Please I need some reassurance

Hello Jenna, 

Just want to say it will get easier, time and patience is all you need to get threw with these types of meds. 4-6wks on the same therapeutic dosage should see your system start to settle down.

That fact that your already starting to see glimpses of improvements shows this med is already starting to work. It really is a slow gradual effect with Sertraline.

And dont worry about the odd sensation pain on the left side, I also had this when starting out... just behind my ear like a sharp stabbing sensation. It will pass once you become more settled.

🌹

What dose are you on? Maybe they need to up it? I have been on sertraline for 3 months now, and have increased from 25-100mg. I am also a mom and wife with 3 kids 😣. My sister was put on sertraline around the same time i was. We both experienced fatigue and pain like someone is squeezing your head in the beginning. I found that it only happens sometimes now and i can usually make it go away.

It took me around 3 months to fully feel like the tablets were doing something. It is frustrating and difficult to be patient when you feel anxious but I too woke up in the nights in a panic attack and every morning crying and I have now fully recovered. You will get there. Good luck xx

Hello Jenna and sympathies, I have been on Sertraline for 7 weeks and two days and saw your post just as I returned from a review with my GP.

I had some concerns that I wanted to bring up with her and have been reading these forums to check I am on course - I find them a great help.

I don't have health anxiety, my depression and anxiety are caused by other things. But briefly, I've been on  50 mg as a starter dose, today increased to 75mg. When I started taking the meds I had a variety of side effects for about two weeks: nausea, diarrhea, tiredness, waking at 4am, one or two up days, several more depressed days. In the  third week my anxiety increased, occasional music in my ears (weird I know, but apparently it's a form of tinnitus), and occasional jaw clenching.

Anyway, these are all normal side effects and they do go away. I only have some tiredness and lethargy now (hence the increase in dose), with occasional bursts of anxiety. My depression is buffered by about 20% so I know the meds are beginning to work, despite the difficulties of the side effects. Maybe the pain in your head is caused by tension caused by anxiety?

When I saw my GP she said that Sertraline is known to be a slow acting  drug, that cheered me. She is cautious about quick and large increases in dosage because of the side effects. She said, what a lot of people here say, that it's a case of little by little to find the optimum dose.  

So take heart, you are not alone although I know it's hard when you are taking a drug to make you feel better and the side effects make you feel ill, with little immediate benefit. Hope this helps!

Give it longer than a month. For me it was a very gradual improvement. I did not feel different, but I was no longer as miserable. One day I woke up and noticed that I hadn't been feeling nearly as bad. I felt more normal. Give it at least two months. Also, I hope you feel better. One thing anxiety has done to me is make me more empathic and sympathetic than ever. Almost too much. Sometimes I feel so bad for other's situations that it destroys my own happiness. Good luck.