Sertraline 100mg from 50mg

[Aby99]

Hello, I have been taking sertraline 50mg for a month and initially the first two weeks were bad - I had a thought stuck in my head and it would go round and round. Then I started to feel better, anxiety was less too and I started to engross my self in daily house work. After a month of 50mg my doctor upped my dose to 100mg and I am again feeling very low - it’s my 7th day on 100 mg. I feel weird, unable to eat much, nauseating most of the time and a thought that my life will be like this keeps doing the rounds in my head. Can an increase in dose make me feel very low all over again. Will it get better for me ?

[everyrose]

Hi Aby,

The things you describe definitely could be side effects of Sertraline. There's a good summary from NHS choices here: beta.nhs.uk/medicines/sertr.... I have experienced side effects changing or getting worse on an increased dose of antidepressants. Often they will go away or reduce after a few weeks, but if you are worried feeling worse or getting an increase in thoughts of suicide it's really important to go and see your Dr ASAP.

Hang in there- things will get better. Hope that you feel better again soon. 😊

[Aby99 in reply to everyrose]

Thanks for replying back to me ! I started to feel a bit better around 3rd and 4th week but since upping the dose I am feeling weird. It’s as if I am getting obsessive with thinking that my life is going to be like this and it’s miserable. I want to be happy again, enjoy life and not think negative at all. But all I think is negative and that doesn’t help at all.

[everyrose in reply to Aby99]

That sounds horrible. How are you coping with the thoughts? Is there anything that helps to improve your mood or distracts you from your thoughts?

[Aby99 in reply to everyrose]

Nothing at all at the moment. I feel disheartened. Just want to feel happy and do things that I used to love doing.

[everyrose in reply to Aby99]

Sorry things are so rubbish 😔 If things don't improve, definitely go back to your doctor. As well as antidepressants it's also worth asking about therapy as it can help you develop strategies to deal with negative thoughts and feelings.

What did you used to enjoy doing? Are you still able to do any of those things?

Always happy to talk here if it helps 😊

[MAS_Nurse]

Hi Aby,

Yes, Sertraline can commonly make someone feel nauseous in the first few weeks of taking it or with an increase. Here's a copy of the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) that you should have in your medication box:

medicines.org.uk/emc/files/... Have a good read and you will see important advice in Section 4 about side effects. Here's a link to more information on the Mind UK website: mind.org.uk/information-sup...

It's really important to let your GP know what's happening, as they may need to adjust your dose down a little.

Hope this helps.

Take care,

MAS Nurse

[Aby99 in reply to MAS_Nurse]

Thank you so much.. I have recently upped my dose from 50 mg to 100mg and it is my 8th day. I have been getting more anxious and the same though seems to be stuck in my mind. Is that a side effect that can happen to me ?