Advice

[Londoner52]

Hello. I would be interested to know anyone else’s experiences of taking sertraline, particularly whether you experienced side effects and how long they lasted before you felt that the drug was having a positive effect. I was prescribed it a few days ago to treat my anxiety and have experienced a number of horrible side effects since then, including diarrhoea, headaches, restlessness, feeling sick and feeling very tired/generally lacking energy. Worst of all my anxiety seems to have worsened. I am told this is normal but it would reassure me to know that others have been the same but ultimately felt that it has helped their recovery. Thanks

[hypercat54]

Hi your doctor is right. Until meds get fully into your system (around 4-6 weeks) they can cause these types of symptoms. I have been on 150 mgs of sertraline for ages and all I get now is a dry mouth and disturbing dreams. So my advice is to persevere and give them a chance to start working. x

[TayM]

Hello, it’s all normal! After 7-10 days you’ll start to feel some what normal.. I’ve been on mine for 3 weeks now and it’s finally settled.. keep going 😌

[Hidden]

When I starting taking sertraline for my depression I remember feeling sick and having bad headaches. After 8 weeks my doctor upped my dose from 50mg to 100mg - the symptoms were the same but more severe for 4 weeks then they stopped. Now I very rarely have side effects unless I forget to take my tablet then I usually have a headache.

When I started my treatment my depression was worse for a period of time which can be very worrying as you feel like the medication isn’t working but this will stop after a couple of weeks.

After being on the medication for roughly 6 months now I am feeling so much better than I was before. If you are still concerned about your side effects I would speak to your doctor and they can reassure you.

[Hidden]

hi! i have been on a good amount of ssri medications; including sertraline. (i’ve been up to 175 mgs, and then we stop because i still was not getting a response to it) since you’ve just begun it, these are side effects you may have. i can’t entirely remember my side effects, but coming off of it i had extreme nausea and headaches. as for your anxiety being worse, unfortunately that is normal. i took it for depression and i only remember it being worse when i first started it.

take care! hope it works out :))