2 months on sertraline. "Anxiety"

hi tracy, i'm supprised you are on 25mg are you cutting them in half ,50mg is a tester dose, but it works differently with each person, the problem is your mind, and if your worrying about takeing 50mg then it most likely will make you feel ill,so some do cut them in half, however the rule of thumb is that 100mg is like a placebo effect and most doctors will try and get you onto that in time,unless you have health issues which wont allow it, i doubt anything less than 50mg will cure your anxiety , but again the mind is  very cleaver and can convince you differently.the only time i would reccomend dose so low is when your coming off the tablet and that can easily take 3 months to do it right , which is something you will be doing once you get better,it's a catch 22 situation, example taking more than 3 headache tablets within 1 week can actually cause headaches mmm. so you have to set the balance which suits each individual person, personnally it would be 50mg for at least 1 month and then 100mg or if you prefer 75mg for 2 weeks and then 100mg, you may get a little nausea for you for a few days but nothing like in the beggining, take care

hi, just one thing , are you eating ok ?

Hi Wayne,

The reason I started on 25 mg is bc I have tried 3 different antidepressants and they all made me nauseous and vomit and increased me anxiety even more then I already had I couldn't cope so i would stop them never getting better and this has been going on for 2 months now. My doctor told me I had to suffer through the side effects and pick the one I could tolerate the most or I would continue to feel this way. She said starting me at the lowest dose would lessen the side effects since I was sensitive to medications and even at that dose I was nauseous and vomitting for the first 5 days. Today my anxiety is quite bad. I want t9 increase bc I want to feel better I can't take this anymore I am just wondering if it's too early where I'm still having the increased anxiety and will I be vomitting again with the increase

I am not eating the best I have completely lost my appetite and almost 15 lbs since the anxiety started again. I try to eat what I can when taking the medication so its not on an empty stomach to decrease the nausea but it has been really bad. It takes me like a half an hour of gagging to eat a piece of toast. This has really taken a toll on me this time it hit harder then ever and I have never felt so bad.

hi tracy,

​nausea is the most common symptom of most meds, for example, what do you do if your going for a job interview, most times it makes you nausea, same goes with many things in life that causes your anxiety to rise and then causes nausea, if you are actually being sick then your doc is right and she is taking care with your meds, however from what i read you have now been taking the AD's  for 2 months ? or did you have breaks .also

​your body needs the right care and not just meds, water for one , make sure your drinking your dailey amount , food , even if it's is small amounts often, all this will  easy your anxiety, sertraline is aweful for the first cple of weeks , can be longer, i know it's awefull but if you dont fight the symptoms and you stop the meds, you could be getting nowhere, which seems to be whats happening here, we all have to get past the initial stages and it can be done, but help your body and it will help your condition, if your not eating ask your doc if you can  try ensure plus drinks on prescription, or off fleabay, they have all the vitamins to keep you going, dry toast in the morning can help with any nausea, but so can pepto bismol, if you came off your meds before due to the side effects, then you are intensifying the thought process and making yourself over worry again, a very high percentage come out feeling very well indead from taking there meds correctly and for the right period of time,it's not easy but you will get there , like many have done.  take care

 

Hi Wayne,

I am only on day 7 of sertraline 25 mg. I have been having bad anxiety and panic attacks bow for 2 months and over the 2 months have tried 3 d8fferebt antidepressants that I would stop after 5 days bc I couldn't handle the side effects. The anxiety panic depression was so bad I couldn't function at all and then with the medication making it even worse I couldn't cope. It got so bad I felt like I was dying and going crazy so I went to the hospital last week. They told me to go on either prozac or sertraline and stick with it suffer through the side effects and gave me Ativan to take until it gets in my system I was so desperate not to feel like this so I stuck with it for a week now but my anxiety is still quite bad.

