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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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  • natalie16973
    natalie16973 sher08

    Posted

    Thanks, hopefully start having some good days soon. Did you start taking 50mg after a week? Xx
    • sher08
      sher08 natalie16973

      Posted

      I took 25mg for 2 weeks then started the 50, havnt felt any different taking 50mg! I got a really dry mouth at the start and my sleep was all over the place but its gettin back to normal now! Good luck keep in touch xxx
    • natalie16973
      natalie16973 sher08

      Posted

      Thanks for your help smile really hope it works, feel a lot more anxious since taking them but suppose that is normal xx
  • natalie16973
    natalie16973 sher08

    Posted

    Don't think I can take sertraline any longer! Panic attacks in my sleep are horrible, really feel like I'm going mad on these sad
    • natalie16973
      natalie16973 sher08

      Posted

      Hi sher, I'm actually starting to feel a bit better thanks smile bit worried about changing to 50g incase it gets that bad again xxx
    • natalie16973
      natalie16973

      Posted

      How are you feeling now sher? How many weeks you been on it now xxx
    • sher08
      sher08 natalie16973

      Posted

      Thats brill that ur feeling a bit better!! smile today starts my 5th week on them so iv been on them 4 weeks, im up and down tbh, had a panic attack lastnite! Hav had the sorest pain in my arm all day aswell and of course im now convinced its a sign of a heart attack!! Thats google for ya sad xxxx
    • natalie16973
      natalie16973 sher08

      Posted

      Yeah I'm the same have good and bad moments, but the good kind of shows it must be starting to work. I find I'm really bad in the morning and don't even want to get up just phone in sick but I force myself and as the day goes on I get a bit better. Yeah google is a nightmare, I google everything lol xxx
  • gary27777
    gary27777 sher08

    Posted

    I'm now half way through week 5 on 100mg (did first two weeks on 50) and still shaking like mad and riddled with anxiety. Having read so much on the drug though I know they take time to kick in so just trying to get through the next few weeks to make sure I've given them a good enough go. Having gone this far it would really be daft to knock them on the head now but I have to say I'm not overly optimistic! The dry mouth has virtually gone but night sweats started last week and I've had the shakes and anxiety since the start. Onwards and upwards hopefully......
    • sher08
      sher08 gary27777

      Posted

      Hi gary!! Its beginning to become a pain in my ass tbh!! But like you im gona give it another few weeks then go back and see my doctor as if taking meds is going to continue my anxiety i would rather battle it on my own! Getting really fed up now im a nervous wreck, was convinced I was having a heart attack yesterday sad
  • gary27777
    gary27777 sher08

    Posted

    Having always avoided meds in the past I know exactly what you mean although I honestly felt I was losing it big time before xmas and I knew i had to try. I've suffered with OCD intrusive thoughts ( mainly focusing on death, cancer, my relationships, etc) all my life but I've got a little boy of 5 now and really want to enjoy the rest of my life as best I can. my only glimpse of what normality could be like came on the second day of taking 100mg when, halfway through shaving, I realised I was singing! I then realised I had no worries, thoughts and was just 'being and doing' without anything else occupying 90% of my mind. I came into work with a big smile on my face and absolutely couldn't believe how good/normal I felt. Whilst not euphoric or excited in the least it was just the absence of worrying thoughts that made me feel so good and if that is how 'normal' people feel most days of their lives then we are really missing out big time! I felt like a massive grey cloud had been lifted from me.

    Anyhow, by about 2 pm in the afternoon I was back to normal but that really gave me a glimmer of hope for the future. I'm sad to say that I haven't felt that way at all since so haven't a clue why or how that worked but only know I felt calm and worry free. Here's hoping for more anyhow!

    • natalie16973
      natalie16973 sher08

      Posted

      Hi sher how are you? How are you getting on with sertraline? I'm beginning to think this isn't for me and I'm maybe better trying to get rid of anxiety on my own, it's just making it far worse sad xx
    • sher08
      sher08 natalie16973

      Posted

      Hi natalie, stick with, im on my 5th week from monday and im beginning to notice a big difference!! Weeks 3 and 4 were quite bad my anxiety was awful and i had a few panic attacks but im noticing now that my bad thoughts arn't always there, they are starting to get less frequent!! I have a really bad cold at the minute aswell and im dealing with it so much better than i would have before so hopefully they are beginning to work for me!! You hav went this far try and stick it out for a while longer xxx
    • natalie16973
      natalie16973 sher08

      Posted

      Was it 25mg for 2 weeks and 50mg for 3 weeks you've been on? Thanks for the advice, I'm going to try my best to stick it out, really hope it gets better. Glad you are feeling better smile xxx
    • sher08
      sher08 natalie16973

      Posted

      Yea my third week on 50mg! Just cant wait until this cold shifts now to see how i feel then! I was close to giving up 2 weeks ago i felt the old symptoms of depression sneaking back and cried and cried, something i hadnt done in ages but iv kept going! Keep in touch good luck u can do it xxxx
    • natalie16973
      natalie16973 sher08

      Posted

      Yeah that's exactly how I'm feeling. Before I was just anxious with anxious thoughts, never really had depression but this week I feel so down sad think it's all just getting on top of me, just need to try keep busy and stop going over and over things in my head, easier said than done lol thanks again smile it definitely helps hearing other people's stories xxx
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