Posted , 18 users are following.
I would have found it helpful to read one person's journey with Sertraline, so I offer mine. I was put on Zoloft twenty years ago for depression, but the side effects of suicidal feelings were so strong, I was taken off. My mornings always were hard, but things would get better as the day went on. I've dealt with this for years, as well as social anxiety. I'm ready to try medication again.
6 likes, 102 replies
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kathy81432
Posted
Day 36 on 100mg:
It is great to have NO depression, No suicidal thoughts, No social anxiety, no abnormal anxiety. Today I had no headaches at all. No teeth gritting.
I had noticed a strange trend as I am on sertraline longer. I have been getting less headaches, which are a very manageable side effect that is decreasing. After a period of headaches, it seems I become more stabilized at Normal Brain Function. Headaches proceed the next step in balanced brain. That makes sense. What is strange is that the headaches, when they come, have been in a circular pattern, clockwise.
Imagine a clock-face inside my brain. The first few weeks the headaches always started at The 7:00 position, and stayed in that position. The next several weeks, when headaches came, they started in the 8:00 position and stayed there. Then the next week, when the headaches came, they started in the 9:00 position and stayed there. At this point, the headache yesterday started in the 1:00 position. Each week, the headaches become less strong, and less bothersome. Yet when they start again, they start in the next clockwise position. I almost didn't record this,because it seemed so weird. But I have seen this happening for me.
Today I had no headaches all day. Exedrine Migraine manufacturers may be losing a loyal customer. 😘
kathy81432
Posted
Day 59; but 41 days on 100 mg:
I have a life back. Hiking and camping. Social gatherings with no social anxiety. No morning depression, I woke up singing today again. My husband plays cello, and his music is gloriously 3D. I can tell the difference between radio, CD, and live music now. The live music has more dimensions, a type of surround sound I did not have before.
I have been been watching one 'side effect' with interest, and have decided to report it, although it seems really weird. The sertraline seems to work in a circular/hoop fashion, like an old fashioned clock.
I have read that sertraline knocks down the wall in (my) brain that has prevented my brain receptors from being able to receive the serotonin that my body produces. The sertraline seems to act like one man with a pickax and a wheelbarrow, hired to demolish a circular wall that surrounded and closed me in. He first started demolishing the wall at the bottom left side of my brain, about the 7:00 point. That's where the throbbing headaches were the worst. Then the light started to come in, things looked brighter as he hauled away the debris. Then days later, he worked in a circular clockwise fashion, demolishing the 8:00 portion of the wall. The headaches and nausea of the early days after 100 mg were emanating from a different area. Then there was a brief respite while he hauled away the debris, and more light came in. I thought I was nuts when I first started noticing this, but I've watched it move from the 9:00 position to the 10:00 position, and I'm now at about the 11:00 position. The longer I'm on the 100 mg sertraline, the less the headaches. They are definitely managed by regular Exedrine. I can go for a day or two with no headache, then I get a stronger one in the next clock position, now at 11:00. The headaches no longer even originate from the 7:00 position. Then after a day or two of 2-3 Exedrine per day, more "light" (or a longer solidified peace with non-anxiety) comes in as the sertraline "man" hauls away the debris with his wheelbarrow. I wonder if this will continue full circle? Will it spiral? I shall continue to watch this strange phenomenon. I have a slight throbbing still in the 11:00 position. If I have observed correctly, I should have a few days before he started to demolish the 12:00 position on the circular wall...
Psyched_Out_Kim kathy81432
Posted
How bad was your anxiety before you started sertaline, and while you were getting it in your system? Heightened anxiety is what's scaring me into not taking it.
kathy81432 Psyched_Out_Kim
Posted
jay98357 Psyched_Out_Kim
Posted
Hiya Kim. I am not sertaline and been on 50mg now for about 4 weeks. Before that I was on 25mgs for 2 weeks. Foe me before sertaline every day was he'll. I was in a constant anxiety circle, light headed couldnt consentrate basically just existing. I had enough and went to the docs. Now a bit of background.. I have tried many anti depresses since I was 19 years old.. I'm now 47 and each one was just awful. So the last 10 years I have struggled on without anything so it got to the point I had to get help. My new doc is amazing and gave me 25mgs of Sertaline alon with 2mgs of diazipam. I was dreading taking it as of ourselves I read the side effects.. As you do. Anyway I took them and to be honest my anxiety didon't really get worse I did have loss of appetite and upset tummy for a few weeks.
