Please share good news stories of sertraline

[butternutsquashed82]

Hello lovely mumsnetters! Was hoping to find some advice.

i have gone through quite a traumatic six years (pregnant in Covid, abusive relationship, single parent when daughter was one, back at stressful job soon after surviving off three - four hours sleep a night, gave up job after two years to freelance, have freelanced for two past two years but have now burnt myself out doing this too. I have very limited support nearby and my ex has our daughter 24-48hrs max a week)! I feel I’m really crumbling under the pressure, my anxiety has been through the roof and I keep having OCD flare ups where I over think about catastrophic work situations and I can’t think of anything else) my brain feels ready to explode!

I just don’t enjoy life. I went to the doctor a month ago and they prescribed me sertraline but I have been too anxious to take it, after reading it can make you feel worse before you feel better! And of course that has made me anxious! However, I now think I need to bite the bullet and take it. Can I ask if anyone can share how it’s improved their life? Life is feels so hard as I’m just constantly working, looking after my beautiful daughter or catastrophising and over checking and worrying about work! It feels so consuming and as if I’ll never get better!

So after 6 months id book in a review with your Dr then you can talk about how its going any effect etc. For me 100 was the sweet spot but everyone is different. You can know by doing the depression/anxiety scores and looking at how you feel day to day. My night waking with a racing heart stopped at 100mg but everyone is different....it just that often youre popped on it and left at 50 with no review appointment...bevause gps are so swamped but if yoire still feeling low/ancious there are nezt steps up to help.I only realised I could go up speaking to a friend who had been slowly weaned up to 150, and it made such a difference to me increasing the dose. When/if you decide to stop, just know that its best to wean down slowly too.

The first week taking them both times I felt extremely anxious, heart rate increases and fast gut transit but it sorted out quite quickly for me into feeling a bit steadier.

To start with, for the first two weeks, he felt a little nauseous, came out in sweats, his depression worsened, and he experienced ED but this is all to be expected according to the leaflet. All this completely disappeared almost exactly two weeks in and he felt entirely better, which was an excellent result. But everyone’s different.

Thanks for all your replies. Has anyone started off at 25mg and then gone to 50mg the next week. I have to be honest, as a single mum, the idea of my anxiety getting worse before it gets better fills me with dread!

@Acedthwhat is ED

Hi OP. I am 2 months on Sertraline.

I have been on Citalopram before but stopped that as it made me gain loads of weight, but because I’d been on that I knew to get a pill cutter off amazon and start really slowly.

I started off on about 12.5mg (literally cut the pill up into 1/4’s as much as I could) and stayed on that for a week and then increased to 25mg for about 10 days and then went up to 50mg. I didn’t really have any side effects other than a dry mouth (which I also had with Citalopram when I started) and a bad stomach in week 3 for about a week!

2 months on 50mg and it has definitely helped. I’m so much less snappy and anxious, I do think I may up my dose in the next couple of months, but for now 50mg seems to have helped take the edge off it all a bit.

But definitely buy a pill cutter and start slowly. How people just plunge in at full dose on these things I have no idea- well, they just end up feeling awful mentally for a bit I guess but I didn’t want to risk that!

Best of luck!

@Rugrats103this is really helpful. Thank you so much.

Just a general question, I also think my
anxiety and moods fluctuate a week before period and during my period. I’ve mentioned this to my doctor but she prescribed this. I do wonder if HRT might help too!

I am 53, I do think hormones play a part, I've also upped my hrt. I do think the anxiety started creeping in in my mid 40's, which is the timeline for perimenopause

I never take time off but when I saw the GP, she made me take 2 weeks sickness and this was a godsend. I just tried to sleep as much as I could just as escapism from how I was feeling!

I am proactive about my mental health now, Im now in a great place and sertraline was definately the path to get me here. Ive not had any counselling or anything but I have spent some time thinking of what increases my heckles. I know I need down time so I really try not to book anything in for the weekend, my evenings are just chilling by the fire.

Workwise, I work hard to make sure I have the governance structure around me to share the load of responsibility. I think Im seen as someone who just gets on and delivers stuff quickly and efficiently - so I get given more stuff. Now I push back, explain the resource v output and people just say ok and assign it elsewhere without batting an eyelid!

A week of half every other day, then a week of half every day before going up to one a day. I come on and off it every year for seasonal affective disorder and tapering seems to smooth out the initial two weeks' side effects.

Sertraline changed my life. It has helped with everything. I’ve got loads more patience with my kids, I’m sleeping better and I’ve (mostly) stopped binge eating.

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