my neck, shoulders and jaw tensing up, and I feel on the edge of panic all the time. Did anything like this happen to you? How long did it last? And was it worth it? I really didn't expect to experience anything this bad.

Yes, I certainly felt worst before I got better which is quite common I believe.

Did you start on your full dose straight away? It's helped me to gradually increase.

I think the turning point was 3/4 weeks and by week 6 the anxiety was almost non existent.... keep going

Yes, it’s like your body is having an anxiety attack but your brain refuses to join in. For me it was probably about 4-6 weeks till I began to settle with it. I had horrific headaches as well, I have migraines but these were something else. I was advised to push through if I could as after the first few weeks I’d start to feel better and I did! Good luck 🤞

Thank you so much for your positive messages. I'm trying to stay calm in my mind, but it's so hard. The whole reason I was anxious in the first place is because I was worrying about all the physical symptoms I was suffering - half of which were probably caused by stress. Do you have any tips for not panicking when I'm feeling like this?

I'm on 50mg, which I know is considered a low dose. I started on half a tablet for the first six days.

You could search YouTube for anxiety hypnosis, it's not for everyone but it helps me especially if I can't get to sleep.

Thank you, yes - there are some really good things on YouTube. They do help to some extent.

Yes I had those side effects too although at the time I didnt realise they were from the sertraline. I had a really bad aching jaw and realised I'd been tensing and wondered why. I've been on them a few months now and the side effects have reduced a lot.

Yes, they subside though and all of a sudden it's like light going on. Stick with it and remind yourself it's the tablets and it's temporary

Yes I had them aswell today is exactly 4 weeks for me and they are slowly getting better. My main one I still have is a upset tummy everything else seems to be settling now x