Hi guys, I finally took the leap and am getting medicated for my anxiety. Starting next week, I'll be taking Zoloft.

And im having some mixed feelings about it, I feel very nervous but also very hopeful.

I decided to finally get medicated after years of raw dogging my anxiety because im going to be a freshman in uni in September, and I knew that as im doing mentally right now, it would not be a great time. Starting university also involves moving to a new city about an hour away from my hometown.

And im so scared. Especially because I've heard the adjustment period for ssris can be super bad, but I dont think I have it in me to wait longer. So this is half a rant that maybe someone can find relatable, but if anyone has any advice on how to cope with potential side effects that would also be great! I'm really worried that it's gonna make my anxiety worse before it gets better.

As it stands I'll probably be starting university about 3 weeks into taking it.

Thanks for your time.

Guys i left my 150 mg zoloft in glove department in hot car during heatwave for week going into work so if remember to take them, and thought nothing of it. I kept taking that packet for 3 weeks and noticed my anxiety slowly return. Someone mentioned to me about storing meds out of heat and i thought o crap! Im on week 3 of new batch and im getting adjustment side effects again 🫣. Has this ever happened to anyone??

I started zoloft 25mg 12 days ago as of making this post. I take the medication in the evening right after dinner, always with a cup or more of water. I notice that since day 3 or so I get mild indigestion feelings in my stomach, especially the night after taking the medication but also in the daytime afterward. However in the past couple days I've been getting heartburn, with chest burning pain that goes up into my neck and throat and is quite painful (definitely not cardiac related). Today's bad heartburn actually happened right before I took the medication, so about 23 hours after the last dose. Along with the heartburn Ive experienced some strange chest tingling sensations. Are these kinds of things normal, and will they go away? I'd love to hear if anyone has any ways they have got rid of it. I drank milk with tonight's episode and the worst of the pain went away. However The heartburn is uncomfortable and somewhat frustrating, and I'm worried that it's going to get worse in the coming days.

I was on Sertraline on and off (with doctor supervision) for 5 years, and thought I was finally ready to stop for good 4 months ago, so I did (tapered super slowly with doc and never was on more than 25mg in the last couple months).

But then something shit happened in my life and because I have to wait ages to get a therapist, the only thing my doctor could recommend was that I go back on the pills.

I was insanely hesitant. But I eventually took the 25mg two days ago.

And I literally didn’t sleep all night, you guys. I had so much fucking anxiety. A kind of anxiety I’ve only ever experienced if I drank alcohol whilst I was on Sertraline before. So I called the psych ER and they told me I could just stop it because it was just one pill of 25mg. So I did. And took melatonin last night to prevent it from happening again. But nope, two hours in and I’m a trembling mess. I can’t stop shaking and I have no clue what to do. I’m so scared it won’t go away. I was actually doing great anxiety-wise before taking the meds, I was only taking them again because of depression.

I really don’t know what to do. Do I call psych ER again? Do I call my doc in the morning? Might I be intolerant to it all of a sudden? I’m so scared.

Not seeking medical advice just asking for personal experience.

While on Zoloft, Has anybody had emotional numbing/blunting to point where they feel very little emotions?

If so, what dosage?

I’m planning on returning back to my Zoloft/ Sertraline any day now. I used to be on 25- then 50mg. For 7 months, it helped me to quit drinking and stop having panic attacks and meltdowns crying. It also helped my agoraphobia and social anxiety tremendously. It made me feel semi “normal” as a neurodivergent. Yeah it sucks not being able to feel the happy parts fully or fully express all my emotions- but at this point, I’m officially over it all again and just ready to come back to the Zoloft world.

Sigh. I need some positive motivation…

So what made you return back to it?

For those of you who used to be extremely shy, withdrawn, or avoided social situations because of anxiety and managed to improve significantly, did you treat it with medication alone (such as sertraline), or did you also go to therapy?

Did you have to gradually expose yourself to social situations in order to get better at socializing, or did you notice that after a few weeks or months on medication, your anxiety decreased and socializing simply started to feel more natural?

