Antidepressants sertraline

[Kelbel1102]

Hi, hoping for some encouragement / success stories of sertraline because I feel like giving up. I came off citalophram and went straight onto sertraline 50mg nearly 6 weeks ago, 6 days ago I went to 100 mg. What a rollercoaster!!!! Intrusive thoughts, worse depressed mood, anxiety, low mood, and now I feel distant, detached from the world, like its a dream, wierd. Is there any time still for it to get better or should it be stopped now?

My son was on Citalopram, 40mg, then onto Sertraline. He felt much worse on that, and after a few weeks he saw the GP again and was taken off that and put onto MIRTAZAPINE. He's been on that for about 9 months and feels "normal" again, he says.

Sorry to pop your bubble but it made me doubly suicidal, so I went cold turkey after a couple of months. & that was on the lowest dose.

OP sertraline was the best thing that ever happened to me.

However, everyone is different. Please go back to your gp and tell her/him how you are feeling. Xxx

I would call your GP tomorrow morning. I am in no way a qualified professional but I can share with you my experience with sertraline.

I was put on the lowest dose of 50 mg sertraline about 2 years ago, I was feeling very low with lots of horrible intrusive thoughts so needed medication as I didn't feel there was an end to me feeling that way without some.

The first four weeks of me taking sertraline were absolute hell, my intrusive thoughts were worse, actually they became urges as well, I couldn't sleep although I was exhausted, when I eventually did sleep I was having horrific nightmares, I felt sick to my stomach, I couldn't eat. I ended up round at my ex partners house holding my head in my hands saying that I was losing my mind and to take me to the hospital. Everyone kept telling me to give it time, it takes time for it to work.

I stuck it out, into the 5th week I did start to feel better, sleeping better and intrusive thoughts weren't as intense. By week 8 is definitely when I started to feel the benefits, the world suddenly didn't seem so scary and dark, the cloud started to life cliche as that sounds. And from then on things just got better and better. That's not to say I didn't have my off days but the good certainly outweighed them. I still had (and still do) have some intrusive thoughts, but they don't bother me as I almost learn to laugh at them now, they no longer give me that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I was only on sertraline for 8 months, and I honestly think it was a huge help on getting me back on track. I weaned myself off them about 1 year ago and I have had ups and downs since then but have managed to deal with my episodes of low moods and anxiety and it's nice to know if things were ever to get so bad again, I can go back on it.

Certainly for me sertraline worked, but it really did take about 8 weeks, so if you could possibly stick with it until then? Once again though, you should definetely let your doctor know how you are feeling as this is just my experience and no one is the same.

If sertraline is not for you, there are plenty of other meds to try and one will be right for you, so please don't feel too discouraged, I know it's horrible but please hang in there. It does get better.

Hugs xx

It's a normal things with all antidepressants for things to get worse before they get better as they can take anything from a few days to several weeks for them to take effect. Upping the dosage can sometimes make the side effects worse again. However, not everyone gets on the same with antidepressants so definitely discuss with your GP whether to wait a bit longer for them to work or swap to a different one.

I have extreme anxiety which causes me to be agoraphobic. I've been on Sertraline for about a month now and I've walked 20 minutes away from my house :) so I optimistic about it x

SSRI’s are not for everyone. They make me suicidal and exacerbate my MH issues. I had success with venlafixine and then amytriptaline, but now on a combo of venlafaxine and mirtazipine which is just about perfect for me. I’m not sure why but SSRI’s are the first line of treatement for GPS but if it’s not working go back and insist on trying something from another group. You don’t need to suffer like this.

I'm so worried this numbness won't go

I've been on it for 3 months and the 'detached' feeling is starting to get better. Anxiety wise it's the best thing that's happened to me! Even the explosive diarrhoea is getting better now..
Speak to your GP but it will probably get better.

Have a discussion with your GP about whether you need to be on the 100mg rather than the 50mg.