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Mental health

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Original poster

Sertraline side effects- will they fade?

27 replies

pulapula · 16/07/2009 11:51

I have been on Sertraline for 8 days now (PND), and the side effects are really getting to me. I feel sick, especially in the mornings (I take them at 11pm before bed). I seem to be more anxious, sweaty, weepy, wobbly, have a dry mouth etc. It doesn't help i have a heavy cold too which is probably making me feel more foggy too.

Do you think i will adjust to them soon, or need to change to another type? I know they can take 2-4 weeks to start feeling better, but i just feel terrible at the moment.

OP posts:

sabire · 16/07/2009 12:40

I started on fluoxetine nearly 3 weeks ago. I was horribly nauseous for nearly 2 full weeks, anxious and wobbly. Seems to have settled now, thank goodness. I nearly packed them in after the first 10 days.

madmissy · 16/07/2009 17:49

im also on sertraline as that was safest for me being pg... i however have been told to take before lunchtime pref in the morning so maybe slight difference there?

mine do make me feel sick too and i seem to get very bad headaches at the moment.

i have depression and anxiety problems and the other problems that you have described other than the sickness are all very common symptomns of anxiety so i think that maybe causing that. is that something that you have discussed?

it does take a while to settle on ad's im afraid..

this is my 3rd type of ad's i had to change from citalopram as i hit max dose and then was on mirtazapine but had to stop when i became pg.

the first time that i took ad's it took me a couple of weeks to get used to them and i felt bloody grotty on top of everything else

Ledodgy · 16/07/2009 17:51

When I was on setraline initially the dr told me to take them at night , I had horrid lucid dreams and felt horrible when I went back he apologised and said he shouldn't have told me to take them at night. I took them in the mornings after that and I was fine.

CarmelitaMiggs · 16/07/2009 17:59

Go back to your GP. I was also put on Sertraline for PND and it ramped up my anxiety levels something rotten. I came off it and went on dothiepin (aka dosulepin) and felt much better.
Are you b/feeding? Dothiepin fine if you are.

Original poster

pulapula · 16/07/2009 19:45

I think i might switch and take them in the mornings instead and see if that helps.

OP posts:

Original poster

pulapula · 16/07/2009 19:47

carmelita- yes I'm breastfeeding. I am booked to see my GP next Weds (2 weeks after starting the ADs) but I agree, i seem to be anxious every day now.

OP posts:

flatcapandpearls · 16/07/2009 19:57

It takes a few weeks in my experience. The only side effect that doesn't go away for me is the short term memory loss.

GeorgeTheSlitheen · 16/07/2009 20:02

I have been prescribed these but not quite worked up the guts to take them yet.

madmissy · 17/07/2009 09:31

george take the help they do come with side effects unfort most ads do but they will help you

Original poster

pulapula · 17/07/2009 09:40

I agree George- I was scared of taking them but my GP convinced me that they would really help, and i am feeling better today and hope the side effects are fading as my body adjusts to them.

OP posts:

phil2093 · 09/09/2012 16:30

hi
iv been on sertraline for 5 days i feel no anxiety which is the best but i feel nausea and get chronic headaches. i take the pill in the morning i hope i stop feeling like this soon any advice on how i can help get rid of it

orangeandlemons · 09/09/2012 19:46

6 weeks is how long they take fully. I have been on paroxetine for 7 weeks. Emotional side effects were still up and own inot week 6, but have stabilised now. The first 4 weeks were the worst, particularly weeks 2 and 4. So I would say stick with it.

shaky · 09/09/2012 22:02

I have recently started fluoxetine (about 6 weeks ago), I found the side effects absolutely dreadful.

I was nauseous, lightheaded, disorientated and exhausted, I felt like my head was going to fall off and all I wanted to do was lie down, I COULDN'T do anything else.

If I slept in the day I was wide awake at night so I started to take it at 8pm instead of in the morning so if it was going to make me feel wiped out at least it would be when I was sleeping. It does give me some freaky but realistic dreams though, the sort that you remember at lunch time and wonder if they are real or not. I had to ask my mum if a relative had really died because I really couldn't remember and I had dreamt hat he was still alive.

Totally fucked up my head it did.

Thankfully the side effects have now subsided, I can actually move now and have much more energy. I even managed to eat 3 meals yesterday for the first time in months. In the past 3 years my BMI has gone from 29 to 21 and not through dieting but from lack of appetite due to the depression. I can't actually remember the last time I enjoyed a meal.

I have been on the fluoxetine for 6 weeks now and I'm starting to see a glimpse of the person I used to be, I'm really looking forward to feeling better.

When I had been on meds for 2 weeks and went back to the gp because I felt so ill, I thought that it couldn't possibly be normal to feel this unwell. I was very tempted to change the medication but didn't want to go through it again acclimatising to new meds if there was a chance that I may feel better soon. I'm glad I persevered but it took quite a long time, feeling much better but not yet strong enough to get back to work. (there is no way I could have worked when I first started taking them, I felt so ill I thought I would crash the car).

I think I just need a couple more weeks and I will be ready to go back, just not right now.

