Hi I have health anxiety and about 6 weeks ago it completely spiralled out of control. I had blood tests and scans and they found a polyp in my uterus and I had to have an op on Monday to have it removed and luckily all ok. 4 weeks ago I was put on sertraline and first couple of weeks horrible and barely got out of bed which is so unlike me as I also work full time and have a 5 year old. I was really hoping the tablets would start to work at least a bit after 4 weeks, I know they are not a magic cure but I still have a bit of a fuzzy head and a knot of anxiety most of the time. Doc won't Increase me yet and to be honest I don't want to if I can help it. The other main thing is my sleep, I can get to sleep but I wake up after about 3/4 hours sweating and can't get back to sleep which is making it worse Beause I worry about that. I have lost a stone in 5 weeks as I couldn't eat , I am forcing food down as I am desperate to feel better. I also feel numb like can't cry if that makes sense. Please tell me this will get better as I am so scared I won't feel better x
Hi there 4 weeks is still early days and all that will settle down, im on 7 weeks and have leveled out now on 50mgs its helped about 60% so im waiting to see the doctor next week amd go upto 75mgs and i think that will do the job 100%. Takes around 8 weeks to feel the benifits in my experience from meds
Hi Natalie. It will get better. I was where you are now at four weeks. Took me 8 weeks before I felt better. Keep going and keep busy. Keep telling yourself it will get better take care :-)
Does the sleep get better too? I try to keep busy but all the while I feel Crap and and anxious and want to give up. If I upped my dose which I don't want to, is that another 8 weeks to feel better? Also, is 50mg enough for some people? I am hoping it is for me
I don't.know if I can do another 4 weeks feeling like this 
Please stick with it your nearly there i promise. 4 weeks is not going to do much unfortunately. Yes definitely your sleep is going to come back and you will feel a few days here and there by weeks 5 and 6 so please just 2 more weeks. You can do this your strong and you have our support
Ok I will try and keep going and hoping it will be better soon thank u
Thats the spirit, we have all gone through it so we know how you feel. You just have to tell yourself its my body i want to heal and i need to relax while its healing maybe a little swimming or a long walk as that helped me
I have been trying to do few hours at work to try and distract but doesn't seem to help. So went for walk in Bath (where I work) and felt so detached with this knotted stomach. I try and do things and think why am I bothering because it's not helping but maybe it is without me realising it. My body feels so so tired but my mind is racing all the time and won't rest. I am forcing food down to try and feel better. I have a shiatsu appt tomorrow, I've never had it and someone recommended it and I am trying as desperate for anything to work. I also been going CBT but don't know if that's helping or not. Is yours for anxiety Scott? Mine is health anxiety
I think you just need time to yourself maybe have a week or 2 off work and potter around the house and go for an afternoon walk.
I was always obsessed with health anxiety and thoughts and panic attacks which led to me withdrawing from social life and people. Im still not 100% but im half better now. I used to google every symptom a few weeks ago and thought i had something bad but never google now or think i have a bad thing going on. I went to the docs for a check up on my bloods to see if they was ok and it came back that i had a low white blood cell count when i had the flu and didnt panic one bit but i would of done before these tablets it would of made me ill knowing it was low. Anyways doc wanted to check it again and its back to normal after the flu so all is good. Moral of the story is i was really bad and now im only half bad so they do work but they take time
I can't have more time off as already had 2 weeks when side effects really bad when started tabs. And I just spent it googling. I had that! I had blood test and lymphocytes low, I was obsessed. I asked for scan snd they found the polyp and also something called a Hermangioma on my liver, they say its harlmless and I freaked out! Googling just how accurate ultrasounds are etc for hiurs and hours! It's so exhausting
Hey Natalie,
How are you feeling? Just to reiterate what others have said, 4 weeks is a very short time, so don't take the way you feel now as a sign of how you will feel. The first 5 weeks were hell for me, but I've been on sertraline for over a year now and I don't even think about them anymore. The side effect which were once crippling seem to have simply evaporated.
