Sertraline Rollercoaster
Posted , 6 users are following.
Has anyone else experienced mood swings while on 50mg of Sertraline (Zoloft) during their first 2-3 weeks? Ive been on this medication for 16days now and my emotions and thoughts are all over the place. This morning I woke up and was almost on a high because I felt so amazing. I told myself " today I'm only going to tell myself positive things" this lasted about an hour or so and then all the sudden I started coming down from that high and then BOOM racing thoughts, depression and everything kicked in and I started crying. Is this a side effect or the anxiety/depression?
0 likes, 10 replies
marleen85993 jen48700
Posted
Hi Jen l find when l go on an antidepressant l get mood swings usually it settles down after the first month or so.Don't worry about it.
jen48700 marleen85993
Posted
Thank you for your reply. This is the first time i've ever been on something for it so it's all very new to me.
marleen85993 jen48700
Posted
Aspinan jen48700
Posted
Hi Jen, I think what your exoeriencing is the meds starting to work, I have found that recovery is not straight forward, you don't just wake up one morning and everything is back to normal it's a gradual recovery with peaks and troughs, you know your on the mend when the trend is upwards and you get more good days than bad (but you still experience bad days), emotions can change from hour to hour at first or are just fleeting feelings of being well again. Don't get too disheartened when things take a step backwards although it's natural with the illness to feel as though your taking one step forwards and two backwards, this is a natural perception which I get despite my advise.
So yes it's a part of anxiety/depression but can be seen as a sign that the medicate starting to work.
Neil
jen48700 Aspinan
Posted
Hi Neil,
You're probably right. I finally had 3 good days and I was really hoping for 4(today would have bee 4days in a row) so when I woke up I was super excited about my day and like I said, it was almost a high and then once that high started to come down, my mood did a 180 and next thing I know I'm bawling my eyes out and thought " I'm losing my mind". I'm really hoping that by next week i'll have even more good days than bad.
mac58 jen48700
Posted
You're not losing your mind!
Neil is quite right about good and bad days. I am sure that things will start to improve for you.
9632busy jen48700
Posted
I had similar side effects after being prescribed 50 mg of zoloft for generalized anxiety. The first two weeks I experienced gastrointestinal issues but no change in mood. Then suddenly I was feeling more depressed than ever, having suicidal thoughts etc. But my doctor advised me to keep taking it and wait until our follow up appointment 6 weeks after the initial prescription was written. I noticed my moods have stopped fluctuating, Im just operating at what feels like lower than normal energy/motivation/happiness. The meds work differently for everyone, it may help to record your emotions everyday until your next appointment. Then your doctor can determine if it's the right medication for you or not.
mac58 jen48700
Posted
Yes, I did for a while, Jen.
It definitely got better the longer I was taking it, and particularly when my dose was increased.
Give it a bit more time. It's normal for your emotions to be all over the place at first.
jen48700 mac58
Posted
jen48700
Posted
Thanks for all your feedback guys. I feel a little better reading this. I guess I'm just in a hurry to get back to the way I normally feel so when I was good for those 3 days I thought "that's it, finally it's over" only to be let down by a bad episode of depression a few hours later. I'm still having a hard time understanding how sertraline actually works and how some days it's good and some days it's bad. I just figured once it's in your body your good to go. So strange