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new user of sertraline, but feel awfull

Posted , 4 users are following.

lorna15391
lorna15391

hi, i have suffered depression on an off since my late teens, i was clean for 2 years, but recently i

have had a major low point after losing my mother to cancer. i have tried to fight the need to go back on medication, but i now have panic attacks and it is so hard just to get out of the house. so i bit the bullet and went to the doctors, she put me on sertraline as she said they were one the most

successful medications and as i have never had these before it might be just what i need, but i

have spent two days feeling awful, with sickness and a up set tummy, i have had no appetite even

know my tummy is making hunger signs.

ARE THEY WORTH STICKING WITH ?

0 likes, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • bellaseb
    bellaseb lorna15391

    Posted

    In a word: yes.

    I've been on them (this time round) for about 4 months (100mg) for anxiety and the horrid side-effects have passed, thank god. I had such an upset stomach for a while, lost my appetite completely and felt nauseous all the time, but this did go away.

    The only thing I'm suffering with at the moment are night sweats which have just started up out of no where, but the good that the meds have done for me far outweigh the negative, so I'm sticking with them.

    Of course, everyone is different, but they take about 2 weeks to really kick in. After that, things should hopefully get better for you.

    Good luck.

    • lorna15391
      lorna15391 bellaseb

      Posted

      thank you for your reply, i really do hope they work and that i can stick it out, im also struggling to sleep, i only sleep for around 3 hours and then im abit fuzzy for the rest of the day, did you experience this ?
    • bellaseb
      bellaseb lorna15391

      Posted

      Yes, I've suffered from insomnia (on and off) for years, but I have this regardless of any medications I'm on. I'm currently taking zopiclone for it, having tried temazepam and amitriptyline in the past, but nothing ever seems to work in making me sleep.

      Sertraline can disturb sleep patterns to begin with though, so hopefully this will also settle down if you usually sleep quite well.

      Also, I'm very sorry to hear about your mother. No wonder you are struggling at the moment, it's a terribly sad situation to be in.

    • lorna15391
      lorna15391 bellaseb

      Posted

      I have always struggled with sleep too, i survive on nothing or sleep for days, doc give me zopiclone for two weeks, i sleept really well but did not like the lasting effects in the day, felt they were very trippy, 
    • bellaseb
      bellaseb lorna15391

      Posted

      Yeah, they make me feel a bit groggy the next day, but I'd rather this and have a bit of sleep than none at all. Have you considered asking for help with your sleep again? Or are you going to try and carry on as you are and see if it improves?
    • lorna15391
      lorna15391 bellaseb

      Posted

      back to docs in two weeks, going to mention it then, im hoping these tablets wll kick in by then .
    • bellaseb
      bellaseb lorna15391

      Posted

      Yeah, hopefully you'll be feeling a lot better by then.
  • Joe_Slim
    Joe_Slim lorna15391

    Posted

    I'm sorry to hear about your side effects.  Unfortunately, the side effects you describe are totally normal, "par for the course," as we say in the US.  I had the same side effects--worst diarrhea of my life.  

    It helped when I took the pills with food.  Yogurt works for me.  Make sure you take the pills with food--WITH food, not before food, or after food.  I eat a couple spoonfuls of yogurt, then pop the pill, then take a couple more teaspooons of yogurt.  I think the food softens the journey of the pills.

    Make sure you eat tummy-friendly foods during the day.  Sauerkraut is my friend. 

    • lorna15391
      lorna15391 Joe_Slim

      Posted

      i will try eating tonight befor i take my tablet, going to try and stick at it, as many people have said they work wonders once they kick in . thank you for advise.
    • bellaseb
      bellaseb Joe_Slim

      Posted

      That's probably where I went wrong - I always take them on an empty stomach first thing in the morning and then don't eat for at least a few hours after that.

      Sauerkraut is an excellent recommendation - I second that.

  • Guest
    Guest lorna15391

    Posted

    hi lorna .it is not nice what we go through when we lose someone . and if you let bad thoughts in they will fester and before you know it we are asking the doc for help. they can only precribe you pills and they will.

    what ever you take you will have adverse reactions to any thing as your body does not want it in. 

    if you carry on your body will like it and you willl have o go cold turky to come off. 

    you need to look at your life and make a change do some thing different and when you do good pat your self on the back. life every now and then taps us on our shoulders and trys to tell us to back off or slow down or have fun. we ignor then your body goes into shock and force you to slow down (depression anxiaty)

    i would go to your doc tell tem to put you on a course to make you understand what has been going on. and if you can afford it see a hypotherpist they are experts with the brain and they wiil help .

    it did for me i feel better than any thing now .

    when was the last time you had a really good laugh and tell your self you a great you are positive ? 

     

  • g70738
    g70738 lorna15391

    Posted

    im a 50 year old man, who has although suffered depression in the past I have never taken medication, the short story is that the past 18 months were a living nightmare, eventually I realised that I had to see my GP who spoke to me about my options and more importantly listened to me and then asked me & not dictated to me about the treatment, my GP was very sympathetic and explained what she would like to prescribe, im not someone who will take medication unless I really need to and anti depressants were a definite no go for me, however I knew I could not continue the way I was.

    With full agreement of myself my GP prescribed  50mg of sertraline & to return after 2 weeks to see how I was responding but with the understanding that I would possibly need to increase to 250 over a period of time & that i would need to be taking them for a minimum of 6 months as they can take 4 months to work efectivly.

    I started the 50mg a day for the two weeks and after about a week i started to notice a difference, i did have a few of the most common side efects which cleard after about a month by which time i had been increased to 100mg.

    As to if you should stick with them, well i would say a very big yes, i have been on them now for 3 months, & not a single one of my problems that caused the depression has gone away, however i feel compleatly different, im able to cope with everything, i feel much more relaxed,my friends have noticed a huge difference in me & where i was breaking down in tears every few hours, i have only had one event of tears , So again from a person who dont like taking medication & was so against this type of drug i would recomend that you really do try them and see how it goes , they have changed my life compleatly in that im able to cope and deal with problems and situations GOOD LUCK!

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