5 days on Sertraline and feeling low :(

no problem, we are here to help and give support when it's needed, god knows i've needed it enough times in the past. you might feel a bit "away with it" for a few days yes but also that will pass.  training is the best thing i find for cheering myself up, but it's the initial getting there that gets me when i feel crappy, i usually eat my sorrows with a huge chocolate bar and then train it off the next day!! :-)

 

haha, you cant beat a good old chocy bar when you feel down in the dumps. I havnt told a single person I know I am taking anti depressants, mainly because I dont want friends or family to worry / I am a very proud guy and don't want people to judge me :S . Where you very open about taking them ginge?

hiya frankyjez,

i don't have any choice apart from talk about it, i'm such an open book that my family and friends can tell straight away when there is something wrong with me, i usually go very withdrawn and quiet which isn't like me at all!!  and half my family have the same problem as me, my mum and dad have both suffered from this in earlier life, my dad still does from time to time and my nephew has acute phyzcitophrenia so he's in and out of rehab all the time, he's only 20. such a shame, the past 3 years have been hell for him, so i count my lucky stars.

i've have on and off periods of depression all through my adult life and never really managed it properly until now............i'm sure people wouldn't judge you for being on these meds, i bet half on them have taken AD in the past anyway!! it's more comon than we can imagine, people just don't talk about it because of the stigma attached to it unfortunately.  i talk openly about the depression and the meds because i have to, i know it's part of my life that i have to manage on a day to day basis, i know i have to live with it and i have to deal with it on a day to day basis as well. it's just part of my makeup and it was hard going accepting that, it was my enemy for so many years. I'm not the type of person that keeps things in, if i've got a problem, people can tell straight away with me.

i'll tell you one thing though, sertraline has helped me so much over the past year and a half i can't tell you. nothing horrible has happened during this time, just been really bad with my depression but the past month or so, i've been back to being me again, and that makes me :-) been a long time coming !!

 

ah fair enough then. I'm only 23 and alot of my friends are quite immature so I might keep it on the down low for the time being.

Tonights been the first time I have felt more with it - which is good. Will set the alarm now for tomorrow so will see if I can actually get outside at a reasonable hour - not wake up and have to go back to sleep until 3.00 :S. 

Depression is so strange, I have no reason to be 'depressed' but i have been for years. Really hoping these kick in and help me the same way they have helped you

morning frankyjez,

as long as you follow the doctors advice and stick with your meds, try and take them at the same time every day so your body gets used to them being taken at that time, this will help to stabilize them in your system, drink lots of water with them and keep a mood diary. i know it sounds a bit mad but it helped me loads, i was all over the place when i started taking my meds, one day up, 3 down, 2 up, 5 down and all that. didn't know if i was coming or going, my head was in bits, but i started marking off my "sh*tty days" (bad) and my "bonzer days" (good) on the calendar and month by month my "bonzer days" started getting more frequent and its kind of comforting to see actually down on paper that i'm improving.  last month for eg, i had only 2 sh*tty days and the rest were all good days, i didn't mark off the good ones, just the bad and then i could see how much i'd improved!! good luck with it, and you don't have to have any reason to be depressed really, it just happens to some of us. hope you start feeling better again soon and if you can't talk to anyone in the real world, keep on here in the zyber and we can help you through it :-) take it easy buddy :-)

 

well i've just typed out an entire reply and it got deleted because i used a word i shouldn't..........really!! lol.............just keep taking the meds and try a mood diary, it's amazing how comforting it is to see the months going by and how your improving each month, don't get me wrong, you WILL have up and down days, until the meds are fully in your system, what dosage are you on again?? i started on 50mg and 11 months later i'm on 150mg and it's the best dosage for me by far. glad to hear your feeling better buddy, you know you'll always get support off coming on here and try and take your meds at the same time every single day if you can with plenty of water, this will help regulate the levels in your system and your body will get used to it being taken at the same time every day and hopefully they will settle better for you :-) depression is a strange one, affects the people you least expect it to !!  take it easy and keep in touch  

 

I can see the previous message as well mate . Thanks for the advice!! Feeling pretty good today and I'm about to go train in the gym! I'm on the 50 mg and seeing my doctor again in 2 weeks, probably to go up to 100mg?

