I've been prescribed sertraline, an antidepressant for social anxiety. However i'm still waiting to have access to therapy and i've been told by people that I shouldn't take the medication without being in therapy and that the doctor is wrong for giving it to me. is it true that I should wait until i'm seeing a therapist or should I trust y doctor and start the medicatio?
Is the doctor a psychiatrist or just your regular doctor?
my regular doctor
Depends. Some people feel better going into Therapy already on medication, as it allows them to handle the therapy better. Others find medications can give them side effects and prefer to wait so that they have the support of therapy to help them through.
You do what feels right for you.
Hi Anna. I’ve been taking Sertraline for many years on and off and it has worked successfully for me for anxiety up until recently when I had a major turn for the worse.
My personal opinion is that it would be good to start it if you’ve been prescribed it as it can take a while to see a therapist. The starting dose is 50mg but I found that too much and instead took half a pill - 25mg - which I found to be of some benefit. I later increased to 50mg.
The initial side effects can be tough especially if you aren’t prepared for them, like I wasn’t. A lack of appetite and general buzzy / wired feeling is what I experienced and a bit of a strange feeling in my head. It doesn’t sound like much but I found it quite uncomfortable. But those initial side effects do go away, in my experience after about 1 or 2 weeks and then you start to feel the benefit.
Up until this very severe episode I’ve had, it really did help me for generalised anxiety. Wishing you the best of luck and sending good vibes.