Increasing Sertraline

Posted , 4 users are following.

Hi everyone!  I just increased my dose from 50mg to 75mg 2 days ago.  So far I feel really good.  Had a little nausea/headache/dry mouth but nothing more.  I've been on the drug for over a year so I'm wondering if I will experience the increased anxiety? I'm so afraid that will happen again.  Do you think because I've been on it a while, I shouldn't get that side effect?

0 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • Posted

    I increased from 50 to 75mgs 2 weeks ago and I didn't get any anxiety from it I think everyone is different. Can I ask you how do u sleep on them I wake up half way through the night every night and toss and turn for the rest of the night.

    • Posted

      Hi Nicola...I always take mine right before bed (so around midnight every night). I do this as I think it helps with the insomnia
  • Posted

    Hi Lauren, I don't think you'll get any increased anxiety as a side effect because you've been taking it for awhile and it's a slow releasing drug. 

    Also, 50mg to 75mg is a small increase. Whenever I get back on z, I usually skip this dose altogether. I just go from 50mg to 100mg. 

    • Posted

      Lauren, it varies from one person to the next. But all of these drugs need about the same amount of time for it to work, and to give it a fair chance, you'd have to stay on the new dosage at least 8 weeks, although you should see changes like appetite around 6 week mark.

      I think sometimes we give up a med too quickly. If you’ve been on a drug for almost a month, what’s one more month to give it time to do its thing? Because if you switch now to a diff med, who knows if the new med will be any better and the side effects any better than the previous med? And you’d have to start from the beginning again – and this time, you might have effects between new med and old med and the side effects of new med, and if you keep switching meds too soon it’d mess up your system even more, as if this illness didn’t do enough to mess with our heads. So I always give a med a good fair chance before giving up on it and moving on.

      Just my 2 cents. I know another month feels like a lifetime away but hang in there and stay strong, but go easy on yourself. You don’t need to be or do anything during this time – don’t put any expectations on yourself - you are marking time for the med to work.

      Xx

    • Posted

      Thank you so much for your replies. Your answers are always do helpful. I know I'll probably have to wait but I'm now 10 weeks pregnant and hope that I'm feeling more normal sooner than later. It was literally as soon as I conceived I felt the meds were less effective. That crazy hormone change does crazy things

    • Posted

      Lauren, I didn't know you are pregnant, so congrats!!! And I can only imagine how crazy your hormones must be. Hang in there. I still wake up in middle of night sometimes and it's been 2 months for me. 

      take care, you are in my prayers!

  • Posted

    Why r u increasing u didnt say?
    • Posted

      I should also add im on day 2 of increase also my anxiety had flared up again so i thought time for an increase
    • Posted

      I was doing well on the 50mg but now I am 10 weeks pregnant and feeling like the hormone changes are making the drug less effective. I want to get ahead of it before I start to feel worse.

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