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New to Sertraline

Posted , 8 users are following.

Claracat
Claracat

Hi Everyone,

I've been on 60mg Fluoxetine since I was about 12 due to severe depression, then came off them when I was 16 and went back on them when I was 22, due to the depression worsening and the fact that I was suffering from OCD, BDD & GAD. I'm now 25 and I randomly decided to stop taking the fluoxetine just before Christmas and have been medication free since then.

I'm currently under the care of the CMHT, and my social worker was adamant that I should go back on medication because over the past few weeks I have been having a lot of panic attacks at night - causing me insomnia and my depression has been unbearable - basically crying all the time for no reason.. so my doctor has now prescribed me Sertraline (50mg) and I have just taken the first one.

I'm an incredibly anxious person and to make matters worse I also suffer from Emetophobia (I genuinely cannot put into words how terrified I am of being sick) so after reading through all the possible side effects of Setraline, I've now got myself all worked up worrying that I might be sick or suffer from even worse insomnia.

When I was on Fluoxetine I never had any side effects apart from a decreased sex drive and very bad night sweats - I never experienced any nausea or trouble sleeping, nor do I ever seem to experience any side effects from any other medications... given these facts, do you think it's quite hopeful that I should have no adverse reaction to the sertraline?

Please don't tell me any over the top horror stories as my brain will literally go into overdrive and I'll turn into a gibbering wreck, but any helpful comments or experiences would be very welcome.

0 likes, 17 replies

17 Replies

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  • annaliese96748
    annaliese96748 Claracat

    Posted

    Hi claracat. I've been on sertraline for 4 months now after being on citalopram for 2 years. I was the same as you, crying all the time for no reason, plus wanting to kill myself and not being able to get out of bed. I'm now on 100mg and I am feeling much better. Also after trying CBT. I'm guessing you have tried different treatments since you mentioned a social worker? I suffer with side effects with most medications. Was very ill when starting on citalopram. But it really is the feeling of being nauseas rather than actually being sick. I was definitely less ill starting on sertraline. Nausea wasn't too bad and didn't get sick at all. Anxiety is definitely worsened at first. But the best thing I did was ride it out. I know it's really hard but it was worth it. And I would really try not to worry about the sickness. I really think it won't effect you especially since you haven't experienced previous side effects. I would just watch out for the anxiety but remember with most of these things, it gets worse before it gets better. Try meditation to help you sleep. Go on headspace, they do a free meditation course thing. This helped me get sleep back into my life! Yoga is good too! Hope this helps smile 
    • Claracat
      Claracat annaliese96748

      Posted

      Hi Annaliese,

      Thank you for your reply, I shall definitely try the headspace meditation thing! smile

      I have a mental health social worker who comes to visit me at home to help in my treatment, but I'm still yet to see a psychiatrist... I think the last psych I saw was about 12 years ago! I've tried CBT 5 times (with 5 different practioners) but it's never really had much of a positive impact on me, one time actually made me feel even worse (this was when I was about 17) so I'm completely at a loss as to what would be the best course of action from here in regards to talking therapies, and my care team and GP don't really know either.

    • annaliese96748
      annaliese96748 Claracat

      Posted

      That's really bad. You should be seeing someone sooner rather than later. I found CBT kind of pointless at first to.It was only after I finished the therapy that I realised it was helping me. Just with the way I react to situations etc. Instead of crying and wanting to die, I look at things differently, more positively. CBT focusing on the here and now rather than past or future. Your problems are obviously long standing which is probably why CBT didn't work for you. One thing I do everyday is write down something that has made me happy that day, just something little, anything, just to keep positive. Obvioiusly I'm not a professional, but sounds to me like seeing a psychiatrist is the best for you. Your GP and care team should really be helping you do that, and they shouldn't not know what to do for you! It's really horrible that you have been suffering for so long with so many different things... sad xx
    • annaliese96748
      annaliese96748 Claracat

      Posted

      And also, everybody knows meds are supposed to be short term but everybody is different and thats not always the case. I always thought that I wouldn't still be taking them but that's just the way it is. Give it at least 6 months.. And try other and new things smile
    • Resigned2B
      Resigned2B annaliese96748

