1. Community
  2. Mental health
  3. Sertraline

Fluoxetine to Sertraline

Posted , 7 users are following.

Matt_1
Matt_1

Hi all,

I've been on Fluoxetine for about 10 months, i've been ok with it on the whole apart from vivid / strange dreams as a side effect, so my doctor has now prescribed me Sertraline

Has anyone on here gone from using Fluoxetine to Sertraline and if so, how did they find changing from one to the other and were there any side effects or good and bad points to changing to Sertraline?

Cheers

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • Pawelcup
    Pawelcup

    Posted

    My doctor told me to stop taking Fluoxetine, without trying to lower the dosage regularly. I don't remember any side effects.

    But I absolutely hate Setraline, I just stopped taking it, because it didn't help one bit. And Setraline Withdraw symptoms are terrible...

  • Geriatric
    Geriatric

    Posted

    I also hate being on Sertraline but it does work for me although it was over a month before I got a benefit and and I did feel like giving up but I stuck with it. Unfortunately all this type of pill takes a long time to have a beneficial effect and side effects can go on for a long time.

    I was on them for two years before and came off very gradually reducing the dose over many weeks and even breakung the pills down to 12,5mg for the last couple of weeks. Missing days is bad and can create a bounce effect . Reducing the daily amount worked for me and i had no problems at coming off.

  • K.
    K.

    Posted

    Hi Fraser,

    I have been taking sertralin 50 mg for 6 months for anxiety and stress, after that time I was feeling really good and started redusing the dose to 25mg over 7 weeks. When I was on 25mg I started missing out once a week, so after another 7 weeks I stopped completely.

    But, now 5-6 weeks stopping them I feel unwell with different symptoms similar to the ones I had before taking Sertraline. Is it withdrawal reaction of coming off or my anxiety coming back??

    I am completely confused, I don't know what to do :cry:

    Did you stopped completely taking sertraline and how you feeling?

    Thanks

    • catriona32
      catriona32 K.

      Posted

      Hi I have just come off 200mgs of sertraline in a week with my doctors instructions he wanted to start me on Effexor however I was frightened to start a new different kind of drug so I haven't had any in 2 weeks the withdrawal from sertraline is terrible but I am going to stick it out I wud say ur symptoms are withdrawal cause I feel the same I am due to start fluoxetine now tomorrow here's hoping it's better

  • Geriatric
    Geriatric

    Posted

    I came off OK by reducing slowly and was fine for a year. However a number of stress factors came along at the same time and although I tried to avoid starting again I decided it was best to start again and felt OK after five weeks. Six months is the minimum and I will do a bit longer than that before coming off. My doc said a year and as I do not have much bother with side effects I will see how it goes.

    Coming off does cause a bit of anxiety as you can never be quite sure that you are OK and there can be withdrawal factors.

    If you are still stressed and anxious it is no big deal to go back on the pills and give it abit longer. Good luck, The pills work and you can come off of them and feel nomal again

  • bugzee
    bugzee

    Posted

    I changed to sertraline about a year ago. in myself i feel ok but here are my side effects.

    1.loss of labido

    2.short term memory loss

    3. night sweats

    4. bad vivid dreams.

    these may just be on me but i have read a few posts with ppl with similar side effects.

Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.