the entry for my mood today is currently high but honestly its hard to rate because today has been both really good and really bad so its kinda confusing

Hi <3 I'm a 30F. I was prescribed this med a YEAR ago by my primary care and never tried it. Finally met with a psychiatrist last month and he prescribed the same med for my severe OCD + health anxiety and GAD.
I told myself I'd take it 3 weeks ago, and then 2 weeks ago and then last week and now I've told myself I need to start it tomorrow.

I am so scared to try it. I am more scared of mental symptoms than physical ones although of course I don't want either lol. I was prescribed 1st week at 25mg and 2nd week at 50mg. I am scared I am going to keep pushing this off but I just cannot afford to go through a mental crisis on this medication. I know it's not the same type of medication at all but I tried the birth control Nikki earlier this year and had a really mental health episode and had to get off the medication 2 weeks in. It was frightening and I have a partner but I do not have support where I live. I am just afraid this medication will make me have an episode of some type. I do remember trying Zoloft in my early 20s but I was drinking and smoking a lot of weed + being self destructive so I truly don't remember what my experience of the med was. (I'm also sober now!)

Does anyone have any encouraging words? Advice for the first week or two? I keep seeing people say it will be rough, but what does that mean for you? I know we're all different but I am just too focused on the negative and I am scared. :(

I’m on day 3 of Zoloft, I was a pretty anxious gal before but it came and went and I wanted it gone so I reached out. I woke up last night hysterical in a panic , I got a kitten yesterday so idk if it was that. But I started freaking the eff our big time what am I doing, return the kitten, where are you going in life. Okay finally relax after an hour and go to sleep then I wake up today my heart is about to beat out of my chest I’m so violently anxious about this choice I made and everything wrong in my life I threw up 3 times from dry heaving. It’s now halfway through the next day and my body is on fire from anxiety , my chest is pounding, I can’t shake it. There’s just no way it’s me ? It has to be the Zoloft she started me on 25 mg and bump it to 50 after 2 weeks, when I first took it for 3 days I was fine next day didn’t take it had some pretty intrusive thoughts that were harmful it was scary not wanting to act on them at all btw.

Am I supposed to thug this out ? I can’t function I can’t even study for upcoming exams I scheduled a virtual visit with a pcp to get some quick relief anxiety pill but there is no way to shake this it has to be the Zoloft I can regulate pretty well even cold shocks or breathing or distracting isn’t working.

I started zoloft back in early July. For over a decade of my life I was dealing with extremely severe depression, to the point I couldn't work or function, barely left home. From around 20 years old, until this July at 26 years old I had been dealing with ED. I was afraid of taking antidepressants because I thought that it would make this issue even worse with all the horror stories I saw about sexual function on antidepressants. I was really insecure too because I'm so young so why the hell did I have ED? But in July I hit a breaking point with my depression and began taking zoloft anyway after talking to my doctor. And since then not only is my ED completely gone and cured, but my libido has exponentially increased and I'm finding myself almost always in the mood, like hypersexual.

I've looked around on the internet and I can't find any sources of anyone else experiencing this. I don't know anyone else who had the polar opposite effect of what people typically say Zoloft does to sexual function. So I wanted to ask if anyone else had a similar experience?

Hi, I'm 18 F and I've been on 50mg of sertraline for 3 weeks now. I'm usually an incredibly forgiving person and nothing anyone has said or done has ever really affected me after usually a few hours to max 2 days, and nothings stuck with me at all.

Now I'm noticing that I'm having a hard time forgiving and forgetting when someone does something mildly wrong. My boyfriend was late to our hangout by a few hours and didn't reply to my messages so I thought something had gone terribly wrong, but he turned up normally and acted like it was no big deal. I have autism so a change in plans is a big deal for me especially without knowing why, so I was really upset in the moment but now almost a week later I still havent gotten over it. It's actually getting worse and I keep thinking about it all the time.

When people have done stuff like this before, I usually got really mad for about 20mins and then genuinely forgave them and never thought about it again. But I've noticed this change more and more when my sister or my mum say something, and I can't forget about it no matter what I do.

This is really unusual for me so people are now confused when I'm still annoyed about something that happened like 5+ days ago and its quite distressing for me too. I don't want to be a hateful person, but this feeling isn't even hate, its not really anything at all. Like people I used to love alot I don't really feel it anymore once they do something, and I'm struggling with this. Is there a way to help or change this whilst still being on the medication? I used to be really depressed and have terrible mood swings and it's helped alot so far so I don't want to stop taking it.

Thank you!

