Beginning week 6 on Sertaline. Should I try something new?
Posted , 5 users are following.
Tonight marks the beginning of week 6 on Sertraline and I have to say that at this point I'm getting very discouraged. Woke up again today with very high anxiety and very low mood. I've had a few good days but they seem to be fading at this point. Waking up like this on day 35 has me wondering if I should try something new. I am getting the feeling that Sertraline may not work for me. I'm getting tired of asking for reassurance as I thought that by now, the med should have kicked in. (Start of week 6). Does anybody think that it's time for me to throw in the towel on Sertraline and try taking a new route? Trying so hard to stay positive, but it's getting very hard to do.
0 likes, 26 replies
mariah69970 Groc69
Posted
What dose are you on?
My doc told me when I first started that it takes around 6-8 weeks for the full effect. I have seen on many forums that it can take up to 12 weeks for full effect as well.. I would give it a few more weeks to see how you feel.
It wasn't until this week (week 7 on increase, 18 weeks total), that I am starting to feel a bit better.
Hang in there!
Groc69 mariah69970
Posted
I started on 25mg for the first 6 weeks. I see the doc on the 24th. She wanted to see how I did on 25mg without upping the dose to see if it would work for me. If it doesn't kick in until then, and I continue to feel like this, I'll have to tell her I don't think it's working. I'm taking 75mg desipramine and 15mg remeron which both work serotonin, but to a lesser degree. They were helping somewhat, but needed a boost and was hoping this would do it. I seem to have lost the positive effects of my other meds since taking sertraline otherwise I would feel better about this. My doc said that would happen, but once the sertraline side effects wear off, and it starts to kick in, I would feel the benefits of all of the meds together. The hard part is that I was having much better days before starting sertraline, so I know what I'm missing. (Makes it so much harder).
mariah69970 Groc69
Posted
I agree. I felt amazing until about 11 weeks and then had major breakthrough anxiety so I had to up my dose. Now I'm just being impatient waiting for it to level completely because I felt so good before, hoping I can feel that good again!
sandra94465 mariah69970
Posted
what were you on and what did you up it to x
mariah69970 sandra94465
Posted
I was on 50 mg and upped to 7mg
mariah69970
Posted
75 mg..sorry
lois95799 Groc69
Posted
thats alot of antid.meds.why so many.?iam very curious .
Groc69 lois95799
Posted
because I'm very med sensitive and could not tolerate ANY antidepressants until I was fortunate enough to tolerate Elavil. Once that stopped working for me I found that I was able to tolerate only 15mg of remeron, but that didn't do the job. (Good for sleep though). Then finally was able to tolerate desipramine, but not to the lowest therapeutic dose. (100mg). So my doc added zoloft. This is the longest I've ever gone with it. Another reason why it's so important to me that zoloft works. If it does, can think about cutting others back.
lois95799 Groc69
Posted
that sounds like a plan.are you suffering from depression or anxiety?
Groc69 lois95799
Posted
both lois
lois95799 Groc69
Posted
you should give it the full 12 weeks.because you are taking two other antid.you should hold on a bit longer with the zoloft .and upping the dose would not be good because you are already getting serotonin from the other two meds.iam sure your doctor has inform you about serotonin symdrome from taking multiple meds.just saying .best regards
Groc69 lois95799
Posted
You are right on and thank you! That's why I'm only on 25mg. We're hoping that will be just the boost I need. If it would just kick in already!
andrew83432 Groc69
Posted
i was on 50mg for 12 week and and im on week 8 on 100mg and finally feel back to normal whatever that is . some people it takes a long time time for this medication to work
Groc69 andrew83432
Posted
did you gradually feel better or was it sudden? how long did it take before you noticed your mood begin to improve? glad to hear it got you back to normal.
andrew83432 Groc69
Posted
id been feeling a little better each week , then suddenly out of nowhere woke up for the first time in 9 months without the anxiety touch wood it stays like this, hang on in there things do get better
lois95799 andrew83432
Posted
samething happen to me at 8 months.best regards
Groc69 lois95799
Posted
8 months or 8 weeks?
lois95799 Groc69
Posted
8 long months.
lois95799
Posted
andrew in the above post said 9months and i totally agreed with him .with me also waking up at the 8month mark free of anxiety.
andrew83432 lois95799
Posted
Think alot of people lois think its a case of taking a tablet for a few weeks and it will be problem solved (i was one of them) longest 9 month of my life been to hell and back
lois95799 andrew83432
Posted
ditto andrew.but well worth the wait.
Groc69 lois95799
Posted
That's very positive to hear that it did eventually work for you guys, but I was under the impression that the med takes 6-8 weeks for full effect.
lois95799 Groc69
Posted
oh no wrong impression.i was under the impression by my doctor that it would work in two weeks.count months not weeks.
andrew83432 Groc69
Posted
it could work for you in 7-8 weeks everybodys is different , i was counting down the weeks and thinking im not getting better, dont lose faith look at me 9months lol got to be a record
Groc69 andrew83432
Posted
Well, being that I've made it this far, I've made up my mind that I'm going all the way with it now so hoping for the best and we'll see what happens. I would love to put out a very positive post in the not too distant future. Yeah, I've been trying to block out that 9 months remark all day long. lol
andrew83432 Groc69
Posted
Haha most people only post when its negative theyl be millions of people who get better in weeks unfortunately i wasnt LOL