Upped dose to 75mg - feeling worse

Treatment and medication
1

After 3 months on 50mg I upped my dose to 75 mg 16 days ago. I had something trigger my anxiety and I still had insomnia and my doctor suggested I start with 75 mg. The first few days were ok but the last few days I have been feeling SO. SO. TIRED. Like, I’m yawning all the time, I feel weak and my head is buzzing constantly (brain zaps). Nothing helps, not even strong coffee, not even 9 hours of sleep. My stomach is also upset, I’m doing constant trips to the bathroom.
My insomnia has lessened but this is maybe because I started taking the pills in the morning.

Is my dose maybe to high? Maybe I should just wait for my anxiety to go away on 50mg. Thinking about going back to 50mg because I cant live like this.

Any suggestions?

2

Not able to offer any personal advice but from what i read it seems that the recommendation is to stay on 50 for longer ( upto 16 weeks). Why did you up your dose? l am on week 10 of 50 and despite an improvement last week am having 2 horrendous days but trying to be positive and take the advice that people do have these dips.

3

Hi Maje, I think I wrote to you before. Well, I’m glad you’re able to get more sleep now by switching the time you take the med. I too take mine in the morning, unless I forget, which happens more than I like. Funny to be forgetting to take my med when once upon a time not too long ago I so looked forward to taking my med everyday because it meant I was building it up in my system and as each day passes I was one day closer to getting better and my life, as well as myself, back.

And all these side effects you’ve described here, I’ve had them exactly. And since the med is working for me, I think it’s also working for you. So, that’s very good news. Now a bit more good news, my yawning, tiredness and brain zaps, and even loose stool, all went away. If I remember correctly, the loose stool took the longest to go away, weeks on end, or perhaps I was more away of it because it was most bothersome.

As for lowering or staying put at this dosage, that’s a good question. You have to weigh now bad you were feeling without the higher dosage vs how bad the increased (new?) side effects with the increased dosage. It always comes down to what you can live with and what you can’t live with.

Take care.

4

C53732 to GodsServant. l think we have been in touch before and l know that you are thoughtful and helpful and have experience. l am on a second difficult day. ( 10 weeks at 50 mg ). Had a few days where l was really feeling positive that things were getting a lot better, suddenly hit a dip yesterday and feeling awful today. looking for help to keep me going, do you have any experience of these dips and coming out the other side ok?

5

Thank you for your kind words. It is a blessing to be able to give advice so others can make use of all my painful experiences. :wink: Why not, right? It’s better to learn from someone else’s mistakes.

Ok, the good news is that the med seems to be working for you because you’ve have had some good days. Because it’s only been 10 weeks, the med hasn’t completely leveled yet in your system. But you will start to see that you will have more good days than bad, and then eventually you will get mostly good days. You’ll see get bad days when it’s like the same bad days that normal people get.

So to answer your question - YES! I have had tons of bad days before I got good. The thing that I noticed about me is that I often go through a period where I feel numb, or what I call “fortified.” I don’t feel like myself. I want to cry but cannot cry at all. Then it’s like I get this big cry or release of emotions and then I start to get better. So, hang in there. You are going to be fine.

Tips to help you: Get some exercise, even if it’s just walking. Make sure you don’t drink alcohol, no caffeine, get enough rest and sleep, and eat as much healthy stuff as you can, foods from the ground. And do not have HALTS (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired, or Stress). These 5 things are really bad for triggering OCD thoughts. So try to resolve all unresolved feelings, too. Take care.

6

SO good of you to send this comprehensive reply, I need it at the moment. l am going to print it as a reference paragraph. l wanted to cry this morning but knew it would upset my supportive husband, l think l would have felt better if l had done as l’ve been knotted up all day and stupidly spent the day worrying about will l ever feel well. Thank you and best wishes.

7

Yes, you wrote to me before. Thank you so much.

The side effects are really bothering me. Yesterday when I went to sleep my head was (and I’m not even kidding) trembling. It is freaking me out, this tremor. Its different from brain zaps because it doesn’t go away. And what I’ve noticed is I have a constant urge to stretch myself, and yawn of course.

Did this happen to you?

8

hi Maja. l can relate to how you are feeling. On a ’ dip’ this morning, just spoken to my doctor, he says stick with 50 and give it time.Very helpful replies from GodsServant.

9

The stretching and the yawning happened to me. You should read up on serotonin reuptake. This med has a lot to do with your muscleskeleton, too. It affects your stomach a lot. If I take my med in the morning without food, I hear my stomach grumbling loudly and I start to feel a bit nausea. Then I take food right away and I am fine.

