Starting Zoloft again!

[Patsta]

Hi all,
I'm not new to this sight, and certainly not new to anxiety/depression disorders. I have suffered with anxiety for the last 10 years, on and off, and have been on medication just the same.
I started taking Zoloft earlier this year again, after falling off the wagon yet again, suffering from anxiety and struggled a little with the early days from the side effects, of fuzzy head, more anxiety, depressed more, loss of appetite,...you know, all the good ones! Anyway, was great for a while, travelled overseas with my husband and kids for 2 months and had a wonderful time....came back and as always would forget to take my medication because I was feeling so good, so basically I just came of them. Stress is getting the better of me again, so I have decided to go back on my meds.....I've put it off because of those horrible side effects, but I figured, I can't keep going around doing my head in constantly until I get out of control. My anxiety hasn't been as bad this time round, but I thought I'd get in quick, before it does get worse. This time round, insstead of starting on 25mg of Zoloft, fear got the better of me, and i slit it in half and only took 12.5mg. It has had an effect on me as I feel fuzzy and tired, not so anxious.....but I thought i'd gradually increase it and see if the side effects are lessened because of the smaller dose.
Now all I need to do is to try to break out of this depressed feeling....a little to do with my mother been taken to hospital last week, thinking that she'd had a stroke, thankfully she was ok, but still the worry is there and then I start thinking about my kids and if anything happened to them, etc....and I just do my head in. I know what will be will be, but we seem to quite often take people for granted that they will always be around, and yet we know they won't be, and the scares the hell out of me.
I don't know how to break out of this thought pattern at the moment, I know in time, the meds will kick in and I will feel much better...in the meantime I just have to keep trying to fight these thoughts! What makes it hard is that I don't work, and most of the time I am home by myself, luckily school holidays start in 3 weeks, which will keep me busy....in the meantime...I just have to keep going and hope for the best out of each day!
Thanks for reading...I just needed to let it out!
Cheers
Patty

[Littlebit]

i took Zoloft and in till it kicked in i was a mess then I was feeling awesome and went off it. I was doing ok for a bit now things just seem to be falling apart again and the anxiety and panic attacks are back in full force. I have beeing doing some reading and tomorrow I am off to the drug store to get so vitamins and going to try st. john's wort. I have heard good things about it so hey what have i got to loss but anxiety, right? well here is to you and I off to get our life back.

[Ambers]

Patty - just answered my question from my post! You are doing well and it is much harder to do when you are at home on your own - keep going and be deterrmined! Meds will kick in soon and sometimes we need support for this silent illness. Have you read Claire Weekes book - it helps me greatly when I get really down and makes me reliased that sometimes we have to ne kind to ourselves xx

[Patsta]

Hi Littlebit, its funny how when we first start suffering from anxiety/panic/depression, that we think that we'll never be normal again, even more so when we start our meds and feel even worse for the first part of taking them, then we start to feel so good that we forget how bad we were suffering....Its such a vicious cycle, but at the end of the day, we know that we can get help and support if we need it, and there a wide range of meds to make us better and help us on our road to recovery.
I have heard of St. Johns Wort......and 10 years ago when I first started suffering, I did try it for a very short time...but I don't think I gave it enough time to work. I was told that, like prescription meds it does take a while to kick in. I wish you all the best with it....hope it works for you.....and yes...off to get our life back.....not too far off now!
Cheers
Patty

---------- Post added at 05:12 ---------- Previous post was at 05:04 ----------

Hi again Ambers,
Thankyou, yes determination is the key to succeeding, and really, when we start suffering from this silent illness, we have no choice but to keep going and try to make ourselves better....I know its just around the corner till I start to feel better, and honestly, this time doesn't seem to be so bad...although it is only day 2 (I'm going to regret saying that...lol) I haven't read Claire Weekes book, but I do have a few others on hand...that i had from years ago.....but I find I can't really concentrate on reading when I'm feeling anxious...it helps me more to get out and get physical in the garden etc....I did alot of reading in the early days when I first started suffering....another good book is by a Bronwyn Fox....Power Over Panic....she has apparently helped a tremendous amount of people...
We certainly do have to be kind to ourselves...as mothers/wives etc....we tend to run around after everyone else, and quite often forget about our own needs.
Sounds like you are doing great Ambers...keep it up!

[Patsta]

Hey Littlebit, how you doing?

[jaynemarie]

HI Patsa remember me ? We were both suffering bad at the beginning of last year. Sorry to hear your not too good, i have been on100mg for about 9 months now and do feel alot better but still keep getting the intrusive thoughts about health. But when i look back to where i was this time last year, i thank my lucky stars that i found sertraline cause it has deffo helped. keep in touch and private message me whenever you want a chat, i know what your going through. love Jayne x