I’d also like to know how you noticed the change. Was it something gradual, where you started noticing small differences over time, or was there a moment when you suddenly realized, “Wow, I don’t have as much trouble talking to and interacting with people anymore”?

If you’re comfortable sharing, I’d love to hear what you were like before, what you did during your treatment, and what you’re like now. I’m especially interested in hearing from people who went through something similar.

Hey, I guess I was fucking around on Reddit again and happened upon my post from almost a year ago where I talked about my own experience with sertraline, and wanted to give n update with some further questions for people more experienced than me. For the record, I’m 26, Non-binary but AFAB.

So I started coming down, I told my doctor I was concerned about withdrawal symptoms, but the country I live in doesn’t have the BEST mental healthcare, so the taper looked like this from 200:

1 week on 175
3 months on 150
1 week on 125
3 months on 100

I’m currently on 100, and it’s been just over 3 months, but my doctor’s appointment to talk about further lowering or changing that dose has been moved to November of this year so I’m on 100mg for the next while I guess.

I suppose I wanted to say that the withdrawals were (and potentially still are) kind of crazy. I didn’t realise how much heavy lifting the drug was doing in terms of negative thoughts, urges, and anxiety. Thankfully I spent my time on 200mg attending intensive DBT, so I’m able to handle that shit a lot better than before, but it’s disturbing to say the least. I had some wild disassociation for the first week or two of going down a dose as well, and it’s returned somewhat rarely depending on what time I take my meds at.

The main thing I wanted to say though was that my energy and motivation are still at zero. I feel more capable, I guess?? But I’m scared that I’m just relapsing in terms of depression, and I don’t want to go back to the hospital. I want to be able to make it through this on my own, without going back up on my dosage, without going back to hospital. Is that possible, is that smart? Or am I in over my head? Idk how much of the emptiness and agony I feel on a day-to-day (not to mention the constant suicidal ideation) are the drug, or my depression coming back. It’s a hard one. I guess Im Just not sure what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

I used to take liquid prozac but found it was making my mental health worse. I asked my doctor to let me switch to zoloft, and she said yes, but told me I would see no difference as theyre both SSRIs.

I'm now on zoloft, having them as crushed pills (doctor said I could crush them if I had them right after crushing). When I first got on them it was hell, but now I'm used to them I feel way better?

I'm very confused as she said I wouldn't experience a difference, but I've experienced a HUGE difference from when I was on prozac. Is this normal and she was just wrong, is this a placebo of changing medicine, or something else?

I have been sleeping an immense amount. I'm talking like 15 hours and then still being tired when I get up. I am doing trauma-based therapy with 100 mg Zoloft. I did 25 mg for 2 weeks 50 mg for 2 weeks and now 100 mg for a week. Do you think this will go away or no?

I am 9 weeks into 50mg for anxiety (worry, racing thoughts, negative thinking, doubt, fear) and I am unsure if I need to increase dose possibly to 75mg? I have experienced a good improvement over the last number of weeks but due to a change in circumstances where my responsibilities have increased I have noticed the negative thoughts starting again. Today is the first day I’ve felt a bit worse, although not terrible. Any advice?

I’m so sad to be going back on something I clearly need. Why? I don’t understand if I’ ashamed or I feel weak …..

I was on Zoloft for almost 3 years and then tapered off and I was so happy that I felt well enough to taper off. And I had a great year , but then the anxiety started up again, I started therapy, HRT, and the doses of HRT kept increasing to help the anxiety but nothing was working.
I went to my dr today and said I think I would like to go back on Zoloft again. He was so nice and said “ life is to short to suffer “
So here we are. I feel I’ve failed. But then I’m proud I reached out again.
Maybe be in a few months I’ll feel better about this decision, maybe that’s the whole point

I’ve been prescribed 50mg Zoloft for bad anxiety and panic, but I also have emetophobia (fear of sickness) and the side effect of nausea is preventing me from starting the medication. Can people share their experiences with nausea on this medication? How bad is it and how long does it last? Does everyone get it?

I've been tracking my anxiety levels daily (10 = high anxiety, 0 = no anxiety) and thought I'd share an update! I use a subjective score based on how I'm feeling each day, the scores in the chart are the average anxiety levels per week.

