Sertraline handhold

[Cherryblossom200]

Hi all,

I thought it would be nice to have a place for those of us who are starting the AD journey.

I'm a full time single parent of a beautiful 9 year old, going through perimenopause and just lost my job! So I'm just feeling very overwhelmed and anxious.

My doctor has prescribed me sertraline, to start with I need to take 25mg and up to 50mg in a weeks time.

I took my pill yesterday around 11.00 and then a few hours later was on the loo and feeling exhausted so went to bed for an hour. I felt better later but had a headache most of the night.

I've decided to try it this evening instead as it makes me too drowsy, but now I'm worrying it'll keep me up all night 🤪

I do have concerns that this will dull my ability to feel joy, emotion and work!

I know it's early days and it gets worse before it gets better.

Good luck to others going through this journey x

This all sounds so promising, thank you. I'm going to stick with it 😊

😛 I feel awful now, really cold achy feeling like I've got flu or something.

This is awful, my poor DD isn't going to have a great weekend with me unfortunately.

No harm to you, cold and achey is probably a normal chill coming on you and its just coincidence

You haven't been taking the tabs long enough for them to have any effect on your mood of yet, they take 2 or 3 weeks before the benefits kick in. The first few days, any side effects - dry mouth ( which was mine ) , dicky tummy, sleepiness , but the mood would not be effected yet at all

You are obviously very anxious about being on them so you are focussing on every little change . Try to relax, find something you like to do, even if its crash tv, slobbing on the sofa and eating chocolate

If you feel like it take a look at Georgia Ede on Youtube. (Or read her excellent book.)
The short version is that our diet sucks, what we eat affects the brain and so the mind greatly, there is a diet that is good for the brain and we should eat that.
It makes a lot of sense and it has helped me greatly. And in the menopause, our dietary requirements change and we should change the way we eat.

As I said, Georgia Ede, try one of her PHC talks, the PHC is UK based charity with the goal of saving the NHS from the costs/consequences of non-communicable diseases.

Best of luck.

I have also been prescribed Sertraline but am scared to take it. I lost my daughter 5 years ago and have struggled with being tearful much of the time. So this post is so helpful … thank you.

I don't think it's my diet, I've been an anxious person for the large majority of my life. But I've managed it well.

In general I'm a very healthy person, lots of fresh fruit and veg. I try not to drink too much alcohol and get lots of sleep/exercise. But the menopause and high stress situations have made me depressed.

No amount of healthy eating is going to help, so I'm trying sertraline for the first time.

@Liveheretoo oh I'm so sorry to hear that, and I can totally understand why you feel the way you do.

It took me 6 months to decide to go on it, I sort of hit rock bottom first and tbh I'd have preferred not to get that stage and take it earlier.

Good luck with it, no pressure but if you do take it we can go through it together 🥰

@Cherryblossom200
Following with interest, I've had sertraline sat in a drawer for two months and don't have the nerve to take it. I suffer with awful insomnia and have heard this could be a side effect.

@billytiina I think from what I've read it can go both ways. You either can't sleep or like me you want to sleep all the time 🤣

My sleep has improved greatly (so far) so

Day four

I woke up dreading how I was going to feel today, I went to bed last night feeling like I had flu. But it looks like it was another weird side effect which seems to have gone for the moment. The fog, zombie and numb feeling I felt the day before has gone.

And...I am starting to feel like myself again. It's such early days, and I'm sure I'll get other side effects maybe along the way.

But I feel good, I feel positive and I feel happy 😊

I'm only on 25mg, I'm wondering if I should just stay on this. It might be all I need. Will see how I go.

My experience is that you definitely feel worse before you feel better, the side effects hit me quickly. But I'm feeling better way quicker than I anticipated.

That’s good news! I hope things continue to improve for you x

Day four

I took my pill last night around 7.30pm and went to bed around 8.30pm as I was really tire. I had a great day, managed to go out to the cinema and get some lunch. It was a good day. By the evening I had no appetite, so I just ate soup.

