Sertraline hydrochloride

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I have just been prescribed Sertraline hydrochloride. I haven't picked it up or taken it yet. I'm concerned that the doctor didn't properly talk me through it.

Is anyone on it? What does it do and how does it effect you?

It is commonly referred to as Zoloft, and it is an SSRI antidepressant. My experience has been fair with it, but a word of caution: do not miss a dose. It will throw you off Into a period of unstable moods, dissociative affect, and mild depression should you fail to take it for even a day. You are a slave to the little blue pill, but you master is just and fair. For me it took away my anxiety and shortened my depressive periods, but as with most psychotropic drugs, there is no telling what it may do for you.

It's decreased my anxiety, and like kBillingsley, it's shortened my depressive periods, although they do still happen, and sometimes fairly intensely.

Just a basic anti-depressant that also alleviates some anxiety. Given for depression and some anxiety disorders mostly.

Been on it since I got the OCD label. Kinda helps lower the anxiety threshold a bit. I noticed I needed at least 150 milligrams a day to stop the panic attacks (probably a high dose for lots of people; 200 is the maximum written, and I'm on that).

Don't know about depression, as I don't seem to get depressed.

O, and it only affects Serotonin transmitters (if it affects others, it'd be negligible). The older ones that also affect adrenergic activity are probably better for anxiety.

Thanks.

I guess I'm scared that I'll be on it forever or that it might have bad effects.

You could stay on it forever if you needed it, I suppose. Might be a problem when you're 89 and your heart is a little worn out, as it can increase the metabolic rate of those taking it (just look up what Serotonin does), but that doesn't seem to be a problem though as far as I'm aware.

It's relatively benign, just FYI and all (there's always exceptions, of course).

You need to weigh up the risks and possible rewards with these things. You never want the treatment to be worst than the disease.

Don't take it. It can f**k you up.
You want an SRI?
Try st. johns wort (start at 1g a day, up it from there). It's been proven to be 2x more effective than prozac.
St johns wort grows wild in all of the US. I just chew it as I need it. And, it goes well with Valerian.
If that doesn't work for you, try the next safest thing. Kanna, Rhodiola rosea, kava and others.

Good luck!

I took it once and it made me hyperactive so that I couldn't sit down for 5 seconds. I hated it and discontinued after 2 weeks.

For me, St Johns and Valerian work far better than the prescriptions I was on previously. The doctor couldn't recommend the herbs, but he observed my experiment to ween myself of the prescriptions with great interest.

Melatonin to help ensure a good night's sleep also does wonders for my mood!

Sertraline/Zoloft is a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI). It increases the amount of serotonin available in the synapse by blocking the serotonin transporter (SERT) from reuptaking serotonin back into the presynaptic neuron after it has been used to bind to the postsynaptic neuron's receptor. There is much evidence that serotonin levels are too low in depression and OCD, and when SERT isn't allowed to remove serotonin from the synapse, there will be more serotonin available to bind to receptors, which should contribute to a decrease in symptoms.

I took Zoloft for a couple of years. It was the first medication I tried for my OCD. It did absolutely nothing for me, and I believe that it has caused my development of idiopathic hypersomnia. However, everybody's individual neurochemistry is different. Zoloft may work wonders for you or it may do zilch. Just be sure to listen to your doctor's instructions, and if you do develop troublesome side effects, contact your doctor but do not stop taking the Zoloft unless you have your doctor's permission.

i took 1/2 qa dose, then the next day a full dose. How can i put this? it had a profound effect in some ways similar to LSD or mushrooms but lacking for most part the desirable effects, there was also some strong physiological chages that contributed to the unwanted 'trip' . reality started shifting in waves (please do not ask me to explain further) i had massively dilated pupils and had to borrow some shades for a lonf time afterwards my shins felt like jelly and my teeth started chatterring. It sort of built up slowly and whilst it was still transient i felt quite happy and very positive about starting a new phases of life with the help of this great drug. Then it kicked in suddenly full force, the physical effects started and thank f**k i had just made it to my grandmothers house and wasnt in a public place because i dont know what would have happened.

I managed to keep it together and track down my psychiatrist on the phone (lucky it was office hours) amazingly he encouraged me to try and stick it out and take the next dose, saying it would be better in a few weeks. I thought i just used the word 'lsd' to explain the severity of this thing - dose he really think im going to willingly subject myself to days or weeks of that?! But i suppose saying that to people who havent 'tripped', it has no meaning to them.

anyway, never again. I know that wasnt a typical reaction but i feel also that i was shown the unnatural 'character' of the substance and i am certain that its not something i really want to be taking. Maybe it was partly caused by an interaction with psychedelic drugs id taken before, but we are going back many years, youd assume that wouldnt be an issue.

Ive since read that the seretonin drugs can have long term neurotoxic effects similar to amphetamine and that 10 years continued use would be quite risky. If you end up with anhedonia then what really is the point of it all anyway? Theres also the unknown load on the liver from having to process these chemicals everyday. There is also the fact that most of these SxRIs are based around fluoride which accumulates and calcifies certain glands in the brain. eg pineal system. Interestingly last time i checked i think sertraline is the only drug of its class that doesnt contain fluorine.

I had a meeting with a autism specialist recently and he said (concerning OCD) that talking therapys eg CBT had an equal success rate to psychotropic drugs.

This seems very common. Taking these things for the first time is a really big step for many people. Discontinution syndrome eg. 'brain zaps' seems to be quite common with this type of drug. A close member of my family took an SSRI for depression and had the full on psychotic reaction planning to kill the rest of the family. It gets hard to dismiss the 'horror stories' as freak occurences when you yourself whose has been included in a homicidal fantasy involving someone who sleeps in the same house

I suspect they dont like to talk people through it much because theyd have to talk about the things that can go wrong and then no-one would want to take them. So they keep optimistic and hope for the best.

I would encourage you to look at your lifestyle overall, if there are changes you can make in terms of basics like daylight, exercise, nutrition, routine and sleep cycles etc. Then id focus on those first. but good luck with whatever you choose.

Discontinuation syndrome; I'm glad there's a name for what happened when I took Abilify.

From the sound of it, the strange LSD/mushroom thing was close to what I felt when I took 100mg Zoloft and smoked pot. I thought I was going completely Syd Barrett and everyone else that was smoking didn't seem to be having any effects. Everything was like a strobe light, I was playing drums and couldn't feel the sticks in my hands, no concept of where I was supposed to be in the song, and when the song finally ended I turned my head and projectile vomited on the wall

Sober I didn't really notice side effects, but I didn't feel 'up' as much and I still had intrusive thoughts

Scary story.
I once had a serotonin psychosis. I thought the world had ended, and that I could do anything. It was pretty bad, so I don't like to go into details.
SSRIs are not to be taken lightly.

i am taking it and i am finding it to be pretty effective. i had taken effexor before and suffered severe discontinuation syndrome when i stopped, but zoloft feels steadier (i take brief breaks), perhaps because it has a longer half-life.

i was on it for around 4 months...200mg...
did very little imo...though it did help the obsessive thoughts at the time...maybe? I was and am on klonopin at the same time. (benzo called clonazepam)

i am now on bupropion or wellbutrin...though it increases my anxiety temporarily and gives me tremors..,,once it starts to work I am hoping it will work as it did in the past around 5 years ago....but we'll see..

ssri's have been proven to be no better than placebo pills....
but some people swear by them...
never helped me......maybe its because i've done a lot of drugs and need the ability to "feel" the drug in order to know it is working.