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Well to cut a long story short I've been taking various antidepressants for some 20yrs now but the last year of mixing pregabalin and venlafaxine seemed to give me intermittent double vision so I've recently switched to Sertraline. On my 3rd week now and for the last few days the initial feeling rough period seems to have lifted and I've started to feel relatively good . I don't really know whether how I feel is as good as it gets so need to decide whether to up the dosage and hope for even better or to stay on the low dosage of 50mg daily. I'm fortunately not getting any unpleasant side effects such as problems down below that many experience which is a positive but if a higher dosage will elevate my mood further I'm quite keen to try. What are your thoughts /experiences in this respect.
Thanks in advance
Bill
That medication is quite a slow acting one isn't it? If 'relatively good' in the 3rd week, that sounds like its working, however only your doctor can really advise...unless s/he has given you the choice?
Doc tends to prescribe me the dose I request ..at least she has done previously when increasing or decreasing
ask your GP not a bike forum lol
My doc advised me I could take more of mine if I felt shitty (citalopram) but that's me not you.
Ask on here as you get real life experiences from people in similar situations.
Recently started on citalopram after being clear for many years so interested in replies.
Sounds like you're heading in the right direction so give it another three weeks. You can always up the dose at any time if it doesn't work out!
Caveat - Experience of a user (not I), not medical advice, which you must seek:
the effects of Citalopram at least are supposedly cumulative and work long term to support you, and maybe allow you to access alternative therapies effectively. 3 weeks is probably too short to consider changing dosage, especially if you are seeing a beneficial effect anyway. The direction of increasing dosage was given if nothing was happening (at which point I'd query if this was the right medication anyway) after 6 weeks of properly adhering to dosage.
Go see your GP, it's why they are there.
Since Sertraline is a relatively slow builder on it's effectiveness, and you've only been feeling better for a few days now, I'd be tempted to hold off a little more before upping the dosage. There might still be a bit more benefit to build up to with 50mg with another week or so use. If you're fairly sure you've plateaued after that, step it up then. You sound positive and not having negative impulses, so little risk in holding off a week, compared to ending up taking a higher dose longterm if 50mg will get you where you want to be. Keep your GP/psych in the loop whatever you decide.
Good luck with it.
(No experience taking the stuff myself, but more experience than I would like in my family)
Been on venlafaxine about four years now,last year my doctor doubled my dosage from 75 mg to 150 mg as things where going a bit crazy upstairs.I noticed a slight difference and my head balanced out a bit,but the best two things I do to make me forget and feel fine are ride bikes and go in a float tank.
The best I can do is give my own experience of Sertraline.
Was put on it last May at 50 mg. A few weeks of side effects that eventually leveled off to just constant headache, memory loss and nausea when hungry or when I had just eaten, but no impact on mood. So after a couple of months was put up to 100 mg. Whether it was the pills or the CBT'ing that I had then gone through or both, I did start getting a handle on my depression but just could not control the anxiety. The same side effects continued.
Back at the doctor just before Christmas to update them on the above - headache, forgetfulness, nausea, less feeling of depression but no less anxiety - and they put me up to 150 mg. Now I am feeling less anxious which is good, but whether it's better or not I am now also not feeling any emotions. I feel like a doped-up zombie. I was thinking I should at least be feeling some worry about that, so I went back to the doctor. The upshot is she thinks 6 months or so with no emotion might be good for me so I've been kept on that level.
I will have to wait and see what happens next.
Kaiser, I’m on 100 mgs of sertraline, up from an initial (6 months) of 50 mgs.
50 was great at first, but after the 5th month, I hit a wall, and asked for an increase. That was 2 years ago, and just today, I was talking to Mrs SR about whether or not I should go back to the gp and ask for a higher dose, as I’ve been in a bad way of late.
In any case, on 50 everything worked fine down below, but on 100, it changed quite radically. Drop me an email, and I’ll say more if that would be helpful.
My experience of sertraline was that it didn’t improve my mood, it kind of dulled the depression. I took the decision to come off them as they weren’t the solution. Worryingly when I told my wife after 4 months that I’d stopped taking them she told me she suspected so as I wasn’t being angry and aggressive. I wasn’t aware of this behaviour and apparently it is a side effect. Don’t know if this helps
Antidepressants seem to have such a variety of effects on users.
My mood unquestionably improved - and quite radically at that. In fact, I had not felt as much myself for years as I did once I was on the right dose.
OP, I would suggest that if the 50 mgs you are currently on have started well, if the time comes for you to increase your dose, you'll be alright. But monitor things with your GP or mental health advisor.
In my experience and from advice I’ve had, you need to take an antidepressant for 4 weeks before you decide whether it’s working for you.
Interesting thread. I’ve just been prescribed 50mg Sertraline for anxiety, been a week now.
Get good days and bad days, loss of appetite and weight loss (probably due to the anxiety not the medication). Sweaty hands. Bouts of horrendous anxiety which can last up to a couple of restless hours.
Positives starting to feel less anxiety, more focussed, concentration level improving.
Early days hopefully in a couple of weeks I will level out.
Everyone will react differently to medication.
TBH I don’t know what to expect, that said each day is a day towards being “normal” whatever that is.
I have been on Sertraline for over 2 years now.
Thankfully, it seems to work quite well for me and keeps me on an even keel.
I am currently on 50mg, but my plan is to taper down to 25mg when spring arrives and possibly try to come off it completely in the summer.
OP - speak to your doctor first before changing doses.
thanks to all for the feedback . I'm actually feeling pretty good still but upped to 75mg today on my way to 100. If I don't get any further improvement and experience persistant side effects I'll probably drop back down again but currently feeling quite optimistic ! In my experience different meds suit different people The double vision and blurred eyesight I feel sure were caused by the 2 meds i was previously on despite the docs saying that was very unlikely. In the last 5 days my vision has improved dramatically with less ghosting and more clarity so fingers crossed.
Cheers
Bill