Scared to start taking sertraline!!

Hi everyone. I'm currently taking amitriptyline but I have started getting skipped heart beats more (I've always had them a bit) so my dr has prescribed sertraline. I'm absolutely terrified of side effects though. I suffer with emetaphobia so my main panic is if it will make me sick but I'm also scared of feeling dizzy etc. Dr has prescribed 50mg for first 2 weeks but I'm thinking of halving dose to 25mg. What do you think? I'm so frightened and feel totally hopeless at the moment. If I got side effects how soon do you think they would come on? In other words when am I safe to think I'm ok!! Any advice or peoples experiences would be appreciated xx

Hi Kitkat

I was prescribed sertraline for generalised anxiety disorder and i lasted 3 days on them, i couldnt sleep or eat as i constantly felt sick and dizzy. I was told by the Dr that this was 'normal' but i couldnt take it no longer, i was going insane as i couldnt sleep.
I went back to the Dr and they prescribed me Citalopram which seems to be fine, no real side effects.

p.s i dont mean to worry you with the side effects as not everyone gets them, just thought id add my experiences.

Thanks for sharing your experience. That's what I'm scared of. I don't think I could cope with feeling like that.

Like i said, everyone is different.. Some people get milder symptoms, some people dont get any.. How long have you been taking amitriptyline for?

I've only been on amitriptyline for about 2 months. Before that I was on clomipramine for about 10 years and was doing great on it but it became unavailable so had to change. If I was going to get nausea etc do you think it would come on straight away, like in the first day or 2??

how come the change then? And I would say so, mine was pretty much straight away but again everyone is different lol

Clomipramine became unavailable so had to change 🙁

Are you still going to be taking amitriptyline?

She said to taper off the amitriptyline over a couple of weeks while I'm taking the sertraline so would be on both for a couple of weeks

Id say you're bound to get side effects then if you're taking both :/

I’m two weeks in and definitely feel nauseous - I’ve not actually been sick though.

Did you have any side effects when you started to take amitriptyline?

Same for me but it lasted 6 weeks.
Tired but couldn't sleep.
Switched to Lexapro.

I took half my sert dose with half my Lexapro for a week then went to full Lexapro with no side effects

Hi spaceranger

That’s exactly what I’m experiencing :(

Did you switch to Citalopram straightaway, as in from one day to the next?

How long have you been on the cit?

Pete

Don’t be scared hun, honestly I’m not going to lie the start up for me was horrible, I’m still going through it now but it DOES get easier, ask for some diazepam to take along side it just for the start so that you have something to calm you down, fill fat milk for when you can’t eat and plenty of laying on the sofa with good films. Me and wired are going through this currently, if you want to join the thread sertraline side effects no longer ok, please do, it’s been tremendously helpful having someone to talk to about all of this and we are all
Going through this together.
For me the start effects were 10x worse than citalopram but the end result was 10x better and that’s why I chose to do this again when I needed to go back onto my pills.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KatieJayne

I’m two weeks in and definitely feel nauseous - I’ve not actually been sick though.

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How you feeling now?