But I stuck with it. Now weeks on my life is good. I can consentrate am more patient and I don't panic.
The only way you will know is to try. Your doc would not have given you them if he or she didn't think they would work
This site really helped me. The people on her are a great support based on our own experiences but of course we are not medically trained.
Good luck x
Psyched_Out_Kim jay98357
Posted
Thanks so much, Jay! I was on sertaline for years, and it worked well. However, about 5 years ago I decided to come off of it cold turkey. Big mistake, but when the withdrawals passed I felt alive again. I had, and still have xanax that helps with breakthrough anxiety, but have noticed that I've needed it more often than not lately. I'm 45, and was put on it when I was in my 20's. It had to been around age 24 or so, because when I was first diagnosed, they put me on Paxil, but I couldn't handle it. Back then there was no computer in the home in order to look things up. For all I know, the Paxil could have worked, but I didn't know that these meds take a while to get into your system. Anyways, I got a new and better doctor, and was put on Zoloft/sertaline. I don't remember what side effects I had when starting, because I was in really bad shape. If my anxiety was heightened at the start of the med, more than likely I thought it was just me. My anxiety was more like pure panic all the time, which lead to trips to the hospital and getting everything from the normal workup to lumbar puncture, and even surgeries. I was absolutely clueless about anxiety back then, but many people probably were. Nowadays, we have information overload which causes so much apprehension about starting meds due to possible side effects. Since I can't remember what it was like when I started years ago, I've turned into apprehensive type.
Psyched_Out_Kim kathy81432
Posted
Thanks so much for all of your advice. I don't currently have anyone to check up on me, except for my husband and daughter, and we definitely live together. If I have side effects and they're around, I tend to get through them better. Being alone and having side effects is what really scares me the most. I'll have to figure something out, because it's only going to get worse. I'm 45, and hormones are probably changing. I've heard that anxiety and depression can get worse during peri-menopause, and menopause. That's all I need. lol I had a hysterectomy a few years ago, so I won't know if I'm in that stage until a blood draw is done, and that's not even 100% accurate. The only other symptoms I can try and go on is the emotional ones. I currently can't rely on hot flashes, or mini waves of heat, because I've been sick.
I ended up replying to your other reply to me, so I'm sorry if it comes off like I asked the same question twice. The site has been a little buggy for me lately, and causing issues with out of order email notifications, and taking forever to post a comment.
kathy81432
Posted
kathy81432
Posted
Kim, I did a cost/benefit analysis, and that helped me. On a scale of 1-10, I lived with persistent symptom about at 3. If I got sick, or stressed, it would jump to 8. So, I realized if I don't do meds, after two months, I have suffered 180 depression points. If sertraline worked, and that meant I had to suffer 22 days at 8 depression points per day, that would be the break even point. If I didn't see ANY change at all, I'd go for the 4th week, which is when many people saw changes. So I was willing to endure excess symptoms for 22 days, because I owed it to myself to see if meds would help. I am very glad I did.
Psyched_Out_Kim kathy81432
Posted
That's a really great way to look at it all.
You talk about your depression, so I was just wondering if you had a lot of anxiety and panic attacks, or if that was less of a issue for you.
After a few years of semi-controlled anxiety, it came back with a vengeance. My mom got a cancer diagnosis, and was gone 6 months later, which was last May. I went through absolutely everything with her. She lived downstairs from me for many years, so my brother and sister didn't feel the need to help. During that time I really didn't have much anxiety at all, probably because I was her advocate, in constant "go" mode, and it really looked like she was going to beat it. All the treatments where done, she was doing great, but had to wait for the final PET scan. A couple days before the scan, she ended up in the hospital. She technically did beat her original cancer, but nobody knew that it went to her heart. I got my first wave of panic when the doctor came in, and shut the door. My mom passed 3 after that. Since then, my anxiety has been getting worse, turning into many panic attacks, and there's a depthof depression that I never felt before. I've been drastically sick since last June, which has caused me to pretty much stay in my bedroom 95% of the time. Granted, I did have surgery this May, took forever to heal, and now have had 3 bouts of pharyngitis with sinus infections. Can't seem to catch a break.
