Increase from 100 to 150mg

Posted , 5 users are following.

Hi all,

I know this has been covered at times on here, but I just wanted some reassurance if possible. Did people find an increase from 100 to 150mg more easy in terms of side effects than the side effects caused when you start from scratch at 50mg?

My psychiatrist has recommended I increase immediately as my depression has got worse again after an improvement when going up to 100mg. I did have side effects when going to 100mg, but at that time I'd also had a relapse with alcohol issues so that's confused matters as to how much was Sertraline and how much was alcohol. I haven't had a drink in a month now so that won't be an issue this time.

I am just worried as I have a potentially stressful weekend anyway and if my anxiety goes through the roof when I up my dose, then I'm concerned I won't cope well.

If anyone wants to share their own experiences then I'd be very grateful!

Thank you all!

Dom

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi Dom, sorry to hear your depression has taken a turn for the worst.  I actually didn't get any side affects jumping from 50 to 100but found I had them when I increased from 100 to 125 but for me just sickness and jaw clenching.

    I think everyone is different maybe just take 125 to see how you feel then if affects aren't too bad then increase. If you didn't have things planned I'd say just go for the full 150 as the sooner you do it the sooner you can get over the side affects if you get any x 

    • Posted

      Hi Kerry,

      Thanks so much for your reply. I decided to go to 150mg this morning as my depression has been crushing this week so I felt I needed to act, and as you said, the sooner I do it the sooner the side effects are over. It's the increased anxiety / jitteryness that really worries me, and the lack of sleep. I don't want to cause the side effects psychosomatically, so I will try not to worry about it unless it happens. Fingers crossed. I have had a bit of bad stomach today, but that could equally be the nerves about upping the dose!

      Thanks again for your advice and support. I hope you are doing OK x

       

    • Posted

      Hi Kerry,

      Thanks for thinking of me smile

      I'm doing better than earlier in the week. The really heavy depression has lifted slightly. I'm still quite tearful first thing, but at least it gets better as the day goes on. I've noticed an increase in anxiety since upping to 150mg, but nowhere near as bad as when I started on 50mg. I'm also having a bit more difficulty sleeping, but I hope that will pass as the meds settle down. The weekend was very busy and difficult at times, but I got through it so that's all that counts!

      How are you? Hope you had a good weekend x

    • Posted

      Hi Dom. I'm sorry I know your post is old and i'm not sure if you're still on this site or not but if you are i'd really appreciate your input. My depression and anxiety has recently returned after being on sertraline 100mg for the last 7 months. I was doing really well the last six months and thought i was cured so it has been pretty awful having it come back with a vengance. My doc is recommending increasing my dose to 150mg and i have the extra 50mg prescription to pick up today but kind of terrified of side effects. Did yours subside? How did you get on with the 150mg dose? Would really appreciate hearing your thoughts. thanks

    • Posted

      Hi Jennifer, hope you don't mind me jumping in. Did you increase your dose in the end? I have an appointment with the Dr soon and I feel like they might recommend that I also increase from 100mg to 150mg, after doing well on that dose for the past couple of years!

    • Posted

      Hi Laura. Sorry for the late reply, i haven't been on here in a while. I did increase to 150. I got horrendous side effects (which i kind of expected after the last increase)and was off work for a couple of weeks. Eventually the worst side effects (major anxiety and depression) calmed down and my appetite came back. I just kind of felt a bit flat but i'll take that over the awful anxiety and depression. After another week i started to laugh again and have more good days than bad so returned to work last week. Things were going ok but yesterday and today (days 27 and 28 on 250mg) i started feeling anxious and depressed. After joining different support pages (recommend Bruno Truth group on facebook) I found out that this can happen and i'm just not 'level' yet. Sertraline and other SSRIs can take six weeks to calm down according to the information online but in most people's experience (after reading other people's experience on the facebook groups) it seems to be more like 16/18 weeks to become level. That doesnt meant you will have awful side effects for 18 weeks but it does make you think that a day (or two in my case) of feeling rubbish might not necessarily mean it isnt working, it just means that your body is still working to sort itself. I went up to 150 as i had more than a week of feeling horrendous (to the point where i didnt want to wake up) and it was only getting worse. Even now when i'm having these bad couple of days, i'm still not as bad as i was this time last month so just trying to power through.

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