View Full Version : How long does it take to kick in?
lennons_mammy
19-10-08, 19:17
Hi,
I have been on sertraline for five days but have not seen an improvement yet. I just had a panic attack at the shop an hour ago. Does anyone know how long it takes before I will feel the effects? Should I stick with it for a while?
lennons_mammy
26-10-08, 09:55
Nobody know?
Hi
When i started them 5 months ago the first week was horrible.
I had a big panic attack in supermarket on about day 5.
after about 2 weeks things settled down and i have been alot better since
I would stick with it for bit longer
love mandie x
My doctor told me 2-3 weeks to feel effects after you begin taking sertraline, also said that unhelpfully anxiety can get a little raised at first when starting. I have taken sertraline for approx 18 years, went off this spring, and am now taking it again (about 6 weeks back on it now). Best wishes
Logicalgal
26-10-08, 11:49
all the above posts are correct. Try to cope for 2 - 3 weeks and the side effects should disappear
with s.s.r.i.s the positive effects start anywhere up to 3 months,but a good amount of time is 4 weeks.If you don't feel any effects by then then it's reasonable to be prescribed a different s.s.r.i. Some work for one and not for others,unfortunately,there is no way to know before hand.I felt better on sertraline after 3 days but my friend took it for 3 months and felt nothing at all(except dhiarea!).
davidb37026
26-10-08, 17:45
Mammy stay with your meds it takes at least 4-6 weeks for the medication to build up in your blood stream. Also, anytime you take medication you have to do ongoing medication management to find the right dose for you. Notify your doctor of any side effects and follow up with them to see if the doses need to be adjusted according to how your feeling.
Best Wishes,
David
I am five days into meds feeling a little bit twitchy but thinks its because its that time of the month, I believe some meds can take anything from a couple of weeks to a month depending on the ind I suppose, I have decided I will stick these out for a couple of months to see if they work,
Lots of Love, its not pleasant but hey some people on here have made great improvements with meds just give it a go, thats what I am doing ( I think that it is called a Leap of Faith!)
What am I like?
Heather
lennons_mammy
27-10-08, 13:21
Hi thanks for all the replys I will keep going with them for a while. I have felt a little bit of an improvement the last couple of days.
After a week I was feeling the full effects of the medication, I knew it was working because I remembered the feeling from when I was on it before.
Isn't it strange how quickly or slow it takes to work from person to person? I always find that very interesting.
I'm on my 3rd day and feeling so much better at the moment - I just hope this feeling lasts.
day 6 an unfortunate panic attacks started - will try to go going on Sertaline tho
All the info I've found so far:
Please add or correct if you know:
Sertraline has been shown to have a half life of approximately 26 hours. This long half life allows for once-daily dosing. Sertraline's main metabolite, the therapeutically inert molecule N-desmethylsertraline, has a half life of 62-104 hours this is why it builds up in your system before you get the benefit(therapeutic response). The reason you get the side effect at first is why the responders adjust to the increase in serotonin.
Yesterday - day 13 - felt normal all day and thought all would be fine, the ADS most have finally started working. Today I'm back to square 1, feel real bad now as I not sure if the ADs are fully working and this is as good as I can hope for or are they still building up in my system. Is it normal to have a fine day followed by 1 back to full anxiety?
Hi ya Panic 33
Yes, that has happened to me too, twice each time my psychiatrist advised me to increase the dose. I was increasing approximately 25mg every 3 weeks. He also mentioned that unless you are on the right dose for you (which can differ from person to person) for the right amount of time, the symptoms of the depression / anxiety will still come through.
He explained it in this way:
If you consider a dam as being the ad's and water being the depression, until you have built your dam to the correct height (i.e the correct level of ad's)the water will still pour over the top. This made quite a bit of sense to me.
I am now on 150mg - day 9. I have started to notice definate improvements, maybe you need to check with you GP about increasing the dose.
What dose of Sertraline are you on at the mo.
Hope the anxiety etc has died down a bit for you.
