Anyone take Sertraline? 50mg did it work for you?

I have been on 50 mg daily for 20 years. It changed my life as it took away that nagging, obsessive worrying I was prone to.

The main draw backs are sleeping too much and mad dreams, but better than the insomnia I always suffered from.

I've been on Sertraline 200mg for a number of years and it worked. After CBT I decided to start reducing it very very slowly.

I had to temporary stop reducing tt when my dad, mum and sister died. I didn't up the dose again. I just tried to remain on that level until I could cope again to reduce. 7 years later I'm almost down to 25 mg.

It did affect my libido in the beginning but I didn't give up on that side of things and I was ok after a few months.

My husband is currently on Sertraline after becoming horribly depressed at the beginning of the year. He seems a lot better but has constant headaches, to the point where he went for an MRI scan on Thursday to see if it's anything sinister. If it's a side effect (and it's on the list) then maybe he could take something else instead. He has also totally lost any form of libido, which is sad!

It made my anxity/depression worse in only 6 days, GP changed me to mirtazapine, that's working fine

Very understandable.

Perhaps if it persists you could find out who you have been referred to talk to? A bit more information may help you feel more confident, nor just any old phone number!

Thank you Wyllow3.
Perhaps I should have phoned, just didn’t feel I could discuss how I felt and still
Do, with a stranger

Livey

May I ask - when I went to doctors after my husband died and I was feeling very depressed.
My doctor gave me the phone number to ring to discuss how I felt
Did anyone else have difficulty to get a doctor to listen ?

They used to have time and I had a lovely one had lots of time with but nowadays I think they would probably refer on unless they were certain very quickly about an anti'd.

But it depends who to - some surgeries have specialised nurses to talk to and thats a good option as they know more than many GP's and have longer?

Not as much as other forms of anti depressant. I found Beta blocker very helpful.

I am on Sertraline after a very bad bout of burnout which caused terrible depression and anxiety as well as a total lack of adrenaline, which meant I was constantly exhausted. I had been on Citalopram but it had not touched the edges of it. My prescription was 150mg, which is a big dose, but I am now feeling very much better. I also allowed myself to acknowledge the fact that I was not well and to address the issues that had led to me becoming so unwell. I am going to take semi retirement at the end of this term. The sertraline has helped greatly and I feel a lot better. I hope to reduce the dose before too long. I started on sertraline at the beginning of March and it was a few weeks before I truly started to feel better and it was at this point that I also realised just how poorly I had been.

Give it a week or two more and if you don’t start to feel the benefit of it by then, ask for a stronger dose. 50mg was no use to me, but 100mg made life a lot easier. Hope you feel better soon.

Thank you so much Pinkpeony. I'll have to choose a good time to do it but after reading your reply I think I will

I take sertraline 50mg , for Anxiety, for me I felt better within a few days . I haven't suffered any side effects luckily

I have been taking Sertraline for many years and can honestly say it saved my life and my marriage. Like all medication it might not suit everyone. Give it a bit longer. If there is still no change ask your GP to give you another brand. There are plenty out there.

May I ask - when I went to doctors after my husband died and I was feeling very depressed.
My doctor gave me the phone number to ring to discuss how I felt
Did anyone else have difficulty to get a doctor to listen ?

After my husband died, then losing my job in lock down I became very low and anxious. (Well, even more than I always have been) I was referred to a mental health team who put me on this drug. I won’t say it did nothing because it seemed to give me a dry mouth/eyes, itchy fingers, heavy legs and made me ever lower. I was told to up the dose but apart form the side effects that never eased, I found them to be no help at all. I came off them, I found another job, stop letting people push me around, focused on mindfulness, joined Zumba and surrounded my self in nature as much as I can. I manage my mental health now with no drugs. That is not to say it wont work for you but did not for me. I gave it 18 months.

Supergranuation

I'm wondering if anyone has changed from Citalapram to Sertraline? I was on 40g of Citalapram fir some years but had to come down to 20g as my GP told me that because of my age, 68, I shouldn't take the higher dose as it can affect the heart. I could change to Sertraline but it would mean weaning myself off Citalapram first which I am worried about doing.

My doctor changed me from Citalapram to Sertraline for the same reason. I didn't want to as I had been on it for a while and it suited me. I had to stop the Citalapram completely before I could start Sertraline. I have severe anxiety and the weaning off was not a good time! The dose has been increased in stages and I have now been on 100g for about 18 months. I find that I am now about as calm as I was before. Good luck!

I have been on same dose for 12 months, husbands health not good I had to start helping my husband with personal care could not cope. Sleep pattern went to pot doctors very helpful took about 10 weeks before I noticed a change but daughter told me she noticed sooner. Best thing I did was to start this medication

crazyH

My personal experience and opinion:
I was prescribed antidepressants (think it was the same as yours) when I was going through a divorce. Yes, it does take a few weeks to take effect, if at all it does. I say this because, it did nothing for me . I am not a doctor but this is my theory: if your depression is due to 'circumstances', medication won't help, simply because the 'circumstance' is still there. Here self help is the only solution. Mind over matter,
However, if your depression is clinical, these medications will certainly help......give it a few weeks...if it's still not helping, talk to your Doctor. All the best bikergran xx

I agree with this. I take Sertraline as I was diagnosed with clinical depression, and it works. Like crazyH says, it probably won't work for depression due to circumstances; that should resolve when the circumstances change. Counselling/talking therapies can help non-clinical depression though.

I'm wondering if anyone has changed from Citalapram to Sertraline? I was on 40g of Citalapram fir some years but had to come down to 20g as my GP told me that because of my age, 68, I shouldn't take the higher dose as it can affect the heart. I could change to Sertraline but it would mean weaning myself off Citalapram first which I am worried about doing.

I was beco.ing very emotional crying all the time due to my husband bring terminally ill and having really bad mood swings Certainly helping me to cope with situation

I have been suffering from depression, anxiety and Borderline personality disorder for over 20 years now. I was on Sertraline at the beginning but it did nothing to help me. I didn't have any side effects until I was taken off it suddenly. Then I started to have some awful things. I'm on a cocktail of drugs now, including 45mg mirtazipine and I am pretty much stable. I found that all of these medicines take a while to get working.

I am on the maximum dose of Sertraline. I started at 50mg and my GP has gradually increased it. I suffered a stroke in Oct last year and was struggling with the consequences. I am still not very mobile and was depressed at what had happened but the increased dose has definitely helped. I should also add that I have an amazing GP whom I see regularly and talking to him helps immensely.

I’m 82 and have been on sertraline, 100mg, for 16 years. It has been life changing. I’ve suffered from free floating anxiety all my life. Wish I could have had this 60 years ago.

I have not taken any medication of this kind so cannot add anything relevant or helpful about medication - but just want to say I have read many times that exercise can also act in a sense as an antidepressant. It has helped me when feeling very low. I didn't want to walk! I had to make the choice to walk anyway - and then discovered that I felt better. Of course we all face different challenges and I am just offering this thought in case it is helpful to someone - taking medication is a personal decision taken with a doctor's advice. I wish you well - and hope that whatever you do, you will in a reasonable time, feel a lot better.

My husband takes Sertraline and it has helped him. But it did upset his stomach for a few weeks at first. Settled down after that.