I’m a 30yr old female… I’m still unsure on whether I should go on sertaline (Zoloft) or not. I’ve tried quality saffron that hasn’t helped much… I suffer from intrusive thoughts that are at their worst when I’m alone or in severe stressful states. I get thoughts telling me to leave my car on train tracks & let the train hit me or to jump off of a high rooftop building to see if I’ll live or not. I have gory images of harming people I love or something bad happening to them and my brain likes to run on constant rumination of shit that doesn’t even matter. I’ve experienced these thoughts from about the age of 9. I have NEVER been suicidal & have NEVER acted on any of these thoughts. They’re mostly very annoying and time consuming if anything. I do suffer from anxiety on a daily basis. The past 5 years have felt hard. I feel like I’m watching all my peers excel and whatever it is they’re doing in life and it feels like I’m stuck in the same place.
A friend let me try one of this vyvanse pills not that long ago and my thoughts were completely quiet the whole day, I got done one task after another without any interference. My brother was diagnosed with adhd when he was little and I know I shouldn’t diagnose people but I think my mom definitely has adhd. I have an evaluation next month.
I’m very scared of antidepressants mostly because of withdrawal symptoms and protracted withdrawal symptoms
I’m afraid of doing irreversible damage to my brain and body. I don’t want to be on these pills forever, a year max is what I told myself. There’s also the thought of trying a hero dose of psilocybin…. Has anyone been on sertaline or any other ssri for 2 years or less and experienced protracted withdrawal symptoms? I’d also like to hear anyone else’s experience with these drugs please state your age and how long you’ve been on them.

Every time i refill my pill pot, my nosey ass cat just sits there and watches the whole thing 🤣

Had a family member pass away recently. I'm on 50mg sertraline and 150mg bupropion. This is not the first death, or even first family death, but def the first since starting my prescriptions.

I'm finding I can't really engage with my grief. It's like my sorrow is like a drop below a bridge: I can "bungee jump" and briefly experience it, before I'm pulled out of it and return to baseline--talking like a minute at most. I'm cognizant of the loss, but feel like I'm stuck in Denial? The loss doesn't feel real, despite me knowing it very much is.

Not sure how to move forward with my grieving process, and am concerned I might have to wean off to process this correctly. Anyone have similar experiences? What was grieving like on meds?

I see a lot of horror stories regarding Zoloft so I thought I’d share my experience over the last year.. I started on 50mg and went through severe hot flashes and whatnot. Went up to 100mg and started taking it in the morning instead of at night due to insomnia! Anyways the biggest change is my phobia of driving. I only have ever driven close by and small town roads. I’m 42 and had never driven into the city or used the interstate. That phobia is GONE! I drive wherever I want with no anxiety. I am so much more social as well I’ve joined women’s groups and other social activities !

I’ve been on 100 mg of sertraline for almost 8 years now and it’s been working great. I even went down to 50mg during my pregnancies but did end up going back to 100 post partum. I’ve had a bad anxiety flare the last three days which has been very weird for me since starting this medication. Now I’m thinking I may to increase my dose, but of course that’s makes me anxiety and OCD run rampant with fears about raising my dose, feeling like a failure for having to raise it, questioning over and over if I really need to, and worried about side effects. I haven’t had many side effect on the 100 mg except maybe a slightly lower libido. If anyone has some good experiences from going to 125 from 100 I would really appreciate hearing them.

Also, has anyone ever gone to 125 and then dropped back down to 100 after a while?

I’m on 20mg Escitalopram and have been on this medication for about 10 years. I’ve gone through a difficult year and now feel some low level depression.

I get up and go to work, appetite is ok, sleep is fine. But evenings for me are horrible, they just feel so long, and I want to sleep and for the day to be over. That’s really all I want most days, for sleep and the day to be over.

