How long for dose increase to be effective?

Hi Aimee,

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

Have you also changed form 50 to 75?

I am absolutely devastated that my anxiety has returned. All the old symptoms made themselves known out of the blue. Shaking, nausea, no appetite, sense of dread, diarrhoea, hot and cold sweats, emotional crying, etc etc etc.

After 10 years of suffering, sertraline changed my life. I'm hoping this dose adjustment will get me back to where I was.

Best wishes

I have just changed from citalopram 20mg to Sertraline 50mg. I am hoping it changes my life too! The worse side effect for me is the twitching muscles at night time. I have gone 6yrs anxiety free off the meds and its come back so dont feel bad, its a condition and can happen at any time! I also have the same symptoms as you apart from nausea!

I am sure increasing your dose a little will work once it settles 😃 x

I really hope the sertraline works for you. It was a wonder drug for me. Once the side effects wore off, I didn't recognise myself. I was happy, content and completely free of anxiety. The initial side effects were quite bad when I first started the medication, but they wore off within a month. Stick with it and ride out the unpleasantness. It's worth it.

Hi,

The initial side effects were tough. I felt nauseous, dizzy, light-headed, dazed, unbelievably tired, zero appetite, nightmares. I have the majority of those symptoms when my anxiety plays up, so it was hard to know which symptoms were the anxiety and which were the medication. The extreme tiredness and spaced-out feelings were definitely a side effect of the medication, but this wore off after a few weeks. Sertraline saved my life, and changed it in the process. I am hoping this increase in dose helps me to get me back to where I once was.

Best wishes

Thankyou, you have given me hope as I understand your feelings. My anxiety gives me the same symptons. This morning I felt a little better, took my sertraline, which is only 25mg dose and within 10 mins the nausea was back, wondering whether to try taking it at night.

Best wishes.

Nausea was my worst symptom, and unfortunately, one of the hardest to manage. I find taking an antacid tablet when nausea hits to be quite effective. Rennies, Tums etc. I also find that using SeaBands helps, as does sucking on a lemon/lime. Hope you find these useful.

Taking sertraline at night didn't help me, if anything, I found it didn't work half as well. Maybe this was a placebo effect, but that was my experience with taking it at night.

I am on day 5 of an increase to 75mg and I feel much calmer and not as spaced-out. Fingers crossed this is the right dose for me.

Best wishes

Thanks for your comments. l will try the antacids and the lemon/lime. l have sea bands and l do wear them. The nausea has been bad today but there have been a couple of stressful situations and my anxiety level has been high and l know that an initial side effect can be to make anxiety worse. Thanks for the comment re. taking it at night.

Best wishes.