Sertraline support

[BrickSnail]

Hi all, I'm on day 4 of sertraline and the side effects have been absolutely horrific. I've gone through so many old posts on this but was wondering if anyone was currently in the same boat so we could support each other?

I’m sorry you’re feeling down but it’s a common side effect of starting ssris to feel worse before you feel better. I’m probably about 10 days in on my increased amount of sertraline and feeling a bit worse, but have had moments of feeling better than before. So, I think we need to leave it a minimum of 4 weeks for it to really start to work.

5 days x 25mg. 30 days x 50mg.

The anxiety was resolved swiftly. The low mood, flatness and extreme fatigue are still a feature. If it wasn’t for the absence of the anxiety I would find it difficult to persist with the medication.

I would expect now to begin to experience a consistent softening of the low mood and a return of motivation. I’m hopeful.

Watch this space.

Keep on it and hopefully that will happen. I found 50 wasn’t enough and am on 100. But 50 was enough for a few years.

Anyone go higher than 100mg?

week 5-6 now and horrible side effects settling, other than insomnia and jaw clenching/teeth grinding. I am feeling a little better.

GP states I can increase if I need to…up to 200mg! Anyone above 100? I also worry about libido loss, which I didnt experience at all with Citalopram…in fact, I’d say the opposite lol!!

hope everyone is getting on well.

stick with it in the early weeks. Weeks 1-3 were the hardest for me.

Day 9 of 25mg here and I think I might be over the worst of it!? Definitely feel lighter than before and the tummy upset has settled, appetite also returned. GP wants me to increase to 50mg but I’m trying to avoid this by using a variety of methods; excercise, diet, meditation, breathing work, journaling etc. Let’s see x

It’s good to settle on the lowest amount, however, I think 50 is the lowest therapeutic recommendation. I’m on 100 but was in 50 for a few years and think it lost its effectiveness.

My doctor prescribed me sertraline a week ago but I've been too afraid to take it (for anxiety / feeling like I couldn't get out of fight or flight). I went to the doctor following what felt like constant sickness with our children / family (7 bouts of vomiting this year so far), and felt like I couldn't cope living waiting for someone to vomit again. But I've felt a little better this week and I'm worried going to them was a knee jerk reaction to feeling so stressed, and I'm scared of having an upset tummy, feeling sick, am breastfeeding etc etc. I bought some ear seeds as a last ditch attempt to avoid. My friend says to take it as it's worked wonders for people she knows, but I just feel too afraid. Doctor has said to take one tablet every other days for 7-10 days and then one every day

Hi @Ferne20 it can be a dilemma particularly if a crisis has now stabilised.

I found the medication worked quickly on the anxiety. My brain has calmed down. In this respect I have persevered.

I did and continue to have side effects of tiredness. In the early days this was severe. I just couldn’t get going and could lose a day to the extreme tiredness. I’m not sure if I was perhaps absolutely exhausted and the medication has made me slow down.

I am taking the 50mg. I am hoping for the promised mood lift. If it doesn’t come, I will continue. The absence of the anxiety is a bonus. I won’t increase the dose.

Thank you, I am still unsure what to do, I'm worried about the side effects, and wondering if I'm 'bad enough' to take them and put myself through it!

Good morning, just been having a read of this post and thought I'd chip in.
2 weeks ago I travelled home from work and I think mentally I'd drove myself into the ground with a number of different stress factors and had a bit of an emotional breakdown and spent the weekend either sleeping or crying...it was awful. On the Monday my wife convinced me to stay off and see the doctor and I was prescribed 50mg of Sertraline daily for Depression/low mood. The 1st 2 days were awful, I had jitters, sever anxiety which I've never suffered with before, zero appetite amongst other side effects. My wife suggested dropping to 25mg for a week or so which I did, things settled to the point where earlier this week I was feeling the best I had in a long time and I actually started to feel a bit of a fraud. Yesterday I upped the dosage back to the 50mg and while the side effects aren't as bad as at first I've gone back to feeling pretty crappy this morning. I just keep trying to tell myself that it's just because of the dosage change and trying to stay positive but it's hard. Hopefully in a few days when the higher dosage kicks in I'll pick up again. My wife has told me my moods haven't been the same for a long time and has suggested for years I could have mild depression but I never thought I'd suffer, I just want to be my normal self again.

@justtryingmybesttoday I hope you find your hoped for relief. I kept running my experience through ChatGBT. My takeaway from the ‘chats’ was the impact of the medication can be a very soft touch impact. This has been my experience. Over time I have noticed a significant difference but over time has been such a subtle transition would be easy to assume I’m absolutely fine. I don’t know why I’m taking this. I have hints of my old feelings, and they are only hints. It’s as though the medication keeps the door shut on any further leakage.

Hi @indigorising , thanks for replying.
By soft touch impact, do you mean that it just ever so gently lifts your mood over time rather than it being an immediate improvement? I’ve been taking it for 13 days now, 2 on 50mg, 8 on 25mg, and then back to day 3 of 50mg and like I say while I was on the 25mg, once the anxiety and rumination side effects wore off I began to feel a lot better. That’s was where the fraud bit kicked in, I wondered why I was taking them when I felt so much better so soon. The difference between then and how I felt this time 2 weeks ago is crazy, I could barely stop crying or get off the chair. The dosage increase has knocked me a bit, the anxiety and ruminations have kicked back in just not as bad. I’m not even taking this for anxiety it’s depression but it’s still made that bad. I keep telling myself that me feeling better is the result of the medication and it should hopefully improve once these side effects settle, but at the same time I don’t want to be on these longer than needed.

