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Coming up to 6 weeks on Sertraline

Posted , 52 users are following.

chris23342
chris23342

Hello, its my firs ttime posting on here after reading many messages on the forum already.  I started Sertraline around 5 !/2 weeks ago.  I started with the horrible side effects of insomnia, heightened anxiety etc...both have subsided but am not yet feeling any real benefit.  My sleep and appetite have improved somewhat both of which were quite impacted before I started the medication (symptoms of depression).

I guess I am just looing for reassurance that it is going to work.  I felt like I was losing the plot a while back - highly anxious negative thoughts and a really low depressed mood.  I started at 50mg, moved up to 75 and now at 87.5mg.

Thank you for feedback

C

0 likes, 146 replies

146 Replies

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  • sniffer1008
    sniffer1008 chris23342

    Posted

    Hi all, im new on here and have been reading the comments, Ive been on sertraline 50mg for 31 days now for anxiety and panic attacks and today is a really bad day, strange head sensations and pain in right side of head, which lead to a big panic attack! Was feeling fine last week so dont know whats gone wrong?

    Has anyone else experienced this?

    • Guest
      Guest sniffer1008

      Posted

      yeah im feeling numbess and weirdness too which is causing me to panic too i hate the side effects
    • rob83881
      rob83881 sniffer1008

      Posted

      I Started Zoloft 5 weeks ago (25mg - 7 days, 50mg - 28 days) Fifth week felt like i was coming around, happy, no anxiety, then start of week 6 anxiety is back. Waking up at night again in panic. Been 3 days of this so far. Have u been feeling up and down to day 57 or is this your first bout of anxiety?
  • violette04716
    violette04716 chris23342

    Posted

    Hi Chris, How did the zoloft go?  I am currently switching from 50mg to 75, and hoping it will help with break-through social anxiety now that I am back to work for the first time in years (kids are now in school). This is day 2, but I am so weak and spaced out.  Keep wondering if this was the way I felt when I started the 50mg a year ago or if something is wrong. Really hoping this will work.  I never felt "normal" before Zoloft and am just looking for the right dosage foe me.  Thoughts?
  • martin39217
    martin39217 chris23342

    Posted

    Hi all, I'm on day 3 of 50mg. Sleeping a lot. Lost appetite. Signed off work until 19th December with a review on the 12th. I've had a constant headache but not tried any Paracetamol or anything. Hoping it will work for me. This seems like a great thread.

    • deborah56721
      deborah56721 martin39217

      Posted

      2 n a half weeks in on 50mg for severe anxiety and its made me depressed havnt left my bed the whole time xx
    • LBC
      LBC deborah56721

      Posted

      How are you doing now did you find the Sertraline started to work ??
  • natalie_05271
    natalie_05271 chris23342

    Edited

    need some friendly support!! I've been on sertraline 50mg for 5 1/2 weeks now for anxiety and nocturnal anxiety probably caused by menopause? Went on holiday and had a great week with lots of sleep but on returning my anxiety (quivering)and no sleep has returned! think it got set off by association of the bad month I've had in my home on returning from holiday ! Feeling very disheartened!! Looks like I need to keep going but it's hard!! 😕 x

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    • rob83881
      rob83881 natalie_05271

      Edited

      Hey Natalie, i've been on 50mg sertraline 3 times now and its the same during the startup. Weeks 1-2 are hell, week 3-4 you start coming around and feeling better then in week 5 it feels like week 1. I was highly anxious, even shaking at times but kept with it.  Sometime in week 6 I leveled out and anxiety was gone. I haven't felt this good in years and now im in week 13 and still a steady stream of happiness, low anxiety and enjoying everything in life again.

