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Antidepressant side effects - pls help!!

Posted , 5 users are following.

helen23957
helen23957

Hi all,

really hoping for some reassurance and hope...

ive been battling depression and anxiety since Aug 2014, so 2 long years. It's been a living hell at times.

i had been on venlafaxine for about 10 years previously and as this obviously wasn't working the shrink changed me over to sertraline gradually increasing the dose to 150mg.  If nothing else I was relieved to be off the venlafaxine so was willing to stick with the sertraline so initially I overlooked the Side effects hoping that they'd disappear after a few weeks.

ive now been on 150mg of sertraline for nearly 5 months, and I'm still having a bag full of side effects which are really distressing and unrelenting. These are, jaw ache, tinnitus, neck pain, constantly pressure and tension in the head as well as blurry vision. I'm sure there are others, but these are causing me the most problems. My mood has also plummeted and my anxiety is through the roof. I'm terrified that I'll have these awful symptoms for the rest of my life and I can't cope!! No doubt I'll have to change meds again, so I'm really stressing that I'll never get better and now I have a load of physical symptoms to contend with.

I would love to hear from anybody that can relate to my problems. I'm going to see my GP today, but I'm not optimistic.

sending all best wishes and thank you for reading.

xxxx

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • a-new-day
    a-new-day helen23957

    Posted

    hello helen, so just to confirm, you were on venlafaxine for 10 years and it was good for about 8 years (no side effects etc?) but then since august 2014 it stopped working/didnt help you anymore?

    you have certainly given sertraline a great try (5 months), it's very unlucky that your body has not gotten used to sertraline and those side effects have not eased (if you are sure they are all directly related to taking sertraline).

    i don't know what country you are in, but it might be a good idea to try a different type of antidepressant rather than the usual ssri's.   if you are in the usa (or some other countries, but not the uk...here it is not perscribed); you could try the antidepressant called bupropion (wellbutrin), which works in a different way, and you might find that you don't get all of those side effects on buproprion.  another med you might get on with is called mirtazapine, which is also a bit different in the way it works compared to other ssri's.  personally i would try one of those two meds, (perhaps write their names down and take them to your doctor, and see what he/she has to say).

    do let us know what you decide to do, and i hope it is not too long before you are back on track and feeling better

    • helen23957
      helen23957 a-new-day

      Posted

      Thank you so much for your reply, you're very kind ??

      I will certainly mention those meds to the doctor and let you know how I go. Xxxxx

  • alan56015
    alan56015 helen23957

    Posted

    Don't worry I have exactly the same symptons. Been on 100mg for 3 months and although I must admit my racing thoughts are less, I'm left with those awful physical symptoms. I wasn't sure if the medication calmed my anxiety and depression and brought out my real problem as something physical. I have always thought I have a physical problem that is causing a & d. I have an appointment with my GP on Thursday to change meds and am tapering of now. Please let me know what you do. My head feels like it's in a vice!

  • jay98357
    jay98357 helen23957

    Posted

    Hello Helen. I feel your pain. I can't come t on your previous meds but u can comment on Sertaline. I have had anxiety for 28 years now and it's such a burdon. In the early day of my panics, anxiety, depressing and agoraphobia I went through a list of ads.. nothing helped.. so I gave up and tried so many different techniques. I found reading about anxiety and other people's tips helped. Through this time I did work and also made myself live as normal as I could ie going on holiday etc. Even though inside I was a wreck.. Thinking I was going mad, going to have a stroke etc.

    Anyway after years of a break from meds i got so bad that I had to seek help again and here I am. I am on week 7 of sertaline and its been one rocky road. Some days I feel good and some days not so good. I find I go through my days and just try take each hour by hour. When I feel anxious I try relax.. kindda hard when o work from home and have a young family but hey I'm still alive.

    I think these meds take about three months according to my doc so I guess we all have to just support each other

    Good luck x

  • pam80844
    pam80844 helen23957

    Posted

    Dear Helen.

    Poor you! All these symptoms and your doc just upping them all the time. Personally I'd have stopped at 50my and told your doc that u wanted something else, but hindsight is a great thing and we all rely on our docs to do the right thing by us.

    My rheumatologist said I could go from 50 to 100mg but one of the 'good doctors' at my surgery said no when I asked to be upped. Instead I was referred to a specialist nurse run pain clinic.

    I really hope you had some joy today with ure doctor.

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