Anxiety about increasing AD dosage :(

I know this thread would fit better in "Medication", but I wanted to put it here because I need some fast reassurance.
I am supposed to go up today from 25mg of Sertraline to 50mg and I'm feeling all panicky and anxious about it. I keep thining about side effects and even turned (briefly) to doctor Google to see what might happen to me. I think I just need some reassurance from people that upped their dosages of ADs and survived :unsure:. I was supposed to up the dosage a week and a half ago but I kept postponing because I am scared that I will get side effects. I think I had some when I started and I dont want to experience them (especially antagonistic ones - worsening of anxiety/depression or nausea). Help!

Hi there

Not sure whether this will help at all, but it looks as though 50mg daily is the "usual" dose of Sertraline, so I presume that your GP thinks that this is the one that will be effective for you.

It is possible to get side effects when you change the dosage of ADs, but it tends to be temporary. You say you got side effects when you initially started them, but I presume that they eased off after a while? Therefore I would have thought that there is a good chance that any side effects will only last a few days. You can deal with the nausea by making sure that you take your tablet with a meal. I found this when I last took ADs a few years ago.

If youre worried about doing it, ask at your pharmacy if you can cut the pill into a smaller dose so that you can go from, say 25>35>50.

I already swallowed it and now I wish I didn't. I'm just standing here staring at my walls, waiting for something bad to happen. My psych is/was very upset that I wasn't following his instructions and told me that I have to increase the dosage now.
I really don't know what side effects I got when I first starte taking it because it was a very rough period for me. I hadn't been eating for a week or so, crazy panic attacks and anxiety, weight loss from not eating, so when I started Sertraline and Ativan, I got all sort of side effects. I kept calling my doctor asking telling him that I can't pee properly, that I'm getting twitches, nightmares, vivid dreams, nausea, poor erection, headache etc. and 80% of the time he said "it's not the Sertraline, it's your anxiety and dr.Google giving you this emotions and symptoms".
Ofcourse, that makes me even more confused about my situation now - because I don't know what to expect. Ofcourse, the pseudo-side effects went away after a couple of days, but I'm still worried.
Thanks for the replies guys!

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Originally Posted by skin

I know this thread would fit better in "Medication", but I wanted to put it here because I need some fast reassurance.
I am supposed to go up today from 25mg of Sertraline to 50mg and I'm feeling all panicky and anxious about it. I keep thining about side effects and even turned (briefly) to doctor Google to see what might happen to me. I think I just need some reassurance from people that upped their dosages of ADs and survived :unsure:. I was supposed to up the dosage a week and a half ago but I kept postponing because I am scared that I will get side effects. I think I had some when I started and I dont want to experience them (especially antagonistic ones - worsening of anxiety/depression or nausea). Help!

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Hi, I was originally on 50mg of Sertraline, but my Psychiatrist upped dosage to 100mg on the same day I saw her.

Although I noticed an increase in drowsiness, there was nothing else of significance.

My anxiety/depression has also dropped...

I realise of course that everyone reacts differently, but until you try the higher dose, you'll never know. (Blimey, don't even understand last sentence myself! :wacko:)

In other words give it a go, because if you have difficulties, your GP can easily lower medication. (Got there...I think? :winks:)

Take care,


Sue x :flowers:

Sorry,

You've gone for it, and I missed it! :wacko:

Don't worry, you'll be fine, and if you need to talk, I'm here.


Sue x

Ive not been on that med, but I have increased citalopram, and mirtazapine before.
Whenever I had to up the meds I would plan to spend a few days taking it easy. Id get myself a stack of DVDs, some nice comfort food, clean bed sheets and stay in my pajamas.
To be honest any side effects I did feel werent that bad that it would warrent me staying in bed and taking it easy, but it made me feel a little better to have no pressure to be normal.
Good luck :)

Vixxy - I'm in bed, writing from a laptop :D. I'm planning to get up and play on my computer. Thank you all very much for your replies, I love nomorepanic and all of you. If I start "dying" I'll probably return here to let you hear my moans and weeping. I just smiled - watched a video that reminded me that I have absolutely no worries or fears about getting in fights all the time (with my football addiction) and the upcoming derby match but I'm scared of a 50mg pill!
Isn't it ironic? (Trademark Alanis Morissette http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jne9t8sHpUc )

i always worry about this too.. am due to increase mine tonight and really scared about it too. when i first started my mitazapine a week ago i almost convinced myself i felt awful ( looking back now am sure is sometimes psychosomatic). what i find helps is to keep myself really distracted/ busy and use my wise mind and tell myself that if i am looking for things to be bad/ to have changed then i will see them xx

kind of an update: Yesterday was ok, got through the day fine and went to sleep. Sleep was OK, one of the things I was worried about.
However, woke up in a panic state, dry heaving, fast pulse etc.
Mornings are always bad for me but I think the added anxiety due to the dose change made this morning worse (worse than before increasing dosage - because when I wasn't on any meds I used to panic and dry heave/vomit every single morning).
A little looser stool than normal, but not diarrhea.

Trying to eat something to get my next dose... Looking forward to Lorazepam, not Sertraline, but I'll take it anyway.