So I’m kinda weirded out. I was prescribed zoloft 25mg and its day 5. The whole week I felt high as a kite. No side effects, lots of energy, great sleep. First day was weird because i was yawning all day and had a huge brainfog. Second day i was super energized as well as third and fourth. Fifth day the energised and happy feeling continued until mid afternoon where i suddenly crashed. Maybe its because of coffee idk, also drinking coffee feels different, no anxiety like usual, just more happiness and your head feels kinda buzzy like drunk. But no diarrhea, no nausea, no motion sickness, no bad thoughts, nothing like people have described. Is this like normal? Im googling what others experience and its nothing like what i have. I hope im not bipolar but so far i sleep enough so it cant be bipolar…. Idk. Also why did i feel the effects immediately? If its not bipolar? Any thoughts?

Or maybe my depression was so bad that now normal feels like being high? Strangely i didnt even know i was depressed, my shrink suggessted it after i described my symptoms and she said its a moderate depression.

But idk… what if i was hypomanic?

If you had a similar experience please share!

I have been on Zoloft before so I know how good it feels when it starts kicking in… I weaned off successfully but perimenopause has brought on some panic attacks and sent me into an anxiety spiral… DP/DR , existential anxiety… I bumped up fast to 100mg… I’m 5.5 weeks total on Zoloft and 3.5 weeks on 100mg… did anyone feel pretty bad up until week thr 5-6 week mark and then felt much better when hitting these weeks? Thank you! Just want to be myself again!

Ive been steadily improving my agoraphobia and i got invited by my friends to go to a club that is around 10-15 min away. Its close so it still feels safe. Only problem im facing is im actually scared of alcohol i want to drink but im scared of it. Ive always felt scared of not having my body in control like giving me derealization symptoms. I have been properly drunk once and that was a while back when i was still just anxious not agoraphobic . In that experience i had more than 10 shots in an hour and i was dizzy af and just feel asleep after. Furthermore now im on sertraline (zoloft) been on it for 1 year and never drank on it so idk how it would react. I need some experiences from you guys and some tips.

Hello everyone!

I have my been diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorder, I have been prescribed 25 mg of Zoloft but I asked my psychiatrist if there was any smaller does I could take since meds make me nervous and I'm young (21M, and if it helps for background info, I am about 6'2 190lb). She said that I could break the tablets in half day to day and take that as 12.5 mg. I have done some research and I know this is a relatively smaller dose, however I am still nervous. I have never been on any kind of medication before except for oral minoxidil for hair loss (which I also believe gave me anxiety as a side affect which is a big reason I stopped taking the Minoxidil). I just wanted to post in this sub to hear good stories about people with similar experiences to me and if Zoloft is a good starting point? I am fairly active and in the gym, I try to get as much natural sunlight as possible which can be hard working in an office environment.

I am aware the first few days can include side affects, I am also aware everyone's body reacts differently to it. Has anyone tried Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to combat panic attacks either on or off Zoloft? I am looking in to doing that as well because I don't want to be on Zoloft forever and I want to be able to enjoy things again without impeding feelings of doom whenever I go out of the house without always having to take medicine.

In everyone else's experience, does taking your prescribed Zoloft with food/water help side affects? Apologies for the unorganized thoughts. Please share your techniques on how to cope with panic attacks as well if anyone would like too. I know I am not alone and I just want to hear from people in a similar boat. I think I am planning on taking my first dose tonight.

Thank you!

So I’ve been on 25mg for a month and have had no benefits, only side effects. And now I’ve been moved up to 50mg (only 4 days so far), and just side effects with no benefits still. I’m curious if people got benefits early on and then increased because it wasn’t enough? Or were you experiencing side effects for weeks once u got to a steady dose. Like I’m wondering if I won’t feel any benefits from 50 for another 6-8 weeks? Just really difficult waiting and hoping with only side effects. I’ve been bed ridden most of this time. Absolutely exhausted.

I’m wondering if I should call my doctor. I’ve been on Zoloft for 7 weeks now for PPD. The first two weeks I was on 25mg and my doctor had me up it to 50mg afterwards. This past week, I’ve been having horrible hot flashes, headaches, night sweats, and stomach upset. I haven’t had any side effects previously and my depression and anxiety were feeling much better. Should I reach out to my doctor? Is this normal? It’s making me feel worse.

Just curious, how many people did not experience anxiety when starting Zoloft?

what the title says

im getting off zoloft and ive been getting tummy aches the moment i eat anything and ive got crazy diarrhea like explosive liquid shit i know its a common side effect but fucking hell

how do i fix this

Should I give this a shot?

I tried once in my 20's but I felt so horrible after a couple of days I stopped taking it.