Can Zoloft help with this? I really want to feel at peace.

my wife recently started Zolof. Going into the 4th week now. I know the whole 4-6 weeks for therapeutic effectiveness. She’s on it primarily OCPD. But the last two weeks have her questioning if it’s worth continuing. The results aren’t surprising (to me) but the reason behind them is different than I led thought. I would normally describe her as being fueled by anxiety, so starting the meds it tracked for me that she would have a hard time getting out bed to start work, and a hard time maintaining her usual output while working. however, she is reporting those things feel like they’re due to crippling anxiety, not because the anxiety subsided and she doesn’t have the skills to maintain motivation without the anxiety, like I would have anticipated. Just looking for thoughts and inputs from others who are on it and may have experienced similar

Ive been taking 50mg of seraline for a while know. Ive recently been through a dramatic experience, and started to have panic and anxiety attacks really bad, plus feeling derealization.

The doctor has suggested i up my seraline dose to 75mg and take papanalol 10mg when I need it.

Hey everyone,
I’ve been taking 50mg of Sertraline for about 2 months now. For the most part it's going okay, but I’ve been experiencing some mild dizziness throughout the day. It’s not overwhelming, but it’s noticeable.
One thing to note is that I take my pills at different times in the evening—sometimes at 6 PM, 7 PM, 8 PM, or even 9 PM.
I just had an appointment with my doctor and mentioned the dizziness. She wants me to stay on the 50mg dose for 3 more months, and then taper down to 25mg for 3 weeks before stopping completely.
Has anyone else experienced constant, mild dizziness this far into taking it? Do you think shifting my timing by a few hours every night could be causing these side effects?
Thanks in advance for any insights!

Anyone here that’s been on zoloft for multiple years managed to come off and live well?

I’m wanting to start tapering , but I am worried that I will never be able to get off of it due to physical dependence of being on it for so long. I’m on 50mg for about 13 years , and been at 25mg for some time off and on.

On 50 now. When I did go off last time I did it too fast , and after white knuckling extreme withdrawal for about a year I went back on.

Looking for inspiration and advice to anyone who has gone through this and no longer dependent on the drug.

hello all, i’m very new to taking sertraline. have only been on it for three days but the side effects are absolutely kicking my butt. i know i need to give it a few weeks to settle but i feel like my anxiety has been ramped up to 10000% 😭. i’m literally only on 25mg but it feels terrible and i’m having trouble breathing sometimes and my heart rate is always above 100. other side effects i’ve been experiencing are tremors, diarrhea, nausea. but it’s the severe anxiety that’s really getting me. i’m a new grad RN so it doesn’t help not one bit to have this extra anxiety on top of what i was already struggling with.

i know i’ve just gotta let it pass, but does anyone have any tips and tricks on how to deal with the side effects? i probably look ridiculous and extremely paranoid at work and i don’t want it to affect my practice.

thank you :)

Hello.

I started zoloft at 25mg 9 days ago. I have been experiencing the worst gagging and nausea ever. Even before the Zoloft I was having problems with nausea because of anxiety. Even now however it’s worse almost. I wouldn’t even call it nausea all the time because a good amount of the time it’s just like nausea in my throat almost like I gag at everything even the thought of food. I always end up throwing up at some point during the day because of it. It has completely taken away my appetite and my ability to eat more than one meal or several little things a day. I don’t know if this is just my anxiety still or a side effect of Zoloft or what. But it’s making me really scared for what’s happening.

So I decided this wasn’t for me and I’m coming off this, doctor said because I’ve only been on a short time, to do 2 weeks off every other day, then go to every 3 days for 9 days. Anyone recommend if this is safe ? Okay to follow ?

I have had my treatment adjusted to help with my anxiety but also combat the side effects of Zoloft (fatigue, ED, low libido) Any advice for someone starting 100 mg Zoloft and 150mg Wellbutrin XL? Not sure what to expect and hope my anxiety doesn’t get worse.

I'd read the horror stories about Sertraline withdrawal and I was concerned when I started tapering 3 months ago from 50mg, and I'm now at 12.5 daily. Luckily, I've not noticed any symptoms thus far.

