Sertraline - Wow!

[dotty]

It will get better. I was “rough” for about 3 weeks. I’ve been on them since sept ‘22.

[youngsyr]

dotty said:

It will get better. I was “rough” for about 3 weeks. I’ve been on them since sept ‘22.

Thanks for the reassurance. Didn't sleep well last night and am back to fighting anxiety this morning. This is really tough and it's day 8.

[hooters123]

youngsyr said:

Thanks for the reassurance. Didn't sleep well last night and am back to fighting anxiety this morning. This is really tough and it's day 8.

I'm on day 28, the first couple of weeks are definitely a bit "all over the place" but it does get better. That said, I was also up 4:30am today worrying about things so it isn't a magic pill in that regard but I'm certainly not quite as bad as I was just over a month ago.

Try to focus on the fact you are doing something about your anxiety and are on a journey, small steps but you will get there.

[rewild]

youngsyr said:

rewild said:

Quick update from the GP today. I want to get off the tablets, so he said to keep tapering gently, and give it time. Don't rush. Another month at least on 25mg, then 25mg every other day for as long as I need, and go back up if things get bad. We know it works, so there's no harm trying to get off it slowly because if it doesn't work the answer is simple.

He stressed there's no known long term effects, so no harm in staying on, or going back to it later.

How are you feeling now? Has the increase in anxiety subsided and have you had a go at meditations/mindfulness?

Thanks for asking. Meditation and mindfulness are part of my daily routines now, and have been for years. There is no doubt it's effective, but it's not a complete solution for me. It's a coping mechanism, but there's still something there that needs coping with, if that makes sense.

Anxiety level isn't noticeably different to last week, but definitely worse than last month. I'm keeping busy. I decided to repaint the whole house and started a couple of days ago, which is weeks and weeks of work for evenings and weekends. Distraction is the aim here. Tunes, podcasts, and a repetitive task. It's not going to deal with anything, but I'm hoping that having no spare time for a few months will see me stabilised from the tapering off the tablets, and then I can make a judgement on how I'm feeling. I guess painting is a form of meditation. I'll report back with any notable changes, good or bad.

[youngsyr]

hooters123 said:

youngsyr said:

Thanks for the reassurance. Didn't sleep well last night and am back to fighting anxiety this morning. This is really tough and it's day 8.

I'm on day 28, the first couple of weeks are definitely a bit "all over the place" but it does get better. That said, I was also up 4:30am today worrying about things so it isn't a magic pill in that regard but I'm certainly not quite as bad as I was just over a month ago.

Try to focus on the fact you are doing something about your anxiety and are on a journey, small steps but you will get there.

Thanks, for the advice. I understand that it can take up to 6 weeks to start working at its full.

What I struggle with is that I'm really working on my meditation and mindfulness, trying to get to bed at a decent hour and so on and have been for a few weeks now and am not seeing any real improvement. It's feeding my anxiety that it's not working and I risk spiralling downwards.

Edited by youngsyr on Wednesday 11th January 09:52

[youngsyr]

rewild said:

youngsyr said:

rewild said:

Quick update from the GP today. I want to get off the tablets, so he said to keep tapering gently, and give it time. Don't rush. Another month at least on 25mg, then 25mg every other day for as long as I need, and go back up if things get bad. We know it works, so there's no harm trying to get off it slowly because if it doesn't work the answer is simple.

He stressed there's no known long term effects, so no harm in staying on, or going back to it later.

How are you feeling now? Has the increase in anxiety subsided and have you had a go at meditations/mindfulness?

Thanks for asking. Meditation and mindfulness are part of my daily routines now, and have been for years. There is no doubt it's effective, but it's not a complete solution for me. It's a coping mechanism, but there's still something there that needs coping with, if that makes sense.

Anxiety level isn't noticeably different to last week, but definitely worse than last month. I'm keeping busy. I decided to repaint the whole house and started a couple of days ago, which is weeks and weeks of work for evenings and weekends. Distraction is the aim here. Tunes, podcasts, and a repetitive task. It's not going to deal with anything, but I'm hoping that having no spare time for a few months will see me stabilised from the tapering off the tablets, and then I can make a judgement on how I'm feeling. I guess painting is a form of meditation. I'll report back with any notable changes, good or bad.

I wish you the best of luck.

Would you mind sharing what mindfulness techniques you use? I'm struggling to stick at any one particular one.

[rewild]

youngsyr said:

I wish you the best of luck.

Would you mind sharing what mindfulness techniques you use? I'm struggling to stick at any one particular one.

For any given task (e.g. brushing teeth) I focus on the the 5 senses. I ask myself and answer, What can I see? What can I hear? etc. and try to come up with the most specific answer I can. Not just "I see the sink", but "I see a watermark on the mirror that needs cleaning, and the reflection of the plant in the chrome tap. Stuff you really have to LOOK to see, not just casually observe.

