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starting sertraline tonight and anxious!! some advice would be great.....

Posted , 16 users are following.

sher08
sher08

Hi all, well im starting 50mg of sertraline tonight for anxiety and intrusive thoughts, i have been battling this for a year now but was too scared to take anything for it because of the side effects and incase i felt worse! Can anyone give me any advice on when is the best time to take it and if its helped you feel better?? Thanks smile 

2 likes, 121 replies

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  • natalie99981
    natalie99981 sher08

    Posted

    Hi sher I won't lie to you because my anxiety and thoughts did get ramped up on the tablets but I can also tell you that I am soooo happy now I have been on the tablets since late October and probably between 7-8 weeks the thoughts and anxiety disappeared .

    My advice would be take the other meds if they have been described when needed.  I took oxazepm for sleeping for a few weeks and haven't needed ever since .. A couple of times I took one during the day if my anxiety got unbearable ... 

    This is my second time on these tablets be the first time only took 3 weeks to kick in so it can be sooner too ..

    Good luck and keep chatting on here it really helps smile

    • sher08
      sher08 natalie99981

      Posted

      Thanks, im so worried about the side effects incase i go into full panic mode, plus im just back to work and also have school runs in the morning to do so im just anxious about whether il be able to function properly! Iv tried to go cold turkey and get over this myself but my doc thinks this will be really benefical for me! Xxx
    • Guest
      Guest sher08

      Posted

      Hi Sher....I was initially prescribed 50 mg Sertraline about 6 monthsago.Like you,I was concerned that if there were untoward side effects that this would throw me & put me off completely.So I decided to play really safe, I would halve the tablets so as to only take 25 mg for approximately 3 weeks.Then I increased it to the 50 mg.It allowed my body to adjust to the new medication slowly!Good luck and keep us posted.Sally x
  • sher08
    sher08

    Posted

    Thanks sally do you think the medicine has helped u? Xxx
    • Guest
      Guest sher08

      Posted

      Hi again....yes it has definitely helped...it has curbed my anxiety quite a bit and has definitely put "a blur" on the depression!Go for it and give it your best shot x
  • alwaysworrying
    alwaysworrying sher08

    Posted

    Hi Sher08

    I started Sertroline 50mg on saturday.

    I had a panic attack sunday which left me with an anxious buzz right up till now - it may just be that i had the attack because ive been feeling low, and the subsiquient anxiety is because im working myself up, or it could of course be side efrfects.

    Ive read alot in to it today and it would seem that we are in for a bumpy ride before we get better - which could be a few weeks.

    Seens as we are starting together, it might be uselful for us to bounce off one another, although, not all people get the same symptoms. Two of my friends are years into Sertraline, and neither got side effects (or minimal ones only)

    • sher08
      sher08 alwaysworrying

      Posted

      Yes definitely!! Hopefully il be one of the lucky ones but i doubt it! Hope you feel the benefit of it soon xxx
    • alwaysworrying
      alwaysworrying sher08

      Posted

      Im 3 days ahead of you, so if you need to ask a question just contact me here smile
    • sher08
      sher08 alwaysworrying

      Posted

      Sure will!! Think il start of with 25mg for the first week or two!! What were you prescribed sertraline for if you dont mind me asking? 
    • alwaysworrying
      alwaysworrying sher08

      Posted

      Not at all, i take it for anxiety/panic/negative thoughts

      Ive suffered since i was a small child, i was always worried about death and illness, even though no one around me had died or was ill.

      I avoid alot of social events now, unless im with my gf - who is my security blanket i suppose. Ive got to the point (and age) where i cant keep avoiding stuff and feeling bad for it, so after talking to friends who take it, i decided to try it. 

      i was on seroxat about 8 years ago, it helped me alot, but i came off within the year as i didnt like the stigma of needing the drugs.

      I would say my anxiety is generalized, and a part of my everyday thoughts and actions

    • alwaysworrying
      alwaysworrying sher08

      Posted

      oh, and when you say you will take 25mg, do you mean just literally take half a tablet?
    • sher08
      sher08 alwaysworrying

      Posted

      Yea was just going to try half the tablet to start off with and see how i get on! Iv a docs appt scheduled again for a weeks time but to be honest i feel like my doc would prescribe me anything just to brush me off as shes prob sick of looking at me! Lol awww if you didnt laugh you would cry eh ....
    • sher08
      sher08 alwaysworrying

      Posted

      Negative thoughts like something bad is going to happen to me or my family or that I am going to die young and leave my daughter without a mum, money worries, how id survive if my mum and dad passed away!! I worry and overthink everything, i have health anxiety aswell!! 
    • alwaysworrying
      alwaysworrying sher08

      Posted

      You sound like me! Its not right is it.

      My friend in his 30s takes them after his mum passed away, he is cinvinced by them, and persuaded me to try.

    • sher08
      sher08 alwaysworrying

      Posted

      I know i cant even watch a scary film anymore as my anxiety levels go through the roof of not knowing whats going to happen next, i used to love watching them! Its an awful thing and although i didnt want to go down the medicine route i know i have to before i drive my boyfriend and family mad!! The slighest pain and im on google condeming myself to death!! Although i have support Its hard to try and explain anxiety to someone that doesnt suffer from it as they dont understand why you just cant 'put it out of your head'
    • Guest
      Guest sher08

      Posted

      Yup:me too!We're all nuts!!(I mean that in an affectionate way!)I think it's called Crisis Mentality or the like!As Sher just said you've got to laugh as there is a funny side!!xxxx
    • sher08
      sher08 Guest

      Posted

      Im just hoping 2015 is an improvement on last year,just want to get back to the old me smile xx
    • alwaysworrying
      alwaysworrying sher08

      Posted

      I dont even want old me, i want new and improved, better than ever me smile

      I know the feeling, a while ago i had a low for a few months and remeber not even being able to watch the news without feeling anxious.

    • sher08
      sher08 alwaysworrying

      Posted

      Iv been the same, i watched a documentary on paedophiles and for weeks after i was scared to let my daughter out of my sight as i started to think everyone around me was one, thats what really tipped me over the edge as i knew i was thinkin complete nonsense but cudnt help it and became really depressed! I just latch on to minor problems in everyday life and instead of just lettin them pass i make them major problems in my head! Like if i pass a minor car crash i think that cud have been me and picture the whole crash in my head with me dying, obviously!!
    • alwaysworrying
      alwaysworrying sher08

      Posted

      No offence, but for me its so nice to read that someone thinks the same as me. Im convinced everyone wants to beat me up - ive never been in a fight in my life, and im a big guy, i could definatly handle myself in a fight, yet im convinced every guy i see wants to fight me, where i could get seriously injured or worse... stupid i know! 
    • Guest
      Guest alwaysworrying

      Posted

      Yup I am always thinking up tragedies!!!This is a huge symptom of our illness!I am so relieved am not alone..
    • claire53364
      claire53364 alwaysworrying

      Posted

      im also  starting these tonight   im   scared too   i just hope to god these ones work   for me
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