Non stop intruisive thoughts day 3 of Sertraline 50mg

Thanks for replying. I honestly feel like I'm losing my mind. I can't stop thinking and crying. It's good knowing others have experienced this.

Hi Kathryn,

Thank you for the support. I've actually just started therapy and am looking into possible OCD.

Best Wishes

Hi Jane,

Thank you for replying. I've actually been told to stop the medication for now by my GP. Looking into potential OCD with a therapist and starting ERP. I'm going to try to beat it without meds 🙏

Hi GodsServant,

Thank you for replying 😃 I've actually come off the medication as the side effects were too severe (GP instructed). They shed a bit of light on possible OCD though, so I'm working with a therapist to try to treat this without medication for now.

Many thanks

l have also decided to come off sertraline, side effects were getting worse after 14 weeks of persevering. My doctor thinks l need to go back to working with my therapist.

sertraline actually give me OCD have keep checking things been awful. Had intrusive thoughts due to zopiclone withdrawaf tried citalopram then sertraline which has now given me OCD that never had before CBT didnt help me at all probably because thoughts were caused by withdrawal. Had started to see psychotherapist who was great but temporarily stopped as only skype now due to corona. Hope you have more luck if try cbt I know it does work for some people.

Having a bad day coming off sertraline but have re-started EFT with a therapist and am sure it is helping. Limited contact at the moment but can text and speak on the phone. Also quite a lot on the web about EFT.

c53732 to GodsServant. You have been so encouraging and helpful but l have chatted with my doctor and pharmacist and from my past history of antidepressants they both think l will be better coming off sertraline and going back to EFT ( emotional freedom therapy). l guess I'm in for a rough ride getting the drug out of my system but l have only been on it for 14 weeks so hopefully it won't be too bad. Best wishes to you and your husband.

Thank you and best wishes to you, too. Take care.

Yes, try CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and get this book Stop Obsessing by Edna Foa. I read it decades ago and still use it now and then when my attack comes back. Gives lots of insight into your condition. Wish you the best. Take care.

Is that the tapping thing? Did have one session but was very expensive so couldn't afford keep going. The psychotherapist was great but skype wasn't same I needed the personal contact will go back to it later. CBT did nothing for me, but maybe because mine was caused by zopiclone withdrawal not something I had before stopping meds. Did briefly go back on citalopram now withdrawing from that it's tough!

hi there,

ive just bought this book i hope it helps! hope to start cbt once lockdown eases. is ocd make you think the worst thoughts possible you could imagine?

Lemanna. yes it is ' tapping'.There are some good tapping sessions on 'you tube' that you can follow. l tried CBT but it did nothing for me.

I can see it would help if you can afford several sessions with therapist. Don't think CBT works if your symptoms are caused by drugs or drug withdrawal. Been doing exposure therapy for months but my brain needs to repair from the chemicals in the drugs I think!!!

Yes, OCD thoughts are strange. I think one of my earliest OCD thoughts was when I did a research paper on AIDS (HIV) back when I was in fourth grade. I don't know why I became obsessed with the thought/fear that I'd contract the virus and I didn't even know anything about sex then. 😃 HA. I still recall going to the public bathroom and thinking about using a few seat covers to protect myself. Then my other strange thoughts, I called them "bad thoughts" back then because I didn't even know what OCD was. And my thoughts kept being overtaken my a stronger obsessive thought, like harming my loved ones without knowing, about whether or not I was gay, about reality, memory. They're just thoughts, but they make you feel so real and uncomfortable that you get freaked out by your thoughts and you can't run from them. The only good thing is that your mind is aware that these thought are messed up. The thoughts themselves are harmless but the fact that they stress you out and affect your nervous system, and these physical reactions lead to increased thoughts (anxiety) and so, you see the vicious cycle? CBT will give you tools to not get physically reactive to these thoughts, thereby rendering these thought as such. And thoughts, they're really a dime a dozen. Take care. Glad you got the book.

Lemanna.Do look on You Tube,there are some very good basic tapping sessions and you can tap with them. Even though l had a therapist l used them to start with to help me understand it more.

Hi,

IMO, if a medication isn't working for you - be honest with your GP about the side effects. I don't want to tell you not to take them because I understand they do save some peoples lives. But be upfront and honest. The first time I called the GP, I was shunned off and told to keep taking them and the side effects would subside. I ended up on my couch thinking I was having a breakdown and I called my GP back and said, look, do you have five minutes to listen. Explained what I was experiencing and he seemed concerned and told me to stop the medication. Fight for what you need because only you know the full extent of what you're experiencing. Keep reaching out for help and keep pushing until something works for you 💛 another medication and/or therapy could work a treat.

