Please help! 7 weeks 5 days and feeling worse than ever.

How long have you had it? Are you seeing someone? Are you on meds? Tell us your story. 

Hi I’ve got really bad anxiety and panick attacks. I’ve been taking 100mgs of sertraline for 3wks now but I feel so detached from my sons and my luv 1s it’s so scary I feel as tho I’ve lost myself. I just want to feel like myself again. Will I ever get there wiv these tablets plz

Debra you will get there, trust me. Within the first month of Sertraline I felt the same, possibly worse. In fact in took around 10 weeks to feel a substantial difference, I felt a lot better. At 20 weeks I was almost back to normal. Can you still do your usual things or are you struggling? Are you seeing a psychologist or other? Do you exercise?

Hi there yeh I still do things around the house but I just feel tired all the time and av headaches . It’s just the awful of feeling detached and not feeling myself that scares me and makes me panick even more. I can’t wait for these tablets to start kicking so I can feel sum normality again. Just want to be me again😢

I'm exactly the same Debra I felt so detached from myself and reality it made me constantly panic all the time it's such a scary feeling, my panic attacks stopped after upping my dose from 100mg to 150mg I still don't feel like myself yet but I'm slowly getting better, very slowly! I started sertraline in October and I can't wait to feel normal again whatever normal is lol x

How bad are you? Not feeling yourself doesn’t sound that bad. Do you cry? Are you very down? How anxious are you? Are you seeing a psychologist?

Hi Pamela how long Av u been on 150mgs? How long woz u on it b4 u started feeling abit better? Do u finally get ure sleeping pattern bk without any sleeping tablets x

I've been on 150mg for 50 days now (I'm counting lol) I was on 50mg for a week then 3 weeks on 100mg still wasn't feeling no better so went up to 150mg and my panic attacks stopped after a couple of days. I'd say I was 50% better and that's only been from the past 2 weeks. I've heard sertraline can take a while to work so I'm still hanging on! I'm on mirtazipine which helps me sleep so I can't say about sleeping pattern cos I get a good night's sleep on mirtazipine. I still have anxiety every single second of the day a constant churn in my tummy. I've noticed that when I eat really healthy which is oily fish everyday greens and fruit and nuts I felt so much better but because of Christmas I've been eating rubbish!

Hi Pamela it seems to take a long time for these tablets to start kicking in don’t it? Did ure doctor tell you how long they take to fully start working? And I thought mirtazapin woz also an antidepressant? X

Doctor said it would take 6 weeks but I have been reading other people's posts saying 2 or 3 months to work! Mirtazapine was for depression I've been on them for 15 months now I was on citalopram for 7 years but they suddenly stopped working which lead to constant panic and anxiety and really severe depersonalisation, I didn't know who I was, I felt like I was an alien who's has just landed on planet earth, severe detachment lead me to panic constantly, I couldn't leave the house, it was like living in hell in my own mind every single day, even though I have a brilliant supportive family, it was a terrifying and lonely place to be. I thought I was going crazy, I wanted to be locked up in a mental home, anyways things have improved, I don't panic no more and I can go places now, but the depersonalisation is still there but no where near as bad as it was, but I have been feeling moments of clarity feeling like things are really again, only for a few seconds now and then and feel like something better is happening with my vision, like my eyes are trying to refocus properly ( I've had depersonalisation for 12 years 24/7) so I'm hoping sertraline will sort it out. I seen a pyschartrist in December for a review but haven't heard anything back yet. Things can only get better my friend, so think positive ? I don't have depression just anxiety x

Hi Pamela u sound exactly like me. I woz on paroxatine for 17yrs for PTSD but felt as tho they stopped working, Doctor put me on citraplan for s couple of elf then decided to change and put me on sertraline 50mg for 1wk and now I’ve been on 100mgs for the past 3wks. I’ve been getting more stress on top of the stress I already had with my sons and also my granddaughter getting pregnant, it’s just 1 thing after another for me to worry about. I just wished the tablets wud really start kicking in and help me feel like myself again. It’s a very scary place 😢

It will get better Debra it's hard to stay patient when you feel this way. I use to get so intense stress between 4-7 pm for some reason so I would get in the shower and just stand there while the hot water soaked the back of my neck I'd also go for a walk. I walked so much when I was getting panicky I'd do about 17000 steps a day lol. You'll get there Debra I thought I would never feel any better but I am a lot better then I was. Take care x

Thank you so much Pamela for giving me a bit of hope.wot is depersonalisation? 