    • natalie_05271
      natalie_05271 rob83881

      Posted

      Thanks Rob. It's the horrible constant quivering that is making me anxious!! Then my heart beats faster and it's impossible to get to sleep!! Now scared of nights and just don't since to be able to clear my head of how I feel all the time again ?! X

    • rob83881
      rob83881 natalie_05271

      Posted

      I hear ya. I felt jittery every night and day and got the small adrenaline rushes every time I would doze off, waking me up all hours of the night. Most nights about an hr after I first fell asleep I would wake up with heart racing, beating out of my chest but after a few times it happened I realized it couldn't hurt me so after awhile it lasted for a minute or two and now it's gone. Every day until week 7 I would wake up at 4 am, restless, wired as if I drank a pot of coffee.  Now I sleep every night and I don't wanna get out of bed for work in the morning which for me is normal as most people is guess. I took Ativan and clonazapam sometimes but found it only eased the anxiety a little, didn't stop the adrenaline rushes at night. I slept during the days in the afternoon which was easier than at night so that I would at least get some sleep. Did your anxiety intensify during the first week cause that's something I think you'll see on this thread from some people that it's working if you can feel the effects. My psychiatrist says that since I'm sensitive to it, 50mgs is enough. Some people take 200mgs and don't feel anything but 50mgs for me was too intense to start on and is the max dose for me. You just gotta find something to take your mind off of it for the next week, week and a half. 

    • amanda18762
      amanda18762 rob83881

      Posted

      Hi

      Rob or anybody else who's still out there I've just been prescribed sertraline & I have to say I'm really scared..

      I've had a few health issues lately & started having anxiety that lasts fa hours at a time which has also made me depressed.. I was taking citalopram up until Jan & took it for 6 years then got better so came off them as I felt I didn't need them anymore..stupid me

      I broke down in the doctors today & asked if I could go back on them..shes given me 50mg sertraline as she said they will work faster & are better for anxiety

      After reading these posts I'm not overly convinced & confused & scared as to why I'm trying a new drug

      I'm scared to take it & I'm scared not to take it..if there is anyone out there still please help me..& I hope everyone is doing ok

      Thanks

      Mandi

    • rob83881
      rob83881 amanda18762

      Posted

      Hey Amanda,

      Did you take the 50mg dose yet? I would start at 25mg if possible because it can be intense if you’re sensitive to certain drugs. The most I can handle is 50mg and is what I take now and I have been back to normal going on 5 months now. I’m in Canada and can only get capsules but if you have access to the tablets then I would take half for a week then step up to 50mg. Ask your doc as well for a benzo for the really hard times. I took around 10-12 Ativan during the first few weeks as needed and now I’m perfect. Just a heads up that weeks 2 and 5 are bad but that’s normal. If at 50mgs you feel like crawling out of your skin during those weeks then you’re or close to your max dose. If you don’t feel anything after a few weeks you need to increase the dose.

      If you’re already feeling anxious about taking the zoloft, take an ativan 2 hours before and that has always worked for me starting the meds.

    • julie89512
      julie89512 amanda18762

      Posted

      Hi Amanda.

      im also on sertraline have been for 9 months, 

      when I was given them I didn’t take them for a week, because like you I was scared to go on them.

      But I didn’t want to feel like I was feeling either.

      so I started taking them, I had all the side effects going but after a few weeks there was light at the end of my dark tunnel, and now honestly I feel absolutely fine. I take mine for health anxiety which was causing depression.

      im managing on 25mg.

      it seems of what iv read on here that every time you up your dose some of the side effects come back.

      with me still being on the start up dose I haven’t been through that,

      good luck 

    • melissa66574
      melissa66574 julie89512

      Posted

      HI Julie!

      Was anxiety or insonmnia one of your side effects? I went up from 50 to 100 to 150 to 200 within a month. I feel extra anxious and am hoping it just means the medicine is stabilizing :-/

    • julie89512
      julie89512 melissa66574

      Posted

      Hi 

      yes Anxiety was one of the side effects, and with upping your dose you will have to give it time to settle.

      i still don’t sleep very well, I’m still on a tiny dose but I’m not good with medication so iv stayed on 25mg I started on. 

      Im having sinus trouble at the moment but iv been reading that also can happen on sertraline.

      That is a big jump in a month for you.

      hope everything settles soon 😘

       

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