Sertraline - Wow!

[MGZTV8]

Thanks for the last post.

I’ve been on Citalopram for nearly 4 years now and although I tried a few months ago to wean off, it didn’t go well and I’m back on them again.

Although I understand why people put on how they are feeling in the first few days / weeks, my advice would be not to do this, accept that you’re going to feel a bit off for a while and dig in. It doesn’t help to home in on the negatives as it makes you feel far worse and as stated people give up too easily.

This medication has been a god send for me and even after the time I’ve been on them I still have days when I tell myself how good I feel compared to the past.

Take care everyone.

[King David]

pb8g09 said:

croyde said:

Anyone found that sertraline messes with your taste buds?

Not only has my appetite gone but crisps, my fav, don't taste great anymore and I know one shouldn't drink but after 6 days of abstaining I had a nice Malbec last night which tasted like petrol and currently just tried a glass of bourbon and it's disgusting.

Whiskey lovers need not reply

Yes.

Honestly, from reading your posts elsewhere your solution is to disassociate/detach from your ex and weight will infinitely lift from your shoulders. No amount of pills is going to prevent that stress!

The pills won't prevent that stress, that they will make it a lot easier to operate while under it. With something like the above it's probably going to take some time to untangle yourself, and that process will be a lot easier if you aren't spending all day rocking in a corner and all night catastrophising.

I've been on Citalopram for 18 months now. It's taken me that long to remove key stressors from my life - there is no way I'd have been able to manage those changes without the pills.

Starting the process of weaning myself off them now.

[ZedLeg]

King David said:

pb8g09 said:

croyde said:

Anyone found that sertraline messes with your taste buds?

Not only has my appetite gone but crisps, my fav, don't taste great anymore and I know one shouldn't drink but after 6 days of abstaining I had a nice Malbec last night which tasted like petrol and currently just tried a glass of bourbon and it's disgusting.

Whiskey lovers need not reply

Yes.

Honestly, from reading your posts elsewhere your solution is to disassociate/detach from your ex and weight will infinitely lift from your shoulders. No amount of pills is going to prevent that stress!

The pills won't prevent that stress, that they will make it a lot easier to operate while under it. With something like the above it's probably going to take some time to untangle yourself, and that process will be a lot easier if you aren't spending all day rocking in a corner and all night catastrophising.

I've been on Citalopram for 18 months now. It's taken me that long to remove key stressors from my life - there is no way I'd have been able to manage those changes without the pills.

Starting the process of weaning myself off them now.

I don't understand why people post stuff like pb's comment.

The medication works, it may not work for everyone but it does work.

guys of older generations really need to get over the idea that you can just muscle yourself out of a depression. I'd rather be on Sertraline for life than drinking myself to death.

[Joscal]

Good info here. I was on Sertraline for almost a year after a life changing accident and they helped me no end in dealing with not being able to do pretty much anything.

I tapered off very slowly with my Drs guidance from 100mg to 50mg then 25mg and am now one week into none. Side effects are real but manageable and I’m feeling a little less numb which I didn’t particularly enjoy.

Counselling has been a revelation to me, I now talk to mine every 2 weeks. It’s very easy to get in a rut and someone non biased who can see improvements that you may miss is very important. My counsellor dug up some things that I was blissfully unaware of which is interesting!

Take care all and don’t be afraid to reach out if you don’t feel the best.

[Puzzles]

One of my exs was on SSRIs and it killed the relationship in the end

[Cybertronian]

youngsyr said:

Sounds great, keep us updated with progress.

Thought I'd share my experience after 2 full weeks of 50mg of sertraline a day.

Days 3 - 5 were difficult. Nausea hit to leave me feeling pretty wiped out; not enough to actually throw up, but enough that I had to be mindful of what I was doing and eating. Wife thinks it may have been food intake related in that I wasn't eating enough at breakfast. I'm now eating more at breakfast and the nausea has pretty much gone entirely.

Sex life has been positive. For several years, probably due to the depression, I've had a lower libido than my wife. Happy to discover that libido is up with no ED issues. The sertraline seems to have also had a positive impact on endurance, so wife is also pleased. I'd dare say we're having the best sex we've had in years.

I do feel like I'm experiencing some emotional blunting at both extremes. The lows are nowhere near as crushing as they were before a fortnight ago, but I also feel like the highs also have a little less shine. My family and I just recently returned from a visit to Disneyland Paris, and whilst I enjoyed myself whilst I was there, I didn't feel like I could get excited about the trip beforehand, whereas I would have previously. On the flipside, I'd normally be suffering from post-trip blues, but I can't say I've had any of that despite wanting to go back again in the near future.

Overall, I am incredibly pleased and positive about the result I'm seeing from the medication. I feel like myself again. I feel calmer, less anxious, less quick to anger. I have more time for others and I'm more patient around my possibly ADHD son, whereas I previously lost my temper with him far sooner. There is a newfound clarity to my thoughts, which has manifested across to interactions with others - family and friends or strangers. I was once upon a time much more outgoing, and I'm feeling a return to that - talking to lots of strangers whilst on holiday, English or French. My wife has also noticed a change for the better; she's commented that I closer resemble the 'real' me than I have for a very long time in her eyes.

It's been a revelation, truly.

[ZedLeg]

That’s great to hear man. Hope the good progress continues.

[2HFL]

I lasted 12 days and decided enough was enough as I really wasn’t coping with the side effects and, as soon as I went back onto Mirtazepine, everything calmed down, I became significantly less anxious and managed to sleep longer again.

So, Sertraline is definitely not a medicine for me but I’m glad it’s helping others.