I am going to suggest something that is counterintuitive. If you doctor suggests upping the dose, go with it. I was in a similar state to yourself when I started takin my medication but luckily I had a very wise doctor who could see that fretting over my health and side effects etc belonged to the world of the excessively anxious. By pushing through the side effects, which oddly includ increased anxiety for the first few weeks, you might be able to deliver yourself to a place where you just don't care anymore.
Just a thought. Medication saved my life
Best
Jack
God you sound exactly like me I spend my first few weeks googling everything about zoloft sertraline etc etc and there is all negative stuff because once people feel better they tend to leave the forums.
I too have lost close to 10 kgs in 5 weeks as I can't eat from the knot in my stomach. This past week I have been able to eat again and I am finding that trying to exercise is helping to relieve a bit of the tension etc. I am still taking a sleeping tablet at night so I get to sleep ok but wake up like a bright eyed idiot at 4.30am. I remember last time this settled down and I went back to loving my sleep after about 6-8 weeks.
Funny story for you my girlfriend that had serious health anxiety heard that parsley was good for anxiety so she was just eating raw parsley !!!! Not sure if it helped but she is now back to her happy self after a rough time going on meds etc and that was about 4 years ago.
Hang in there hun and keep us updated. I will check in regularly and we can support each other through this.
Thank u all so much this has really helped feeling supported snd I will try my best to hang in there with these tablets. Is 50mg enough for some people? Managed a free hiurs broken sleep but yet again woke up and knot in my tummy. Please tell me this will go I am trying shiatsu this morning as I am so desperste for something to work.has anyone else tried this?
Natalie my knot in my tummy started to go away around 5 weeks .... I reckon over the next few days you will start feeling better.
50mg was plenty for me when I first had issues about 3 years ago. I actually went down to 25 for a year and was still fine and came off no problems.
Hello everyone
Thank you so much for replying it means a lot to have people supporting you.
I had not too bad a day yesterday. I woke up with the usual churning and anxious knotty tummy which I know when you tell people sounds so lame, but I find it so debilitating. I had to get up because I had a shiatsu appointment in Bath which someone reccommend to me. I have had aromatherapy massages before etc for relaxation but never anything like this but I am so desperate I'll try anything. I drove to park and then walked to the place all the time with this knot, but I carried on. while having the treatment I felt quite relaxed which was good. Afterwards I cam back home where my fiancé ( I am meant to be getting married in February and terrified I won't be well enough) and son and 3 step daughters were and we went for a bike ride, just thought i would try and also see if excerskse helped and might help with sleep too. It was ok and i felt ok. And i also managed to Eat yestedsy properly which is a big step for me after barely eating for 6 weeks and losing over a stone. Watched a film with other half which again is good as I haves shut myself in the bedroom for weeks on my own. We came to bed about 12 and I woke up at 2.30 however I tried not to panic and just tried ro relax. Still havent had much sleep but don't feel quite so stressed about it. Sorry for the ramble but it feels good to talk about it and know there is support and I am trying to be positive and see it as a good day and not panic if I have a bad day x
Hi Natalie i was like you same thinking that i am having a heart atack,scary to go outside almost one year ago. Now i forget how it was . Do not worry i had bad moments even 4-5 months after being on sertraline but you will be ok. When you feel horrible try to listen relax music lay down learn breathing technices ,self talking try on internet you will find nice stuff
Went to doc today and she said am doing better we back at work even tho am struggling a bit at least I am there. Yesterday wasnt too bad but tonihht I feel white anxious snd a bit sicky, is that normal on the 5th week? She said to come back in another 2 weeks and see how I feel. She said 100mg is more therapeutic dose but I am so scared of more side effects and when I asked about 75mg she said shouldn't do that as don't knke yuhre getting right dose.
I haven't drank hardly any water today, could they be why I feel bit worse?
I started taking lustral/sertraline around the same time as Natalie. I got used to the 50mg and was feeling okay. I upped it last Thursday to 100mg and I've been extremely horrid since then. Feel sick, diarrhoea, anxious. Just awful. How long will this last for?? Do I stick with it?