The head trembling I’m not sure. Don’t think I have that. What I have is jaw locking and teeth clenching, esp when I’m not aware of it in my sleep. My neck is almost always tight, too. Each time I move it side to side I hear cracking noises.

What is head trembling like? Hmm.

10

Same thing happened to me. I had to do the same thing. And it’s worst if you don’t let yourself cried. This illness partly destroyed my first marriage, but that’s a story for another day. Btw, being female and married myself, here’s some more tips with this illness and relationship. Do NOT ever feel guilty for being sick. At my worst I got dragged to see a movie and this was me who couldn’t even get out of bed, but I did it although it took so much from me.

If you need to cry and he doesn’t want to see you crying or you don’t want him to see you crying, take a moment and go somewhere and quiet in silence. Once you let the tears out, you will feel much better.

Also, I forgot to mention one more thing. This highly emotional period charged with this zombiefied being in the period right before I start to feel normal again, so you are very close.

Also, I forgot to add, try to get some natural sunlight, be careful around the time of your periods because you get more triggers with OCD/depression because your hormones are all over the place, and also the holidays, which for whatever reasons always make me feel very stressed and a bit lonely. Take care and please say a prayer for my husband who’s fighting for his life with an aggressive brain tumor the size of a strawberry that’s still growing. Thanks and God bless.

11

Thanks for all the useful information. Just for info l am in my 70’s.My thoughts are with you and your husband, all my best wishes to you both. Take care.

12

I think my head trembling is just a massive fear.
I went to see my doctor today, and we had an hour long chat. I don’t want to bother you but let me tell you my story.
It all started with health anxiety, I was convinced i had brain tumour and that caused panic attacks. I went to the ER numerous times in one month. I never experienced insomnia, restlessness and burning chest. This all started with antidepressant.
I told my doctor I felt better before i started to take it.
For the past few days I again couldn’t sleep and I’ve taken my pill in the morning. So I guess there is something else going on. The doctor said It could be the fear of not sleeping again (anxiety) or It could be Sertraline causing my insomnia. The anxiety is also here again, especially in the morning but this could be because I upped the Sertraline. But it has been 17 days. Is this normal?
We are now deciding between staying on 75mg for another week or going back down to 50mg then 25mg and then stopping antidepressants completely.
I am SO SO afraid what will happen to me, if my life will be ruined. The fear of not being ok is so massive.

13

Hi Maja, I too had a health scare that was completely manufactured by my anxiety and depression - back in 2013 I was convinced I had colon cancer. I even had a colonoscopy! And they even took out some cultures for biopsy only to find nothing wrong with me. Looking back, it was as if I had lost touch with reality. I also found out that that it’s pretty common for folks like us to be hypochondriacs and have health scares. So, rest assured you’re not alone in this department.

Yes, sert could caused insomnia and I had that, too. But it went away after a few weeks. I remember how horrible it was because I’d be wide awake at night but when then the next day I’d wired or so tired and couldn’t stop myself from yawning and/or stretching. So this is normal.

And to answer your question, yes, sert can also cause more anxieties, but only for a very short period. It caused palpitations for me, but that too went away after a few very difficult days. So this is normal also.

The thing about sleep is this. The more you worry about not being able to go to sleep, the more you will not be able to sleep. Remember back in school when you had to crammed for school and you tried so hard to stay awake but inevitably feel asleep. Try that. Do the opposite. OCD is a sick, sick illness and nothing about it makes sense so you have to turn everything associated with OCD on its heads, which is much easier said than done. If you can’t sleep, just stay awake and read a book, for me, it’s all the genealogies (names) in the Bible. Eventually, you will get tired and fall asleep. And even if you can’t get good sleep, just close your eyes, breathe and relax.

Last but not least, you are going to be ok. It looks like everything is spiraling out of control in your life. But with OCD, every small inconsequential thing is magnified. The important things during this stage that you’re going through is make sure you take your meds and do not miss doses, try to get a bit of exercise and sunlight if you can (a walk really helps), and get enough nutrition (I was really bad, at one point I couldn’t eat and lost almost 30 lbs in one month - I guess, you Brits call it a couple of stones in a month? - as you can tell, I live in the States because the rest of the world is on the metric system except us. We in the US are still using inches and pounds in measurements. ) And try to get rest even if you can’t get sleep. It’s best to try to take one day at a time and know that not each day will be exactly the same., either good or bad. This too shall pass. Hope this helps a bit.