Sertraline success for the second time!

Treatment and medication
1

Hi everyone,

For those of you who haven’t followed my posts this has been my second time on sertraline and I can finally 13 weeks later say it has worked again :slight_smile:

Check out my first success story post for more detailed information:

both times I have been on this medication it has taken 12-13 weeks to feel better. I was off work for 3 months and have now gone back and have been fine.

Doctors will say 6-8 weeks but with my experiences I still felt awful then. Please try and stick with it and perservere it is so worth it.

If anyone has any questions i will reply below xx

2

Thanks Kate, normally when people get well they disappear, so I for one am grateful to you. off now to read your older post.

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Kate, I just have to come back onto you, I found your earlier post & I am here with two watery eyes, it was just exactly what i needed to read today. It is so helpful I have saved it to re-read I would think, lots in the coming weeks, I have just had my dose upped from 100mg to 150mg and no more than that I felt a failure having to do so, but now I dont. Its also interesting about brand change, I am on LUSTRAL for a number of years, no more than that I was told a generic brand would be fine, it so was not I was back with side effects after 4 days, needless to say I havent tried any other brand since. Thank you again and again x

4

oh Jean this made my eyes water too! i'm so pleased that i can help even if in the smallest way. you should never ever feel like a failure. you are anything but, making the decision to increase your medication is being proactive and strong. battling mental health makes you anything but a failure. i am on 125mg now and if i needed more in the future then that would be fine. life is too short, if something has the potential to make you feel better then grab it with both hands. hoping you feel better soon x

5

Thank you for posting this! I am still at the beginning headed for 9 weeks on tuesday and just upped to 75 and am looking forward to feeling better. Posts like yours give me hope that i will soon turn the corner! And you've also made me realize i need not be afraid to increase, if that is what it takes to feel better then so be it, i don't need to be stuck on a number. Zoloft doesn't define me! Thanks again for sharing this post today!

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saw your answer to my post, thank you. if you dont mind my asking - did you go off sert and then relapse? am so glad it worked for you both times.

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it absolutely does not define you and you will think that less when you are feeling 100% again and getting on with your life. I still felt helpless at 9 weeks so know that it does get better x

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yes i did, i was on it for 1 year, then tapered off over 3 months. i was off the medication for 7 months but started to get anxious and depressed again so went back on the medication. This time round i will stay on for at least 2-3 years. my therapist believes i am someone with a chemical imbalance rather than situational anxiety/depression which may mean staying on them indefinitely may be the best option for me x

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it may also be helpful to know that my first episode happened when i was 25 also and i am now 27 coming up to 28. my parents had to baby me for the first month or two and i had some very scary times and thoughts but i have fully recovered both times. hope that gives you some piece of mind regarding your daughter x

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Thank you Kate, yes it does give me hope! xo

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Thank you for sharing your story Kate...i have a couple questions if you don't mind...did you have the same starting side effects the second time around as you did the first time? I'm going on 13 weeks on zoloft tomorrow, it has helped me so much, and i can say im feeling 90%...not quit 100% yet...are you feeling 100% at 13 weeks? Thank you again.

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Hi Christine,

Yes i did have the same side effects the second time round but because i had experienced them before, i was prepared for them so didnt get so worked up. For example the first time round i would get scared about how large my pupils were, how restless my legs were, the initial lack of sleep and appetite etc. whereas this time i just rode them out and tried to remain as calm as possible (sometimes didnt work of course). i would definitely say my second episode has been significantly easier to deal with.

i am too around 90% at the moment and the same last time at this point. I think last time i felt my absolute best probably 6 months and onwards of taking the medication. I am fully able to do everything i did before now such as work, socialize, travel, but i still have a small amount of anxiety remaining. it takes a while to build yourself and your confidence back up when you have been in a bad way. so to answer your question yes you will continue to improve from this point and you may even feel better than before taking medication, which was the case for me x

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Your amazing ❤ Thank you

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christine and kate can i ask what your dosage is? and do you take anything else?

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christine can i ask what t your dosage is and if youbtake anything else?

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Hi Kate, Sert is my 3rd med since May and I really believe it will help.... It's my 3rd week on 50mg and I am still tapering off 225 Venlafaxine. I am noe down to 75mg of Venlafaxine. It's early days but Sert is giving me energy and I managed to fall asleep with no benzo or antihistamines before bed. My doc would like me to go up to 100 next week. May I ask you how quickly did you up your doses? Did 50mg help you a bit? I feel like it's good for anxiety at this stage but my mood is still depressed but I understand it's early days. It's my 2nd episode of depression in my life and once I recover with SERT (I really hope so) I am going to stay on it for at least 1 year.... no rush! If it helps me to feel myself again. My depression is also a chemical imbalance....so nice to hear a positive story!!! x

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Hello Sandy, i started on 25 mg for 1 week and 50 mgs for 12 weeks...i didnt make a turn until after 9 weeks....i struggled so bad for 2 months. Also, if you are on facebook, there is an amazing support group i found 3 weeks ago, I wish I found them earlier..its called Postive Zoloft Support Group.

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Thank you Christine! Very helpful and I will check out the FB group too! xo

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first time i was on 25mg for 1 week, 50mg for 9 weeks and then up to 100mg which i stayed on until starting to come off. i felt a great improvement when i increased to 100mg.

this time knowing that 100mg worked for me last time, i did 25mg for 1 week, 50mg for 2 weeks, 100mg for 8 weeks and then two weeks ago i upped to 125mg which is where i will stay x

20

Hi Kate, this fills me with hope. I have been taking Sertraline now for 3 weeks, started on 25mg and i'm now taking 50mg. My mood has been slightly better but my eyes and head have been really sore, did you experience this? I have also been having so many dreams at night, not nightmares but just the most random dreams ever

Thank you for posting this!