Anybody on 200mg Sertraline ?

[Mummyrj18]

I've been on either 100/150mg for the most part of ten years...it has always helped me with anxiety/ocd problems...I've been on 150mg for 3 weeks but still feeling quite anxious and down. I've never been up to 200mg...how do you know if you should up the dose ? And how do you know if the dose is too high ? I'm seeing my gp today...but just looking for advice desperate to feel better 😞xx

Also any words of advice or encouragement for going through low mood and anxiety, so hard to see through the fog today need a bit of hope ❤️

My daughter is on 175 and has been since she was 15. That turned out to be the magic dose for her.

I used to be on 200mg years ago but it didn't seem to help at all. I just stopped taking it even though you're supposed to dose down.

Not me but DH was on 200 at one point. He slept pretty much round the clock!

I am. Didn’t feel massively different from 150 really. I was on 50 for about 10 years and then upped to 100/150 in 2021 and 200 this time last year. Both increases coincided with me being signed off work and other health issues occurring.

Probably helped a little but given I was also off work and going to therapy not sure what was what! No downsides tho.

My doctor suggested 175 today , thank you x

Ive been on 200mg for a few years, just reducing it slightly now because I get horrendous night sweats, I wake up soaked. Hopefully that's the reason anyway.

I've usually had good experience but the highest I've taken is 150, scared to do anything that will make me feel worse...my doctor suggested 175 today but my gp isn't the best with mental health issues xx

I’m on 200, have been for years. It’s a good dose for me, I didn’t really react to the small increases.

I get bad side effects if I miss any ! And temporary side effects when I increase...so hard to know what will work , it has been great for me in the past. I got lazy about taking it regularly and on time don't know if that has lead to me relapsing x

Thank you...scares me being at the highest dose as I don't know many other people that take as much...but suppose it depends what works for you xx

Im not sure if the reduction will work to be honest, because the night sweats started when I was on 100. Its probably just me 🤣

I was for ages, no issues.

i recently switched to venlafaxine

Yes I have been for many years x

I’m on 100mg after dosing up from the 50mg I was taking for a yr.

My stress, anxiety and at time (very much lately) loss of hope is due to external life situations that are what they are and I can’t change them.

Thought upping to 100mg may have helped but it didn’t.

Thinking to up to 150mg but don’t know if it will make me more tired. As the depression and stress I’m under just makes me want to hide from the world when I can as it is. And sleep to forget the external stress I’ve got in life when I can.

Does anyone know or find that upping dose gives these symptoms?

I think I temporarily get more tired when upping doses but then it tends to get better over a couple of weeks. I'm the same with wanting to sleep just to escape my obsessive thoughts I find mornings the hardest. They always say it's about finding the right dose that works for you so probably would be worth giving the 150 a go , although they say up to 6-8 weeks for full benefits. It's hard. I really want to get back to enjoying life with my kids again without feeling this way. I have felt a bit of improvement over the last week so optimistic the higher does is starting to kick in. Hope you feel better soon ❤️
Also talking to people and reaching out for more help if you need it xx

Sorry I haven't been on 200ml, but I fairly recently titrated up to 100 and I didn't feel the full effects until about 6 weeks later. I'd make sure you give the full amount of time for the increase to work properly before going up. I knew that I needed to go up because although I was feeling a little less anxious (so I knew it was starting to work), I was still experiencing anxiety at a level that didn't feel manageable or normal, so it was at this point I spoke to the GP. I had to wait another couple of weeks before going up to give it the appropriate time, but as nothing had changed they then increased it.

I hope that helps a bit. You can also feel worse for a bit before it gets better I think. Hopefully others at higher doses will also have good advice Xx

Also just to note that although I've never missed a dose, the times when I've been slack and taken doses much later than normal (like nearly at the end of the day rather than the morning) I have definitely noticed my mood and irritability change, and it does settle when I'm back on track with the same time every day. I have a recurring alarm in my phone now every single morning at 8am reminding me to take it, and I don't check it off until I've swallowed it!

Yes ! I think partly why I have relapsed a bit is from not taking at regular times or missing days thinking it doesn't matter, definitely stick to the same time everyday. X

Could I ask if 50mg makes any difference at all? I was told it wouldn't and that it was just a kind of settling in dose before increasing to 100.

I've heard of people being on just 50mg and it works for them, I did feel an improvement at 50mg but got better at a higher dose. Currently 175....xx

I was on 200mg after having my daughter. I was also on mirtazapine and quetiapine. I had severe depression and psychosis so when they started me in sertraline my dose went up by 50mg every 2 weeks until I reached the maximum. I stayed on that dose for 4 weeks and went my mood was dropping rather than getting better it was switched for escitalopram and was briefly on all three antidepressants as I dropped the dose of sertraline and increased the escitalopram.

I'm bipolar and prone to stubborn depression episodes. The shortest time on a dose before increasing is 2 weeks but often they like 2-4 weeks. If things are continuing to decline in the two weeks I would be discussing going up. If things are about the same it comes down to the impact it is having for whether to try to higher doses. When I had my daughter I wasn't functioning and was very unwell. No change meant we increased or looked at other options quickly. I have pnd again after having my son, it's not as bad and isn't impacting me in the same way. No change for me at the moment means we give a dose more time and it's more 3-6 weeks between changes. If there's some improvement but it's still impacting you discuss dose change after 3-6 weeks.

When you say "too high" what do you mean? The therapeutic dose is a window. It's a balancing act there is the potential for side effects but for most medication changes within the approved range wouldn't usually cause sudden side effects from going from a middle dose to a top dose. If you are experiencing some side effects you might want to be more cautious and it might be worth talking to your pharmacist about if they can offer any advice on minimising the side effects. Time of day, with and without food etc can improve or worsen side effects.
If you are worried it's ok to take it slow, at the moment we are increasing my antidepressants in half doses. If you think it's too high you can drop down again. A good tip is to not use up your smaller doses when you go up - ie. If you have gone from 150 mg as one 100mg tablet and a 50mg don't use the combination of 100mg and 50mg tablets to do the 200mg straight away as if you do find it's too much you can drop back down as soon as you have had the discussion with the Dr without having to wait for a new prescription.