PDA

View Full Version : Sertraline anyone?



Yvonne
01-07-06, 11:06
Hi All

Hope everyone is coping.

Anyone on Sertraline at the moment - I've just been put on it - didn't have a lot of joy with Citalapram.

I would be so grateful for some positives regarding this med.

Thanks all.

Yvonne

Y Goble

FRANKIEISBACK
01-07-06, 19:27
yep I am on 200 mg, started a week ago, helped me before but I was using lots of illicet drugs so I am now giving it a proper go

kellynwv
02-07-06, 18:36
Hi,

I have been on it for 4 weeks. I am on 50 mg. I noticed a difference after the first few days and I am feeling better everyday. I haven't really had any side effects either other then being a little sleepy!

pedngirl
04-07-06, 20:38
Hi
I have just also been prescribed Sertraline -50mg (today). I'm going to start taking it tomorrow. There really seems to be a mixed reaction to it from what I have read so far. Will keep you posted on how it goes. I hope that it is working out well for all of you.
Best Wishes
Elizabeth
x

kellynwv
06-07-06, 14:01
Hi,

Well on july 4th I had chocolate for the first time in months and later that evening I was watching TV and calm and my heart starting racing and I started sweating. I hope it is just a one time thing, but I am worrying again. :(

Yvonne
09-07-06, 17:29
Hi All

Thanks everyone for the replies. I started off on 50mg and am now on 150mg. Since coming off Seroxat I have had a lot of trouble getting back to my normal non depressed and less anxious self.

The Citalapram was raised to 60mg when it began to work a little better but it gave me dry eye syndrome and I had to come off. Then I went on Nortriptylene and that caused abnormal heart rythms.

I am not worried about the high dosage of the Sertraline - Frankie I see you started off on a high dosage of this med which is unusual - remind me of what you were on before this.

I have had side effects of nausea, hang over feeling and complete lack of energy in the morning - waking up about an hour later. Generally sleepy in the day. Insom ia at night and loss of appetite. I have had sweats and a few racing heart moments that seem to come from nowhere.

However, I think this med is better for me than Citalapram - my anxiety seems to be a bit better and the depression. I definitely don't feel so tearful. I have heard good things about Sertraline and I think it would be a good idea if we all kept in touch so that we can see how we all get on with it.

I still get quite bad anxiety when I have to go places that scare me i.e. supermarkets and the like but once I have walked into the panic it seems to start diminishing quite quickly.

I really need to get a good result from this med because I have been in a depression and anxiety state for the last year and a half.

All comments welcome.

Love to all.

Yvonne

Y Goble

kellynwv
28-07-06, 19:43
Yvonne,

How are you doing?

Well I was doing great then this last week my anxiety came back full force so she put me on 75mg, and I feel better again already.

I hope you are doing well on the medication.

Mystie
29-07-06, 01:55
I have been on Sertraline for 9 weeks, started at 50mg and she just upped me to 100mg. Not sure how I feel right now, always tired especially during the day and not sleeping good at night. Maybe I should give the 100mg a chance? I'm also on low dose klonopin, 3 a day as needed, but i only take 2 most days. My legs have been aching so badly for a couple weeks, not sure if that is a side effect also.
I'am new here.
Thank you for listening.

Mystie

kellynwv
29-07-06, 14:33
Hi,

Everytime I have changed my dose, I get sleepy during the day..but it always passes. I am not sure about the leg thing. The only side effects I have had is indegestion, low sex drive, and sleepiness. I might have to go up to 100mg if 75mg doesn't work. I really think my PMS makes my anxiety worse also. Well thanks for reading. Good luck Mystie.

Kelly

kellynwv
29-07-06, 14:35
oh.. I am also on xanax .5mg two times a day until I am feeling better.

Mystie
30-07-06, 21:40
Thanks Kelly. I was wondering what time everyone took the med? I have been taking it in the morning when I wake up, maybe I should take it before bedtime? to avoid the tiredness during the day and maybe sleep better through the night?

Thanks
Mystie

kellynwv
30-07-06, 22:21
Well the sleepiness side effect should go away. I decided to keep taking mine in the moring because I want the peak effects of it to hit me during the day rather then at night..but if it is making you sleepy during the day, you might want to try taking it at night. It just depends what is best for you. If you are having trouble sleeping at night I think I would give it a try at night.

Yvonne
31-07-06, 12:56
Hi Kelly and Mystie

First of all I cant tell you Mystie how relieved I was when you said you are getting leg ache/pain. That sounds terrible - I really don't want you suffering it's just that I really needed to hear someone else say that they are getting muscular probs with Sertraline.

This is my update on Sertraline - it may be a little long winded:

After I upped the Sertraline to 150 I began to suffer with a really stiff back - it was achey - the lumba region lower back, going into the buttocks, then I was getting leg stiffness - not as bad as the back though.

I suffered it for a week and was just taking Paracetemol. I then decided that it was just too much of a coincidence that I started getting this stiffness after raising the med to 150. I did some research and sure enough a side effect of Sertraline can be back ache, rigidity in muscles, fibromyalgia. This isnt mentioned on the patient info leaflet because it was rated at only 1.7% of people who had complained of it.

I phoned my psychiatrist. She said she thought it was purely coincidental and said she had never heard of back ache with Sertraline. She has been a psych for about 35 years so I can understand her surprise. She told me to go and see my gp.