Take care
Sue
I took lustral 12 years ago. After two weeks I felt as though a black veil had been lifted from me and I remember waking up one morning and thinking "why was I so anxious?" I felt so much better from then on and will never forget how that medication helped me. I took it for 6 months and then came off without any after affects whatsoever. I was terrified to take them in the first place but they helped me so much. I took prozac for a few days recently and felt absolutely awful. Never again. Lustral really helped me and I hope it has this affect on you.
Regards
Myra
Thank you for your replies. I'm on 50mg - I started at that dose two weeks ago.
Been to see GP today - he told me I should give sertaline 6-8weeks then go back and see him. Going see how goes.
The major panic and ming racing, brain fog seem to have calmed alot, but still getting tingling sensation in forehead and periods of anxiety where I feel dreadfull. I can't remember having any of the tingling sensations or brain fog before I started sertaline tho - I just couldnt stop thinking things were wrong with me. Now I get periods where I think all is Ok but when the anxiety does kick it seems worse.
Had three days of being 99% back to feeling normal and thought all was cured, but then woke in the night and got bad anxiety and brain fog - felt awful all day since. Hoping this is just a set back and will feel OK again soon, or have the ADs done all they can and I'm heading back down hill? Any experiences of feeling awful after the ADs kick in and you felt OK?
I know what you mean Panic ... I was the same - thought I was making progress, then all of a sudden the depression came back. After 6 weeks of sertraline my psych said it should have done more by now and put me on a tricyclic AD lofepramine which works differently to SSRIs. Fingers crossed ... I found sertraline to be a very up-and-down med but it seems to work really well for some. Hope you feel better soon mate!
I hope the new meds work out for you Melancholia. I think I*m going to ask my Gp if can up the dose when I see him this week. Still on 50mg - It def works to some degree but I don*t think enough to block out the anxiety totally.
Seen a different GP today and he suggested I up'd my dose to 100mg before I had chance to ask him - so going give it go. He also said it can take a couple of months sometimes for sertaline to fully kick in in some patients.
Found this on side effects - may help:
More than 5% of patients experience insomnia , dizziness, and headache. About 14% of men report delayed ejaculation while 6% report decreased sex drive while taking this drug. In order to reduce these sexual side effects, patients can wait for tolerance to develop (this may take up to 12 weeks), reduce the dose, have drug holidays (where the weekend dose is either decreased or skipped), or discus with their physician using a different antidepressant.
More than 10% of patients report nausea and diarrhea while taking sertraline. Other possible side effects include agitation, anxiety, rash, constipation, vomiting, tremors, or visual difficulty. Although most side effects eventually subside, it may take up to four weeks for people to adjust to the drug.
Been on Sertraline for 7weeks now, 6 weeks at 50mg, then the last week up'd to 100mg. Can honestly say today I total feel back to my old self and have been feeling Ok most of the week. I'm not for one min thinking my anxiety will be over, but just to let people know the treatment does seem to work. I went through hell for the first two weeks then had anxiety for 4 after, but this week alot better. I would say if you are having trouble try to stick it out and speak with your GP.
Really pleased for you Panic and hope you continue to feel well. The higher dose seems to have done the trick, but I still think it's a very up-and-down process for me. I'm still taking 50mg and getting really bad tiredness during the day. 100mg would probably zombify me! Some people have insomnia with sertraline but it's been the opposite for me ... never slept better ...
I was getting tiredness all the time too at 50mg, but since I've been feeling better on 100mg the tiredness has more or less gone. Hope u OK :)
Saw my GP again this week after being on 100mg for the last 4weeks and feeling fine 99% of the time. Wants me to take for another month then start to come off them
Misschilli
15-09-10, 17:11
Hi Panic!
