Sertraline help

[clpsmum]

I have today been prescribed sertraline. I do not have any depression but I have crippling anxiety, intrusive thoughts, overthinking and panic attacks. I've just read the leaflet and then a thread on here that for the first few weeks it can actually make all these things worse. Has anyone experienced this? I really can't cope with things getting any worse than they already are and I just don't know what to do. Any help is greatly appreciated

Can I continue with propranolol while on sertraline? I should've asked dr but forgot

Thank you

Thank you so much everybody I can't tell you how much I appreciate your kind words. I'm going to start the tablets tomorrow. I need to give them a go and hope for the best as I can't live like this any more. Thank you so much for your support

My ds takes them every morning, as advised by the psychiatrist, but see what works for you. Best of luck!

I take mine in the morning too. I've never had any issues with it and it gave me my life back.

Try not to worry about side effects etc. every person is different. I found plenty of water, getting good sleep and minimising my commitments helped me settle in with it. That's good practice for mental health anyway. Look at it as a chance to prioritise your own wellbeing, which is another good habit to get into.

Wishing you all the best, be proud of yourself for taking the steps needed to get healthy again.

We moved it from an evening to the morning as found it woke me in the early hours with heart palpitations and panic attacks. Moving it to the morning stopped these side effects.

I took my first one this morning and the D&V has kicked in 🤢🤢

Stick with it. It took me a few weeks to feel the benefit but I wouldn't be without it now.

Aw the first few days can be tough but it’s worth it. Your body needs times to adjust.

I take it for anxiety which came on with menopause, it was crippling - have done for a few years now - it’s been a game changer. I did have really terrible side effects for about three weeks. I stuck with it though and it’s really given my life back. I would totally recommend you try it, and stick with it as it’s worth it.

Ps I take it in the morning, always have. No issues with that, and no side effects at all after the first few weeks.

My son has taken sertraline for years for all the reasons you had it prescribed. A total game changer for him TBH.Now we realise he has ADHD can tick so many boxes but can honestly say the sertraline really has helped. Dose might need increasing though because his health anxiety has taken a bit of a dive recently. Xx Zopiclone is a call for a couple of weeks. It really shouldn't knock you out but will help with going back to sleep if you wake up and brain a bit too busy X

I didn't get any of those side effects at all. Been on it for 3 years now, and it's completely changed my life.

I took my first one last night, they were prescribed 4 weeks ago and I have put off taking them for the exact same reasons as you posted, I was worrying over side effects making me feel worse but decided yesterday that I really did need them and told myself if I have started taking them 4 weeks ago the side effects would hopefully be gone by now.

I took my at 6.30pm and felt a but dizzy but sleepy, I did take a zopiclone last night and slept well, I feel a little fuzzy headed today but nothing major so far?

I took mine last night to hopefully minimise any side effects during the day.
Would that be an option?

Good luck I hope you feel better soon

@clpsmum I started about a month ago as menopause related anxiety.
I feel quite tired so also on a folic acid tablet and highblood pressure tablet
My biggest anxiety is when driving.
I do feel a bit dizzy so might change to take at night time after reading comments

Would anyone be interested in keeping this thread going with daily updates to help each other, Talking or putting or problem down can sometimes be best medicine just to get it out of our head.
Hope you feel better soon

I'm following this with interest. I have sertraline but have been too scared to start it. I don't want to get worse, even if just for a short time.

Good luck OP

@mcmen05 great idea to keep the thread going and check in on each other. We will fight the anxiety and side effects together

I put off going on sertraline for post-natal depression/anxiety for similar reasons as you. When I finally said enough was enough, I'm so glad I did and wish I had sooner. It has been life changing.

All the intrusive thoughts and anxiety faded and I feel like my old self again.

I took first tablet at night and had poor sleep. After that I took them in the morning and all I had was some mild stomach issues for a day or two. I did 6 days where I only took half a tablet (25mg) and then upped to 50.

It is weird, one day I just had a moment where I said to DP - "I feel happy" and it wasn't until that moment I realised how unhappy I had been since baby was born. I obviously knew I was anxious and that the anxiety was making me struggle, but I hadn't realised I was also really depressed. It probably took 2 months for me to get back to me.

Try not to get too fixated on side effects as you'll start attributing everything to it / constantly be scanning yourself for how you feel. I deliberately didn't read them other than the things the dr/pharmacist said about grapefruit etc.

for those worrying about getting worse, bar the most serious things, it's better to get worse temporarily and then be better than you can imagine now.

I didn’t feel worse. When I took it, I don’t think I could have been worse to be honest as I was already in acute crisis. I felt improvement within a week and they very steadily after that.

What's the starting dose? I'm starting on these in a few weeks at 50mg whixh sounds quite high to me. This thread has helped me make the decision to try it

@pinkpirlie that's brilliant that they had such a great effect. I didn't think of taking half a tablet tbh that would've been a good idea. Do you still take them? The intrusive thoughts are just horrendous aren't they. So nice to chat to all the lovely people on this thread who actually understand. Been feeling like such a huge failure this thread has helped so much

I've started today on 50mg and apparently that will be upped to 100 after four weeks