I follow your posts religiously, and have noticed how much better you've gotten. You're like my light at the end of the tunnel with every post you write. Thank you so very much!
kathy81432 Psyched_Out_Kim
Posted
Kim, I send love to you. May light, peace and health come and surround you. I pray you can feel loved.
I'm in town with better Internet for a short time (chains needed to get over the Pass in August!!). To answer your quest, anxiety was not as much an issue for me. Severe hormonal issues with hysterectomy and ovaries out ten years later. Then Yeats of UTI's. After discovering Biotechnology. hormonal Pellet therapy (BIOTE) UTI'S stopped. I was diagnosed ADD before doctors knew women could have ADD. I've worked and worked to have a peaceful life so the ADD Was managed that way. Smaller home, more sleep, less income, less responsibilities everywhere. So, no, for me, anxiety wasn't the main issue.
kathy81432
Posted
Internet problems or website problems? I've lost the last few posts ...
Well, it's August, and we've got fresh snow and need chains to get over the Pass. With storms, internet problems are the norm around here for folks who don't pay megabucks for Internet. If the last few posts about Mr. Pickax Man (who works in a clockwise fashion) reappear, this post will be quite logical. If not, I'll try to rewrite them in a few days. If the posts were lost, I am NOT delusional. I have seen a clockwise trend on how the sertraline seems to work on me.
Day 61 on Sertraline, Day 43 on 100 mg:
So I'm at the 6 week point on 100 mg, and 8 week point from starting. Mr. pickax Man is back at work, but this time, there's NO headache!!!!! He started demolishing the circular wall early in the morning. He's definitely at work behind my left eyebrow, and heading towards my left center forehead. I feel a strange stretching there, a pressure, but it's not painful. It's at the 11:00 position, heading towards 11:30 position. He is pick axing and knocking down the circular wall there. And I notice more light coming in from that area. Plus, I woke up extremely optimistic, planning and dreaming of possible family vacation options. I can't remember ever waking up optimistic before, except maybe once or twice 30-40 years ago (? ).
I have also also been surprised to notice that I have not had nighttime stomachs problems lately. I have not needed (Tums, or alka-seltzer or baking soda) to quiet my stomach so I could sleep. This positive effect has lasted long enough now for me to report that stomach pain at night has gone from a 6 on average at night, to a 1, on a scale of 1-10. I would say zero, but with two family reunions, a cross country trip, and the fact that we will be moving soon, I definitely have (happy) stress on my plate. So the "fear factor" makes the stomach problems now at 1 at night. (We're just moving down the street, not cross country).
I hope the the posts about the circular wall, and the pattern Mr. Sertraline Pickax Man has chosen to demolish the wall have not been lost in cyberspace. He started at 7:00 position, and has slowly moved to 11:30. I have over the weeks seen that trend.
Psyched_Out_Kim kathy81432
Posted
I saw your original posts about the Pickaxe man, but there's been many problems on this site, so I don't doubt that it's hiding.
kathy81432
Posted
Looks like the post I carefully crafted is lost in cyberspace. I will attempt to explain Mr. Pickax Man.
I first started noticing a trend early on, that the sertraline seemed to be working in a clockwise position in my head. But I didn't want to be dismissed as delusional or hallucinating. So I just watched for awhile.
It it was as if I was living in the middle of an area surrounded by a circular brick wall that was about a foot higher than my head. I had more tunnel vision in my thinking and living experiences. But I was still just as valuable a human being as others who did not live cloistered. Sertraline was like hiring one man with a pickax and wheelbarrow to demolish the circular wall. He started about the 7:00 position in my head, and every time he'd knock down a section of the wall, there'd be huge headaches and lots of mess. Then he'd get to work and haul away the debris with his wheelbarrow. And more light would come in, and things would look good for a few days. Then he'd start on the next section of the wall. The headaches and subsequent light coming in started at the 7:00 position in my head. I noticed, what I called Mr. Pickax Man doing his work in a clockwise fashion about at the 9:00 position, but wanted to wait awhile before recording it. Each time, more light was coming in, and it was less painful/debilitating as the light that was coming in was increasing.