      Posted

      Oh how I wish everyone knew they are only short term fixes. So many people, including myself, have been on the 15 years and longer. When they develop side effects, sometimes irreversible, they feel angry they were not informed. I was one of them. I always try to and warn people...
  • Resigned2B
    Resigned2B Claracat

    Posted

    Dear Claracat,

    Please remember that NONE of these phsyce meds were EVER meant for longterm use, regardless of what your doctor tells you. When you are in a good frame of mid I would investigate other ways to help you cope with whatever issues you face. There are many. They may take more effort initially but they will be well worth it over the longhaul. 

    Good luck!

    • Claracat
      Claracat Resigned2B

      Posted

      Hi Resigned,

      I agree with you in regards to the long-term medication. I'm hopeful that at some point in my life I'll be able to go med-free. The trouble with the problems I have is that they always seem to lurk about and then manifest themselves in different ways... the first thing was the depression which kicked in when I was 9, and then developed into anorexia and severe emetophobia when I was 12... from there my emetophobia spawned OCD handwashing tendencies... which then developed into full blown OCD (checking, counting, etc) in my mid-teens, and then my brain decided I didn't have enough to cope with and decided to throw generalised anxiety and body dysmorphia into the mix as well, so maybe it's just a case of trying to get to the route cause of everything, trouble is it all seems so closely entwined and difficult to differentiate between any of the problems I have now. 

    • Resigned2B
      Resigned2B Claracat

      Posted

      Your symptoms sound horrible. Can you pinpoint ANY life event that can be lined up with the onset? There may be none - I don't know.

      What I do know is this: 24 years ago I started taking antidepressants. I was convinced that I was simply not able to deal with six children, husband, etc.. Hence, I started on Prozac and was okay for some years. Things with home life escalated. Kids got older, needed more attention, income issues, and so forth. They upped my meds, changed the combinations, and well, you know the drill. 

      Here we are, thirty years into our marriage, and the entire time of me taking meds, therapy, ECT, it was the WRONG spouse taking them. It was like giving chemotherapy to one person in hopes it would cure the other! My husband has ADHD. 

      For or anyone reading this who is a non-ADHDer, in a relationship with someone who does have it, you know that even the most mentally balanced person can go nuts putting up with ADHD! Two of our boys have it as well. They were diagnosed at ages 3 and 5. I thought I was the donating DNA. I was wrong and so were the doctors.

      Had they listened to ANY of our life's stories together they would have caught this. Instead, they were willing to diagnos me with everything under the sun and I bought EVERY word. The amount of personal loss I have sacrificed is truly untold! The psyche meds were actually making me worse. I became more dependent on them and the side effects were taking their inevitable longterm toll. Not only in mental health but, more especially, in physical health. I nearly lost my life on a couple of occasions and put my children through hell.

      This is NOT true for everyone!

      I just wish I had been able to see things for what they were and the meds made that impossible!!!  Now, after 24 years, I am off everything. Our new controlling government and society doesn't put much value on people nearly sixty. They just soon those people 'pass on'... I don't have much to look forward to as budgets are being cut, spendable income is way down, the dollar is worth less and less, wasteful 'entitlement spending' is taxing us to death and health benefits cost everyone much MORE and deliver much LESS.

      Just a cautionary tale for readers on this thread...

       

  • campergirl
    campergirl Claracat

    Posted

    I get side effects with anything I take, but on Sertraline, it was just mild nausea, but I've never actually been sick with it. It is best taken with food, more nauseaous when taken on an empty stomach. My insomnia did increase, but I just rode it out. I split my dose 1/2 in the morning, 1/2 in the evening, that seems to even the side effects out too. It's worth persevering, but did take a while to settle down properly, but it's postive effects were almost instantaneous.

     

    • Claracat
      Claracat campergirl

      Posted

      Hi Campergirl,

      Thanks for your reply, I'm glad Sertraline worked for you!

