New to Sertraline & Anxiety Worse Than Before

Hey Laura, 

I have been off sertraline now for about 2 months as my anxiety,depression,ptsd and bulimia started to ease up.I was in a pretty dark place for over a year and had to go back onto antidepressants. 

The thing with any antidepressant it can take up to 6-8 weeks and sometimes longer for it to be fully in your system. I see that you are having early side effects but they should subside in the coming weeks. 

I know how you feel and how hard it is but keep at it! 

xx 

Hey Laura,

This sounds really familiar! I've been on sertraline for 11 weeks now, first 6 at 50mg and then up to 100mg. The heightened anxiety started to clear about 3-4 weeks in, and I'm feeling a lot better most of the time now. Just hang in there, shouldn't be too much longer for you. In the meantime try to distract yourself from the feelings, and just be aware that it's the drug making you feel that way.

Hi Laura, yes I had the same awful side effects for the 1st 3 weeks on 50, in fact I cut down to 25 then when I was used to it I upped gradually over 5 months to 150 . I felt improvement around 75 but not full, so I continued upping till now. Each time I upped by 25 I had increased anxiety and dizziness for 3 weeks. I've been on 150 for 6 weeks and can say that it clicked about 2 weeks ago and I've been feeling good ever since, apart from a little anxiety if I've had a bad nights sleep. Its worth persevering for the relief of feeling normal again when you find your dose. If you are managing to go to work you're doing amazingly! I had a month off, went back part time and boy did ibstruggle! I'm changing jobs due to the stress caused by the boss cutting my hours to next to nothing, the money worries and bad feeling caused has just added to my stress. So now um working on going self employed, doing something less stressful that I enjoy more. I'm in menopause too which has caused a lot of health issues! I'm also on betablockers....they stop the horrible effect of adrenaline on the heart and I've not had a full on panic attack since I've been on them. Downside of sert is I've put loads of weight on and skin is bad with acne, plus I struggle to get to sleep so I take sominex if I need to guarantee a good nights sleep. But its a small price to pay to feel better and hopefully I can sort those things out now. the forums on here have been the best support I've had! I reckon in another week the side effects will have subsided and if you've still got anxiety you can increase if need be.best wishes and post if you need support x

Thank you so much for your replies. I wouldn't wish anxiety on my worst enemy but knowing that other people have been through similar experiences and have positive stories to share is a great help xx

Hi Laura,

?The experience you neatly describe as 'adrenaline pumping' is the reason I went to my GP in the first place - I was worried I had some neurological disorder such as Parkinson's. However, my GP was convinced that it was part of an anxiety state and put me on Sertraline, 50mg for three months and 100mg since. After intial symptoms of agitation and dizziness, I THINK I feel more outward looking, but the jitters haven't stopped at all - they are still there every morning as I wake. The problem for me is that I don't know whether the jitters I am experiencing now are my original symptoms, or the quite common side effects of Sertraline. They disappear into the long grass when I am exercising or otherwise proccupied, but reappear agaIn around teatime again and make me wonder if they are related to low blood sugars.

?I don't know if this has been of any help, but you certainly are not alone in the symptoms you feel on waking. My only consolation is that they have been going on for six months now, and I don't appear to have become more jittery - I just worry sporadically about the cause (or is it the effect? :-) - of Sertraline).

Unfortunately you often feel worse before you start to feel better. The side effects usually wear off after 2-3 weeks but it may take up to 6 weeks. Unfortunately many of the side effects are also symptoms of anxiety and depression. Give it another couple of weeks and go back to your doctor to discuss.

Are work doing anything to help with your stress? They have a responsibility to look after their employees.