I went to bed fine. But work around 2.00am and couldn't go back to sleep. I don't feel bad, but I'm hoping this isn't the start of insomnia 😬 maybe I then need to switch back to mornings!

In terms of my mood I wouldn't say I feel deliriously happy, but I'm not feeling low either. Just tired 😴

Hi just wanted to say I’ve been on 25mg for a year now . I haven’t felt the need to increase as it works for me ( I am wondering if I still need it as it’s a low dose but worried about stopping )

Day five

Omg yesterday was awful, I literally couldn't stay awake and was like a zombie. I had shivers like I have the flu and a dodgy tummy.

Last night I went to bed early, took my tablet and ping at 12.00 I'm wide awake. I don't think I got much sleep until I had to get up to get my DD ready for school. I had the morning jitters and my appetite is pretty much gone. I'm living on fruit, yogurt and coconut macaroons 🤣

Today I slept the majority of the day and now feel ok.

I don't know if I need to switch to take the pill in the morning as it's clearly keeping me awake. I don't think if this will settle down and I don't know if I should still take my pill tonight or not?!

Following with interest. I was given sertraline last week and it's still in my drawer. I suffer with panic disorder so any little side effect will make me go in to a blind panic.
I know I need them but am so scared to start them.
I also suffer with heart palpitations most days due to perimenopause and I'm worried sertraline will make them worse

It's hard going, I've had a lot of the side effects. But I can rationalise it as I know it's hopefully only temporary.

In general I feel like my mind is quieter. I'm a lot more relaxed and have zero anxiety. But I'm lacking motivation probably because I'm tired.

Will see how tomorrow goes when I take it in the morning 😬

I was thinking of taking sertraline for menopause anxiety and mood swings. I work 4 days a week in a busy school, so not sure if I want to take the risk?! Side effects scare me.

We all react differently, so you may be ok.

Because I've been made redundant I'm using this time to get better, there is no huge rush for me to get back to work straight away. If I was working it would be a disaster for me 🤣 I would be useless.

Ah yes this is true, everyone reacts differently.

I can't afford to take more time off sick from work, so need to be sure no side effects will kick in. I may give them a miss. Being useless at work won't go down well! 🙈

I haven’t had any side effects, except slight dry mouth. I’m going to go up to a whole tablet (50mg) tomorrow so will see if that makes a difference. I feel calmer, but also pretty unmotivated and tired - though that’s pretty usual for me!
Taking it in the morning is working fine for me

I've changed to taking it during the day now. I feel the same, calm but tired and unmotivated. I really hope that feeling doesn't stay because I can't feel like that all the time!

Anyone on sertraline out there?

I'm only into week one, 3-4 hours after taking the medication I'm asleep for about any hour. I took it in the day to try to avoid it impacting my sleep 🤪

I'm concerned this medication is going to stop me feeling any motivation and have no energy. I can't function like this long term. I'm only on 25mg and no way will go up to 50mg I won't get out of bed then.

I'm trying to work out if it's worth continuing. I would rather be able to function.

DD2 is on 100mg and doesn’t sleep very well, but also doesn’t do much physical activity so it might be related.

She’s been on it for just over 2 months now and it took about a month to have any effect at all, and she didn’t feel any different herself, but to other people it was noticeable that she was talking more, and more “cheerful” for want of a better word. She does feel the difference now, but isn’t fully well yet by any means. We were told it could take up to 3 months for the full effects to kick in. She started on 25mg then went up to 100 in stages, felt sick and headachey at the very beginning but not when the doses were increased.

Ok thank you, it's the general tiredness and lack of motivation that's the problem at the moment 😬

I’m on week 4, had all the side effects in week 1, my Dr said if you can get through the first week it settles down from then. Definitely have the emotional numbness (I had it to a lesser degree before), it’s such a strange feeling, not feeling. My sleep is somewhat disturbed, if I wake between 1-2am I’m usually awake for at least an hour.
I feel a little different this past couple of days, maybe the numbness is lifting, I guess we’ll see.