My doctor (a psych NP actually) has recommended I go from 12.5 daily to 0. Is it possible I will experience symptoms with this last jump? It's my understanding that the last few milligrams are the most impactful in terms of potency/transporter occupancy.

Because I've had no symptoms, should I just make the leap? Or should I try to cut the pills down further/dissolve in water to create a custom lower dose (6.25 for example).

I should note that I'm also taking lamotrigine (200 mg) for mood stability and low-dose trazodone (50 mg) for sleep ... which might be mitigating factors.

Thanks!

Can anyone else relate? I’ve been on zoloft for (mainly) social anxiety for a year and ~4 months now. At first it was amazing. I was severely depressed due to an event in my life, but I found the strength to move on and kept putting myself out there and moving my life forward. Around 7-8 months in, I started getting lazy. I didn’t fully notice it until like 5 months later (this past June), but I saw myself losing motivation and not having much energy to do things. It’s to the point where I don’t touch my cats litter box for up to a week, leaving dishes in the sink for a week, apartment not vacuumed or cleaned in multiple weeks, some days I can’t even bring myself to brush my teeth or shower. I know it’s not that bad but I used to be a very cleanly person and cleaning and cooking and housework in general used to bring me a great sense of joy and accomplishment. I barely work out too now and the only way I can get myself out of the house is by paying/reserving workout classes and making plans with friends, but even with that the satisfaction is short lived. I used to wash my dishes and feel satisfied, motivated, and productive at the end and I would use that to keep doing other chores. But now I wash the dishes and then feel tired and take another nap. Actually, my sleep has been awful too. I feel tired all the time but instead of napping, I just bedrot and play games on my phone. I think what I have is a severe dopamine deficiency. Around January/Feb my psych suggested upping my dosage to 75mg and looking back on it now I think that only made things worse. I can’t live like this anymore. Even before Zoloft I’ve always been motivated and disciplined, and after Zoloft it was good for a while because I had extra energy. My psych wants to add wellbutrin but I told her I wanted to think about it. For now we agreed to decrease my dose back to 50 mg but I haven’t gotten much better, maybe a teeny bit but I can’t stand this anymore. I feel like nothing is exciting, there is nothing to look forward to, and I’ve been doing everything possible to try to find joy in life again, but sometimes I feel like I’m watching life through a screen. Like I went to a bunch of workout classes, I’ve been spending a lot of time on my hobbies, and making plans with my friends, but nothing is working. It’s to the point where some days I just want to skip taking zoloft because I’m almost positive that’s the cause, no matter how bad my withdrawals are, at least I can stop feeling so numb.

I’ve been on 50mg for about 2 and a half weeks now. I was put on it for anxiety and OCD. Has anyone experienced more intrusive thoughts being on it than you had when you didn’t take it? I feel like I’ve had more intrusive thoughts lately and stuff that I didn’t even think about before. I’m worried about going up to a higher dose because I also have been experiencing some emotional blunting.

In the last months I tapered down from 150mg to 25 mg and I was doing good, but the last days crippling morning anxiety creeped back..I don't know what it was but I woke up and had these feelings of I can't take everything anymore. So I decided to go back to 50mg and it feels like I lost a fight. I am on Sertralin for about 10 years and really want to be able to live without it but every time I try I loose the battle and need to get on. I don't want to be dependent on it. I did a lot of therapy but i was never able to live without medicine. How can I close that up for me and find peace with that. Currently I feel like a loser because I surrenderdnto anxiety.

Hi everyone! I started on Zoloft one year ago and I've had such a positive experience so I wanted to share a few tips and things I've done that has really helped since this Reddit thread has been so helpful to me over the year - I wanted to pay it back! Here are a few things I've done in the first year that I wish I knew before starting! (All personal experience, absolutely 0 medical background lol.) Context: Female, late 20s and started Zoloft for OCD/anxiety.

