I am just looking for some reassurance. I have taken Zoloft for many years and know that it works great for me, but I recently upped my dose after also recently dropping it, and I am just ready to have more good days than bad. I take it for extreme anxiety and I think I am probably better than I was in the beginning, but it is really hard to tell when you are in the middle of it. Yesterday I felt more like myself for a couple of hours, but then the evening was horrible. I am on day 13 now, and it just feels like it has been months. The days drag on so long, I just want more good days. I am sure this has been asked and answered many times, but how long did it take before you started seeing more good days than bad?
Hey Ashley. I am right there with you. It has been about the same amount of time since I increased. I had a little more energy yesterday and today which I really needed to get out of the house. But, more good days than bad...not yet. Maybe someone else will chime in and give us some hope.((hugs)). Hope you feel better soon
Thanks, it means a lot to me just hear that someone else is going through it too. It's funny how that works. Makes us feel less crazy I guess. Hope you start feeling better soon too. We are in this together
Hi i can totally relateto how your feeling im on setraline for years now and it works great for me but back in may i felt great so decided to reduce it (big mistake)
About 5 or 6 weeks ago i felt down again so doctur upped it to 150mg after 2 and a half weeks my anxiety was fine but my mood was low so 11 days ago upped it to 200mg had fairly good days but today os a struggle as i forgot to take my olanzapine last night
Wondering how long it takes to feel full benefits of 200mg
I have recently restarted Sertraline after trying to stop it altogether. I started having major panic and anxiety attacks so have upped the original dose from 50mg to 100mg. The first 2 weeks were awful, not sleeping and anxiety worse than ever, but this is my 3rd week and I feel things are really beginning to even out. Most of the side effects are beginning to subside, my mind is much quieter and physical symptoms of anxiety are only there mainly first thing in the morning when I wake up. Hang in there because you're probably not far off coming through the other side. From my experience it takes a good couple of weeks to get through the side effects, which will mean you feel better and another week before it's fully functioning in your system, which is where I'm at now. I'm hoping that from here things will just keep improving.
I just wanted to keep people updated. I started this post yesterday morning, feeling just lousy, then later in the evening I actually felt a lot more like myself later in the evening. So much so that I didn't want to go to bed for fear of the usual morning anxiety. Morning came around, felt super anxious like usual, but it didn't last as long. Lord do I hope this means I might be turning the corner soon, but the logical part of me knows that there will be bad days again soon, but that I should just enjoy the "normal" moments while I can. I really hope everyone else starts having some better days soon too. I really appreciate the replies.
How are you feeling today Sarah? Hopefully just as well as yesterday.
Are you feeling any better today, Jennifer?
Thanks for asking. Today has been good too! This week I've felt so much better, so I'm hoping it lasts. Glad your feeling better too and I hope it lasts for you too! I'm sure the good times will get longer and the bad days shorter as time goes by. Xx
Oh I hope so! Glad you got some relief. My anxiety usually comes in the evening. When do you take your medicine?
I take mine at 4 in the afternoon. I am thinking about switching to mornings once the medicine has fully settled. My mornings are awful! About to take my dose for today. Hoping that it will help. One day down is one day closer, right?
That's interesting. I usually take mine about 9 or 10 in the morning and then the evening before bed is when my depression ramps up. Wonder what happens if we split the dose? Lol. I would forget to take one of them and be in worse shape than I am now. Idk which would be worse anxiety in the morning or the evening?
I asked my doctor about splitting my dose, and she said it wouldn’t help because the meds stay in your system for 24 hours. How has your day been? Mine has been pretty low. Even being on Zoloft for years and knowing that it works for you, days like this can be hard. Trying not to let a bad day get me down.
Hey Ashley,
I actually have a question for you. I’m in my 7th week of 75mg Setraline.. I originally took it for depression but the side effects gave me the worst anxiety I’ve ever had in my life. I wanted to know if you’ve experience the same thoughts as me - my anxiety has me basically in fear of living.. every time I think about life or the future I get an anxiety attack - also I find myself overthinking about humans and how we function and have our own minds and that I’m stuck in mine for years to come. I know this makes me sound nuts, and trust me.. I was convinced I was getting there. Almost with suicidal thoughts as well. Also no matter how much I read I seem to be dead set on thinking these thoughts and feelings will never go away. Did you or anyone here have anything like this within the first few months of Setraline? And did it go away?
Thanks in advance, and I hope you’re having a “good day” today xx
Same here. My day was not great either. I am having trouble with my gallbladder, which makes my anxiety worse. Like, besides my side hurting, I have no energy. I'll probably be in bed again early watching Netflix lol. I can't understand why 25 mg held me for so long and now it's not. Of course I came off of Wellbutrin about 6 months ago. That could be it too. I just never noticed that Wellbutrin helped that much. I guess I will keep pushing through. Hopefully get the gallbladder situation taken care of and see what happens. How are you doing today?
The past few days after taking me Zoloft, I have felt pretty normal which was great. However last night, I took it and felt SO depressed. Like as depressed as I did when I was going through PPD and PPA. During that time, I was begging to be institutionalized, because it felt like nothing was working or helping. I was also going through a large dose increase during that time, but things eventually evened out and I felt great for years. Hoping this is just the meds trying to balance themselves out and that I will feel more normal after taking my Zoloft again today. I hope you get the gallbladder situation worked out soon. I think I am coming down with something which also isn't helping. Thanks for keeping me updated on how things are going with you. I like having a friend to feel crazy with.
Yes thanks for replying. It does somehow make it a little more tolerable having someone going through this crazy life. You can private message me anytime.
I absolutely had those thoughts (and I do right now while I am increasing my dose). Each time I eventually got better, although I can’t remember exactly when I had that ah ha moment. I think when I first started Zoloft that I started to feel better after 2-3 weeks. After I had my son, I went through severe postpartum anxiety and depression. I thought I was totally losing my mind. That time around I didn’t feel better until about 4 mos in, but I went from 50mg to 150mg during that time. I would write out on my porch with chalk things like “This too shall pass”, “It only FEELS like forever”, “You can and WILL get through this”. I didn’t believe these things when I wrote them, but every time I felt like running away, I would see that. Eventually as the weeks went on, I started believing that things would get better. And they eventually did. Being on the same dose for 7 weeks does seem like it should be doing something for you. That is a long time to be suffering (trust me, I know!). I am currently only 2 1/2 weeks in to this increased dose, so living in fear of living is my life right now. Hoping it will ease up soon. Things could get better for you in a weeks time, but I would certainly speak to my doctor about it at that point. Sorry you are suffering too It’s strange to think about other people going through the same thing we are. Looking around outside, you see other people and think they have everything together, but in reality they might be in the same boat as us.
Thank you so much for your reply - it feels so much better knowing someone else is going threw it and knows it’ll pass. I was previously on zoloft for 2 years and went off for a couple months and went on and off again within a couple weeks so I think really messed up my system. I’m hoping that’s why it’s taking so long. Yesterday I had a good day and I didn’t feel like I was obsessing over the thoughts so bad - but today hasn’t been good . I just feel like crying all the time that I’ll never view life in the same way again. It’s so ironic that I took these to help with depression, but the anxiety thoughts have made everything worse than before. I’m afraid I’ll never feel normal again
Started at 50mg for 6 weeks,then on to 100mg for 6 weeks now on first week at 150mg. Up and down like a yoyo is the only way I could describe the last few months. There is a good day coming I am sure of that......so you are right I am in the boat too!