Day 8

Treatment and medication
1

I am on day 8 of sertraline and so far havent had any awful side effects. However, I have experienced the following, to varying levels:

* Tiredness

* Much more easily upset or irritable or angry

* Worry - worrying about side effects, constantly assessing and re-assessing how I am feeling.

Apart from the above nothing much has happened - good or bad. Not sure what I was expecting but very little has changed :-/

I am on 50mg.

2

hi jane . will get easier hang in there takes arround 2 weeks x

3

Thanks. I am just not sure it's doing anything yet! What can I expect to notice in 2 weeks? smile

Thanks.

4

hi jane u will feel brighter! took around 2 weeks for me to feel the benefits. the side effects will pass! are u sleeping ok x

5

Hi Jane...I've been on 25mg for 2 weeks (Have been prescribed 50mg,but want my body to adjust gradually:must up the dose tomorrow!)and even on a low dose,felt a little more tired than normal,certainly for the first week.From my experience,many similar meds have this irritating side effect.With luck it will ease off a little.Try to stay busy,I am a terrible worrier myself,so I do empathise with how you're feeling!Also I am pretty certain,though we're all different,your anger/irritability may also wear off too.Sadly these aren't magic pills.....Take care x

6

Generally sleep ok thanks, especially if I have exercised in the day time. What dose are you on?x

7

Thanks! Hope it goes well when you up it to 50mg. Yes it can make you tired and drowsy but it's not as bad as I thought it may be! x

8

hi i was on 50mg for 2 months just been upped to 100mg as 50mg is a low dose! feel even better did have one night were i couldnt sleep but normal when dose is upped xx

9

Did going up to 100 make a big difference? Did 50 help at all? x

10

hi jane yes helped a bit but feel better on 100mg ..50mg is usually the starting dose xx

11

Hi Jane,

i started on 50mg about 2 years ago and it did take a little while to kick in for me. Maybe as much as 3 weeks in my case, but my doctor and I agreed I should got up to 100mg after I had been on Sertraline for about 2 months so maybe 50mg just wasn't enough for me. 

Looking back I felt exactly the same as you, I was very worried about side effects and what to expect but this was just the anxiety still being present until the medication took effect.

Sertraline is an excellent product that has changed my life and I have decreased and increased the dose as required several times. It makes me feel much more confident in every aspect of my life, even to the extent of trying new past times and sports I would never have dared try before. I can see myself being Sertraline for the long term but probably only a maintenance dose of 50mg or 25mg.

The only side effect I have ever noticed is a reduction in libido which is unfortunate but nothing compared to anxiety.

All the best and look forward to when it takes effect.

James.

12

Thanks James. Did they suddenly kick in one day and you noticed a dramatic difference or was it gradual?

13

Hi Jane,

I would say at first it was gradual but there were a couple of reasons for that. a) my anxiety was pretty bad before taking the medication so there was quite a lot to overcome and b) both my dr & I agreed I needed to up the dose after a couple of months. I would say I probably did notice when the increase to 100mg kicked in but it wasn't sudden waking up one day feeling great, it was still gradual.

In fact at one point I went up to 150mg for a couple of months because work had started to get quite stressful and I have to say once that kicked I felt absolutley incredible, as if nothing bad could happen to me which was a sign the dose was probably too high and looking back I probably could have handled the work scenario without needing to increase the dose.

What day are you on now?

14

Hi James

I am on day 10. I still have anxiety which rears its head now and then, still dont feel much different overall. Prior to this I was on citalopram since 2002.... anyway I went to the doctors in July due to feeling very upset all the time and anxious. I was put on sertraline, but first I had to come off citalopram (which I delayed for a couple of weeks due to going on holiday).

I have a doctors appt next Thurs - as it will have been just over 2 weeks by then since I started setraline. That is a general check up to see how things are going.

I just dont know if this 50mg is doing anything at all :-/

15

Hi Jane,

Sounds like that appt will be a good check and balance and maybe you dr will advise increasing the dose.

Are you doing anything in addition to medication to help? I also meditate and focus on positive thinking. I also find music very helpful and my own playlist of songs that give me confidence and make feel strong.

16

I find exercise helpful (go to bootcamp three times a week) and I also take propranalol for anxiety.

I find that if I think about anxiety, I become anxious. If I feel sick or dizzy it makes me anxious, then I feel weird, then more anxious. If I get worried about something, I start to feel really anxious, then get anxious about anxiety!! ARRGH!

