Sertaline

[Ns1234]

Hi.

I am currently 18 weeks pregnant and struggling with severe anxiety . I have been given sertaline . Does anybody have any experience on how long it takes to work.

Hi @Ns1234 - I haven't taken it in pregnancy but did a few years ago for depression/anxiety. If I remember correctly I think I noticed a slight difference within about 5 days plus some small side effects which wore off within a fortnight, e.g. tight jaw and increased saliva, lovely!

Hope you start to feel better soon

Hi.

Thank you so much for getting back to me. If you don't mind me asking what dose were you on I'm currently on 50mg and am unsure whether I need to increase. Xx

I’m sorry, I can’t remember the dosage. How long have you been taking it for? I think it can take a couple of weeks to work for some people.
I’d try speaking to your GP, there may be an upper dose limit they’d like you to stick with during pregnancy. I think some people are put on lower doses such as 25mg so 50mg should hopefully do something to help you.
I know it can feel desperate when you are really anxious. Do reach out to your doctor again if you need to, they’ll want to know how you’re getting on. And I hope you have some support from family, partner, friends? Take good care of yourself.

Hi.

Yeah I think I will discuss with the doctor about increasing it . It has been two weeks since I have been taking it 25mg for the first week and then 50mg for the second week .

Usually about a month but some people find it's sooner. Many people feel worse before they feel better on sertraline - look after yourself. 50mg is still a low dose so talk to your GP if you need to.

The doctor told me it can take 3-4 weeks to start taking effect but I was feeling the benefits after about 10 days. I didn't have any side effects either.

I was on 50mg and the doctor said that often the low dose is most effective (obviously his is person dependent). I never needed to increase the dose. Give it a chance to get into your system. I'd tried various different anxiety meds and sertraline was the only one that made any difference for me x