And I’m back after 3 years

[Laura123]

Hi everyone. It’s been a while since I was here. I had been doing good and bam panic and anxiety hit me full on in February this year. Long story short, I tried mirtazapine which was too sedating and now I’m on 3rd week of sertraline at 50mg. My anxiety is through the roof, lots of panic attacks and intense sweating, lost a stone as no appetite stomach constantly uncomfortable. I took sertraline before and I don’t recall it being this bad. I guess I’m wondering if perhaps it’s not for me this time, did anyone else still feel this bad 3 weeks in on sertraline, looking for some glimmer of hope. X

[lior]

Hey, sorry to hear you're going through a bad time. It's good you're taking lots of actions to get into a better place.

I haven't been on sertraline but I know when I went on citalopram a few years apart, my body reacted in a different way the 2 different times. It seems our bodies change. The best we can do is listen to what our bodies are saying.

Best of luck finding the right drug and dose for you. x

[Laura123]

Thanks lior. I’m just feeling like this anxiety is never going to calm down, the sweats are really getting to me and make me panic it’s just torture isn’t it. X

[anxiousjomo]

Hi - sorry you are having a rough time. I had a similar problem with Prozac - it worked well for me, no side effects at all really, on two separate occasions. Then when I started again for the 3rd time the effects were just brutal. Very similar to what you describe. Massively increased anxiety, sweats, insomnia, shaking etc. Apparently the more times you stop and start the more likely it is that there will be an issue. I tried Citalopram as an alternative, which also had a similar effect, and if I go back on something else it will not be an SSRI.

I would say to keep going for as long as you can, and it may calm down, but it is very possible that your body is just not going to accept it any more and you may need to try something else. It sucks (and in hindsight I wish I had just stayed on the bloody prozac and never gone off it!), but maybe some other drug will work better?