Sertraline and recovery
Posted , 12 users are following.
I want to end this year thanking this forum because it gave me the will to carry on when I was at one of the lowest points in my life. To cut a long story short I have been on sertraline for 16 years and it has worked extremely well for me up until May when I had a massive panic attack and my doctor upped my dose from 50mg to 100mg . A week after upping my dose I didn't know what was happening to me the side effects were that bad.The thing is I didn't know they were side effects until I found this forum. Reading other people's stories helped me to realise that what was happening to me was normal side effects of upping my dosage and not me losing my mind. I just want to give some hope to others that sertraline does work but please don't be in a hurry to up the dose to make you feel better because sertraline is a slow acting drug, just try and ride it out and give each dose at least 8 weeks to start to work. Summer of 2018 was the worst I ever felt but when September came I was back to my old self. I hope all of you on this forum have a healthy happy 2019. Just believe in yourself 😍
6 likes, 22 replies
sandi77808 ondrea69
Posted
Thank you for that...it's so good to give hope to those waiting for this drug to help them and to realize it really does take time.
chris80549 ondrea69
Posted
to Aundre69.
Thank you for your positive info.
so keep going with it everyone
dee2024 ondrea69
Posted
So good to hear such positive story..
Happy New Year!
Ala1483 ondrea69
Posted
Thank you for this positive story. Are you on it for depression as well? How long did it take you to feel better when you upped to 100?x
ondrea69 Ala1483
Posted
No im on it for anxiety, i didnt get no relief on 100 mg at all i am on 125 mg and in total it took me 17 weeks to feel 100%
Kernel__49695 ondrea69
Posted
thats so enciuraging - what side effects did you go through before stabilising?
ondrea69 Kernel__49695
Posted
I got severe anxiety and panic attacks, i literally didnt eat anything for 4 weeks resulting in a massive weight loss, i couldnt sleep and the little bit i did get was less than a hour at a time, and the morning anxiety was the worse i have ever had.
Kernel__49695 ondrea69
Posted
thats exactly what i have been like for last 6 weeks and it seems to be getting more intense. when did the anxiety and panic calm down? just wondering if i shpuld continue or give it up that it is not going to work for me again?
ondrea69 Kernel__49695
Posted
I was just like you, but i made the mistake of upping my dose to quick, I think thats why it took me so long to find some relief. Are you taking anything else? I took propranolol which was a god send, they calm your heart rate down which in turn stops the panic attacks.
Kernel__49695 ondrea69
Posted
i have been on lorazepam the whole time i couldnt get through without it. they upped my dose every week from 25m-150mg. i dont think my brain knows whats happening as i had only been on 25mg for the last year before i stopped it so seems v fast and maybe i would have been ok on 25mg but who knows. They want to give it two more weeks to see if the anxiety lessens at all
ondrea69 Kernel__49695
Posted
Maybe thats why you are having such severe side affects, I dont know nothing about lorazepam so can not comment on that but please try and ride it out because sertraline does work if you give it time. xx
Eiball ondrea69
Posted
Thank you for this post! I am in a similar boat. Have taken 50 mg sertraline for 15 years and it has worked very well for my anxiety. 7 weeks ago suffered massive panic out if the blue and my anxiety has returned . My Gp has upped my dose to 75 and since I get every side effect in the book, I went up very slowly. I have been at 75 for four weeks now. There has been some improvement but its been a rough ride and I 'm not fully back to me. How long did it take for you to feel yourself again when you upped your dose?
ondrea69 Eiball
Posted
Once I had found the right dose I would say 7 weeks, I think my Gp upped my dose to quickly so I suffered unnecessarily because the higher I went It was horrendous until i went back down to 125 and within a few weeks i started to feel normality again.
chris80549 ondrea69
Posted
Thank you ondrea.69
Nice to hear so many positives on this site.
I think Im feeling an improvement. If head ache gets too pressure tight, I take couple Paracetamol which seem to work.
I will keep on with Sertraline dose.
dodo81786 ondrea69
Posted
I'm currently on 100 mg this is my week 5 ,
i felt good a couple of days ago but today all anixiety and fear with thoughts came back .
any advice ?
ondrea69 dodo81786
Posted
yes just carry on with your dosage, you have seen some improvement that means the sertraline is working, just give it time i made the mistake of trying to up my dose too quickly which was a very bad mistake.
dodo81786 ondrea69
Posted
thanks alot , i got scared as i collapsed after being motivated and almosr 70% myself . this freaked me out . i have doc appointment end of january i hope everything goes well to all .
chris80549 ondrea69
Posted
Thank you. ondrea69