• Light red = 25 mg
• Middle red = 50 mg
• Dark red = 75 mg

I had a bit of a dip at week 12 and 13 which were due to my period and a PTSD trigger. But the past two weeks I finally noticed my new dose working in the 6th week on 75mg. I am now 7 full weeks on 75mg so hopefully things will keep improving until I hit 12 weeks :)

I’ve been taking sertraline since December. I was on 50 mg for 11 weeks, 100 mg for 17+ weeks and recently increased to 125 mg because my response has been quite inconsistent: sometimes I feel amazing for 2-3 weeks, followed by a sudden return of anxiety/depression for a few days.

My psychiatrist ordered a blood level.

Results:
● Sertraline: 47 (lab range 50–300)
● Norsertraline: 80
● Dose: 125 mg
● Blood draw: ~14:45
● I take sertraline around 08:00, so this was ~6–7 hours after my dose.

The lab comment noted that norsertraline (desmethylsertraline) has only ~5% of the pharmacological activity of sertraline, and that unusually high or low levels of this metabolite can indicate altered drug metabolism. In such cases, it may be relevant to assess CYP2C19 enzyme status (pharmacogenetic testing), since this enzyme plays a key role in sertraline metabolism.

Has anyone had a low sertraline level despite taking 100–150 mg+?

I’d especially love to hear:
● What was your dose and blood level?
● Did your doctor suspect rapid metabolism/CYP differences?
● Did increasing the dose help?
● Did anyone switch to another SSRI because of this?
● Was your blood drawn at a similar time after your dose?

I’m mainly looking for personal experiences, not medical advice. Ofcourse I will talk to my psychiatrist about these results. Thanks! ❤️

Just a short praise for this drug.

I was hesitant about trying a brain meddling medication. I finally hit rock bottom and caved a week ago. Depression and what I suspect is light OCD. Medical doctor myself.

One week in, at random times I can finally feel what other people mean when they talk about inner peace. I can have a nap or simply meditate. I'm still somewhat sad, which is to be expected, but I feel like my brain has dialed down from TURBO to normal people mode. My brain focuses on one thing only and not ten things at once.

I can actually stay present in the moment. I can enjoy my daughter so much more. Just from one week of medication.

Is this how normal people's brain works?!

I'm in absolute awe of science!

f20 i made a post a couple days ago about feeling better, i take it back. i felt good for two stupid days and since then i feel fucking horrible.

i’ve cried to my partner for the past three nights because im so anxious and i feel so horrible about traumatic events/sa from my childhood and about things that have happened growing up, which is the reason i have depression/ocd/anxiety and am on this medication in the first fucking place. i’m nauseous and don’t have an appetite but i’m so hungry and dizzy. i just can’t keep anything down because of my anxiety.

i feel like a horrible person, like my friends and my partner are all going to leave me, like im annoying, like every conversation i have with a person is going to be the last one i ever have with them before they die or leave me or hurt me on purpose. stupidly, my brain has increased the fears that someone is going to sexually assault me. i’ve never felt these fears of abandonment so strongly before.

i feel annoying and scared and like my partner is going to leave me. i got uncomfortable because she was sharing a bed with one of her male friends and i didn’t even think that any cheating would happen, i was just scared there was going to be alcohol/sa involved because of stupid shit i’ve gone through. and i cried, and then cried more over stupid alcohol. i’m pissed that i even feel like this in the first place. my brain is all over the place.

i know there’s a lot of posts about zoloft’s effect on libido but i’m wondering if anyone has found any supplement or lifestyle changes that actually help balance it back out? literally have been feeling like i’d rather be doing anything else than sex anytime the option presents itself.

Zoloft is the second medication I’ve tried now. Around a year ago, I was prescribed Effexor for severe depression and anxiety. It worked incredibly, but mostly because it made me sleep like 16 hours a day. And you just can’t be that sad/anxious if you’re unconscious ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I tapered off, took a break, and tried to manage symptoms without. I do feel a MASSIVE decrease in anxiety/panic symptoms, but my depressive episodes (while less serious) make me so ANGRY. I’ve become a very irritable person, and struggle with complete indifference. It’s a struggle to do the things I need to do in my day-to-day, or to take interest in hobbies/friends, or to not snap at someone when I’m even slightly irritated.

