Sertraline advice

Hi Kelly,

Sorry to hear your feeling like this at present I have been there and its boody horrid. From my expereince I too went through this stage when first taking this mediction but after 2 to 3 weeks I did start feeling more positive and the anxiety slowly left me. I believe that your mind knows or has admitted to having anxiery when you first start taking Sertraline and its like letting your gaurd down so the anxiety becomes obsessive. But please trust me after a while you will start feeling back to normal its definaltly worth it. I look at it this way, our brains sometimes get run down and need a down load, like getting rid of a virus on a computer, the modern world is very aggressive and demanding and very hard for us to understand when bad things have happened over the years. I cant say anything than sertraline really helped me 100% and i would recommend it to eveyone. When I first started taking it I used to say to myself evertime i swallowed one that I am on the road to recovery and that helped me to feel like I am finally going to beat this after years of suffering. We are all here to be happy no matter what we all deserve that, so know your very brave and that your being strong to overcome anxiety, give your self a massive pat on the back!!! 

Sending you lots of healing and positve energy

Phil x

Hi Kelly,

Sorry to hear you're goning through a tough time, I've been on Sertraline for about eight months, like you started on 50mg although I was slighly different, I sufferd from anxiety, your GP should have gone through side effects with you, and even given you some diazapm to help you through the initial stages, if you can, keep going, it really worked for me, I moved to 100mg after the first month, and it took about seven or eight weeks to feel the full effect, I was like you a lot of high anxiety, but I got through it, I've now dropped back to 50mg, and have been for two weeks and still feel fine, after another two weeks I'm dropping to 25mg, with the intention of coming off, Kelly stick with it, I think Sertraline will help you, good luck,

John 

HI Kelly,

I can really empathise as I had the exact same issue. I was prescribed Sertraline for depression and anxiety, but anxiety mad moderate and depression more severe. However, starting Sertraline sent my anxiety through the roof! I was jittery, worried about every little thing, had racing thoughts and a constant feeling that something bad was going to happen.

I can assure you that this is a side effect and will start to improve. For me it was bad for about 2 weeks and then gradually eased off over the next wek or two. Everyone reacts differently though so it may happen much quicker for you. 

If things are really bad for you then you can go to your doctor and ask if he/she wil prescribe anything short term for severe anxiety. You can also try self-calming techniques - go for a walk, listen to relaxing music, meditate, focus on your breath etc. Whatever helpds take your mind off things. The most important thing is to remember that this is going to pass, I promise that it will. I know that it feels like it will never end and that you can't take much more (I felt the same) but just remember that you've coped this far so you can cope for a bit longer until it passes.

I hope this helps a little bit. Take care, wishing you all the very best!

I had increased insane anxiety as well could you drop it back to 25 for a bit, then up it? It took 8wks for the panic to slow down. Definitely a side effect. I took Ativan for the increased anxiety for a bit

Hi Kelly I'm sorry things aren't good for you at the moment. I started on sertraline 50mg 4 weeks ago for bad depression this Is my third AD I've tried fluoxitine and vensir. I've been suffering from severe anxiety too even tho I'm taking the medication for depression and not anxiety. However I've been researching and spoke to my gp and anxiety is a common side effect. It seems this medication takes a lot longer to settle in the system. I'm giving it another couple of weeks I really encourage u to stick with it. I've been prescribed diazepam just for a couple of weeks until the side effects hopefully settles.

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement! Nice to know that I'm not alone in this. I think even knowing that it's the medication helps in those moments of pure anxiety