My Sertraline Story!!
Posted , 182 users are following.
Hi im a 32 year old female. Im married with 2 children. About 12 weeks ago I started to get awfulanxiety, I was stressing about the least little thing and turning small things into massive over the top things. I started doing breathing exercises and taking herbal remedies, reading books and going onto websites. Nothing seemed to work and about 6 weeks ago I couldn't take the way I felt anymore and felt like I wasn't coping with normal everyday situations like the school run and seeing my friends and even watching a film with my husband. I have never suffered with anything like this before and that in itself is very scary, I felt out of control with my thoughts, I wasn't sleeping or eating.
I went to see my GP who prescribed me 50mg of Sertraline, I was also given 10 days worth of diazepam (2mg). After a few days of deciding if I should take them I went for it, I had the most awful side affects, sickness, diarrhea, headaches, night sweats, shakes. I couldn't even get out of bed for a couple of days. I was having panic attacks and Insomnia.
After a week or so the side affects eased off and I was able to cope again although I was still left with the awful anxiety. After 2 weeks I started to feel 50% better and then into week 3,4,5 I seemed to go downhill with my anxiety again but I stuck with the Sertraline as the doc said it could take 6-8 weeks to see the benefit.
The last few days I've started to feel 90% my old self again. I think this drug seems to take a while to work but i'm glad I've stuck with it as I feel like i'm getting my old life back again. I really hope this is a helpful and positive story if you are just starting out on Sertraline, I know I have a long way to go but I feel with the help of this med I can get my life back on track.
Reading all the positive stories on this forum has helped me a great deal. Im also lucky to have great family and friends I can talk to.
52 likes, 461 replies
julie96604 dani32
Posted
You have given me hope I'm exactly like you but my children are older I'm 51 yrs old and do work. I'm nearly into week 5 counting the days how desperate are we!! I desperately want to b me again I hate these negative feelings you have . Please please work
julie96604 dani32
Posted
im on 150mg started dose this week I haven't ad to take diazepam today so far !!!
Gonzalez dani32
Posted
Hello dani32, also hello to all reading this would appreciate any input or thoughts on what may be happening with me I can relate to all, I'm confused because I've been diagnosed with gad and mild depression for about a year now, I was put on sertraline and Klonopin the Klonopin was to help with sleep as I was going periods of time without, I'm on 25mg of sertraline and 1mg 2x a day of Klonopin.,as of lately it's been hard to keep up with my meds I've had periods of time without either I've been doing ok up until 1week ago I'm waking in the morning at the same time it's like someone zaps my brain and wakes me but the thought that wakes me and just comes on its own is that I'm going crazy, I take deep breaths and say your not loosing it, is there something more going on?
charley46288 Gonzalez
Posted
sparrow- Gonzalez
Posted
hi gonzalez, this is a very common occurence which you are experiencing. it is called 'discontinuation syndrome', and it happens when, if you have been taking certain meds regularly for a while, but then either stop taking them all of a sudden, or taper down the amount you are taking too quickly, or, even if you miss some days of taking certain meds, you experience some side effects (you could also call them 'withdrawal effects' if you wish).
both sertraline and clonazepam will give you discontinuation syndrome if you suddenly stop taking them (or start missing too many days, etc).. 'brain zaps' are the most common symptom of discontinuation syndrome and i know exactly what they feel like as i experienced them myself in the past, when i was taking an ssri med and just stopped all of a sudden, rather than taper off slowly over the course of around one month.
it's up to you how you want to proceed. you can either, make sure you take your meds at the times you are supposed to take them and try not to miss too many doses if possibe.. or you could just stop abruptly the meds, but then you will certainly experience discontinuation syndrome, but, it wont last forever and eventually the discontinuation syndrome goes away. the time it takes to go away varies. in my case, it took 2 weeks to go away. this can be a very difficult time for some people, depending on how intense the discontinuation syndrome is.
generally speaking (but not always), the longer you have been on a med, and also, the dosage amount of med (or meds) you have been taking, contributes to the level of discontinuation syndrome you will experience.
some people get lucky and dont get discontinuation syndrome when they stop certain meds, but then you have people taking the same meds who do get the discontinuation syndrome. it's very hit and miss. generally though, stopping (or not taking regularly enough) the ssri antidepressant meds, causes discontinuation syndrome in pretty much everybody. have to be very lucky to just be able to stop, and not get any of the discontinuation effects.
anyway i hope you decide on the right solution for you. i can certainly confirm one thing though. i dont really know much about klonopin, but with sertraline, it is absolutely not designed to be taken occasionally, or just skipping days here and there. you should either take sertraline every day as perscribed, or dont take it at all. it is not the end of ther world if you miss the odd day by accident, but it's really not a good idea to start missing more days here and there. you will start feeling wierd effects like the brain zaps and perhaps more troublesome feelings like anxiety or depression, due to the now inconsistent and 'always changing' levels of the med in your body each day, so i hope you dont take that risk anymore, and take the med properly
and finally of course if u want to stop the meds you are taking, just do it slowly over the course of a few weeks (or a month). keep in touch with your doctor of course though, so you stay safe and well
good luck
Gonzalez sparrow-
Posted
Hello to all, I was curious as to what else if anything more can be occurring with me I'm getting up at the same time every night its like a thought pops up im not sure if it's a feeling but it's like I'm waking like I'm gonna go mad, it's been happening for a lil over a week, I am under alot of stress lately, my appetite is not the same I'm eating less loosing weight, could this all be due to the anxiety coming back or maybe my depression?.. also I haven't been on my meds for what I wanna say a little over a month or so from what I can recall, any input please help thanking you all kindly
gemma24485 dani32
Posted
emma67737 dani32
Posted
Im glad ive come across your post.