hi tracy

​i wont lie to you, you will go through hell, but it is worth it, not sure about sensitive to the drug, i personally think your struggling too much with the meds and regardless of the med you take , your mind could be causing you the worst symptoms, many of us on here all have the feeling of doom think there dying and can;t go on, but you have to, i did and so have many others and here we are helping others with this terrible condition.do you have family who understand what your going throu, so please keep going,your not alone

Hi Wayne,

I have family bit they don't have anxiety/depression at all and they don't understand the least bit. Whenever I'm crying out for help asking them if they have ever felt a certain sensation ache or pain they just tell me to stop. But I can't stop it's very real snd scary for me and it is hell to have to live like this everyday.

hi tracy

​i would sit them down and let them read some of these stories , i did and it worked wonders, they now totally understand and they could not beleive what anxiety could cause.hospital have already given you a diagnosis so it's a matter of calming down go with it and start to get better, you will eventually get there. 

Do you get alot of physical symptoms with your anxiety like weakness feeling ? It's the physical symtpoms that affect me the most and send me into a panic. If I didn't have those I could probably get a hold on this. Every little ache pain or sensation and I'm convinced it's serious and into a panic.

To be honest it's mostly mental. My physical ones are. Heart racing hand and andrenaline that in turn make the mind race. My mind basically races all day every day. When I upped the dosage to 100 I had a full day without anxiety and it was amazing a huge weight lifted from me but it soon went again.

Like unsay though I don't get more mental sides so it's maybe a little easier to handle.

hi tracy

hows this for symptoms and i had them all

neause

elbow pains

finger pains

earache

nausea that was the worst

​stomach pains

burps, wind

eye focus

dizzy was very bad

too weak to leave bed for 4 weeks

​low BP when i stood up

the list goes on and on

and now all gone so i hope that helps you to know i was suffering so bad lol.

​time is a healer, take care

Hi Wayne ,

I haven't been out of bed hardly in 2 months except to go to the dr. I have no energy and feel weak and like there is no end to this 8n sight. I'm having shoulder and arm pain bc I'm so tense I automatically tense my right shoulder up to my chin and that feels normal to me. I can't get rid of the tension. It's affecting my arm and hand

I haven't been out of bed hardly in 2 months except to go to the dr. I have no energy and feel weak and like there is no end to this 8n sight. I'm having shoulder and arm pain bc I'm so tense I automatically tense my right shoulder up to my chin and that feels normal to me. I can't get rid of the tension. It's affecting my arm and hand

hi tracy

the reason you feel weak is most likely due to the prolong bed rest, we are designed to stand and not spend too much time laying down, the more time in bed causes symptoms like hypertension, dizzy when you stand, shakey legs and feeling like you want to fall down, your BP will most likley drop when you stand up and then you may start to get the little dots in your eyes darting around and also feeling faint, all these are very easy to correct but first you need to sit up and not lie down, even when sleeping try and raise your head slightly,

​i know you want to get better but you have to help yourself , i know its tough trust me i have been there, Bed rest in combination with the stress of illness are associated with increased risk for various mental health and cognitive issues, including anxiety, depression, irritability, apathy, sleep disturbances and confusion.

Many of these ill effects can be greatly reduced by short spells of mild activity – every little bit helps, even if only getting up to walk a few steps every day. Some exercises can even be done while lying down, if you aren’t yet able to stand easily. trust me try sitting in arm chair or sit right up in bed and try a few walks if possible.

​presently you have spent 2 months in bed i too did this and i couldn't even get down stairs, i had to do something about it, and each day i forced myself to go downstairs on my backside and into the garden, there i would cry and hold my head in my hands and think why me, i kept this up and continued with my meds and then each week it started to get better, honestly look after your body and it will look after you, you could have arm pain for weeks or it could subside in a few days, i had elbow pain and thought i had a desease, the worst thing you can do, if your doc has done checks , like blood, ecg, xray, and then put you on AD then you have no need to worry, there proffesionals and understand what to look for on your tests, relax and try and enjoy life and dissmiss your symptoms work with them and push them to one side,and if they make you cry then let it all out, i can gaurantee you that you will feel fine after a few mins. take care