Anyone found sertraline to cause spaced out feeling and can recommend another anti depressant or an anti anxiety

[poppppy]

Hi a friend of mine took first dose of sertraline and it made her feel very strange . Like she was not there. Has anyone felt this and moved on to a anti anxiety depression medication that was OK.

Any methods to reduce anxiety also gladly received. She swims walks and does meditation and breathing exercises . Thank you so much . She is scared to try propranolol. Thinking it will have a bad effect too. I think it works well for me . Any advice great fully received thank you

[benmaise]

I took Sertraline. It made me very emotional. I changed to Fluoxetine. It helped a lot. Nothing to worry about about taking Propanolol it can help a lot.

[poppppy in reply to benmaise]

Thank you so much for your reply . Thank you for the heads up for propranolol. I like it too. Friend has taken amitryptiline for the pain and to sleep . And started citalopram now. But I am pleased fluoxetine helped you . You are all so kind on here

[designguy]

More than likely your friend is over-reacting because of her hyper-vigilance from anxiety and it's not the med. It usually takes at least a week or two for a med like sertraline to make any noticeable difference. The only meds that are fast acting are benzos like Klonopin and Propranolol and they will take 30 minutes to an hour to make any noticeable changes.

[FlamingoSiren in reply to designguy]

I take lexapro and it helped me 100%

[designguy in reply to FlamingoSiren]

Good for you that you found one that works for you.

[poppppy in reply to designguy]

Thank you so much for this reply .so kind . We are both thinking the same . Pharamacist said it was a common reaction though . But I think they mean in time

[Fallin77]

The disassociation feeling that your friend is describing sounds like a panic attack to me. Most SSRI's take a while to do anything. So this just isn't possible.I've taken medications and been scared about what they are going to do to me and it causes me to go into a panic attack. Try to be understanding with your friend and assure her that she is not alone with what she is going through everyone here is kind of in the same boat. I would not recommend Zoloft personally because the withdrawal is horrible and it does have a lot of other side effects. Everyone reacts so differently to medication but I totally understand what happened to your friend and it's okay and she will be okay. Every moment will pass. Have you tried EMDR for the anxiety? It sounds like she is exercising and doing all the right things. Just be sure not to have too much sugar or caffeine because that will agitate you more. Spend time outdoors and in nature. Find a place you can stay quiet and get your thought together . I don't know if your friend has social anxiety but any distraction that you can find helps. All the best to you both! Hang in there!

[poppppy in reply to Fallin77]

So so kind of you to write all tjis information . Thank you . I will say about the reaction . I thought it was a bit soon . Friend spiked with recreational drug in teens so I feel and so does she her fear of medication comes from that. Gp gave her citalaopram. Will look at emdr. Thank you so much again . Great advice