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Starting Zoloft for the second time

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Tlynn1
Tlynn1

I was put on zoloft 50mg in May I took it for about a month and did not notice much of a difference, so my dr moved me to 100mg. I only took the 100mg for a few days and I quit taking it all together. I was diagnosed with Health Anxiety (hypochondria). Within the past few days I have been experiencing my anxiety very bad again. I always feel very panicky, and I can not sit still. So I called my dr today and she wants me to start on the zoloft again and cut the pills in half and do 50mg for a week and then back up to the 100mg. I just need some kind of feedback from some who have been in my situation.  I just got hired for a new job at a hospital.. a job I have been wanting for quite a long time. And I can't even enjoy it because my anxiety and depression are of course taking over. I just feel like I have nothing to be happy about.. and I hate that because I do have so much to be happy about. I feel very unattatched from myself. I look in the mirror and I feel like I'm looking at a stranger. I feel like my mind is just spinning and racing. If anyone just has some encouraging words, it would help. I'm just at a breaking point and I have no idea what to do. 

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • a-new-day
    a-new-day Tlynn1

    Posted

    hello, you should certainly persue some type of medication to ease your symptoms, such as antidepressants or anxiety meds.  i am on sertraline 100mg and am doing well on it, and no longer have severely depressed, anxious, or suicidal thoughts. but (like many people) it took a few months of taking sertraline (100mg) before i felt better, and i wont deny that at first when i started taking the tablets (at 50mg for a week), i felt worse before i felt better.  it sounds like 50mg was too low a dose for you, and then you didn't give 100mg long enough to work.  but why go back to square one and have to start over?  you should try again, and if you do not have success on sertraline, you should try something else, and keep on trying until you find something that works for you.  there really is something for everyone out there to help with our health, but it's a case of not giving up until you find it.  if you find you do not get added side effects from 100mg sertraline, you could always increase the dose (up to 200mg a day is ok, as stated in the leaflet).

    try not to worry, i know you must feel awful at the moment and i have certainly been there myself.  i was in a terrible bad way for several months and sertraline got me out of it and back to normal again. but if it hadn't have worked, i would have tried something else, and if that didn't work, i would try something else, and keep going and going.  get back on track ok with some meds, so you can get off that starting line and start to move forwards towards that day when you wake up and feel fine.  it will come don't worry, you know what you want so you will get there.  just take the first step forward towards getting well, and dont look back.

    • Tlynn1
      Tlynn1 a-new-day

      Posted

      When you started the medication, did it make your symptoms worse? Like more anxious than you already were? Today is my 4th day back on it. And I feel even worse than I did before. I'm so anxious, my mind is racing, I just can't sit still. Very sick to my stomach. I just want to climb into bed and sleep forever. I hate feeling like this. 

    • a-new-day
      a-new-day Tlynn1

      Posted

      hey, unfortunately yes, my anxiety was much worse when i started out on sertraline (and for me that is a common occurence with other antidepressants also).

      it's annoying and frustrating, because it's the last thing we need when we are already feeling bad enough.  it seems to be quite popular that some people take a second benzo type drug like xanax to help them through that initial startup period of taking antidepressants

      sorry you are having a bad, tough time at the moment.  i know how you feel, and you will get through this but just need some more time ok

      i had some really negative, irrational thoughts before i started feeling better.   that crap will pass. it did for me and it will for you,  so try not to focus on it.  you can just tell yourself  "i dont feel good at the moment"  - try not to worry about it any further than that, and try to do things to take your mind off you

  • robin1920
    robin1920 Tlynn1

    Posted

    Hey. I totally understand your situation. I went to my doctor and my doctor gave me prescription for Zoloft Sertraline for OCD. And on the first day at night around 10:30 pm I took my first pill and went to sleep. I didn't had any problem while sleeping but the next morning I woke up from my bed like I was drunk. But what happened next was totally out of the box. I have to say any medication to treat mental disorders can make you go crazy"". So after I woke up from bed I felt dizzy and over sudden my smile was gone and I was totally unhappy and I remember the day when I was dancing and laughing before taking the pill. My mom asked me what happened why you so sad and knew that Sertraline changed my mood to unhappy. I felt awful and I curled up myself on my bed. I hated my life I was depressed. I didn't talk to anybody I was just unhappy and was broken. And NOW I decided not take the second pill and I am glad I stopped talking Sertraline. It's my 3 day since I stopped taking it and I am back to life. I am the same boy now who used to laugh and love watching my TV shows which I hated when I was on Sertraline. I am working happily and I dance and sing too. Isn't it crazy just one pill made my day shut down like hell. But I think I would rather go for a therapy than using medications which play with me emotions.

    • a-new-day
      a-new-day robin1920

      Posted

      hey again robin, it does sound like other options instead of antidepressants would be worth a try for you

      perhaps it can be said that antidepressants are more suited to people who have lost their smile and mood is very low, but with you it sounds like the OCD is a problem but your mood at the moment is not too bad and you can still enjoy things like music and smile, and laugh smile  so hopefully there is a different med (or other option) to help with your symtpoms (lots of options out there)

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