Now I personally have seen a trend, and he's at the 11:00-11:30 position. The wall has been removed from 7:00-11:00. Do I feel the wall from 12:00 to 6:00? No. I may feel more numb there, but I'm just watching g with interest. The tunnel vision is no longer there, both emotionally, and even physically, with me seeing and hearing in 3D now. This mental picture could make sense if it is true that sertraline breaks down the wall in my brain that has prevented my brain receptors from being able to access the serotonin that my body produces. But I'd never thought of the wall as a circular fence around me before.
kathy81432
Posted
Day 64, but Day 46 on 100 mg:
For days, I've had no headaches, no anxiety, no depression, and no suicidal feelings. No social anxiety. Today Mr. Pickax Man has been working on demolishing the wall from 11:00 to 1:00. I can feel him working, but there is no headache at all. I hadn't found myself clenching my teeth for a long time, but I've done it a few times yesterday and today. I'll trade that any day for freedom from that dark cloud.
I find it quite interesting to see how well I'm doing, considering we had two different family reunions, and we are in the process of moving. I feel no stress, and am thinking clearly, with no anxiety. Our new place is just down the street, but moving is still a major event. I am so grateful for sertraline.
kathy81432
Posted
Day 48 on 100 mg:
My Pickaxe Man is not logically working in a circular fashion. I keep feeling this Stretching and Minor (really minor!) pressure wildly fluctuating between 11:00 and 2:00. No bad side effects though. Will I live with this Feeling Stretched in my brain for the rest of my time on earth? That would be fine with me, as long as the sertraline keeps working. It feels like a cross between a sore muscle, and the minor eye strain I experience when I look through binoculars for an extended time.
Today we do the final walk through for our new home, a 846 Sq. Ft. Condo just down the street. Looking at a major move, I feel it's no problem. No anxiety, no crying under the pressures. And my creativity and spiritual receptors haven't been dulled by the sertraline. This for me is major. The best parts of "Me" haven't been altered. I am experiencing no zombie-ness, lethargy or dullness in my brain.
kathy81432
Posted
54 days on 100 mg:
Juggling painter, new carpet, window replacement, cleaning, sorting, choosing paint, sink, faucets etc. is no problem. I've been shoving desserts into my mouth, but that's the only sign that I'm stressed. No hiding in bed and crying, no sleeping extra long hours, no anxiety. I feel normal. Mr. Pickaxe Man has been oscillating back and forth in my brain, demolishing the wall between 11:00 and 1;00. Today it was much closer to 1:00. It no longer hurts, it's just a weird airy stretching feeling. Hardly bothersome at all, kind of like traffic noise that could be mildly annoying, but you just ignore it. He definitely is no longer working at 7:00, but has progressed to 12:00-1:00 position.
I've perhaps lost two pounds in weight, but am stable. No sexual problems. I would be thrilled to just stay at this level, but it seems he still has more wall to demolish. I am amazed at the beauty in this world. I'd missed so much with the dark cloud over me.
vanessa45115 kathy81432
Posted
I'm at day 56 at 150 and I wish with all my heart that the meds were helping me like they are you. It's great to hear how well you're doing
kathy81432 vanessa45115
Posted
vanessa45115 kathy81432
Posted
Yes Kathy, I am still on the sertraline and I think I'm over the hardest part. It will be 9 weeks tomorrow on my dose increase from 100 to 150. I can still feel the anxiety hanging out and waiting for just the right moment to take me down. My intrusive thought, although much milder, is also trying its hardest to take me down but I've decided to not let them win. Your posts have helped me and others so much. I also post my progression once a week, whether good or bad. There are lots of people who need reassurance through those difficult times. Keep posting Kate, it's awesome!