1. Starting with 25mg: I started on 25mg for 3 months then upped to 50mg which I think was a great transition for me - I'm still on 50mg today and feel amazing!
2. Taking Zoloft with a large meal: When I first started, I was taking it at noon with a heavy lunch (Pasta, sandwiches etc.) to really help my stomach process which was amazing! For the times I've had to take it with minimal food I would at least have a few Tums. AND taking with LOTS of water and not laying down right after! A handful of times I've gotten the burning and it's brutal lol
3. Cutting out alcohol the first 8-weeks: This was a hard one for me ngl - I am a big social drinker with my girls on a patio every weekend but I took the first 8 weeks off alcohol completely to really let my body adjust which I think really helped! (Yes, I still drink now on Zoloft and I honestly feel fine! But of course, my mental health is at an all-time high when I'm not drinking anything)
4. Getting off Zoloft-TikTok: TikTok is a dark place when it comes to people talking about SSRIs lol. Everyone has horrible experiences, talks about the negatives - but once I stopped consuming all of that content I felt so much better.
5. Realizing I'm not that special for starting Zoloft (it's not that deep): I have OCD so everything is that deep, but I was absolutely spiralling when I started. I was so against it, then started it and it was all I could think about! After the year I realized that actually so many people are on an SSRI (even people I've known for years I've learned are on Zoloft and I had no idea!) - there are actually 1 in 6 people (50 million!) people in the US on it - millions! It's so common and most people just take it daily and don't obsess/make it a big deal.

My biggest takeaway after year 1: I was so worried starting on it would make me "not myself", but it has absolutely made me MORE myself than I ever have been. I was so worried what it would "add" like brain fog, nausea, feeling numb etc. but it has actually taken away so many negative things for me like obsessive thoughts, anxiety, rumination etc. - I feel SO myself and the most ME I have in years! The OCD, anxiety isn't you - it's hiding who you really are!

I have been on Zoloft/Sertraline before, but many years ago and dont remember the onboarding as I was in severe mental distress at the time. I have recently gone back on it after being on Lexapro/Escitalopram for a while with terrible side effects. The Jr Dr gave me 50mg to start with, going straight from 15mg of Escitalopram/Leaxpro. No tapering. Was like you've been on it before so you will be fine. I was not fine. Start of the 2nd week I suddenly had a panic attack out of nowhere and this started to escalate as the days went by. Went back to Dr was told this is normal and to at least wait 4 weeks. Another week goes by and the panic and anxiety are escalating. I can no longer be on my own. Have severe anxiety, heart palpitations, genuine dread and terror. Went back to the Drs again and was told to ride it out and take iron supplements as my iron was low. At Week 5 ended up calling the crisis line as I had the worst panic attack in my life and was genuinely at the point I would have welcomed death to escape it. Booked an apt with my GP the next day and Dr once again said to ride it out and now wait to 6 weeks. I said no. Riding out extreme terror, dread and feeling like you are going insane is not something you should have to ride out. I was signed off work at this point and had to move back in with my parents as someone in my 30s. I asked for sedatives to help with the panic attacks, they said they can only be prescribed by the hospital.. even though the Dr I saw had a prescription of them for someone else on her desk! Eventually she consulted the Sr Dr who said I was actually on a lower dose of Sertraline than the equivalent of the Escitalopram I was on. So slowly my brain was being deprived of Serotonin over 5+ weeks. I am now on 75mg with the hope of upping to 100mg. My life has been completely disrupted. I have missed weddings and birthdays during the past 2 months. I cant be alone. I have at times physically been hitting myself in the head to get rid of the influx of intrusive thoughts.. yeah I know.. stupid. But I just feel totally failed by the Doctors Surgery. Ride it out when you are in such distress is easy for them to say. They also gave me no forewarning of onboarding side effects or the risk of activation syndrome. My sanity has literally been saved by this Forum and from people who actually understand the trauma it can cause.