I’m glad to hear that you’re feeling better though. I hope your low moods do lift because I know first hand what that’s like.

@justtryingmybesttoday Yes, by ‘soft touch’ I do mean the positive impact has been very slow and so very subtle. The medication I understand stimulates different pathways. This is not a quick process, hence the sense of being ‘soft’ impact rather than a dramatic shift.

Thanks for that @indigorising its rough because I never thought I’d suffer with depression so this has hit me like a bus. Day 5 of the 50mg and it’s been an awful day. What should be a happy day (our anniversary) has seen me crying over and over feeling like I’m not good enough, that I’m a burden on the family and worried that they dread being around me. It’s awful.
I fully expected the side effects again after upping the dosage but I didn’t expect them to knock me back this much and it’s hit me a bit. I’m not sure if I need to persevere with the 50mg until they settle or go back down to 25mg. The last few days on they were heaven, even forgetting sometimes what was going on. Doctor is calling me on Wednesday and it can’t come soon enough.

Take heart. It’s not a quick fix.

My only advice is stay on doses for at least 2 weeks before you up them.
It's brutal but I truly think some GPs advise increases far to swiftly.

Good morning @Tcateh thanks for the advice, I spoke with my doctor yesterday and he wants me to stick with the 50mg for another 2 weeks and we'll have another call then. Usually he said they do 2 and 6 week checks but due to the fact I'm having the side effects he wants to check in again on week 4. If the side effects have gone I'll stick with it, if not he mentioned possibly changing to another medication.
He said Sertraline is usually the 1st option as it's the fastest acting, but doesn't always agree with people. Yesterday wasn't a bad day, I managed to sleep right through without the negative thoughts and apart from a few hours on the morning I felt somewhat normal. I put the sleep down to the fact I was soo tired from not having much sleep the night before. Today I woke up in the same way so that's 2 days in a row, I don't want to get carried away but that's positive steps right?

Positive steps, remember it's steps and try not to overthink everything change.
I totally understand, I do that even hourly.
It's very hard but do try and not worry yourself when say one period of time feels wrong, or overwhelming.
Our brains are so clever and also our own worst enemies.
Try and somehow be still within your thoughts about what it is and isn't doing.
X

Also why not give yourself longer on the 25? Just read your previous post.
I did well on 25mg but on upping to 50mg got the dreaded diarrhea which was months long.
Known side effect I'm afraid.
Also 50mg made me feel way too emotionally blunted as they call it.
This does not mean it happens to everyone.
I went back to 25mg for a couple of months.
I switched tho to escitalopram a few months ago as my bowels just couldn't cope with the sertraline, I have IBS and it exacerbated it alot.
I know someone on 100mg and they've never had any trouble with sertraline. Ok it's my DD, she's been so much better for yrs. Half the size of me in lol.

Yeah I keep telling myself that even the smallest positives are good because a few weeks ago there were none of them. Yesterday ended up being a great day for me, I worked just fine and then went for a 5km walk after in the sun which is something I haven't felt up to, I was so tired after haha. Today ended up being a bit of a rough down day but still not as bad as before so I'll take it. About to go to sleep now, see how tonight goes and then it's day number 19 tomorrow...
As of yet I haven't felt any difference emotionally, I'm still crying and feel sad and happy at times. It's the Anxiety and ruminations for me, although I 'think' these seem to be easing a little. There are times when I'm at peace within my own head for a while then get a nice shock when I realise. The side effects only came back when I upped the dose back to 50mg, but due to me feeling some positives I'm going to try and persevere. I finish work early tomorrow then have the weekend off so a few more days for it to get into my system.

Sorry I meant to post that last night, I fell asleep.

Going into my 6 th week tonight, about 10 days ago my stomach started rumbling and the dreaded diarrhoea began. Not the sort which gives you cramps but noisy😬having said that, on Saturday I had to deal with something that would have given me such anxiety and panic before Sertraline and Propanalol, afterwards I realised that I hadn’t crumpled or panicked SO taking that as a positive and prepared to but up with belly stuff in the hope that this is the change I’m looking for……
Anybody else had this side effect, how long for and does it settle🤞🏻

Just read that a poster with IBS has changed meds as couldn’t cope with the diarrhoea, I don’t have IBS so I’m hoping that I can persevere. Makes a change from the awful constipation I had pre meds and when at peak of A and D

Hi. Just wanted to update.

I have settled at 25mg. If the anxiety I was experiencing might be described as a dripping tap, the impact of 25mg has been to just close the valve that’s letting the cortisol drip into my system. 25mg seems to have prevented a culmination of cortisol which resulted in bigger anxiety surges. As a consequence I do feel much more settled. It may be a placebo, but 25mg is worth the psychological impact.

That’s good to hear. Happy you’ve found your correct dosage. I’ve switched to vortioxetine. It’s a newer one. I think I was on sertraline fir too long and it stopped being effective for me.