Anyone taking Zoloft (sertraline)?

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It took approximately a month to feel any noticeable impact, and it definitely eased the anxiety and depression for the first few months, but 50mgs wasn't strong enough because the intense anxiety came back, triggered by the smallest incidents. 100mgs has made me feel less depressed, but numb and the anxiety is still easily triggered (though not with the same intensity).

I got up to 250mg of it years back. It did not work for me and was really bad. Hopefully you have better luck with it than I did.

Been taking it for several years now - I was at 150mg but I am cutting down now to try and get off them. I am down to 50mg. They take the scatter brain away which can help concentration, but the upset gut is bad. I don't think they do anything for depression - you still get depressed but are unable to cry it out, the lack of tears is not good. The suicidal thoughts decreased but didn't disappear and in intense situations came stronger than before. I really don't like the lack of emotion.

Anti depressants are getting a lot of bad press at the moment, there seem to be side effects coming out that they never knew about. Apparently there is an issue with swelling heart - and other heart conditions. Also some of them have massive withdrawal issues when you try to get off them.

I find it weird seeing these kinds of posts as I've been on 150mg for several months. I've never considered it to be a large dose as it was the smallest dose that I began to notice any effects taking place at all, but it seems it's actually a fairly large dose.

Sertraline does have fairly potent withdrawal symptoms, but luckily for me I have little or no negative side-effects when I take it. For the withdrawal, over Christmas I forgot to take it for three days in a row due to my routine being messed up and I had no idea what was happening to me, I thought I was really ill and I had no idea why. When I finally found my medication in my suitcase it all clicked into place The withdrawal symptoms vanished within hours of taking them again.

One bizarre incident when I was suffering withdrawal from it. I made myself a cup of coffee and it took me so long to make the coffee it was practically cold when I had finished. I presume I'd just been standing around day dreaming and spacing out for ages. (NB: This is not quite as bad as it sounds, as my method of making coffee is already long and complicated, and involves measuring everything out precisely and preheating all the apparatus...)

This is a concern I have, and because of the numbness it feels like a band aid effect, instead of healing the depression. My range is neutral, sad and momentary pleasant feelings, it takes a build up of significant negativity before I can cry. Prior to taking Sertraline, I was intensely anxious, thankfully that has lessened but my tolerance for anxious situations is very limited, and small things trigger it. The doctor prescribed Sertraline with follow up therapy, explaining that stabilising my mood first through medication would assist me in being able to communicate later.

I'm glad you brought this post up Aldersgate!

I was prescribed Sertraline on monday, I took it monday and tuesday, and I literally couldn't do anything through tiredness and feeling sick. Soon after taking it on the monday I had such a bad panic attack that it felt like I was having a heart attack. I slept most of tuesday and wednesday and then decided not to take it on the wednesday night as I am a single parent and I'd ended up taking the kids to school an hour late on wednesday which is not acceptable. It's now friday and I am still struggling to feel awake, from reading the other posts in this thread I'm guessing this is hypersomnia also the nausea is unbearable. I expected some ill effects as drugs do tend to effect me more than the average person, but this is unbearable. I've been prescribed 50mg, but wondering if I should try having half a tablet instead...

Thanks for sharing this Bluejay....

As far as Sertraline goes, I am seeing my GP next week to discuss an alternative Medication.
I was advised that if I wanted to come off of Sertraline, I would have to stagger the dose (i.e.Taking it on
every other day for about a week) rather than reducing the dose gradually...even though it is a very low dosage.

I was given the impression that a halving the dose to 25mgs (half a tablet) would not be a good idea.

I had a similar experience for the first two weeks, but the nausea eased during the first week.

maybe I should have stuck at it then...

I had forgotten why I stopped taking Zoloft. but yeah, my wife wasn't happy with the lack for sex drive and I wasn't happy with the lethargy.

I took it for a good few months and it certainly helped with my anxiety, stopped panic attacks and I think even dropped my blood pressure.

I'm currently on 150mg of Zoloft, and it's helping control my obsessive tendencies as well as making me more outgoing and giving me a bit more "drive" in life, though I still have problems with anxiety sometimes, and occasionally depression. I was on only 100mg for a while, but I bumped up my dose recently at the advice of my psychiatrist.

I was going to try it, but was skeptical since I reacted badly to prozac which is supposed to be really simular...they gave me that because they said zoloft has a slightly higher risk of inducing anxiety than prozac but even the prozac made my anxiety worse.

Right now I'm taking remeron though my psychaitrist thought of that before prescribing the zoloft and figured it was worth a try being very different than prozac and zoloft. And intrestingly enough the side effects are simular to slightly irritating things weed can cause like munchies and sometimes drowsyness depending on strain...those aren't really bad and I don't eat enough so drugs that cause me to feel hungry motivate me to eat more also I have a tendency to stay up all night, sleep for a couple or a few hours in the early morning so since I take the remeron at night it helps me get to sleep earlier.

I was on Zoloft for 2 weeks. Within 1 week the reality I believed to be happening was as far as you can get from what is real. By the end of the second week I was lucky not to be commited to a Psch ward. The strange thing is I miss that reality.

I've been on the max dose for a few years now. I've tried other anti-depressants and find Zoloft just okay at helping with mood. It doesn't have any side effects for me.

Sertraline didn't really help my OCD and anxiety, even at 200mg. However the antidepressant I am on now is helping quite a bit; mirtazapine it is and it sedates me a bit too which I like.

I was actually in the FDA trials for Zoloft (at the University of Chicago) before it was on the market. I was 10 or so. I had been diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and the effects of the drug on that were the focus of the trials. It worked to some extent for most people but I, alas, did not benefit.