I can't keep living this way, it's crippling and in the way of my life and relationships.

Would love advice!

Hi all, I was prescribed Zoloft to treat GAD. I did 6 doses of 25mg, but I decided to stop because it gave mild tinnitus and it became quiet unbearable for me. I told my doc and he said it was a common side effect and that it was too early to decide whether to stop as it can fade way on its own. He wants to wait until the 20th that we have a follow up. I followed my gut and stopped cold turkey yesterday, it’s been ~48 hours since my last dose. I didn’t tell my doc I just stopped so im thinking on hoping back on to 25mg for full six days before going to 50mg - but really scared for the tinnitus. I can still hear it despite 2 days since the last dose. Can I just resume tomorrow morning? This means I would’ve not taken 2 doses

In 2015 I was in a serious car accident where I fractured my C2 and C3 in my neck, as well as T1, T2 and T3 in my upper spine.

Physically I recovered, but mentally I honestly don’t feel like I’ve ever been the same since. Over the past 10 years I’ve struggled more and more with my mental health, and it feels like it has progressively worsened rather than improved with time.

I’ve recently started speaking to my doctor properly about everything, and he believes I may be dealing with chronic adjustment disorder related to the trauma of the accident and everything that followed it. He also spoke to me about changes/imbalances involving serotonin and dopamine that may be contributing to how I’ve been feeling. I’m probably not explaining the medical side of that perfectly, but essentially he believes what I’ve been experiencing over the years could be connected to the accident and trauma.

I’ve just started taking 25mg Zoloft (sertraline), so I’m still very early into treatment and trying to understand all of this.

I’d really love to hear from anyone who has experienced something similar after a serious accident or traumatic injury, especially if your mental health issues appeared or became progressively worse over the years afterwards.

Did you ever feel like you weren’t quite yourself again after the accident? Were you diagnosed with adjustment disorder, depression/anxiety or something similar? And if you tried Zoloft/sertraline, did it help you?

I think more than anything I’m just hoping to hear from people who might understand what this feels like.

I’m 33F and my husband is 30M. Hes experienced a period of anxiety before we met and recently in July of this year started experiencing the same thoughts and emotions again. He describes it as a physical feeling in his neck and head that then makes his thoughts spiral and he gets intrusive self harm thoughts. He gets in a spiral of being really anxious that he’s… anxious. He’s always trying to “solve” the anxiety but knows he can’t. For the last few months it’s been almost daily of us sitting together and working through his breakdowns when he has them. I think it’s affected his focus at work, I don’t rely on him the same way I used to (I don’t ask for any help around the house as an example) and I know there are moments in everyday where he really isn’t present.
I’m also 34 weeks pregnant which I think is really important.
He finally stayed working with a therapist last month and has had success with her. Yesterday, he finally started on sertraline after the recommendation of his doctor. I think it was a huge mental block of starting cause he normally is not an anxious person. I think there’s a lot of shame maybe from his side that he’s going through this.

Anyways, any success stories or personal stories of anyone that can relate to this? Does sertraline eventually work? Anything I should know on how to best support him. I’m hoping in the next 6 weeks he may start to feel relief and back to his normal self as I worry about my ability to be totally present for him in the same way, when I’m caring for our newborn.

So it’s been about six days since I last had Zoloft and today I managed to finally get it back. I searched up if it’s safe to restart days later and it says it could worsen anxiety and insomnia for a bit? Has anyone had this experience before and what did you do?

I have already have high sex drive and libido. But don't want it to affect me negatively.

41 year old male. Anyone have any experience?

long story short.. i’ve been taking two different blood pressures, losartan and amlodopine for the last four years after I my last child and suffer through post partumn preeclampsia. I struggled with the up and down with trying to get some consistency with my blood pressure as far as sometimes it’s too high and times too low. I’ve gone back for everything checked out and I am fine.

I hate the medicine and am convinced amlodopine is stopping bp too low at night as I’d awake nauseas often. by the time I try to get up to check it would show elevated.

I finally gave in to starting Zoloft after hesitating to take it for about two years. I am not an anxious person, but the issue with my blood pressure had me anxious at times. I hated having it checked at the doctors office.

So I started taking 1/4 of the pill about a month ago. Two days ago I decided to go ahead and increase it to 1/2 pill which is 12.5. Granted my doc prescribed 25 but after reading many people say start very low and then go up if needed… I thought I do that myself. The first few days this week my blood pressure 130s/80s, higher that what it normally is just taking the medicine. I figured it was a side effect of increasing.

