Is Sertraline as horrifying as the leaflet suggests? Am I having mental health problems or is it perimenopause?

[duckme]

My GP prescribed Sertraline yesterday. I've been struggling with what I'd call 'low mood' for a few years now. It's not constant. I think there is a correlation to my hormone levels as it is definitely worse at certain times of the month (but not every month), but it got to the point this week where I was on the edge of telling my husband that I wanted to leave and he could have the kids and didn't want to see any of them again. Two days later and that seems like a distant memory of a different person.
I never experienced post natal depression, but the way i can explain how I feel is how I believe PND to be, I feel detached, disassociated and feel there is nothing to be joyful about. It lasts a week to ten days and then goes. It's exhausting and unfair to my lovely family. I think lockdown and bereavement (and the fact that I completely 'repressed' the feelings of grief around that loss) may have kick started the problem.
My concern is that the leaflet that came with the medication is terrifying. The side effects - even after the initial settling in period- sound potentially awful. I'm fat already, I can't imagine that piling on more weight is going to help my mood.
Does the benefit of Sertraline out weigh the potential side effects. From the few threads I've searched for on here, it's very mixed, if not more weighted toward the negative.
I'm also wondering if my mood swings could be perimenopause. I'm 37. The mood swings definitely sound like a symptom. And if it is perimenopause, is Sertraline the best thing for that? Would HRT or something similar not be better?
Any advice would be grateful received, I don't really want to be taking medication if I can help it, but I also don't want to bring this misery onto myself and my family if there is a way to avoid it.

I'm glad you started this thread. I was prescribed This yesterday. So far I'm just extremely tired, still no appetite. I do feel slightly less horrible than I did though

Hi @duckme I’m in exactly in the same boat.

I saw my GP a couple of weeks ago feeling much like this. Anxiety and low mood/mood swings, not sure if peri menopausal or something else. I’m having blood tests to check hormone levels (I’m 42) but she also prescribed Sertraline.

At first I was happy to have something that might work but reading about the side effects put me right off. I haven’t even collected them from the chemist.

Sertraline was life changing for my daughter, an absolute game changer. You probably wouldn't take paracetamol if you read the leaflet. DD had some minor short lived side effects but is otherwise a different person.

Blood tests won’t help for peri unless they check them every day for a while. A lot of doctors prescribe antidepressants for menopause anyway so I can see why they’ve done it although I have to say not may doctors seem clued up about it. I would try talking therapy myself and of course the sertraline just to see how it goes. They all have scary side effects but it’s different for everyone. You could try a pill cutter and gradually work your way up to a whole tablet if you’re too worried

I've been on sertraline for 20+ years. I can confidently say that without it I would not have had my children or be able to work. I am never coming off it.

I got them today. I was so relieved when she prescribed me something but now I'm worried about taking them.
It makes it worse that I have literally no reason to be feeling this way. I feel like i should just be able to shake it off. But at times it's consuming.
It seems a lot to be taking such serious medication for something that comes and goes though.

You’d be amazed how many people are on it!
i forgot to say, my sister takes sertraline and has never had a side effect!

That's great to hear! I'm glad your daughter has had such a great result from them.

It may be worth posting this in the menopause section as well

You might want to follow the menopause fairy on insta. She advises a DUTCH test. I think it stands for dried urine test .... hormones... or something similar. You need to pee on 5 special 'sticks' over the course of 12 hours at a certain point in your cycle. This seems to be much more accurate than a blood test to check your hormone levels.
I have these similar mood swings but I'm 51.. so it seems kind of logical to me that it is peri menopause.
It's shit feeling so crap and I cannot believe that I feel so low at certain times...
just keep swimming as Dory says... xx

I took it for about 18 months while I waited for, then had NHS CBT. As I was coming to the end of the sessions, I weaned myself off it. This was about 6 months ago. It was just what I needed and got me through. I would definitely take it again if things got bad.

Tbh those were some of my perimenopause symptoms. I was 44 and I also had physical symptoms- difficulty sleeping, hot flushes, palpitations etc - which helped me realise it was peri. But I could live with the physical symptoms. The mental health/depression element was the worst and I went for HRT. Its taken 6-9 months to find a dosage that has properly eased the symptoms (quite a high dose including testosterone) and I often wonder if a low dose AD would have achieved the same thing faster.

OP have you heard of PMDD?
I get like this a week/10 days before my period and it’s honestly like I’m hitting a self destruct button on my life every month.
I don’t feel like I can get up and face anything or anyone and I push people away. It’s horrible.
I’ve been on sertraline before. It did help. I didn’t put on weight but it made me feel numb in so many ways.
I’ve just been prescribed a different anti depressant that I can’t remember the name of right now as I can’t have sertraline while breast feeding.

But I am sooooo much better and happier I'll stick with the HRT.

No. I've got on very well with it. No side effects at all. It's taken me three months to wean off it though.

I was prescribed them for anxiety and depression when Covid started but I only took a few as I had headaches, but this could have been caused by peri as the symptoms are getting worse every month including bad headaches. My dad on the other hand will be on them for life. They work for him and he would be a wreck without them since losing my mum. When he tried to come off them he had severe side effects and the gp just put him straight back on them!

It was absolutely life changing for me. I’ve been on them for a couple of years and have no plans to stop. I’m the same age as you and similar symptoms. Good luck with it - I hope you find a way to feel better.

I've been on it for just over a year after some really bad depression around the time of the birth of my child. I put it off for ages because u was scared of the side effects but I didn't have any!

They changed my life - I had therapy too but they just helped pull me up out of it. Everyone is different and even if you do have side effects, they go out your system very quickly if you decide to stop taking them.

Every drug has potential side effects but for me when making my decision, the benefits outweighed the negatives (which I didn't experience anyway).

Life changing for me too. The side effects were horrid for the first ten days or so but well worth persevering through. No regrets here.

No I haven't heard I've that, I'll look into it. But what you've said is exactly it. Literally a self destruct button. I want to do something reckless or will push people away, like I said, two days ago, I was seriously thinking of the best way of telling my family that I was going to leave them. Not that I dont love them, I do, I just don't feel associated with them at that time. My sister got married last year, it was like an outer body experience for me. Like I wouldn't allow myself to enjoy it or be present.

it has also reduced my lifelong anxiety massively as well which has been an unexpected bonus, which has really increased my confidence

I'm afraid I can't advise in experience of Sertraline but last week realised that, in my early 40s, I am showing signs of being peri -menopausal. I bought some supplements from Amazon which come with glowing reviews and am hoping they help.

I can absolutely relate to this.
Ive spoken with my doctor about PMDD but he didn’t say very much.
the thing for me that resonates so strongly is that it disappear entirely when I am pregnant so I know it’s hormone related. I’ve got a one year old and it didn’t start again until my periods came back a few months ago. It’s awful and when you know it’s coming and there’s nothing you can do to stop it just adds to the anxiety of it and makes you feel even more out of control.
I feel rejection very acutely during this time too.
it sounds more like PMDD than menopausal to me but definitely worth chatting with your doctor.

I have been taking sertraline for approximately 2 1/2 years.When I first went to the doctor it was purely because I had anxiety, I felt rather weepy, agitated and low, but for no real reason. Couldn't explain it.

My doctor was great and said it was very possibly perimenopause. I had no other menopausal symptoms. He suggested a low dose of anti-anxiety medication, and that's what we went with. I get regular medication reviews and I've had no side-effects.