Afraid to take sertraline

[Calmthoughts]

Hello, I am new to the forum. Have been on HRT for 2 months to try to alleviate anxiety and low mood but no effect. A prescription for sertraline 50mg waiting in the cupboard but I'm feeling too scared to take it in case of bad side effects. Any advice on how to manage them? Thanks.

[venusbluejeans]

Hiya Calmthoughts and welcome to NMP

Why not take a look at our articles on our home page, they contain a wealth of information and are a great starting place for your time on the forum.

I hope you find the as site helpful and informative as I have and that you get the help and support you need here and hope that you meet a few friends along the way

[WiredIncorrectly]

Hey there,

Welcome to NMP. I had the same fears as you 4 days ago. I was prescribed 100mg by my doctor and I was scared to take them. I read the leaflet, and done some research online. People told me not to take 100mg to start and I should go back to the doctor. But, I trust my doctor.

For the first 2 days I took half. I wanted to see how half affected me. I felt fine. I took the other half the second day. Again I felt fine. Day 3 I took 100mg and felt nausea, and today the same. I know I'm going to have some side effects, but that's normal. Just go with the flow and wait for them to start working.

It's not that bad at all. If possible rest up, treat yourself to some relax time. The side effects will lessen in time and trust me the benefits will far outweigh not taking them.

[Roseessa]

If you decide to take Sertraline maybe you should take half first for a week and then the whole pill. This is what my doctor told me to do.

[Pkstracy]

I was on it for two years, started out with 25mg then had to go up to the max as my anxiety and such was very bad, I would recommend taking just half for two weeks to get body used to it I had no side effects other than a bit of loose stool and being sleepy

[Tyke]

I started on Sertraline a couple of weeks ago. It is my third time on them. The first time I did get bad side effects initially, but they did wear off at around four weeks in and I was glad I'd taken them in the end. The two subsequent times I've had very little in the way of side effects. Everyone is different and there's no way of knowing without trying them. It is easy to scare yourself silly with the listed side effects that come with it. I started on 50mg each time. Even if you did have some effects initially the likelihood is that you will get much benefit from the medication in the longer term.