SERTRALINE - help/advice please

[smb25]

Hi

I have been on a very low dose of Mirtazapine (7.5mg every other day). My councellor advised a meds review as I still struggle on and off with GAD.

At present, i'm feeling quite well, not anxious, though I did go back downhill over Christmas / New Year, anyway my doctor has suggested I change meds to Sertraline, 25mg a day. I'm concerned that these are going to make me fall straight "off the fence". I had a very bad experience with Citrolpram about 10 months ago (doc is aware). Sertraline is a SSRI same as Cits was. To put it blunt, am sh!!!!g myself about taking them, but also keep thinking they might do me good, my anxiety is so up and down, I know I feel ok at the moment but am aware it is only "sleeping" and will rear its ugly head sooner or later....sorry i'm waffling.

Any experiences of Sertraline would be greatly appreciated.

x

[Dahlia]

Hi there

When you say you had a bad experience with citalopram, what was this like? What did you actually experience in terms of symptoms, and how long did you take the med for in total?

The reason I ask is that SSRIs (and most anti-depressants) can make you feel worse for the first 2 weeks or so. Doctors often prescribe a small amount of diazepam during this period, in case your anxiety increases. You can also feel a bit dizzy and stomachy. Some people can't stand this, and give up the med immediately. However if you can wait it out, once you get over those initial 2 weeks or so, the symptoms subside, and around week 4-6, the therapeutic effect kicks in.

I have taken sertraline twice now. I am quite lucky, whereby I had NO initial side effects whatsoever, and after a month I started to feel better anxiety and mood wise. I didn't personally get on with citalopram, as it a) didn't work for me and b) gave me stomach side effects.

In terms of longer lasting side effects with sertraline - a lot of people have none. Some people have weird dreams (I sometimes do, but that's no biggie for me). You may sweat a little more, mostly at night. But you may not - it depends on the person! I personally get diarrhoea as a side effect, but no one else on here seems to, and I manage it with Imodium. It's worth noting that 25mg a day is a low dose. I am on 100mg.

I have tried all of the SSRIs now, and the most acceptable and tolerable one for me (which works quite well) is sertraline.

Have a look at the meds boards on here - there is one specifically for sertraline. I believe some people have kept diaries of starting sertraline, which might help you.

Good luck

Dahlia


ps. Also meant to say - you could always go down the CBT route, rather than meds, to see if this nips the GAD in the bud, so to speak. Or you could do a combination of both. Meds tend to stop the symptoms, CBT or Mindfulness training tackle the behaviour and patterns.

[smb25]

Thanks Dahlia, my anxiety symptons increased dramatically on the citrolpram, unbearably so, i cried constantly and so on a knife edge it was too frightening. Not sure if it would have improved if I had carried on but I just couldn't.

This time i guess i'll be more prepared, and will know adverse feelings are probably down to the meds where as before I just didn't realise that.

I have had 10 weeks of councelling and have been referred for Anxiey/Depression management but not sure when that will start.

I have to give the Sert a go and see how I get. I have looked them up. Am concerned it will affect my sex drive! thats not great as it is! My hubbie puts up with enough, don't want to take that side away too!

Thank you for your reply
x

[ditzygirl]

Search sertraline on here, there are lots of us with different experiences.

I had a really bad time with citralopram and it put me off med for a long time. However I started 50mg of Sertraline in September and my side effects have not been too bad. Not perfect but certainly nothing like citalopram.

Have a look through my posts and see if it helpsx

[Dahlia]

Hi SMB

Excellent - it sounds like you've got a great plan in place. The anxiety management, counselling and potentially the sertraline.

I often have a toolkit when I start a new med - a small amount of diazepam, anti-emetics such as Motilium and Imodium. That's because I tend to get the potential stomach side effects - it's my weak area. If you do intend to start the sertraline, discuss the short term script for diazepam with your doc. It won't be enough to get you hooked, and you can just take it as and when you want to, rather than religiously three times a day. You need to remind yourself that this is the initial side effects and they will pass. Often that can help relieve some of the anxiety. If you can take a little time off work, that can often help too, as you can dull your senses with daytime TV and not have to worry about 'having' to do anything.

Remember too, that 25mg is a low dosage. I started on 50mg and then increased. So you may well find the initial side effects are minimal with this dose.

Now sex drive. Most Anti-d's have some form of sexual side effect (Mirtazapine being the main exception apparently). Personally, I have never found that an SSRI takes away my actual sex drive - in fact if anything I am more in the mood as I don't feel so bloody crap! However, for some women they can make reaching orgasm more difficult i.e. it can take longer. In my experience sertraline is somewhere in the middle on this - whereas with Seroxat for example, it was a waste of effort even attempting it! Obviously again it's horses for courses - my friend has no sexual side effects whatsoever on sertraline. If it turns out to be an issue, I guess it's a question of experimenting with different 'methods/techniques' of reaching orgasm! It can be done

You're free of course to PM me if you want to ask anything you don't want to post here

Dahlia

[Jain]

Hi,
I took Sertraline with no side effects aside from feeling tired and some effect on interest in the bedroom dept. They changed my life though, for the first time ever I had relief from the worrying thoughts and anxiety that had plagued me. But I do understand that not all meds suit everyone, and I was lucky to get the right one first time and the right dose - that was gradually addressed

I tried Citralopam and stopped it quick as it made me feel awful too but I also know of people it works for.

Hope that helps.

[smb25]

Thank you all for your advice. I am due to start on Tues so will keep you posted. I do have some Diazepam at the ready if needed but it doesnt seem to do much for me, maybe I don't take enough of it.

Thanks Dahlia, I may take you up on your pm offer, sex drive is probably not important in the scheme of things but my hubbie is very supportive and understanding and I just feel that is something that I wouldn't want to take away from him (I dont he would have an affair or anything but my thinking is never say never)

Once again thanks all x

[Frozen in fear]

Hi

I have been on a very low dose of Mirtazapine (7.5mg every other day). My councellor advised a meds review as I still struggle on and off with GAD.

At present, i'm feeling quite well, not anxious, though I did go back downhill over Christmas / New Year, anyway my doctor has suggested I change meds to Sertraline, 25mg a day. I'm concerned that these are going to make me fall straight "off the fence". I had a very bad experience with Citrolpram about 10 months ago (doc is aware). Sertraline is a SSRI same as Cits was. To put it blunt, am sh!!!!g myself about taking them, but also keep thinking they might do me good, my anxiety is so up and down, I know I feel ok at the moment but am aware it is only "sleeping" and will rear its ugly head sooner or later....sorry i'm waffling.

Any experiences of Sertraline would be greatly appreciated.

x

Ive been on sertraline for about 3 weeks now on for 50mg going up to 100 mg

[Frozen in fear]

Search sertraline on here, there are lots of us with different experiences.

I had a really bad time with citralopram and it put me off med for a long time. However I started 50mg of Sertraline in September and my side effects have not been too bad. Not perfect but certainly nothing like citalopram.

Have a look through my posts and see if it helpsx

I am not getting as many side effecks now on end week 3 been hard

[ems43]

hi there, i had an awful experience on cipralex, was changed to mirtazipine and even 45mg dose didn't seem to help my anxiety. So I have recentyl changed to sertraline and like you was very scared due to my bad experience from cipralex, which is very similar to citalopram. My psychiatrist told me that sertraline works ina different way, something about entering the blood brain barrier in a different way ( sorry, really can't remember!) but anyway it can be different. I had to assure myself that if i felt awful like in cipralex I woudl just stop and am now two weeks in, have felt a bit more anxious at times but nothing compared to cipralex xx