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.

Sertraline was awful for me, I couldn't even manage a week. The thing is though, it really doesn't hurt to try. It will become clear fairly quickly if it's not right for you, and if it's not, you can just stop fairly easily. All I would say is, if you're really struggling with it, don't try to power through. (Oh, and also start off on 25mg or even lower if you like, and taper up.)

I started taking sertraline around Christmas time, it was prescribed for horrendous PMS, which went on for almost 2 weeks prior to (and during) my period. I would rant and rave at my DH and lovely children, but about 4 days into my period I’d be a completely different person. I was really reluctant to start taking them, but it was so unfair on my family that I had to try. I split the tablets in half for the first 2 weeks, so took 25mg, then upped to 50mg. I felt jittery, nauseous and shattered for the first couple of weeks, and struggled with my sleep, but that eased off fairly quickly. I don’t really have any side effects now, I haven’t gained any weight, and my sleep is back to normal. The only side effects of note is that I get night sweats, but only if I drink alcohol!

They’ve really helped with the PMS, but not solved it. I now get around 5 days of rage and low mood, where previously it would have been 14. I’m trying various contraceptives to help suppress my cycle, but nothing has worked well so far.

I’ve been on them for about 2 months for depression and anxiety. They are great. I am a chronic over-thinker which led to spirals of anxiety and they basically block the thoughts for me- it’s very difficult to think of anything in great detail which is a huge help. I’m much more level with my family. The first couple of weeks I felt spacey and zonked, so tired and had a weird taste in my mouth. The main down side for me is lack of libido and numbness eg very hard to orgasm. I also can’t eat certain foods any more as they give me the shits. I recommend, but at the same time I hope not to be on them for years.

I was prescribed it for anxiety that stemmed from a physical problem... looking back a week's worth of diazepam and some physio was all I needed. But I think some GPs see a woman between 30 and 50 and decide they need sertraline.

My settling in period was fairly brutal- nausea and vomiting then total loss of appetite and complete insomnia. Lost a stone in a fortnight. Then I got used to it and I put on three stone fairly quickly - at the beginning at a pace of a pound a week. I lost any notion of being hungry or being full. Emotionally it worked but I felt fairly numb - OK with me but DH was disturbed by it. I also felt quite hopeless - what's the point, why should I etc. which is not like me at all.

Other side effects were stomach acid issues, twitching, night sweats. All gone apart from the acid - I weaned myself off. It did its job at the time but overall I would have to be absolutely dying for me to consider going on such a medication again.

Yes looking at a previous poster - it made it so frustratingly difficult to orgasm which again is not like me at all.

It didn't work for me.

I lost 2 stone in the 6 weeks I was on it and slept 1-2 hours a night. It was simply awful.

Yes, it was great. No real dude affects and has really helped keep the anxiety to the correct level. I’m steady, happy and confident on it. And very well. You should have seen me when I was prescribed it. I was extremely unwell.

Sertraline has been great for me. Very very minimal nausea for the first few days and that's it. It's helped my mental health. fyi it's the ssri gp's prescribe each other.