I did. The gp examined my back and said there was no sign of injury and that it was muscular . The silly woman told me that "exercise" is good for back pain. I couldn't be bothered to tell her I walk on a daily basis.

She said the medication can cause muscle aches and it was more or less up to me what to do about the med.

I decided to decrease it. Actually the back got no better.

I saw the psych on Friday and she could see I was in pain with the back. Also I've been on the medication for 7 weeks and to be honest my mood does not seem to have improved greatly.

Actually I think if I had stayed on 150 for long enough that I would have got some good response from this medication but I know my own body and I am sure its the medication causing the back ache and stiff legs.

The psychiatrist and I decided together that it may be a good idea to change the med (again!!!!!) - I will be starting Duloxetine. I have to wean down on the Sertraline before I can start the new medication. I am happy with that.

I have noticed with the Sertraline that it's a good medication for diet! Appetite during the daytime has been nil - just don't feel like eating. In the evenings when I feel better I tend to binge though. Also the sleep thing, I get so drowsy after taking it (I take it in the mornings) but at night it is so hard to get off to sleep - tossing and turning and a kind of real agitated feeling.

Any comments always welcome. Love to all.

Yvonne



Y Goble

kellynwv
01-08-06, 13:57
Thank you for information.

I have been on the 75 mg for about a week and still do not feel better, I have a feeling I will have to go up on my dose.

Mystie
01-08-06, 14:59
If you have panic/anxiety attacks I highly recommend Klonopin waffers (they disolve in your tongue) work FAST under 20 minutes and you get long relief because of it's long have-life. I also tale 100mg of Zoloft, (Sertraline)once a day and at night because they make me sleepy.

Mystie

Mystie
01-08-06, 15:03
Kelly - a week on 75mg is not long enough. It takes at least 3 weeks or more to really get into your system and make you feel better. I had to increase to 100mg but only after 10 weeks on 50mg. You have to allow your body to adjust to it and maybe a couple of side effects before you feel better. A week isn't long enough to increase. Ask your Doc about this, but this is what I've been through personally and what my doc has told me. Some people may feel a bit worse before they feel a lot better so try to hang in there:)

Mystie

kellynwv
01-08-06, 15:48
Ok..thanks for your help.

I will wait...I just am being impatient because I want to be better now..you know how I feel.

Thanks

Yvonne
02-08-06, 19:16
Hi

Apparently with Sertraline it can be up to 8 weeks before you start to feel the real benefit of the medication. You have to be so patient with the ssri's and it's not easy when you're suffering and feel that you are never going to feel better.

I am going to be starting Duloxetine soon - in a couple of days I think. My back is breaking at the moment - I have worked hard today and am paying the price.

I really hope that when I get the Sertraline out of my system that this back eases because if it doesn't it means that I truly have a back problem!!!!! Thing is the stiffness is in my legs as well and it aint pleasant. Mystie do you still have the stiffness in the legs or is it easing?

Love to all

Yvonne

Y Goble

Mystie
02-08-06, 22:21
My legs are still aching but I've been taking motrin, one a day sometimes two and it seems to help some, I don't have stiffness just aches,sometimes in the calf muscle or in the thighs, its like it moves.
I told my doc and she didn't seem worried about it.
I have been taking the med at 10pm instead of in the morning and i feel a little better in the day than I did but still taking low dose klonopin, 3 times a day as needed.
Even before the meds I have had a very funny head, weird feeling and hard to describe, I feel like dopey/tired a lot...I'm giving this med a chance, paxil was not good for me, gave me shakey hands and other side effects, so I switched to this.
I have good days and bad still, I really feel something is wrong with me. My doctor has not done any blood work on me! My blood pressure is always good, thats all I really know.
Today I have been sleepy/no energy, my nose feels funny and my eyes get blurry sometimes, just not the way I used to be 6 months ago.

Mystie

Yvonne
03-08-06, 09:44
Hi Mystie

I don't know what Motrin is - I have been taking Ibuprofen for the aches. Mine is in the thighs as well!

I sympathise with you. Regarding Paxil - not my favourite medication it was coming off Seroxat that started all this for me. You won't regret not staying on that one my friend.

All the symptoms you are describing sound like side effects to me. I feel very dopey and tired all the time on the Sertraline but I think that's just a normal side effect that you get with all ssris until your system adjusts to them.

Thing is if you tell your doctor youfeel dopey and tired in my experience they will tell you that "it's all part of depression dear".

Klonopin; I was given it whilst in Seroxat withdrawal because my anxiety was off this planet - Clonazepam as it's otherwise known. (I think)

I was given 0.5mg which I considered a very low dosage - I took one tablet and went into the most sumptuous sleep I have ever had. When I woke up I felt so good it was like I was normal again.

However I was only given about 10 of the Clonazepam to get me through a really rough time. They are benzos of course and can be very addictive so the psych didn't want me to get hooked.

If t hey are helping you then that's good and loads of people do take them when their anxiety is particularly bad.

With your drowsiness etc and funny head I would put that down to the fact that you are taking an ssri and a benzo and both are pretty tranquilising and I think that's why you feel as you do. The blurry eyes can be side effects from ssri.

I am going to start Duloxetine so please wish me luck. Bring on more drowsiness.

Love to all

Yvonne

Y Goble