Hi, I was prescribed Sertraline 25mg for one week then upped to 50mg been on that for 2 weeks for depression. The side effect are horrendous. I can cope with feeling a bit nauseous and no appetite, but the spaceyness and headpain is severe. Anyone else had this and did you persevere and feel better or change medication
Thanks for your help. I’m in a bad place atm
one day I took that one day too many.
did you have a lot of side effects, did you then go on to another antidepressant?
yeah my whole body started getting itchy spots that turned my whole body red had to go to hospital but was ok after taking anti histamine tablets never again ended up back on mirtazapine but most people feel side effects from lots of medication in the beginning but it usually wears off but if you feel the need to contact your GP please do.
I can’t speak for this particular medication but stick with it. The side effects will go away within a few weeks as they tend to do with Anti depressants.
Hello Kippy,
Sorry to hear you are struggling with the side effects.
I started to take sertraline middle of October 2023 for anxiety. I had been trying to cope for some time without medication, in the end my GP persuaded me as I was really struggling.
I started on 25mg for 2 weeks and did suffer many of the side effects listed in the leaflet: dizziness, headache, feeling very sick, dry mouth and severe fatigue. There were times when I felt very strange with a tingling sensation down my arms, I was shaking more than with the anxiety and ringing in my ears ( still have this)
I also noticed an increased in the need to urinate and an increased amount of urine.
The panic attacks did stop then after 2 weeks I increased the dose to 50 mg. I would say I did start to see an improvement, after a further 2-3 weeks I was not as nauseous and started to have a little more energy, I could actually resume going out for a walk and gradually built this up.
My GP explained my serotonin levels must have been very low for me to have so may side effects, i would see more improvement after 4-6 weeks of being on the 50mg dose. He was correct I did improve, it also had the added benefit of improving my IBS-D.
However I do still have some other side effects, frequent sore throat, frequent mouth ulcers and ringing in ears. Balancing this against how much better I now feel I am continuing with the medication at present.
I know I will need to come off the sertraline at some point however I don’t feel ready to do this yet, I do still at times have some anxiety, especially early morning when I wake up, but not as extreme. I also now practice meditation and bought the “headspace” app, which helps me.
I would say if you can stick with it for a bit longer and rest as much as possible. The other option is to try a different medication, but they all have some side effects but may not be severe, we all seem to react differently.
Good luck and hope you feel better soon.
Hi KippyI'm so sorry that you are in a bad place just now. Sertraline takes about 6 weeks or so to get to work. I had side effects at the start too but they went in a few weeks, hopefully same for you too. Its worth persevering as you should see an improvement in a few weeks. Try to get some exercise and walks if you can. This will pass, take each moment as it comes and try not to think too far ahead or focus on the past. If you can start reading books that can help. I found Buddhism by Steve Hagan helped me, it introduced me to mediation which I learned locally. Anxiety and depression are awful but you will get better. Take one thing at a time, if you need to chat then reach out to me as I'm in a position to help.
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