Morning anxiety and sertraline

[LWestYorks]

Hey! Im in my 5th week of starting sertraline (50mg) but in a morning i feel TERRIBLE really anxious, nausea, low mood and find it hard getting out of bed. Please tell me this will go? X

That’s not right. After 5 weeks I would expect things to have stabilised. Are you on it for depression or anxiety or OCD?

This is one of the reasons I didn't get on with sertraline.fluoxetine was much better with less side effects. The anxiety was awful if I forgot to take it. Do you take it T night or in the morning? I took mine in the morning but some take it at night.

(FWIW I'm a doctor myself)
I was in a similar situation and found that by fractioning the dose I was far more stable throughout the day and my mornings are now much easier.
I take 100mg but split it into 50mg morning and evening.
Tell your doctor about the morning anxiety and ask if they could prescribe a split dose 25/25 to see if it helps.

It’s 4 week today, sorry! More anxiety which has stabilised but it’s more the low mood/motivation now?

Someone close to me was told (by a mental health prescribing nurse practitioner) to split the dose, for anxiety take half morning half evening.

Is this something you could discuss?

50mg is the starting dose too. It goes up to 200mg. You might need a review.

I’m still like this it’s a horrible feeling I’ve lived with serve depression and anxiety and I honestly feel like I’m not going to get better I told my sister yesterday I walk around it feels like a ball in my stomach full of horrible feelings

I'm 8 weeks in, 2 weeks in 150mg and my mornings still aren't good. My evenings are really good and late afternoon. My psychiatrist said its often the case that the recovery takes that pattern, and mornings are the last thing to improve. I also wake up with a ball of anxiety in my stomach and feeling worried and low, but it is better than it was. I'm trying to see the positives which are that I'm improving, albeit slowly.

I take it every morning around 8am - I have a review with my GP in 2 weeks (will be 6 weeks then) so will see what she says. I just hate feeling so bad in a morning, it normally starts easing around dinner time but I didn’t feel this bad before I started taking sertraline. I’m hoping the morning anxiety eases soon. X

SSRIs can make you more anxious during the first weeks of treatment.

Morning anxiety is usually caused by a shot of cortisol your body naturally releases upon waking to get you up and motivated. People with maladaptive anxiety are more sensitive to feeling this. If you’ve just started SSRIs this is probably why you’re more sensitive to that morning anxiety feeling. It will most likely pass.

my advice? As someone who has anxiety and has more or less fully recovered and functioning really well… get up. As soon as you feel that anxiety just get up. Have a base routine. Something like a hot drink (decaf whilst very anxious), have a wash and change your clothes. Do something to occupy yourself. Not busily avoiding the feeling of anxiety but accept the feelings and acknowledge they are there. You are safe but your body thinks you’re in danger. If you carry on as normal over time your brain learns there is no danger and calms down. The more you fight anxiety the more you get anxiety. The less you fight the fast it can go away.

self help I recommend highly: Claire weekes books or audios (can pick up very cheap or free from library)
paul David at last a life

instagram- anxiety josh (someone who suffered and recovered as are the people who write the books).

when I was at my worst I needed hope and trust me there is lots of hope. I haven’t had severe anxiety which stopped me in my tracks for years. I’ve had a few blips and bad days but I’m not scared of it anymore and now my life is mine and not dependant on how much anxiety I feel.

I'm the other way around. I had none of the potential physical side effects on fluoxitine but felt simultaneously jittery & brain fogged, whilst Setraline gave me the full set of physical side effects, but I felt mentally normal. Thankfully off everything for 10 months now & self-managing.

Hey! I've been on Zoloft for quite a while now, and it has helped me a lot. But yes, I totally get what you're going through—I had similar side effects during the first couple of weeks. The morning anxiety, nausea, and low mood were tough, but they gradually faded as my body adjusted. It’s just your system adapting to the medication.

Hang in there—it does get better! Try to stay consistent with your routine, and give yourself time. Also, make sure you're using high-quality Zoloft for the best results. If it helps, I get mine from this pharmacy, and they provide top-quality antidepressants. Stay strong! 💙

Hello I know this is an older post. I'm 6 weeks into a dose increase on 50mg sertraline..I feel terrible morning anxiety and feel more depressed. I've been taking it 8 weeks in total. I don't know if I am still stabilizing or it's because I got my second batch from a different manufacturer