Does sertraline help with this do you think?

17

Absolutley!

I used to feel exactly the same - the anixety was causing anxiety, I had got caught in a vicious circle. Sertraline helps you to simply stop thinking about it. That part of it didn't happen overnight for me but it certainly started to reduce significantly once the Sertraline kicked in.

I also researched the precise cause of Anxiety - the 'fight or flight' mechasim which is triggered by the 'Amygdala' which is a very small and undeveloped part of our brains. It is designed to protect us in times of mortal danger (ie life or death) and it's the Amygdala that kicks off the protection mechanism of releasing adrenaline, making the heart pump faster, diverting blood to the core organs, making us sweat etc simply to put us into the optimal state for either fighting this supposed danger or running away from it.

The problem is it is quite primitive in how it works and it can sometimes confuse emotions such as stress or grief or day to day worries as signals of imminent danger and this kicks off this sequence of effects. In a nut shell that is anxiety - and over reaction to every normal events.

So I found one technique which really helps me is that when I start to feel anxious I use the power of my concious/cognitive mind to tell myself I am in now danger. There is no need to react in this way I am perfectly safe and completely calm, cool, and relaxed. This simply technique worked dozens of times for me when I was feeling anxious. Simply remembering exactly what anxiety is and putting it into context.

Hope that helps.

18

Thanks James, that sounds like a useful technique. I have tried to convince myself I am fine and nothing is going to happen to me but the anxiety/panic has overridden this in the past and it was unpleasant.

I always think 'what if I feel anxious/what if I have a panic attack/what if I can't cope/what if I feel weird/experiene derealisation' and these thoughts often prevent me from actually looking forward to things I want to look forward to and being excited about!

Have you found that sertraline can help with agoraphobic feelings too?

This may sound odd..........but when anxious sometimes (ie when out and about) I feel like I may fall over or something and make a fool of myself, feel like the floor is unstable, so I like to be close to a wall or something, or a railing, to hold on to! Have you had this and do you think sertraline can assist with this?

It doesnt always happen but is awful when it does.

19

Hi Jane,

just realised 'now danger' should obviuously have been 'no danger' in my previous post..

I used to feel exactly the same when out and about, I remember once going into a warehouse type shop with a metal roof and it was raining so hard outside it made a really loud noise on the roof and I simply couldn't stay in the building I had to leave immediately. I also had the feeling of wobbly legs as if I was going to collapse and derealisation as if I was removed from the situation I was in as well as generally feeling woosy and also sometimes a bit sick and constantly wanting to go to the toilet.

These are all side effects of the fight or flight response. Blood is acutally pumped away from your brain and your limbs and your stomach. This can lead to woosyiness, the derealisation feeling, and wobbly legs/arms or pins and needles and feelings of indigestion. The feeling of sickness and wanting to go the toilet is the body trying to empy itself of unecessary weight so that you can run faster. Strange but true...

It all boils down to this response mechanism and as I say just realising that helped me put it into perspective and realise it was just anxiety. And yes I used to worry what if I pass out or wet myself in a meeting or collapse when I'm with colleagues of mine. This was the vicious circle. Funnily enough though it never happened....not once. It was just anxiety, nothing else.

And yes Sertraline has definitley helped. It has helped me with every aspect of beating anxiety and it has generally made me feel happier.

20

Hi, i understand where you are coming from with the "feel like having to hold a railing" feeling or being close to the wall. walking through the middle of a room with so much open space in certain situations gives me an overwhelming feeling of dread. I was on citalopram for 7 year and although it kept my anxiety steady to a certain extent it didn't help at all with those kind of fears and feelings, infact i don't think i experienced that until after taking the medication, it was something that came further down the line and i have no idea where it springs from. I came off citalopram for about 5 month and suddenly my anxiety became worse, i went back to the doctors and they have tried me with Sertraline, this is day 6 and ive not left the house in 6 days, i feel very exhausted and depressed off them , im hoping this will pass, ive been sitting here debating wether to take another one tommorow? i was very doubtful to go back on anti-depressants in the first place with the awful withdrawel effects if the citalopram...just as i felt proud coming off them WHAM back at square one, i don't know if they are the answer but i don't know WHAT is.

Have you had a drink of alcohol on this medication at all? i have not so far but i have not been anywhere to do so but i know in certain social situations i am going to need a drink, what are your experiences with that?