I have been on sertraline for 8 days, just had my first day of pure anxiety hell since taking the tablets. im only on 25mg but yesterday i took 35mg just to gradually up the dose as my doctor said to go to 50 after 7 days. I was feeling better the first week i felt completely numb and didnt seem to care much about the things i used to worry about but today was like the worst panic ever! i really hate feeling like this amd my head is punding. its really painful. I just want to ask if youy think it will get better?
thanks and im so glad your feeling better now after a rough time of it! x
hi im on propranolol and sertaline its my fourth day on sertaline and im not sure which one is making me ill or their both are but i feel awful im on 50mg of sertaline and ment to be 40mg propranolol four times a day but im only taking one as i seem to be in a daze cant seem to do anything feel dizzy i ache all over have a burning sensation through my body and impaired vision dont know weather to stop the pro and stick with the sertaline and see if i inprove really not doing well im really hopeing its the side effects!!!!!!!!!!!!:weep:
i was on propranalol but dr took me off them because i was so dizzy i couldn't do anything and they gave me really bad headaches snd blurred vision. i take 100mg sertraline and am fine with them. have you gone back to your dr and said how they make you feel
Panic33 - I think you and I are in very similar boats. I've been on Sertraline for a month now and all of the things you mention have been happening to me. I've felt some improvements but the anxiety seems to have got worse for me.
I'm also on a low dose of Lorazepam to help with the anxiety. I have such ups and downs on the Sertraline I really don't know if it's helping me or not. I'll give it a few more weeks and see how it's going.
The depression is debilitating but for me the anxiety is the most debilitating thing to deal with on a daily basis. I have a much harder time sleeping now and when I wake up in the night is when the anxiety is at its worst.
I hope things improve for you!
Hi all
I have been on it six months it does work but took me this long to feel almost normal so Hang on there.
Once kicks on you will notice the bad days getting less and less x
I'm on day 9 of 25mg and I don't think mine have shown any sign of working yet.
No side effects either.
Hi sorry to hear you're struggling at the mo. I have been on sertraline for 7 weeks, ranging from a start of 24, then 50, then 100
And now 150. For me the first 5 weeks made no positive difference but now I see an improvement. Don't lose heart tho - alot if people didnt taje as long as me.
I've been on sertraline for 6 weeks now and you will have your ups and downs like i am right now. Everyone says to hang in there so i will and you should to.
cappuccinomad
22-02-13, 07:46
I have had my dose upped 16 weeks ago to 200 mg as I had severe depression.I am starting to get good blips during the day,do you think I am getting better or is this coincidence..xx Positive answers please .xx
I'm at the three week mark on 50mg.
I thought they were starting to work, got excited then yesterday and today BANG, back down again, anxiety worries came back with body shaking and the dreaded fear of nausea again.
Red
Day 22 for me.
Well at least I'm sleeping now. Have lost a stone in weight - not sure if thats good or bad. Maybe good but It's a horrible way to lose weight!
Am not panicky or anxious this morning, but feel a bit strange. Almost as if I should keep remembering my one intrusive thought. I lay in bed earlier thinking 'what am I going to do today, am I bored'. I can't quite face things like doing proper housework yet, just bits of tidying around, and I am normally such a stickler for making sure everything is clean and tidy
Day 29 now
Am feeling quite good this am. I notice I have some days when I feel a bit more optimistic about things. I am also taking 400mg magnesium citrate so maybe thats helping. I try very hard not to go near my Lorazepam, but did cut a tablet up and took a little piece earlier
Yesterday for me was 4 weeks on 50mg.
This week I have felt good about myself twice and when I say felt good, I have actually been confident and happy.
So having felt good twice since Christmas, I'm hoping that the medication is or will start to help.
I have my follow-up today with the doctor, which we will discuss etc.
I've been on it 6 weeks, 3 at 100mg before at 50. I think i've had some moments where i've really noticed feeling better but they seem to be quite far between.
I've seen quite a few people saying its taken them 6 months to really get the full benefit so i'll stick with them and if i need to increase the dose.
Just over 6 weeks now. Some good days. Some a bit iffy
Trouble is, it's hard not to feel disheartened when it's not so good. But things are definitely better than they were.
Guess I'm just impatient
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