Zoloft?

[Kt088]

Anyone been prescribed Zoloft for anxiety? How has it been with your PD? Thanks

[wifeofparky]

My husband took generic Zoloft for his depression and anxiety symptoms with no problems at all.

[Despe]

Have you checked its side effects?

addictionresource.com/drugs...

[Kt088 in reply to Despe]

Yes and. I don’t like the sound of them

[Despe in reply to Kt088]

I am not a doctor, but there are alternate solutions. Are you on Magnesium, L-Theanine or Passion Flower supplements? Check them out.

[John_morris71]

Zoloft (Sertraline) vs Saffron.

Note that Saffron does not have any major side effects when taken in the right quantity. It has other benefits too ( for eyesight, etc.). Please do some research. I have been giving it to my mother for more than 6 months now.

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

Highlights

• Crocus Sativus L. (saffron) has anti-depressant effects.

•Both saffron and sertraline decreased symptoms of depression in elderly people.

•Neither saffron nor sertraline was superior or inferior.

•Saffron appears a valuable alternative to synthetic antidepressants such as sertraline.

[LAJ12345]

My husband took Zoloft/sertraline for depression and it made him manic then suicidal. He cannot tolerate any ssri. He had the same reaction to fluoxetine. The only thing he can tolerate is clonazapam which is a benzodiazepine.

[lafilli]

Go low, go slow.. my husband takes it and it really helps. No side effects. He went from a very, very small dose and built on it. Took 3 months or so to get the good dosage.

[DEAT]

Been on Zoloft for years. Used for anxiety. Works well for me.No side effects.

Took 8 weeks to kick in and changed my life.

[MarionP]

If your anxiety is not life threatening or does not render you quite dysfunctional or seriously frightened and something you have to seriously get controlled significantly and "right now, really right now this minute," if you feel no serious acuity and can check around things a bit, there is no harm in trying supplements or herbs first. There are a lot of them and some of them will do the trick quite well. And it depends whether you have really significant fast onset acute anxiety, and whether it is in reaction to acute setting events like being assaulted or traumatic event, or series of them, vs. a more longterm situation such as no known cause, or a noxious job, or just some pattern that is internal to you and durable. If you feel like "I need a doctor," then that's where you want to think about prescribed meds in the first place...but not until then.

It depends on a lot of things, including whether you have depression as well or just the anxiety, and also depends on what else you are taking that has psychotropic properties.

Zoloft is often prescribed for anxiety. There is no way to know whether you will have side effects or not, not everyone does, and some people only experience minimal or "mild enough to justify given my situation" side effects. And you can easily discontinue it unless you've already been on it a long time, and if you have been on it a long time you are past wondering about it. Occasionally people have abrupt adverse effects that can be very severe and if so, they come on quickly and go away as quickly if you just discontinue, and in such cases discontinuing does no harm nor cause withdrawal effects, you haven't been on it long enough for anything like withdrawal issues. "Main" or "desired" effect comes on gradually, it's a gradual effect that doesn't become noticeable for some weeks...whereas if it gives you serious side effects you know it right now and can just stop. SSRIs can do that sometimes, but often it is specific to the specific med...I was once on Effexor myself, a different SSRI from Zoloft, and I definitely had an adverse agitation reaction and it had to be stopped emergency, no question and it was pretty obvious to everyone too. Put on Zoloft for a time and nothing. Stopping is not a problem unless you've been on it a quite long time, and then all you have to do is do so gradually...also you might need to remember that you are always supervised by a professional or you can't get them in the first place. You only find out by trying it for a while, and the right dose can take some time to find. Once you find it working, you do not just quit. It's not a "right now" acute-episode anxiolytic and it doesn't work on and off like a light switch.

A lot of people find it very helpful and a longterm solution, but for some it either doesn't work or you know about any bad effects immediately (because they will be that bad that fast). Generally people who benefit also tend to find that any side effects they do get are worth it...and it's quite safe to withdraw from except if you have already been on it for years, and if you were on it for that long you wouldn't be having just anxiety or be interested in asking here, you'd already know to be way past that and not need to be asking. And even then discontinuing is really a simple matter of gradually dosing down, no big deal if the withdrawal schedule is gradual enough (small steps for a long time, you match the decreases and pace to what you feel inside...which is usually not troublesome). It's what you do when you don't want to be on benzos and the anxiety is not the sort that you would need benzos much or for very long...you only want to be on benzos because other things do not work as well or well enough for the need...and even then, benzos are always under supervision of a pro who is trying to keep the benzo to the minimum dose needed for the minimum needed time...and believe me they know and want to know and keep checking judiciously, this is not Valley of The Dolls unless they're a known Dr. Feelgood doing scripts for rock stars and actors.

You should have some idea about whether you need to be on something for anxiety long term, because it is not for using short term, it doesn't do best in a very short term or for episodes the way benzos are... and it's appropriate use is to replace benzos for a longer term context that benzos would be appropriate for. Also, if you have a serious longterm anxiety disorder or severe depression you would know it already and wouldn't be asking a forum like this because you'd already have a doctor involved and be way past anything that a forum like this could be appropriate for.

Takes several weeks or more to find the right dose range and then long enough to experience whether it works or not.

[quiz0019]

I cannot use any SSRI. I tried several and they greatly increased my tremors..so much so that I was almost completely incapacitated. Same with SNRI's. I'm at a loss for an antidepressant that doesn't cause tremors.