I have been on sertriline now for two years and feel happy and content,but cant help thinking that I need to start coming off the medication.Or should I just be not thinking about that and just carry on enjoying life?Is it not good to be on fo to long?
I understand how you feel. I have been on either sertraline or citalopram for seven years on and off. I get to a stage where I think I can cope without them,I dont need them or I put on weight and want to come off them. I have done a few times,and each time I manage fine for a couple of months,have done upto about 9 Months and then it hots me like a brick wall,sometimes i dont even see or feel it coming. I have decided this time to just stick with it,enjoy life and you know these days there isn't a stigma attached to taking them. I think I always will need them to some degree and as for the weight gain which is the main reason I usually come off them,I am going to embrace it!!! 😂. Been taking sertraline this time for 4 months 75mg for bad anxiety and mild depression.
I've been taking them for 20 years. 100mg. I really want to wean off them since my sex drive is almost none existence. If there was a medication that could help me with this, I would stay on it.
But I'm seeing my doctor next week to start tapering off them. Wish me luck.
hi jiff i am the same as kataly, in that when i stop taking antidepressant meds, the depression and anxiety always finds its way back, so this time around i'm not going to stop taking them (and if they stop working in the future i will simply switch to something else).
you havn't mentioned if this is the first time you have ever taken antidepressants? if it is, you might find that taking sertraline for 2 years is long enough for you to have gotten rid of your depression/anxiety and it won't return, in which case you could taper off it and perhaps not need to take it again ever (assuming your circumstances are ok, eg. you are comfortable in your life/circumstances? i ask that because, if you don't like your life/circumstances, but seem to cope ok and are happy because sertraline is helping you to see things in a different light, then maybe it isn't a good idea to stop taking it (incase you then find you slip back into old bad habits or negative thinking etc)
if you have been on and off antidepressants a few times, and whenever you stop taking them, your depression/anxiety eventually comes back each time, then this time around you should STAY on them to be safe. note: this is what actual professionals recommend.
there is no reason to worry or think there may be a problem if taking sertraline or other antidepressants long term. many people have been taking them for 10 years or 20 years, and there isn't any evidence that long term use causes certain problems or issues (apart from some people report that their antidepressant med stops working, in which case it's just a case of switching to something else).