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Please I need some reassurance

Posted , 13 users are following.

jenna324
jenna324

Hello everyone. I need some reassurance. I’ve been on Zoloft for about a month and a few days now. I have been needing to take a Xanax in the morning as I wake up about 5:30 am with anxiety. I also need to take one before bed. Each day I hope and pray I will feel better. I have noticed slight improvements but nothing major. I also sometimes get this odd sensation/pain on the left side of my head which causes me to have anxiety. I think the worse. I am a mom and wife and I have not felt like myself in a long time. I don’t know how much longer I can take this. I feel like the meds aren’t working or maybe I’m not being patient. Any words of encouragement would be so helpful! Thank you all. 

1 like, 33 replies

33 Replies

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  • eve51406
    eve51406 jenna324

    Posted

    Hi Jenna

    Anxiety is awful isn’t it. It could take a bit longer for the meds to stop you feeling it so much. The more we focus on how anxious we are, the worse it seems to be.  Could you try not to be dependent on the Xanax? Speak to your GP or equivalent if you are not in the UK. Do you have health anxiety? this causes our minds to run riot and frighten us with every new feeling. It will get better if you give yourself a bit more time. Warm hugs to you.

    • jenna324
      jenna324 eve51406

      Posted

      Hi eve 

      Yes I suffer from health anxiety ( funny that you knew right away) and you are right. Everything that I feel I automatically think the worse. It’s really scary.  Yes I try not to depend on the Xanax because I don’t want to be dependent on it.  Do you think it’s normal for me to feel this way at this point still? I am not in the UK. I am in the USA.  

  • eve51406
    eve51406 jenna324

    Posted

    Hi again, for some reason I can’t pick up your reply! Try not to stress too much about the what ifs. It’s hard not to but it puts your emotions into red alert and fight or flight mode. Thinking of you.
    • jenna324
      jenna324 eve51406

      Posted

      Can you see this reply? Yes I do suffer from health anxiety ( it’s funny that you knew that right away) I always think the worse when I feel things. I’m wondering if it’s a side effect as I did start to get it after I began the meds. Thanks for the words of encouragement 
  • eve51406
    eve51406 jenna324

    Posted

    Oh, I’ve got it now. Do you have a support system in place, partner, children, therapist? We have Samaritans in the UK 24/7. There’s always a voice to help not feel so alone. I have bad tinnitus and I’m really suffering with it just now. I have sometimes called my family in the night when I’ve needed to. 

    What’s the worst anxiety for you? it can be helpful to try to identify exactly what you feel you can’t cope with. I’m a Counselling Therapist but I’m on leave at present. Now I’m the one needing support.

  • heather50974
    heather50974 jenna324

    Posted

    Hello. I wanted to reply because when I was in the early stages of starting sertraline I searched these forums for reassurance as I felt no one I knew would understand what I was going through. I want to say this- it DOES get better. I am in my 10th week now at 100mg and I feel like the old me again. Maybe not completely, but so damn close it feels great. This medication truly takes months to work it’s way to thhe therapeutic level needed. It is so worth pushing through the tough times. I had horrible side effects in the first 8weeks and took Klonopin to help me in the morning. I haven’t needed Klonopin in weeks. Hold out hope- you will get there! 
    • jenna324
      jenna324 heather50974

      Posted

      Thank you heather your words are so encouraging. It’s such a scary feeling when I have these symptoms and I feel like there is a dark cloud over my head. I hope I one day I can get to where you are! 
    • melissa66574
      melissa66574 heather50974

      Posted

      This gives me hope, too!

      I was on 200mg of sertraline for 10 years and was feeling good enough to taper down to 50mg. I was doing ok, but not great on it for a few months until i started a new job/new role and anxiety and depression came crashing down so bad that my doc and I decided to increase my dose back up to 200 over the course of a month. I have now been on 200mg for 4 weeks with little improvement. I feel calmer but I don't feel like myself yet---my normal happy self that loves to get out and walk around town. I miss that and hope I get there soon.  i'm just a little fearful it won't work this time. There was a time that i accidentally took half my dose over the course of week and then felt symptoms return but as soon as I went back on my regular dose, I was ok in a few weeks. 

