Sinking deeper, forgetting who I am.

[bewilderedkettle]

Hi

I've been on Sertraline for a little while (8 days on 25mg, then 22 days on 50mg). I had a couple of good days about 20 days into the 30 days I've been on it, but since then I've just reverted back. I'm anxious, muscles tense, can't sleep without waking up shaking, depressed, disturbing thoughts, dp/dr which feels like it's getting so bad that I'm slowly forgetting who I am, and I'm not even joking, I think I'm losing my memory. Also, I still can't watch television or listen to music, as it scares me and makes me panic. And there's a lot of other things.

Why isn't the Sertraline working? I'm in such an awful state, I thought I'd be making some headway by now. I'm losing my ability to cope, and I'm worried where this is leading.

bk

[Scissel]

Hello :)

It will take some time for the Sertraline to work - give it a few more weeks. I didn't notice much difference until I was on 100MG honestly.

Sometimes, we need to let go of whom we once was (or were) to start the new journey to whats ahead - who you are isn't necessarily who you will be going forward; if that makes sense.

Try to do things to improve memory skills. I still struggle with memory as well and know it well, but I try to prioritize whats important. I've always been a scatter brain a lost my keys wallet .. I'd lose my head if it weren't attached.

Be well and don't give up.

[panic_down_under]

Why isn't the Sertraline working? I'm in such an awful state, I thought I'd be making some headway by now. I'm losing my ability to cope, and I'm worried where this is leading.

Antidepressants ADs are not fast acting meds. Anxiety and depression are the emotional expressions of an underlying brain dysfunction (https://dx.doi.org/10.1073%2Fpnas.231475998), atrophy of the two hippocampi cause by high brain stress hormone, particularly of cortisol killing neurons and inhibiting the growth of new ones. ADs work by stimulating the growth of replacement cells (neurogenesis). They, and the connections they form across brain regions create the therapeutic response, not the ADs directly. The cognitive/behavioural and mindfulness therapies also work (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.05.017) by stimulating hippocampal neurogenesis.

The problem is that new cells don't grow overnight. It takes about 7 weeks (http://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/content/7/9/a018812.full) for them to reach full maturity. Unfortunately, there is no way of speeding up this process, however, some improvement may occur from 4 weeks at a therapeutic dose (50mg+ for sertraline). All we can do is go with the flow and treat any side-effects that occur. It is not unusual for anxiety and/or depression to get worse in the first few weeks. Talk to your GP if things are unbearable as there are way of moderating these side-effects.

[bewilderedkettle]

Thank you for the replies. :)