Hi Lemanna, I have been seeing a correlation online between OCD flare ups and Sertaline online (Although not much). I can't be sure if the medication actually caused me to have OCD symptoms because I was experiencing some kind of episode of intruisive memories before I took it, but it changed the way my intrusive thoughts were happening and honed in on one topic and gave me intrusive thoughts about this all day, every day, to the point I couldn't function. This is starting to ease and I've gone back to obsessions about memories, but I'm able to function better. I assume the OCD was there and my symptoms just got worse. My therapy is over Skype too, I know it's better in person but don't give up on it, keep going, be 100% honest about your experiences and they may find another kind of therapy will work for you where CBT didn't. Lots of love.

Hi GodsServant, thank you so much for the recommendation. I will look into that. It's good to have something there for when times get tough. Much love 😃

Hi Jane,

In my case, yes this happened but is easing now. I can say that reading online about it only exasperated it and kept the wheel turning. If you're having thoughts that make you uncomfortable, and you know in your heart you're not that person. Speak to someone, be 100% honest and you can get the right information and help. My advice would be a mental health professional. Don't worry about the content of the intruisive thoughts. Every single person on the planet has these thoughts and are able to brush them off. If you're in a bad place you might be placing too much emphasis on what they mean (which is nothing, they're just thoughts). The more you fight and argue with them the more they push back (imagine a ball bouncing off a wall). Read about mindfulness for intruisive thoughts. Much love x

sha13553 Thank you for your post. l have made the decision to come off sertraline. Have started reducing dose this week and today has been my best day in a while. l have spent a lot of time doing EFT and listening to mindfulness recordings.

Hi Sha, it definitely caused mine never had any OCD or compulsions before taking it. I will go back to the therapist just as I only just started with her needed the personal contact at the moment. She thinks possibly connected to when my husband nearly died 4 years ago after cardiac arrest at home, I've also got very y toxic mother thinks maybe coming off zopiclone triggered the anxiety. But have read others having bad experience with some anti depressants. I'm down to alternating between 1/4 and 1/2 tablet each night, withdrawal is hard but getting there. How long did you take to come off it? Glad you are improving

thats interesting to know thanks for sharing but again must have been awful. mines are my dreaded worst they make me think i dont love my partner or he doesnt love me it constantly switches, its so disturbing. i know i love him but when my thoughts switch as i know i love him it then turns to he doesnt love me and its an awful cycle, the thought of me thinking i dont love him like you said spikes my anxiety then i get a panic attack!!my dreams are so vivid and horrendous that i wake up in panic because something awful has happened in them that i have hurt him by cheating on him, is that normal? i will look into getting CBT for a must! started the book yesterday its an eye opener

thanks for that, thats great to know. they really are upsetting and like you said i am thinking about it too much. i will need to see someone. thank you hope your okay.

Hi Jane, sorry for late response. I live in the states, across the pond.

Yes, all your OCD thoughts are not normal, but as far as OCD thoughts go, they are completely normal, if that makes any sense.

And I could relate. Your OCD thought is like the gay thought - am I gay? How do I know if I'm gay? What if I'm gay and just not know it? blah blah blah. Or, like, What if I hurt my loved ones physically and not know it? What if I can't control myself? blah blah blah

The list goes on. Really, at this stage, I've come to believe that ANY regular thought could turn into an OCD thought if it bothers you (intrusive) and argues with you until your go nuts. The strange thing about an OCD thought is that the same thought that bothers you is an "everyday" random thought that everyone has that would not bother a regular person. I've told my ex-husband about my OCD thought, like about the gay one, and he shrugged it off, "Yeah, I've thought it, but so what? It'll eventually all come out if I am." And he laughed if off. It's people like us, like a falter switch of light in our head that gets turned on and cannot be turned off, and the med helps with this. Dim the light or turn off the switch.

Please read the book. It will do you a world of good. It's good to know as much as you can about your illness. OCD is a vicious cycle. You have to learn to break it somewhere. Usually, they try to break it by calming your body so that you can calm your nerves, and the sertraline helps a lot with this. And there therapy. Take care.

Hi,

Did you have any side effects when you came off? i took only 2 doses and still dont feel that well. My last dose was Saturday. The doses were only 25mg each

Hi Maggie,

It took around a week to come around after coming off the medication. Maybe a week and a half. Hope this helps.

S