What to do
Posted , 5 users are following.
hi everyone, I would like some thoughts/opinons. I started 25mgs of sert nearly 4 weeks ago, had suffered for 6 months previously on citalopram, which did not work for me this time. within a week I felt so very much better, no side effects for the first 3 weeks, lucky me, the last 5 days or so have had headaches and stomach issues but nothing I can not handle. have been doing all the things I could not do 6 months previously, work,driving , going out on my own. my anxiety is practically non existent, just the odd half hour but my motivation and the looking forward to things is not there, I do them but it is just going through the motion, feel no joy in anything. so should I wait another couple of weeks for the six week mark or increase now to 50, which my dr said I can do. I am reluctant to make myself worse, this fear comes from the last 6 months of increasing cit and it getting totally out of control, any advice from anyone would be gratefully received
0 likes, 6 replies
paul785 sue74917
Posted
my experience with these tablets. you will struggle to find joy and you will always feel numb to the things you enjoy. increasing to 50mg wont improve this but probably make it worse. they do work excellent in improving mood and anxiety though as you have found .
i guess losing joy is the sacrifice
brenda53218 sue74917
Posted
Hi Sue, 25 is a very low dose. I started on 50 for 4 months then increased to 100. But some people do only need 25. It can take up to 8 weeks for some people to feel better. When u do increase you might go through side affects again but not as bad. When I was in my 3 week, I was feeling decent again but by week 4 my side affects went off the charts. So don't feel like your going backwards, its just the way this med works. Hang in there, better days are coming.
sue74917 brenda53218
Posted
thank you for your encouragement. I will probably need an increase as you say 25 really is a low dose, I am stuck in what might be classed as a honeymoon period, so relived I can do normal things again but know there is room for improvement even if it is just to stop continuously thinking about how I am feeling and get on with life
lattifa7777 sue74917
Posted
50mg is usually the lowest therapeutic dose.
So 25 is extremely low and if its already made you feel a lit better i really would suggest going up to 50, you may get some side affects, but as you didnt really with the 25 and uts already nicely in your system chances are slim!
50 sertraline really worked well for me it saved my life infact.
It was acctualy citalopram that made me so very ill, and i only had one dose, of 20mg
Cut a long story short, you will deffo find pleasure in things you used to again, it does take a while for the meds to settle, at least 6 to 8 weeks, you start off with haveing patches of feeling 100% your self again, then those patches get longer.
Please up the dose ro 50 bare with it and give it a good 4 to 6 weeks, its long i know but well worth it.
sue74917 lattifa7777
Posted
thanks for your positive reply. I guess the horror of taking cit is still on my mind, sertraline for me seems so much kinder on my system, I think once I have been able to accept that it will not make me as ill I will increase and finally get back to exactly where I want to be mentally
dodo81786 lattifa7777
Posted
hi lattifa, its my second time on sertraline
i used to take 100mg for 3 yrs i felt great .
i stopped for 2 months and here it hit me again cant sleep always thinking of not sleeping makes me panic . i take ativan but some how my instructive thoughts wont make me sleep and i get shakes etc...
will the med still work?
thanks .