Sorry for the very long post, I hope it helps and I really hope you feel better soon x

hungoverandembarrassed · 09/09/2012 22:07

I was started on citalopram, but then switched to fluoxetine and found the side effects much more tolerable and they soon faded to nothing, and after a couple if weeks their good effects kicked in and I felt so much better. Is there any particular reason you are on sertraline? It is the safest one if you are pg or bfing, and it is also good if you have a lot of anxiety along with your depression. If there is no special reason you are on it, why not see of you can try something else if you can't tolerate it? Or if there is a particular reason, I would recommend hanging on if you can because ime the side effects do subside reasonably quickly. Hope you feel better soon.

shaky · 09/09/2012 22:20

I agree with hungover, I went back to see my gp after 2 weeks and we decided to give it another 2 weeks before we changed the medication.

I think it helps to have a time limit in your head, (eg if I still feel like shit in 2 weeks I'm changing meds). I really wasn't sure if the way I was feeling was normal or I wasn't tolerating the meds, im glad I stuck with it. BUT when I felt ill I felt like 2 weeks was a lifetime.

phil2093 · 09/09/2012 23:44

i was on fluoxetine for 1 year and they help so much for my depression the only side effect i had was muscle pazzem around my eye but that last 2 weeks all good now. i was in a state before now im doing fine just got to beat down the anxiety. but this is mainy because im starting uni

shaky · 09/09/2012 23:54

Yay, well donephil! Thats fantastic!

B1ueberry · 10/09/2012 00:03

I was on them 12 years ago (lustral). They gave me diarrhoea and I faded away nearly but I DID feel better.

RagingDull · 10/09/2012 00:10

i couldnt take sertraline - i gave up and never went back to gp though and i feel i dont need ADs anyway.....but i tried to take them and found the side effects just disabled me. i felt drunk, sick and whoozy. there is no way i could have worked on them, so i stopped them. no idea if i did right but im managing without.

shaky · 10/09/2012 00:22

ragingbull that exactly how I felt, it was like the worlds worst hangover but still pissed if that makes sense,.
I couldn't drive because I didnt feel safe. Iwas convinced I would crash the car.

I wanted to die but ddnt want to kill myself, I wanted someone to do it for me....
It is now seeing those thoughts in black and white has made me realise how poorly i have been. And how much better the meication has made me feel

Dubai2012 · 09/07/2013 04:31

hi all,

I have been on see trailing for the last 2 years and citalopram for 5 years prior due to GAD . Having not long moved to Dubai managed to reduce my dose from 150mg ( upped for making the transition ) back down t 50mg. the problem is I have been lax n taking the medication daily.....secretly thought I could stop. but as trip home planned and know travel is a trigger I started taking daily again since last Friday ( now day 5). for off how horrendous the side effects where when first starting. Having waves of hot flushes, feel sick and anxiety has increased!! Also have propranolol 40mg to use as required. Waking and first few hours definitely the worst and usually feel more like myself by late morning and then back to normal b the evening. I take my medicstionfirst thing to avoid sleep issues. also have no appetite. Just looking for some reassurance that this is short term and due to restart of mess ( properly!)? I have a 5 and 2 year old and keys I know I have been stupid!!

Dubai2012 · 09/07/2013 04:32

that should have read Sertraline

Dubai2012 · 09/07/2013 06:48

Having just re read my previous post.....sincere apologies for many a typo....intuitive text on iPad to blame and not taking the time to proof before posting!! too busy sorting kids!!Really the whole thing should say I have been an idiot thinking that I could stop my medication ...although wasn't all entirely a conscious decision rather that I felt well and forget about 3 days in a trot and the didnt feel an different. anyway, lesson learned that I will Probably be on this medication forever....and that to stop and then restart is really a nightmare. how long does it take for initial sides effects to go...previous experience is it took about 1 week and the fact that by mid morning it seems to go bar a few waves of anxiety surely is a good thing?? just can't face food though but when I d eat it does make me feel better....viscious circle. am worried as my husband will be in dubai for 5 weeks and me at my parents with the children.....anxious about being apart from him for his length of time having never done it really wish could stop worrying about what ifs! Weird thing is I had 2 weeks if a nightmare time anxiety wise when we decided to move to Dubai and now I am anxious about going home....so not rationale! anyway, so for venting but any ideas or feedback would be great! :(

Katharine1977 · 09/02/2016 21:21

Hi all, I'm on day 14 taking 25mg sertraline. Have suffered with gad for over 4 years now and throuout this time I have tried lots of ad but never really stuck with any as I was in such a bad place I couldn't stand the side effects. i haven't tried any ads for a long time but have realised I need to bite the bullet and do something about it. Anyway....I haven't cried since I have started taking them (can't believe it as this was happening nearly all the time) thoughts of suicide etc, and I have stopped sweating at night which was causing me lots of distress as felt bad in the day and constantly waking throughout the night. 24 hour shitiness! I do however feel woozy/drunk/muggy headed, mainly in the afternoon. When I feel like this I just feel like I have to sit down and basically rest. Not easy when your husbands away with work for over a week and you still have a 5 and 8 yr old to consider, although I'm sure their are many more out there with the same issues! its so nice to hear all the positive comments that people have posted and just hope I can be one of them in s few weeks time. I'm going to stick with it and see where it takes me. Sorry for long post but I think I may need some reassurance??

Doreen1234 · 24/11/2016 08:09

I am in my second week on 100mg, first week 50mb. I feel absolutely washed out, sick feeling although not being sick, sweaty hands, lethargic, and generally feeling unwell. I am at a crossroads, should I stick or cut my losses !! I am getting terrible heartburn, and pains in my stomach and back, but I am unsure if this is the Sertraline. I had my gall bladder removed 12 months ago. I have been diagnosed with Health Anxiety. I have been reading the posts and can relate to a lot of them, think I am just looking for reassurance.

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