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Sertraline

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ross42313
ross42313

Looking for some advice, I have suffered with anxiety & depression for the last 6 years. For the last 4 years I have been taking sertraline 100mg, that have helped me get back into working again. But In the last month I have been getting real bad anxiety & poor mood. Don't know weather to increase dose or swith to something else. Looking for some advice please. Merry christmas everyone

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • david43118
    david43118 ross42313

    Posted

    If it has been working I would suggest an increase to try first, if that doesn't work then possibly consider a switch.

    Going through the mess now and it is coming down to switching back to he old med......

    • ross42313
      ross42313 david43118

      Posted

      Thanks for replying. Can I ask why you switched?? I terrified I'm going backwards.
    • david43118
      david43118 ross42313

      Posted

      In the summer I started to get depressed and it got worse, being alone, no family, and friends don't live close. So I figured the celexa (40mg) was not working. I had been in for 9 years.

      In sept I started on Zoloft and went up to 150mg, and off celexa also taking trazadone and Mirtazapine for sleep. Now today I am beginning to switch back to the celexa cause Zoloft did not work for me.

      I think in he beginning I could have raised the amount of celexa for a short time then decreased. I am still in the middle trying to figure it out, but I hope it will work?

    • ross42313
      ross42313 david43118

      Posted

      Hope celexa works second time around for you. Life really does suck sometimes but things can get better.
  • gary27777
    gary27777 ross42313

    Posted

    Hi Ross, only been on sertraline for a year on 100mg but like you, I don't think it's working very well. Suffered for most of my life, since childhood, so really fed up of it. Started CBT as well 6 weeks ago but not seeing any benefit of that either although it is early days. Christmas is a real nightmare being out of normal routine 😟
    • ross42313
      ross42313 gary27777

      Posted

      Hi Gary I done cbt didn't feel like I got much out of it. Dosent mean it won't work for you. It's funny when you mention christmas & routine. I don't handle changes in my life I like everything in the same order and routine. Don't think the dark mornings and nights.
  • julie76198
    julie76198 ross42313

    Posted

    Go and see your Gp. Sometimes we can have a spate of feeling low which is just due to normal life stress and pressure and it isnt always down to your depresssion returning. I take the same meds as you 50 mg a day and they have worked well for nearly two years but i have learnt to recognise that sometimes i am low because of general life stuff and not depressed again. I think it is easy to blame the depression when we have been diognosed with it  every time we feel low and it is worth trying to work this out, talk to your doctor see what they say.  Try and stay positive and good luck x
  • betsy0603
    betsy0603 ross42313

    Posted

    Hi Ross, it sounds like sert has pooped out on you, otherwise known as tolerance withdrawal.  Increasing might help but then it will likely poop out again.  Tolerance WD means though there was no change in dosage your system is acting as though it is in WD from a drop in med.

    You can switch meds but can't just stop this one and start another as you really will go into WD from sert that the new med won't be able to cover over.  I suspect that is what happened to david43118, why the Zoloft didn't work.

    These drugs are serious stuff and cause actual remodeling in the brain that takes the drug's action into account.  So, you must taper very slowly.  Unfortunately, the doctors and psychiatric community don't understand this well enough and tend to have people taper off way too fast.  I recommend people read up on why a slower taper is important.  See the following link and go to the topic Reducing ADs using 10% withdrawal method:

    https://patient.info/forums/discuss/depression-resources-298570

    Over the long term antidepressants have been found to make people more prone to depression, perhaps due to tolerance WD.  Withdrawal depression and anxiety are not the same as a relapse of the original condition, though it is hard to tell the difference. 

    I'm tapering off of two antidepressants, and today I feel generally low, though I can't identify any thoughts that go with it, so I feel it is the chemical AD withdrawal.  Time to engage in some distraction  :-)

    The trouble with all the SSRIs/SNRIs and non-typicals like Remeron is that they all cause horrible withdrawal if not tapered very slowly.  It is believed that about 80% plus of people on ADs chronically have tried to go off but failed because of the difficulties from withdrawal.  The symptoms that come after the first couple of months off look like a relapse of anxiety and depression, and the physicians treat it as such with more drugs, often polydrugging the patient to treat all the various symptoms such as insomnia.  A lot of people are diagnosed as bi-polar at this point and put on antipsychotics as well.  It is a slippery slope as you can imagine trying to come off of all those meds in the future is incredibly difficult.

    I put this here to educate everyone who is taking these meds or thinking about taking them, because they are not as benign as the doctors treat them, dispensing them as if they were as safe as candy. 

    I will add that the neuro-emotions from withdrawal, such as depression and anxiety, are not as responsive to cognitive behavior therapy and the like because it is chemical.  If you are in tolerance withdrawal, this may be why folks here have said that CBT didn't work.

    The forum that has the 10% taper method above is for coming off of antidepressants and dealing with withdrawal.  You might want to surf around there and read articles and read peoples' intros to see if there is any similarity in your situations (s) for everyone reading. The site is called Surviving Antidepressants and is run by moderators who have been in the trenches for a long time and more knowledgeable and experienced than most psychiatrists and gps!

    I hope this sheds some light on your situation, Ross.

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