I've spent a lot of time lurking on these boards recently after the worst episode of depression/anxiety in my life. I had been taking prozac for about 10 years, slowly weaned off but the anxiety came back after a few months.
I tried to restart prozac (20mg) but it did not go well. I had what felt like a 3 week long panic attack. At times, I could do nothing but lie on the floor, shaking uncontrollably, for hours.
I went into hospital after that, where the psychiatrist started me on sertraline. I started low at 25mg because of what happened with the prozac. Did a week at 25, 2 weeks at 50, 1 week at 75, 2 weeks at 100 and now it's week 7 I'm at 150mg.
I titrated up quickly but the psychiatrist believes that higher doses are needed for severe anxiety.
I had horrible side effects during the 2 weeks at 50mg. Increased anxiety (which did not seem possible) and depression with suicidal thoughts. I could not eat, I felt sick all the time and I had awful heartburn.
I didn't start having any good days until a week into 100mg (week 5). Since then, I've been improving overall but have still had some bad days. I do feel less anxious but I've had some depression and brain fog.
I'd read these forums and see people saying that sertraline takes a long time to work, but wonder if it would ever actually work for me. I'll keep this post updated as I go into my 8th week at 150mg.
Feel free to ask any questions.
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