How long do people usually go on them before coming off as well?  

Off to the gym now, first time I would have left the flat for 3/4 days :O  

 

that's great news to hear you're feeling better!! glad you're getting out and about, and the gym is good for releasing happy endorpines into your body anyway so nice one.  i don't know, i guess it depends how you are feeling on them when you go and see your doctor i suppose. you will still have your up and down days so just keep an eye on how your feeling, i wouldn't drink for the fist 2-3 weeks either, that can make your depression worse.

i don't know how long people stay on them for before coming off them, that isn't even on my radar that anyway!! lol.  have a good sesh!!!

 

Hi sorry to bother you... how do you feel now... I think my doctors going to put me on them and im panicing because of the side effects x

Hey man, So my mood over the weekend has been ok, still feel a bit lethargic though and not great. Friday night i couldnt sleep untill 5.30am and woke up at 9.30am feeling wide awake - this is very unlike me, I would usually sleep untill 12 + and would be tired through out the day. I also had a huge urge to eat a feast of snack in the kitchen at 5am..... I ate 3 kitkats, a pack on jellies, crisps and some crumpets. I never crave food like this which was also strange to me. My head when trying to sleep was in a very odd place, it was thinking about a million things and i couldnt focus on what i was thinking about which leads me to last nights sleep which was horrendous.

The same thing was going on where my brain was working at a million mile per hour, I was neither awake or asleep and it was quite distressing which led into a panic attack (which ive only had a couple times - both drink/drug related)... I couldnt even feel my heart beat which was odd because the previous panic attacks felt like my heart was going to explode.... I also had the worst pain in my stomach I have ever felt - felt very sick yet i had another urge to go to the kitchen and eat a load of snacks like the previous friday night. I lay in bed again afterwards feeling ill and all over the place but finally fell asleep at around 4. 

Woke up this morning inwhich I had been looking forward to productive day but felt terrible and really down....

It seemed odd last night that I had a panic attack because I remember before trying to sleep i lay there feeling quite positive and optimistic about the future and felt the worst of the side effects were over. Then after the 'trippyness' of my brain working at a strange rate must have bought on the panic.... Did you have any of this man? Please help

Im going to be honest with you and has been really bad for me. But im hoping its all going to pay off and i will be seeing some positive results in the near future. Read the comment below to see how ive been getting on during the nights :S... have u taken any medication for depression / anxiety befire? 

sounds like your really struggling at the moment.  the only advice i can give you is try and stay calm, i know it's easy to say than do, and i know that these side effects/mood changes are all new to you.  what about going to the doctors and asking for something to help you sleep. sleep deprivation is the worst thing in the world for depression and anxiety sufferers.  i'm really bad if i don't get enough sleep and i need a good solid 8 hrs plus every night, otherwise i'm ratty and moody and get down really easily.  my apetite was surpressed when i started taking it, i've lost well over a stone and whatever i eat i just stay the same.  the only time i feel odd or out of sorts, extra hungry or pains in my stomache is when i'm due for my lady time and my emotional state changes, no where near like it used to, i used to be horrible and felt horrible. 

i would go to your doctor franky and see if they can help you with the no sleeping and maybe give you some prozac to calm you when you feel panicky, i have a friend at work that is on the same medication as us and he struggled with very bad anxiety for the first few weeks of being on it and the doctor gave him prozac, i've pinched one or two off him also in the past.  i know what you mean though, you try and force yourself to sleep and it just makes things worse, if i'm really tired and am falling asleep but just not quite there, i get shocks in my legs and twitches and it's a horrible feeling, feels like electric shocks up and down my legs.

try to get into your doctors as soon as you can and let me know how you are please :-)

 

I had actually replied to that but for some reason it didnt actually send, thanks again. Think the the side effects are going away which is good. Are you still taking Sertraline?

 

well that sounds good, you will still have up and down days though at the beginning, having said that, everyone is different aren't they, with a bit of luck they will just settle into your system with no further side effects.  yes i am still takng it, 150mg every morning and i will be doing for the foreseable, i've only just got back to normal :-)