Sertraline bl**dy hell..!

[AmusedOpalShaker]

Evening everyone,

I am currently sitting at day 5 of 50mg Sertraline for OCD and horrific, horrific intrusive thoughts.

My lord - the side effects are horrendous?!

The sheer uptake in my anxiety, intrusive thoughts, urges, shaking, sickness and lethargy has been awful to try to navigate. I’m so incredibly fortunate that I have supportive family around to look after my DD during this.

i have been on Sertraline before, but like a complete moronhead I stopped taking it, I don’t remember ever having such severe side effects before, though.

Any experiences? I’m looking for horror turned success stories, or just some reassurance really, anything to stop me from chucking them away.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read, have a wonderful evening all xxx

i started on it just after Christmas. Side effects were awful so I cut the tablets in half and titrated myself up.

for about 1 week it was horrendous. For 2 weeks quite bad and then after about 3 weeks they settled and I felt better.

now I feel like my old self again. I have night sweats as the only side effects were. Keep going op. It will be worth it.

Unfortunately this is part for the course but it does settle down quickly. If you feel unsafe, you need to let a doctor or nurse know quickly.

I take sertraline, have done for a long time. I agree with PP, start very small, so break the 50mg in half and take that for ten days before graduating to 50mg a day. The side effects do go away after about 2 weeks if I recall correctly. Good luck

Thank you all, I’ll keep going. Xx

I was Fluoxetine but yes, the first few weeks made me feel significantly worse. Then, somehow, I felt normal again.

I took my 6th one just after lunch time and I feel like I want to die. My intrusive thoughts feel SO real now it feels terrifying, my anxiety is through the roof and I’m in bed shaking and feeling on the verge of tears.

How on earth did you all keep going? I feel like I’m losing my mind.

Can you call the crisis team if it's getting unbearable.

Not me but my Mum went on to sertraline and also found the transition really hard but seems good and stable on the them now ❤️

You're halfway through. The side effects never last more than 2 weeks. If they do, you just change meds. I changed 6 times before I settled on one. Ironically the one that the GP prescribed under pressure from the psychiatrist and with dire warnings on side effects. I got a dry mouth, that was it. 🤣

I had my dose increased to 100mg last month. Seemed to be working fine until Sunday I wanted to kill my self. Today I went back to the Drs who has signed me off sick for a week and also referred me to the crisis team.

My dd has started them and she is going through similar symptoms. It really is hard. Her GP prescribed some diazepam to help with the anxiety and insomnia. She did speak to the GP and the local mental health team.
i hope you have someone to support you

I was so incredibly anxious on them after 4 weeks prescribed Valium to calm down as well. At that point I decided to come off. SSARIs don’t seem to agree with me

SSRIs

I’m not under any MH services unfortunately, and my GP is less than useless. I’m just trying to ride through it the best I can, but god, I feel a billion times worse than when I started..!

Thank you for replying to me xx

I'm on 200mg of Sertraline and didn't experience any side effects that I can think of. I've been on many different antidepressants, so maybe my body is used to them 🤣

My family are supporting me by taking my DD10 away until I’m better.

Apart from that I’m home alone and just hiding in bed. I had to give up my work (registered nurse) last year due to my physical health (a lot going on), so I don’t have much going on to distract me. I’m a big reader and usually read one book per week, but I can’t even bring myself to even look at my Kindle at the moment.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me, I so hope your Daughter gets through this and sees improvements soon. Xx

I used to be on 200 as well a few years back, and then like a complete tit I just stopped taking them.. this time around is just horrendous.

My DD reacted badly to Sertraline and despite being petite and very slim, put on a lot of weight. She was moved onto Venlafaxine and it's been absolutely brilliant.

Halfway through, it’s so hard to remember that in the moment, isn’t it.

I just want to feel better 😔 xx

I’m so pleased to hear she’s been moved onto something better suited xx

Can you get outside for a walk? This helps a bit. My dd is now 18 days in on taking full 50mg and I think she’s starting to improve. I guess you know that it works for you but you’ve got to somehow get through these next few days.

One day into taking sertraline I found myself at the postbox, but my hands were empty. No recollection of dropping the letters. Went back home, turned the radio on, and began to think the radio 4 afternoon play was real. A trip to A&E ensued and I was taken off it. It's the only SSRI I couldn't tolerate. Others were ineffective, or effective for 6 months and then stopped working, but sertraline frightened me. I would suggest you look up your local crisis team and give them a ring, tell them about those intrusive thoughts. Let them be the judge of whether it's safe for you to plough on, or whether it's time to switch. Wishing you all the best.

I’m going to try and go for a little wander tomorrow hopefully, thank you xx

Oh gosh how interesting, I am sorry you had to experience all of that, though. I hope you’re a lot better now?

My intrusive thoughts are part of my OCD unfortunately, so that’s what’s causing them, I think just the heightened anxiety caused by the sertraline side effects and just making everything seem overwhelming right now! I think I will reach out though, thank you for taking the time to message xx

Side effects are absolutely awful for the first week but please don't give up on it it really helped my PTSD and anxiety

I took one Sertraline and within hours felt like I was losing my mind. I had spiralling thoughts and I felt like I was losing my mind. I never took another one. It's put me off trying anything else again.