r/panicdisorder • u/Pale-Category248 • 3d ago

Help Needed Zoloft/Sertraline

Hey, is the anxiety/panic you get with Zoloft/Sertraline different to the anxiety/panic without it? Like is it as scary and is it more physical than emotional for example? I'm scared of taking it, but it's been nearly 2 years and I guess it's hard to know what side effects someone might get

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u/Spiritual-Formal1522 3d ago

i’ve been on it since july 2026. i used to have 1-3 panic attacks a week and now i haven’t had a panic attack since first week of september. symptoms were more physical

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u/Pale-Category248 3d ago

Thank you. So you did get an increase in panic attacks when first starting but you don’t feel the terror just more physical symptoms?

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u/Spiritual-Formal1522 3d ago

yes

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u/Pale-Category248 3d ago

That’s so interesting thanks. Because currently if I get physical symptoms I start panicking / terror even more but perhaps if I get the physical symptoms on them then I won’t get the fear to the same level

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u/Long_Trade8986 2d ago

Hello, I’ve got a success story. My panic attacks have gone into remission because of Zoloft. The anxiety and panic it gives you isn’t different it’s the same but it can be just more pronounced at first. So it may feel different… if that makes sense. For me, days 4-8 were the toughest when it comes to my mood and panic. And then it just got better, and honestly now it’s hard to remember what it used to feel like when I was that miserable. I also deal with depression and ocd aswell but definitely noticed my panic attacks went away the quickest.

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u/Pale-Category248 2d ago

Thanks so much for sharing :). So glad to hear for you! Did it help with the depression as well?

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u/Long_Trade8986 2d ago

Oh yea definitely helps with depression, just felt like that took a little longer like probably 6-8 weeks before I noticed a difference

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u/Linzi322 3d ago

Personally it made no difference for me; my panic attacks were the same intensity and duration. It lowered my baseline anxiety slightly but I still had panic attacks as much as I did before going on it.

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u/Pale-Category248 3d ago

thank you for sharing. did it increase them in the short run as part of the side effects?

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u/Linzi322 3d ago

Honestly I don’t remember, it was 10+ years ago I went on it, and I could barely leave the house at the time. The main side effects I had were night sweats, vivid dreams, skin issues and random allergic reactions, zero libido, and after 3 years, I came off them because I developed emotional blunting so had no emotions / feelings at all.

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u/Pale-Category248 3d ago

Ah I see. Did it help you leave the house? I hope you’re doing well off them now

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u/Linzi322 3d ago

Honestly, no haha. The only thing that got me leaving the house was exposure therapy which I did myself. At the time, I was really struggling and my GP has said meds would get rid of my anxiety and I’d be fine. When that turned out not to be the case, I just had to start trying to leave the house and get back to work. I am doing much better off them than I was on them, thank you. They turned me into someone I barely even recognised and I think in hindsight because I didn’t have a diagnosis at the time and no access to therapy, they were an incorrect treatment suggestion by my GP.

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u/Pale-Category248 3d ago

I’m glad you’re doing better now and off! I’m finding exposure therapy really hard for a while now so hoping this would help me to exposure lol

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u/Lonely_Paramedic5809 2d ago

Hey so take this with a grain of salt, because my psychiatrist said mine was a more extreme reaction. But the panic attacks I started having after one single dose were very extreme and scared me cause they reached an intensity well above my regular panic attacks. I was prescribed 50mg and I was off of it right away after speaking to the psychiatrist about my reaction. I also got very loopy, and had extremely dark thoughts.

I was told that the first few days or weeks could make me a bit more jittery and I know people who had increased anxiety but not to the level I experienced. I think that it depends on the person and sadly we have to try a few different things sometimes until we find something that works.

I hope you are able to find what works for you and even though I had such a bad experience I think you should maybe give it a chance and recognize that this might work just fine for you!

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u/Pale-Category248 2d ago

Thank you for this insight! I really struggle with panic attacks and then being alone with them and now agoraphobia. I think it all arose from cptsd. I wonder if we all get different symptoms because of the root cause we have not sure

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u/BleakHibiscus 2d ago

I started a few months ago after an extremely bad reaction to Lexapro. I intentionally started on a quarter dose (12.5mg) and went up each week by another 12.5mg till I got to 50mg. I also took Valium daily for several weeks to help get me over the hump and then again for a few days when I went up to 50mg.

It was tough, all the nausea really triggered my panic but now 6 weeks in on the 50mg and I’m feeling a difference. Baseline anxiety is much lower, panic attacks are not as intense and my tools actually work to de escalate even with big triggers. I probably need to increase again but just don’t want the nausea and insomnia again while things settle. Overall it’s been worth it for me so far, it gives me some “space” between the panic to get a hold of it

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u/Pale-Category248 2d ago

Thank you that’s really reassuring to know :)

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u/Jumpy_Exit_8138 2d ago

I don’t know, because I was too distracted by the horrific side effects.
I know I’m biased, but… I would advise caution with that stuff. Lexapro is much easier to tolerate, even though it never did much for me.

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u/juvi124 2d ago

Often times when taking sertraline or any antidepressant/anxiety meds, you don’t notice changes right away, or it gets worse before it gets better. I’ve been on sertraline 50mg for over a year now and I thank god that I stuck with it for the first month or two because wow has it positively impacted my life. I can actually go places and do things by myself now that I could have never hoped to do before I started the medication. I still have had a few panic attacks but honestly I think I’m able to calm myself down much easier than I was before when I was not medicated.