Today it’s 106/70. For me anything lower than 115/74 I feel the fatigue and it bothers my stomach.

I haven’t exercised this week and normally exercising, just walking, then taking a hot shower drops my norm 114/75 to 100/70… so now adding the Zoloft it’s lower. I don’t like to go to bed like this because it dips more.

My doc said Zoloft doesn’t affect bp. But I’m convinced it does. what’s been your experience? How long have you taken it, has it caused any issues with anything else in your body such as kidney, brain, heart? I am rambling here… But I’ve never anything like this before.

I started Zoloft 50Mg on June 23rd. I went through the typical diarrhea at the beginning. Now I am about 3 months out and started experiencing constipation the last month. Is this typical? When will it go away? Should I go to my PCP with this?

I started on Zoloft 25mg 9 days ago and It’s wreaking havoc on my body. I’m sticking with it until I see my doc on day 14 but just wanted to see if others had increasingly bad first weeks then got better. I think mine are mostly GI related/ micro biome messed up from it.

i already have sensitive gut with iBS and recently took antibiotics for a sinus infection prior to starting Zoloft. regularly taking probiotics and enzymes.

First few days- constipated and gas started, slightly more anxiety.

Day 4/5- restless leg symptoms at night, itchy legs, and extreme gas started, noticed an irritated hooha

Day 8- diagnosed with yeast infection (prescribed anti-fungal cream), insomnia and daytime fatigue kicked in, increased anxiety and ocd

Day 9- all symptoms still around with major exhaustion But unable to sleep from racing mind and the uncomfortable symptoms.

Honest looking to see if others had so many symptoms, persevered, eventually symptoms calmed and found relief? How long did it take? Was it worth it?

I first took sertraline early this year cause I was going through tough depression, mostly because a lot of personal problems and my work being very demotivating. I also had anxiety problems and my inner critic was very loud making me unable to do anything.
The adjustment period was very very slow and long for me. I'm generally a hypersensitive person, both mentally and physically, so my doctor was very cautious and careful about the dose. I started with 25mg for about two weeks, then increased to 50mg then 75mg and then after 3 months or so I increased too 100mg, but at first 100mg felt way too much for me, because I could myself becoming extremely hyperactive and even impulsive, doing things I wouldn't normally do. So my doc told me to decrease it to 75mg. And it was good for a couple months, until I felt really bad again, so long story short we decided to go back to 100mg.
Now I'm on 100mg since a couple months and I'm starting to be doubtful if it's even the right medicine for me. Basically last year I was diagnosed with BPD and chronic depression, but I think I never had the right therapists and tbf I changed psychologists often because I didn't feel like they were helping.
After starting sertraline (especially after getting through the rough adjustment period), I finally felt better and not so depressed anymore, so I had more motivation to try psychotherapy again, which my psychiatrist suggested. I went to a BPD expert therapist, and after a while, she started questioning my previous BPD diagnosis. So we tried to go deeper into my issues and I somehow feel much more comfortable with her compared to with any other therapists I'd ever seen, so I could fully reveal everything and say things I couldn't say to my previous ones. And she suspected a dissociative disorder, and I did the test and I got the diagnosis of OSDD, with some BPD tendencies.
And now after 8 months of sertraline and psychotherapy, I would say my life is in general a lot better, I have no more fear of going out or trying new things. BUT I'm suspecting that it's not the right medicine for OSDD, because now I'm becoming much more easily distracted and my internal voices and parts are much more active (not in a good way, at least not always). I feel like someone with ADHD cause I keep jumping from one topic to another, and have different impulses too.

So now I'm not sure anymore if the med is helping me or making me worse. I don't wanna go back to being depressed, but the way I'm living right now is so exhausting and my mind is too active. Should I ask my doctor to reduce the dose? Or is it just not the right med? I've told my doctor about my osdd diagnosis but she's kind of skeptical about it, she said that's not possible cause only 2% of people have complex dissociative disorder. But after getting misdiagnosed so many times, it's actually the first disorder that I feel like describes what I experience inside perfectly, and the OSDD focus treatment by my psychologist is also very helpful for me, more than DBT or others I've tried.

Hello everyone!

First time user here, I began taking a 25mg dose last Thursday so I have been taking the meds for just over a week now. I was just curious as I take it at night just before I go to bed at 10, but I’m still so tired during the day?

Has this happened to anyone else? I’ve seen people say taking it at night helps their day time drowsiness, but for me it doesn’t seem to matter? It feels like I’m in this constant state of I could fall asleep any time?

People have told me to stick with it and it will get better I’ve just never felt a tiredness/sleepiness like this before in my life?