Posted , 5 users are following.
hi guys, i have been on sertraline for 6 weeks in total. 3 on 50mg and 3 on 100mg. was starting to make real improvement especially on 100mg but past few days have been very difficult. low mood but main thing is increased anxiety again and intrusive thoughts. Hoping this is just a blip as ot can take months ive heard for it to work. newd a little reassurance, thanks
0 likes, 6 replies
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richard30560 Nervous12
Edited
Hi. It will definitely get better long term. mine was the same....took ages of feeling better one day then not so much the next. hang on in there and just keep telling yourself it's merely a chemical adjustment in your brain taking place - nothing more.
Nervous12 richard30560
Posted
hi, thanks for the reply. Did you feel this way whenever you increased your dose too? Can i ask what dose you are on and for how long? thanks for the encouragement
heather2774 Nervous12
Edited
at that stage its normal to have a good then a bad your good will be great then next day real bad.
its just the levels not settled fully yet , but the fact you have random good days is showing promising signs , took 7-8 weeks for me to have contininuis days with no anxiety or racing thoughts on 100 mg , i then upped to 150 and for the first time did not have any side effects upping the dose , ive stopped at 150 as i have had several months really good now
keep your chin up as for 5 whole weeks when i started on 50 then went to 100 i had awful side effects of insomnia , racing anxiety , hallucinations,lost several stone with no appetite ,brain jolts just when i was dosing off like an electric shock in your brain
So my point is there is light at the end of the tunnel hang in there ,i felt like stopping it every day for 5 weeks ,be determined and stay strong !
Nervous12 heather2774
Posted
thanks so much for taking the time to reply and share your experience. it's a lonely journey and hard to explain to family etc. On the bad days, its hard to keep pushing on and believe that you actually will get better but i would try anything to stop racing, irrational thoughts ans anxiety and depression
GodsServant Nervous12
Posted
It takes awhile for sertraline to work. There are 2 things you have to work with. First you have to get the right dosage and then you have to give it up to 3 months, or sometimes even more, at the RIGHT dosage for it to work.
So, some people say, "I've been on this at 25mg for 4 weeks, 50mg for 4 weeks and 100mg for 4 weeks, so that's 3 months total, but it's not working, so I need to find a new med." This is wrong. In order to find out if the med works, you'd have to stay on 100mg for up to even 12 weeks. I hope this makes sense. You will sense that this med is right for you when you start having good days interrupted by bad days, which is what you described here. I noticed sometimes when it starts to work, your feelings are all over the place. You're up and the down. This is because this med hasn't reached a level in your system yet. Also, this med works on reducing your anxiety first, so that's another sign, if you feel less anxious. It takes longer, much longer, to help with the depression side. It took me around the 5-6 month mark to see and feel the sun.
I hope this helps. I know this period is hard and the worst, wondering if this is the right med for you.
But hang it there and prayers coming your way.
sandi77808 Nervous12
Posted
It definitely takes a while. When I was caring for my daughter when she went through this, this post from Kate from this forum really gave me hope because I kept wondering if the med was every going to kick in with her but in the end, Kate nailed it - my daughter's journey exactly mirrored what Kate describes here (this is her second post with a link to her first):
Hi everyone,
For those of you who haven't followed my posts this has been my second time on sertraline and I can finally 13 weeks later say it has worked again 😃
Check out my first success story post for more detailed information:
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/13-weeks-on-sertraline-my-success-story--540558
both times I have been on this medication it has taken 12-13 weeks to feel better. I was off work for 3 months and have now gone back and have been fine.
Doctors will say 6-8 weeks but with my experiences I still felt awful then. Please try and stick with it and perservere it is so worth it.