Im on week 6 of sertraline. I started at 25mg for a week, then upped to 50 then to 100. My doctor thought the dose was too high for me so dropped it down to 50 as my anxiety was through the roof.
The first 2 weeks on the lower dose were fab but im now on week 3 (week 6 in total since i started) and my anxiety is back really bad again.
From reading your post i can see that you just need to try and stick it out. I hope the same works for me.
Emma
julie96604 emma67737
Posted
It's a nightmare dani I'm on 150mg after increasing the dose over 5 weeks . My anxiety is through the roof can hardly cope with it . Been crying today out of desperation!! Please someone give me hope x
Sheza1963 emma67737
Posted
lisa97683 dani32
Posted
Hi Dani
I was diagnosed with depression at the beginning of June and was started on 50mg sertraline once a day. If im completely honest i had been depressed for a while but didnt want to admit i may have mental health problems. This did really help me until end of august when my stress levels went off the scale after having a flood in my house, a car crash and a £19000 bill from npower. It all became too much for me and i started forgetting to take my sertraline and still took it everyday but a few days it would be 7 or 8 hours later than normal. I then started getting overwelming suicidal thoughts on a daily basis just before christmas. If it wasnt for the fact that my house is still a complete mess from the flood and that i didnt have a will i think i probably would have overdosed. I did enquire to get a will done but they didnt have any availability at the time. I then realised this wasnt normal and phoned my doctor. He increased my dose to 100mg about 3 weeks ago. I have no appetite, no sex drive, energy. Just sleep all the time feeling theres no point to anything and have started becoming tearful for no apparent reason again like just before i initially got diagnosed. I feel like i have gone back to square one. I dont understand why i am like this now after having the dose increased and being stressed. Do you think it is because i have been forgetting to take the sertraline at the same time and have being taking it late?
Sheza1963 dani32
Posted
I was on Zoloft for many years, decided to come off very slowly I felt great... fantastic for 2 months then bang fell in a hole, the worst anxiety ever, lost 4 kilo in 4 weeks no appetite. I'm back on Zoloft again been 9th day, my anxiousness is bad on waking even if I have a nana nap in the arvo I wake up with dread, by the evening I feel fine go to bed wake up bad anxiety again! I have to keep going I run a business so hard trying to sound like everything is fine. Anyone else get anxiety in the morning and how long have I got to wait till it's gone 😩
Sheza1963 dani32
Posted
I was on Zoloft for many years, decided to come off very slowly I felt great... fantastic for 2 months then bang fell in a hole, the worst anxiety ever, lost 4 kilo in 4 weeks no appetite. I'm back on Zoloft again been 9th day, my anxiousness is bad on waking even if I have a nana nap in the arvo I wake up with dread, by the evening I feel fine go to bed wake up bad anxiety again! I have to keep going I run a business so hard trying to sound like everything is fine. Anyone else get anxiety in the morning and how long have I got to wait till it's gone 😩
charley46288 Sheza1963
Posted
Yesv when I first started taking Sertraline I would wake up with horrible anxiety...it generally would last till the afternnon/evening then I would feel ok till the next morning. Gradually I started feeling better earlier in the day...but this literally took weeks!! It will get better for you! Trust me
katherine21058 dani32
Posted
Hi there everyone i currently feel like I'm in hell. I was on etalopro for a couple of months & then I made a stupid mistake & I stopped taking them. I was off it for about a month or so then I went back on it for 2 weeks & had an adverse reaction to it. Severe anxiety & felt like I was going crazy. Then the doctor decided to take me off it & prescribed me sertraline but said not to take them straight away unless I really needed them. I was ok for a while off the antidepressants altogether. Started taking vitamin D & had a few happy moments but then I went downhill. Experience depersonalisation & anxiety so I said that's it I can't take it anymore & went down to the doctors shortly after Christmas & got the sertraline. I started it on the 29th & initially I started to feel a lot better in myself but I've been having a lot of relapses of a chesty cough & right now I just feel like I'm in hell. I think I'm still feeling withdrawal effects from the etalopro but I'm not sure.
I just hope this will get better soon cos I can't take much more. Ive also had a lot of stress from people treating me horribly. Some of it is my fault cos Ive some bad behaviours but I did apologise to them. They just wont forgive me.
michelle71710 katherine21058
Posted
Hi Katherine, sorry your feeling so bad. It's an awful illness to go through. The sertaline does have some side effects, not everyone gets them they are the lucky ones but mains one for me are heightened anxiety, low mood, nausea, insomnia, dry mouth to name a few. I've been on it for 18days and although I'm not fully myself I've had some ok days which are positive signs. You might still have withdrawal symptoms from the other meds and that's why your feeling the way you do. Ask your dr if you can take something for the side effects that you are experiencing. I got anti sickness tablets and beta blockers to help me. Stay positive xx