sertraline, how long before it works?

mich17562 jenni42789 · 2017-07-19T11:27+00:00

Well , good luck to everyone. I made it to 11 days and bailed. Had massive anxiety and nervous energy, twitches, body jolts and terrible sleep as well as all the neck tension, couldn't ride it out any longer. Hope you guys have more luck than I did with Zoloft.

First day without Zoloft today and already feeling better. Hopefully a good nights sleep awaits.

catherine24768 jenni42789 · 2017-08-06T18:14+00:00

Hi my daughter started taking this antidepressant 3 weeks ago. She is so sad and upset crying all the time when will she see a change for the better , it's difficult to watch her pain

Steph1972 jenni42789 · 2017-08-20T11:35+00:00

Hi everyone. I was originally diagnosed with depression/anxiety in 2006. My son was a year old and since his birth I had been having anxiety so bad it was almost paralyzing. I had intrusive, unwanted thoughts of him being kidnapped, raped, murdered, buried alive, and I couldn't react at an appropriate emotional level to anything. I would literally have to pull my car over on the way to work and sob when I could...most of the time I was too paralyzed by anxiety to cry or even vomit up the nausea I felt. I finally saw my physician and started Zoloft and Wellbutrin. It was magic. I became myself again, loved my life, loved my job. In 2012, I lost that job suddenly. I decided it was an opportunity to go back to school. My husband, me, and our son moved in with my mother-in-law and I started school the next semester in pursuit of my RN. Two weeks later, my older sister (my ONLY sibling), who was finishing Divinity School at the time to become a priest in the Episcopalian Church, called and told me that she had been diagnosed with ALS and would die before I graduated. For the next 2.5 years, I buried my grief in the intensity of college. I went through hell. We moved out of my mother-in-laws into our own place, then my husband lost his job and his company car. Then my car completely died. My parents gave me their old car and flew me home to pick it up and I drove it the 600 miles home. During this time, of course, we're all watching my sister die a slow, agonizing death while still fulfilling her priestly duties. She passed away at the beginning of my second semester of RN school. Again, I buried the grief in the books. My grades stayed high and I never faltered. During the summer before my final semester, my husband was drugged and sexually assaulted by the male homeowner of a home my husband was remodeling. The trauma snapped me. I became distracted and didn't do well my next semester and had to repeat it. At that point, I was so traumatized that there was no recovering so I withdrew from my RN program in order to leave myself the option of returning at some point. If you fail, you lose the option. I still had a certification that would make me decent money, so I began looking for work in that field to support the family as my husband was unable to work. The criminal case was moving forward, we also had civil and worker's comp stuff pending...it was hell. Before I could get a job, I broke my ankle and was laid up for six weeks. By that point, the holidays were here and no one was hiring. Finally, I did some research and found that in another state where my husband has a lot of family there was a lot more opportunity for me professionally and a cheaper cost of living. We packed up, left the trauma behind, and relocated 300 miles south. Found a cute little house, and I found a wonderful job that I love. Things are going very well. I've been off the zolof/wellbutrin combo since we got here. BIG MISTAKE. Last week, all hell broke loose in Charlottesville, VA. That's where my sister lived and died and it seems to have triggered some kind of post-traumatic event because I had morning anxiety so severe this week I almost couldn't go to work. It's worst when I first wake up, probably due to cortisol and perimenopause. I started my zoloft and wellbutrin on Wednesday and have done a lot of research, which is helpful. The morning panic is still there, and it's horrific, but it's getting better. I no longer am paralyzed at the thought of going to work. Nervous and anxious, but not terrified. The combination of medication and reassurance from research seem to be taking the edge off, but I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. I never should have stopped taking my meds. I just felt that the worst was behind us. The last thing I expected was for this to creep up on me when I finally got everything I wanted!

Thanks for reading. If anybody can offer any advice on how to combat this morning anxiety, I'm listening! I dread it!

peter49548 jenni42789 · 2017-08-27T18:04+00:00

Hi - Just come across this thread and all the comments over the past 3 years chime with me- Up to early April this year I was a very active and happy 61 year old and semi retired who also did a lot of sport - tennis/ pickleball and some jogging - then I had my first ever incident of" persistent" )ie long lasting) atrial fibrillation - I had had intermittent episodes plenty of times before but these had been well controlled and had always reverted to normal sinus rhythm of itself - but this time - and for the first time- it did not - I remained in AF for the next 3.5 months while the doctors tried to correct this via - various medications and two failed cardioversions - electric shock to heart - in that time I was OK to walk but could not exercise - I also became very anxious which increased as the period in AF which based on initial advice I hoped would only be 4 weeks - extended into 3.5 months as various things were tried and failed

Ironically just before a hospital visit in mid July my heart went back into virtual sinus rhythm of its own accord and so was put on a medication to keep it in rhythm and will have an ablation operation next year (waiting list) which will hopefully be a more permanent solution

In the meantime I am now on various medications which I was not on before but ironically - and about 6 weeks after the heart went back into rhythm and "consciously"I think this is "OK"- I am now feeling worse than when in AF due to chronic anxiety

My doctor initially prescribed mirtazipine a couple of months ago for this but it ceased to work and so he has recently prescribed sertraline which I had a number of years ago and realise that as I have only been taking this for 3 days it is too early to tell and need to take it for 2 or 3 weeks - it worked the last time several years ago so I am keeping my fingers crossed it works this time as the anxiety is crippling

Ironically this is stopping me doing the one thing I really missed when in AF- ie the ability to exercise and play sport - if this makes any sense I think my "conscious" self believes that my heart is OK to exercise- which it is - but my sub conscious self does not and so this is causing the anxiety as a way of stopping me doing it - basically I have symptoms of aches and nausea and fluttery nervous stomach - does anyone else have trouble with this and the vagus nerve - also difficult to get to sleep as the stomach is constantly "churning"?

I am convinced this is anxiety related as if I am "distracted" or actively engaged in doing something which needs my full attention it subsides or goes away altogether only to come back as soon as I am "free" to focus on the anxiety again

Know this all sounds "stupid" and " self destructive" but that is how I see it

All very frustrating and am hoping the sertraline will kick in shortly - also trying mediation which takes a lot of practice but I think is worthwhile

Would be interested if anyone else has had similar experiences - or symptoms - particularly of "health related " anxiety

Best wishes to all

sertraline, how long before it works?

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