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Anxiety worse than before dose increase. 6 weeks on!

Posted , 4 users are following.

liz69189
liz69189

hello,

i've been on sertraline for years and it has always worked well for me. i recently went through a rough time and increased my dose from 100 to 150. i feel so much worse, and still so after around 6 weeks. i feel horribly anxious (was feeling more depressed/down than anxious when i upped my dose) and my heart is racing. i'm jumpy as hell and feel dizzy/wobbly. has anyone else experienced this? i'm wondering if its just too much for me or that i my body didnt need the dosage increase. i alsp have this weird bitter taste in my mouth continually, even on the lower dose. anyone relate?

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • deblou45
    deblou45 liz69189

    Posted

    hi not the same drug but i am on citlapram and 40mg was not working i was weaning down to 30mg to come off and start SETRALINE but i aurprisngly feel better so maybe the dose is too high?

  • JusKeepBreathin
    JusKeepBreathin liz69189

    Posted

    This is happening to me, too. I was on 50mg for 13 weeks. I was really feeling pretty good, but complained to my doctor of some breakthrough anxiety. I was curious what upping to 100 would do for me. I wanted to increase at 4 weeks on but my doctor said wait a bit. So, I waited. Then at 13 weeks we upped it. Yep, terrible idea. Now I'm regretting it. It put me in a tailspin! I started it on a Tuesday and by Sunday I was just an anxiety-ridden mess. I had that lump in my throat feeling back, felt completely agitated, panicked for no reason. I felt like my chest was on fire! Monday night I had horrible insomnia, fighting thoughts that I was going to die in my sleep. By Tuesday night, one week in, I had a legit panic attack -- chest/throat tightness, freaking out, could have sworn I was having a heart attack. I was a minute away from telling my husband we had to call an ambulance. I breathed through it and calmed down somehow. The next morning, I immediately went back to 50mg. I've been back to 50mg for 2 days now and while I don't feel 100% back to how I felt before, I'm hoping I will soon. I'm really mad at myself for putting myself through this when I was feeling for the most part pretty good. I'm scared I've triggered myself and now I'm never going to feel as good as I did on 50. Ugh. So, I guess all I have to say is.... beware of a dose increase!

  • Potatoghost
    Potatoghost liz69189

    Posted

    hi liz hope you are feeling a little better. I experienced something pretty similar when I was on citalopram.

    my advise would be give it another week or so and if you dont improve it might be worth popping down to a lower dose that worked for you previously.

    it's worth giving it a go, it could well be that your dose is too high, orbit could be it needs more time to settle.

    let us know how you get on x

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