      I hope that the reason it's taking longer this time is becasue I was on the low dose of 50mg for several months while i really needed to be on a higher one. 

      I hope that it doesnt mean my hormones or brain chemicals changed and sertraline will no longer work. I feel like the first scenario is more logical but the fearful part of me can't convince myself of that.

      Thank you again, heather! Had you been on ADs before?

    • jenna324
      jenna324 melissa66574

      Posted

      Same here. My 1st time I was on Zoloft I was on 50 and I don’t remember it taking this long to work. I feel like my symptoms are so much worse now and anxiety is so high . It’s stressful wondering if it will work or not and the waiting game. You just want to wake up and feel normal again but that’s not the case with these meds. I totally get where you’re coming from. 
    • heather50974
      heather50974 melissa66574

      Posted

      Yes, I took Citalopram for 15 years prior to starting Zoloft. I felt great on Zoloft for all these years and then at the end of this summer it’s like it just up and quit on me. I started having panic attacks again and felt depressed. My primary MD suggested I switch to Zoloft and she didn’t slowly increase the dose...she immediately put me on 100mg. I felt awful all of October and November. I took Klonopin in the mornings when I felt hopeless and like I was going to...well die. We all know that feeling. I would cry over the littlest things and could no longer drive the 25 mins to my job. Thank goodness my husband was a trooper and a great source of support but it took a toll on us for sure. He was used to me being strong. Starting Zoloft was the worst I’ve ever felt in my life. However, it really does work. I used to read these posts and think yeah right. It’s like a switch flipped and suddenly my first thought was not obsessing over how I felt. It’s as if Zoloft helps you to exit the brain. I know we all live there in our worst times..we can’t stop the bad thoughts. Zoloft makes them go away. I hope the good feelings last and this whole week I’ve driven myself back and forth to work every day. You will all get there, I promise!
    • heather50974
      heather50974

      Posted

      I meant to say “I felt great on Citalopram”*
    • melissa66574
      melissa66574 heather50974

      Posted

      thank you so much for sharing that!!! it really does give me hope! i was on 50mg and my doc bumped me back up every week until i reached 200mg (the dose i was on before I lowered it to 50 when i was feeling good). And all of november and december were really rough. So i'm hoping things will turn a corner this month! stories like yours help me keep the faith! so thank you!!

    • Doggiedog84
      Doggiedog84 melissa66574

      Posted

      hi i know this is over 4 years old but i just recently had the same thing where i tapered down to from 200mg to 75mg for like 2-3 months - started a new job and bam - i started having anxiety, panic, depression, anxiety- and started back to 200mg- been on 200mg for 2 weeks now and feel like im living in a nightmare. i feel like i dont know whats happening to me - will zoloft ever work for me?

      wanted to check up on your progress since we had similiar situations.

    • melissa66574
      melissa66574 Doggiedog84

      Posted

      yes, im so nuch better now!!

      it took about 3-4 months so give it time!

      itll work for you!

    • Doggiedog84
      Doggiedog84 melissa66574

      Edited

      thanks for replying- so glad u are feelijg better!

      what i dont get is that i was 75mg and relatively and one day poof - severe anxiety feeling hopeless, - back on 200mg for 2 weeks and i dont feel any bettter-- like shouldnt the 75mg be in my system already so i shouldnt have had a relapse ? it all dowsnt make sense? is it the new job? is it the tapering down to 75mg that wasnt enough for my body? i dont get it i feel like im going crazy and living in a nightmare- like NOTHING makes me feel better except going to bed - then i wake up to this hell... im so scared- even klonopin doesnt work- im so scarrd i can barely function

    • Doggiedog84
      Doggiedog84

      Posted

      hi Melissa, i pmed you if you are available. really struggling here 😕

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