Took me around 10 weeks to feel a substantial difference and at 20 weeks I was almost 100% – but I still can have bad days. Whoever can feel a substantial difference within the first month is lucky

HI could you sleep ok tho? Cus I can’t unless I Av a sleeping tablet and the doctor only gave me them for a wk. I can’t sleep all I do is lye there with my eyes closed and my mind is just doing overtime which make me panick even more. Is there anything you can suggest for me and will it get better cus it’s so scary 😢

Depersonalisation is feeling detatched from reality and yourself, I constantly feel like im in a dream it's pretty scary feeling.

Hi Pamela that’s how I feel it’s so scary. I just want to feel like myself again. Will these tablets help me to feel better again and help me to sleep cus I just lay there with my eyes closed and my mind is just doing overtime which makes me panick even more 😢

Hi Debra I'm hoping the tablets will make us feel better! Are you on sertraline and what dose are you on and how long for? Why don't you try melotonin for sleep I think you can get it from the chemist. It's horrible when you can't get sleep!

Its awful, i completley get how you are feeling. Everything you have said resonates with me. Thank you both for just commenting. Depersonalisation, constant anxiety, stomach churning etc etc its all so isolating. And you guys definetley make me feel less alone. I've recently been forcing myself to talk with old friends as its a good distraction. When I'm with family it always gets worse for some reason.

Sertraline won’t exactly help you sleep, but there is a drug for sleeping that is not a benzo. Benzos (like Valium) are great for relaxation and sleep BUT they can cause depression as a side effect not to mention they can be very addictive. I found this out the hard way (the depressive effect, not the addiction). 

I was so anxious and my OCD was off the charts. I took the Valium at night but every morning after I was extremely depressed. I will never take a benzo again.

A great alternative is Seroquel. It’s an antipsychotic drug and is used in high doses for schizophrenia. It’s sometimes prescribed “off label” as a sleeping aid. I think the lowest dose in pill form is 25mg and this I believe is what a doctor might prescribe for sleep  (schizophrenics might take 400mg). 

There are some serious side effects in high doses and I was concerned but in low doses I was advised not to worry. I had zero side effects apart from tiredness when waking up.  As my anxiety was severe I was willing to try anything as I could not sleep at all. 

I took 25mg (one pill) once and unlike Valium I was out like a light after about 20 minutes. Valium makes you relaxed and tired first and then you drop off. 

The next time I used a pill cutter to half the dose and it had the same effect. After that I halved it again so I was taking approximately 6.25mg which also made me sleep. 

My thinking was if I can sleep on a very lose dose it will be taking less drugs. 

I only took Seroquel for around 3 weeks, until I could sleep. I haven’t taken it since. But please ask your doctor about it first because I’m not a doctor

If any of you want to chat with me let me know. I’m in Australia but we could figure out a suitable time. I know the pain of anxiety and depression and what I did has worked for me. I also have another tactic for falling asleep if y’all need it

HI r u taking sertraline?if so how many mgs and how long Av u been on it for? And wot can help me to relax and sleep plz

Hi Pamela yeh I’m on sertraline 100mgs and I’ve been on it for 3wks now wen do you think I’ll start aving any improvement and beable to sleep naturally and will I ever feel like myself again 

I was only on 100mg for 3 weeks so I upped my own dose to 150mg because I wasn't feeling any better, I think it was about 5 weeks in and I felt a bit better, but still don't feel like myself fully yet but it has improved. When I first started to take sertraline I took it at tea time around 5pm and I could not sleep at all, so I take it on the morning which helped. But im on mirtazipine which makes you sleep. When I came off mirtazapine cold turkey I couldn't sleep at all so doctor prescribed me sleeping pills. I ended up back on mirtazipine because of the unbearable side effects.

Hi Pamela did you up ure dose ureself?ive heard that matazipine makes you feel like crap the nxt day

You need to read all my posts carefully. All the info is there. I’m Liparus.