I’m also starting a new type of therapy soon so I’m hopeful this will really help in my own journey to a happier place.

[youngsyr]

This could be useful for some posters...

https://www.reddit.com/user/EveryMindMatters/comme...

[Cybertronian]

Had a 3 week review with my GP and I've been prescribed another 2 months of 50mg sertraline.

GP advised to stay on the course for at least 6 months, which tracks with other accounts I've seen.

[Luke.]

Cybertronian said:

Had a 3 week review with my GP and I've been prescribed another 2 months of 50mg sertraline.

GP advised to stay on the course for at least 6 months, which tracks with other accounts I've seen.

How are you getting on with it?

[Cybertronian]

Luke. said:

How are you getting on with it?

Very well, thank you.

I feel whole again - positive and content, which I haven't felt for a long time. Long may this continue!

[Luke.]

Cybertronian said:

Very well, thank you.

I feel whole again - positive and content, which I haven't felt for a long time. Long may this continue!

Excellent news. Happy for you. Was that why the GP didn't up your dose to 100mg? I went from 50 to 100 after about 2 weeks I think.

[Export56]

MGZTV8 said:

Thanks for the last post.

I’ve been on Citalopram for nearly 4 years now and although I tried a few months ago to wean off, it didn’t go well and I’m back on them again.

Although I understand why people put on how they are feeling in the first few days / weeks, my advice would be not to do this, accept that you’re going to feel a bit off for a while and dig in. It doesn’t help to home in on the negatives as it makes you feel far worse and as stated people give up too easily.

This medication has been a god send for me and even after the time I’ve been on them I still have days when I tell myself how good I feel compared to the past.

Take care everyone.

I was on citalopram for 20 years, then came off it for 6 months, didnt notice it at first , then after a few months, I just didnt feel right, hard to put into words, but just felt a bit pointless, lacked confidence and stressed by little things. Wife said I was hard to live with. Back on it for 6 months now and the spring is back in my step and I feel my old self. I did think it was a placebo, but I really do feel a lot better on it.

[Cybertronian]

Luke. said:

Excellent news. Happy for you. Was that why the GP didn't up your dose to 100mg? I went from 50 to 100 after about 2 weeks I think.

That's right. They're happy to keep me on 50mg unless I notice the effectiveness is wearing off, which gives us more room to manoeuvre on dosage.

[croyde]

I posted on here about 6 weeks ago as I started Sertraline 50mg.

The first two weeks were really bad. Shakes, very anxious, bad stomach but I carried on working and saw the doc after that 2 weeks.

He continued the 50mg dose and gave me propranolol (spelling?) to help with the anxiety as he didn't want me on the valium of the first two weeks.

I was good tho, only took 5 of the 7 tablets of valium.

So this is the end of week 6 and I'm feeling much better than I have felt in years.

The situation that has caused this is floundering from one disaster to the next but I'm able to take it in my stride and keep a clear head.

It's like I'm on an even keel, a middle ground as I don't appear to be affected by the lows but also don't seem to get excited about anything, could be my age though

Good luck to everyone else on here. All the best.

[Cybertronian]

croyde said:

It's like I'm on an even keel, a middle ground as I don't appear to be affected by the lows but also don't seem to get excited about anything, could be my age though

This is kind of how I feel.

Many small things no longer bother me, whereas big things have less of an impact.

I did suspect I had some emotional blunting on the positive side of things, though my wife and I have just planned a spur of the moment long weekend away together, which I'm thoroughly looking forward to. Must have just been a coincidence that I felt the highs weren't as strong as before being medicated.

[markiii]

croyde said:

I posted on here about 6 weeks ago as I started Sertraline 50mg.

The first two weeks were really bad. Shakes, very anxious, bad stomach but I carried on working and saw the doc after that 2 weeks.

He continued the 50mg dose and gave me propranolol (spelling?) to help with the anxiety as he didn't want me on the valium of the first two weeks.

I was good tho, only took 5 of the 7 tablets of valium.

So this is the end of week 6 and I'm feeling much better than I have felt in years.

The situation that has caused this is floundering from one disaster to the next but I'm able to take it in my stride and keep a clear head.

It's like I'm on an even keel, a middle ground as I don't appear to be affected by the lows but also don't seem to get excited about anything, could be my age though

Good luck to everyone else on here. All the best.

glad to see its helping give you the headspace to deal with the other stuff

[Joscal]

croyde said:

I posted on here about 6 weeks ago as I started Sertraline 50mg.

The first two weeks were really bad. Shakes, very anxious, bad stomach but I carried on working and saw the doc after that 2 weeks.

He continued the 50mg dose and gave me propranolol (spelling?) to help with the anxiety as he didn't want me on the valium of the first two weeks.

I was good tho, only took 5 of the 7 tablets of valium.

So this is the end of week 6 and I'm feeling much better than I have felt in years.

The situation that has caused this is floundering from one disaster to the next but I'm able to take it in my stride and keep a clear head.

It's like I'm on an even keel, a middle ground as I don't appear to be affected by the lows but also don't seem to get excited about anything, could be my age though

Good luck to everyone else on here. All the best.

Fantastic!

[CloudStuff]

I've stopped completely in the last week - a mixture of forgetting to take it at the usual time and not rushing to find them to take them later in the day. So you could say cold turkey. This is from 25, where the original dose was 150.

Feel ok. A bit 'zappy',but nothing too bad. Am going to see how it goes but cautiously optimistic.

Caveat - I think experiences on these meds are DEEPLY personal & individual. Just sharing my thoughts.

My overall verdict would be hugely positive. A band filter which took care of the many low frequencies without having many high frequencies to contend with.