      I took my first dosage about 2 hours ago and I feel fine so far, so hopefully I won't get any nausea. I'm literally terrified that when I go to bed tonight I won't be able to sleep, but I suppose I'll just have to cross that bridge if it happens! 

  • Joe_Slim
    Joe_Slim Claracat

    Posted

    Hi Claracat,

    Hang in there!  Sertraline causes different side effects for different people.  You never know how your own body will react to it.  You may be one of the lucky few for whom side effects are non-existant.

    However, one thing my doc told me yesterday is that side effects are generally a GOOD sign that the med will ultimately be helpful.  If you take the med, and your body takes no notice and just goes "Ho-hum, whatever," that means the med will probably never deliver any good benefits.

    For me, Sertraline side-effects have been GOOD.  About a month ago, I started taking Sertraline, and the side effects were wonderful, as they aided my digestion.  I generally have to go the bathroom several times a day, but the Sertaline gave me mild constipation, so I only had to go to the bathroom only 1-2 times a day.  A great improvement!

    • Claracat
      Claracat Joe_Slim

      Posted

      Hi Joe,

      I'm glad to hear you've had good experiences with Sertraline! I think my body must have a pretty high tolerance when it comes to medications as I rarely seem to get any noticable side effects from anything, but I'm always hyper-vigilant when I take any new medications (like Sertraline) because of my anxieties and phobias. It'd be so lovely if I could get it to stick in my head that I'm normally fine and even when I'm not - I always cope with it... sadly I just seem to constantly engage in "catastrophic thinking"! 

  • 1975
    1975 Claracat

    Posted

    Hi Claracat,

    After being signed off work suffering panic attacks & anxiety, I was initially prescribed beta blockers to stop the panic attacks & after a few weeks was prescribed 50mg sertraline to deal with my feelings of anxiety (the panic attacks had stopped following taking beta blockers) I had never taken any sort of medication before & like you, became terrified after reading all the posts on here. So much so that I decided not to start taking them.

    However I suffered another panic attack & was beginning to feel worse so I decided I had to try them. Within a few days I felt so much better-I suffered some feelings of nausea which I expected as I get terrible motion sickness so think I am prone but was never sick. But other than that, a couple of headaches (again which I tend to suffer with so may not necessarily have been the meds) & a day or 2 of feeling a little spaced out, I was fine. I found the best way to combat the nausea was to drink lots of water & eat regularly (so I unfortunately didn't lose my appetite or any weight which was the 1 side effect I was hoping for! 😄)

    I have only been taking them for 6 weeks but they have totally turned me around. I am going back to work next week after 3 months off which I never thought would be possible.

    i think the thing I have learnt is that everybody is different & reacts differently to sertraline or any medicine for that matter. For me, it was definitely the right decision to take it & I'm so glad I didn't get put off by the many negative comments on here. Unfortunately sertraline doesn't seem to work for everybody but I have also realised that people only tend to post negative comments on forums, be it about meds, hotels or holidays, if people are pleased they don't tend to bother. So for every negative comment on here, there are probably dozens of people who have had a positive effect.

    As the previous poster said, they are not intended for long term use so I have also started doing more exercise to release seratonin naturally & a friend & I have started training for race for life. The adrenalin as we run a little further & a little faster each time is doing wonders too!!

    i hope whatever you decide to do, you start to feel better soon,

    xx

    • Claracat
      Claracat 1975

      Posted

      Hi 1975,

      Thank you for your reply, it's lovely to hear you had a positive response to Sertraline!

      I've tried betablockers in the past - specifically, Propranolol, but like you - it was recommended I dealt with the underlying anxiety and not just the panic attacks. 

      It's great that the sertraline took such a quick effect in your case and makes me hopeful that they'll take the edge off of my problems too. I've got to go back to discuss the medication in a couple of weeks, so hopefully I should know by then if they're working for me.

  • coop46269
    coop46269 Claracat

    Posted

    Hi Claracat

    The first day I took Sertraline (two weeks ago), I felt really sick but I was not actually sick. The sickness feelings became less and less each day and were completely gone by day 4. I really don't think that you will actually be sick.

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