sertraline/ anyone have positive feed back, i’m losing hope

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Ive always had anxiety but once I had my daughter it escalated so fast and it hit me like a train. I couldn't eat, being around my daughter gave me so much more anxiety. Ive been on 50 mg of sertraline for 1 1/2 weeks. I noticed my anxiety is slowly improving, I can calm myself down enough to eat sometimes and I get a little relief here and there. But some days are worse than others. I have this anxiety that my throat is going to close, my throat becomes very tense and dry so it makes it hard to swallow (probably from dry mouth) then I start excessively swallowing and I spiral. Ive also been experiencing a weird warm feeling in my chest. I talked to my dr about my side effects of it making my anxiety worse at first and he told me it wasnt normal and suggested I switch? Every forum Ive read says that increased anxiety is a side effect so it really concerned me hearing that from my dr considering how my anxiety has been, my throat tensing up and a warm feeling in my chest. I find myself reading these forums daily to calm myself down, and figured Id post my short journey in hopes of finding someone to talk to or just hear Im not going crazy.

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4 Replies

  • Edited

    hi sorry to hear your having a bad time i was in the exact same boat my anxiety and depression went sky high in the first few weeks. but it mellowed down after a few weeks was so hard to keep on the pill. after 11 weeks on 50 i had a lot of improvment but was still in a very bad place so i moved to 100 been on these for 3 weeks and so far its helping a lot more. maybe take your pill earlier in the morning i found that helps for me. remember the first few weeks are like hell but you will get better please try stick it out

    • Posted

      Thanks for the reply! I'm hopeful it's going to work. I've noticed some improvement in my mood, and so hasn't my co-workers and family so obviously something is working! My Dr isnt the greatest and doesnt seem very knowledgable about antidepressants. I'm hoping by week 6 my anxiety is under control

    • Posted

      yeah i found the same i almost didnt relise i was getting better but everyone around me kept saying i was doing better sometimes when your in that deep of a hole you cant notice the improvments. as i say i recently moved up to 100 mg had 2 amazing weeks now im feeling very low again do kind of worry that this drug will never work for me even though i have had noticeable improvments. your mind really spirals out of controll sometimes haha just keep with it for a bit longer and remember moving up in dosage isnt a bad thing. you might just need to find the right dose for you

  • Edited

    Hi Hailey,

    You are defnitley not going crazy. Increased anxiety is a side effect from sertraline and is common. I have been on sertraline just over 8 weeks now and it has been HARD at times let me tell you. Ive had nearly every side effect possible from sertraline. Side effects like increased anxiety (BAD), intrusive thoughts, insomnia, sweating. I feel now I am seeing better days but please note that you are still very early days and things will get worse before they get better but thats normal, your body needs time to adjust to the sertraline. I would advise staying busy while your in these stages, meditating is brilliant too. I use a app called "Calm" I cant recommened it enough. Surround yourself with positivity and always remember whats the worst that can happen? your mind will tell you things that are not real and play out scenarios with the worst possible outcomes. I would stick to 50mg for a good 6-8 weeks if there is no improvement I would contact your doctor and see about a dosage increase. Give 50mg a chance though dont jump straight away. I took 50mg for 4 weeks then went to 100mg for 4 weeks. When i jumped to 100mg side effects were bad but they did pass.

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