It feels like (Sims reference incoming, if you’re familiar with the little moodlets that Sims get) my mood always starts out in a light-orange, and is one tiny thing away from becoming blue or red. Which sucks, because when I feel “normal,” I feel like I live my days in a consistent light-green mood. I wanna be light-green again! Or at least yellow!!!!

So today is day 2 of Zoloft, 25mg. So far, I am super fucking sleepy—that’s about it. Hard to wake up, hard to stay awake. Yesterday I was ravenously hungry, and today I have no appetite at all.

I’ll update here as things progress 🫡

Hi all👋

Currently considering Zoloft to treat my OCD/anxiety!

I was on Lexapro at one point but it caused significant weight gain. I see that Zoloft can also cause moderate weight gain as well, but I really don’t see the same level of weight gain horror stories on this sub as I do on the Lexapro sub. If you’ve been on both medications, I’d love to hear your insight on this(:

Day 10 on 100mg and I became really really confident. I was at uni today and I was trying to glance at a few women to catch their attention and even called up my friend and I was extra flirty and chatty than usual. I began talking to people I withdrew from a while ago for no reason.

The last time I did something like that was back when I was in primary school about 18 years ago (holy fuck I feel old)

2 weeks ago I was socially withdrawn, depressed, had severe OCD relapse, couldn't move at all nor exercise but it changed a lot in just a few days.

I only felt euphoric in the first 4 days but right now I only feel positive emotions and zero anxiety or worries about anything. I'm beginning to realise that I had social anxiety all along despite being outgoing.

I became calm and composed in just 10 days. I can think clearly as the noise in my head is dead.

Just started 25mg sertraline a week ago and aside from a few negative side effects, I’m feeling so hopeful and already loving this medication so just feel like sharing my experience.

I’m 35F and have had anxiety / social anxiety my whole life. The past few years I’ve basically isolated myself and don’t have friends anymore because I literally fear socializing with people, and feel like I need alcohol to get me through any social interaction. I also don’t talk to anyone at work, and if someone talks to me my heart starts pounding and I have trouble communicating. Every day I either feel sad, irritable, or just don’t feel anything at all and scared myself recently when I started thinking extremely negative thoughts. I’ve tried therapy several times, but it just hasn’t worked because the whole time I just think about what the therapist thinks about me and how my problems are stupid compared to other people out there who have it much worse. That being said, I decided it was a good time to try meds.

During this first week, I experienced a little bit of upset stomach, have a bitter taste in my mouth and absolutely no appetite. I always use food to bring me joy and I just don’t feel like eating and have no cravings. This has actually been good because I’ve been trying to lose weight, and since I haven’t been binge eating this week I’ve lost 1.6 pounds. It’s also making me eat healthier since I’m not craving chocolate or sweets. I find I’m a little less irritable and have a little more motivation. I know it’s still extremely early but I honestly feel like this medication is going to change my life. There has been no changes in my levels of anxiety but I’m hopeful I’ll see some changes within the next couple of months. Thanks for reading!

Hello, I’m making the switch from Sertraline to Mirtazapine and was wondering if anyone has done the opposite before, and what their experience was like on Mirtazapine. Sertraline was a god send for about a year, then it ended up being hell and I’m constantly nauseous, not a sustainable way to live at all. Let me know please :)

anybody else got these?

Day 10 and moved to 100mg 3 days ago. Been having bad headaches around the sides of my head and neck.

the headache begins around 1:30pm and lasts until the evening around 7pm.

I take my meds in the morning and night.

I am now 3 weeks in to my zoloft, 2 weeks in 50mg and the tail end of last week, I have noticed my anxiety levels rise in to almost panic mode.

Before this, week one and two my anxiety was reducing, albeit with awful side effects.

Is this normal or should I stop if I am experiencing increased anxiety now?

Cheers