I do it for all daily tasks, cooking etc. Smell the food, hear the sound of the carrot peeling. It's weird but it works. It's calming. At any time of day if you need to, you can pause and ask what your senses are doing. Takes some practice to give yourself detailed answers, but the detail is what focuses your mind on the task and distracts/calms you, and makes you focused on the here and now, which is where the mindfulness bit comes in.

I focus a lot on breathing too. Deep and slow. When you panic, you breathe faster involuntarily. When you relax, you breathe slower involuntarily. Your mind controls your breathing. But it works the other way too. If you breathe slower, you are telling your brain there's nothing to panic about. It's impossible to breathe slowly when there's a sabre-toothed tiger staring at you and licking its lips. Your brain thinks that if you are breathing slowly then everything must be ok, and you mind will relax accordingly to match your calm breathing. That's how it was explained to me by a therapist, and whether it's true or not, it makes some sense as an idea, so it works for me. I don't question that idea too hard physiologically, because even if it's just a placebo effect, I don't care, it works. It just breathe as deeply and slowly as possible and actually recite "there are no tigers" over and over in my head. It's not stupid if it works.

Breathing in for 10, out for 10. Or my kids taught me a technique they were taught at school... trace a finger around the outline of the opposite hand, as if you were drawing round your hand with a pen. As you trace slowly up towards the top of a fingertip, breathe in, and then down the other side of the finger, breathe out. When you've done all 5 fingers, that's 5 nice deep breathes. Then do it again. I don't actually trace, but I imagine doing it in my head. I just need some mental image or process to tie the breathing to so it's structured. Some people picture the outline of a square. Breathe in on one side, out on the next, in, then out, and you've drawn a square in your head. Repeat as required. Stuff like that.

I do other stuff too, like mentally picture myself on my favourite beach watching the waves go in and out and breathe in time. But that's really only for when I'm trying to fall asleep rather than during the day.

Don't take any of the above as qualified advice. It's just what I've found I need. I'm sure there are a million better tips and tricks too, I'm no expert.

[youngsyr]

rewild said:

youngsyr said:

I wish you the best of luck.

Would you mind sharing what mindfulness techniques you use? I'm struggling to stick at any one particular one.

For any given task (e.g. brushing teeth) I focus on the the 5 senses. I ask myself and answer, What can I see? What can I hear? etc. and try to come up with the most specific answer I can. Not just "I see the sink", but "I see a watermark on the mirror that needs cleaning, and the reflection of the plant in the chrome tap. Stuff you really have to LOOK to see, not just casually observe.

I do it for all daily tasks, cooking etc. Smell the food, hear the sound of the carrot peeling. It's weird but it works. It's calming. At any time of day if you need to, you can pause and ask what your senses are doing. Takes some practice to give yourself detailed answers, but the detail is what focuses your mind on the task and distracts/calms you, and makes you focused on the here and now, which is where the mindfulness bit comes in.

I focus a lot on breathing too. Deep and slow. When you panic, you breathe faster involuntarily. When you relax, you breathe slower involuntarily. Your mind controls your breathing. But it works the other way too. If you breathe slower, you are telling your brain there's nothing to panic about. It's impossible to breathe slowly when there's a sabre-toothed tiger staring at you and licking its lips. Your brain thinks that if you are breathing slowly then everything must be ok, and you mind will relax accordingly to match your calm breathing. That's how it was explained to me by a therapist, and whether it's true or not, it makes some sense as an idea, so it works for me. I don't question that idea too hard physiologically, because even if it's just a placebo effect, I don't care, it works. It just breathe as deeply and slowly as possible and actually recite "there are no tigers" over and over in my head. It's not stupid if it works.

Breathing in for 10, out for 10. Or my kids taught me a technique they were taught at school... trace a finger around the outline of the opposite hand, as if you were drawing round your hand with a pen. As you trace slowly up towards the top of a fingertip, breathe in, and then down the other side of the finger, breathe out. When you've done all 5 fingers, that's 5 nice deep breathes. Then do it again. I don't actually trace, but I imagine doing it in my head. I just need some mental image or process to tie the breathing to so it's structured. Some people picture the outline of a square. Breathe in on one side, out on the next, in, then out, and you've drawn a square in your head. Repeat as required. Stuff like that.

I do other stuff too, like mentally picture myself on my favourite beach watching the waves go in and out and breathe in time. But that's really only for when I'm trying to fall asleep rather than during the day.

Don't take any of the above as qualified advice. It's just what I've found I need. I'm sure there are a million better tips and tricks too, I'm no expert.

That's really helpful, thanks for taking the time to write it all out. I'll have a go at adapting and implementing some of those - I'm even doing it now whilst typing!

[dotty]

youngsyr said:

dotty said:

It will get better. I was “rough” for about 3 weeks. I’ve been on them since sept ‘22.

Thanks for the reassurance. Didn't sleep well last night and am back to fighting anxiety this morning. This is really tough and it's day 8.

I still get the odd day here and there with it , I think the key to it is accepting it and eventually it will go away, or at least fade in to a background noise.

[Caddyshack]

rewild said:

youngsyr said:

rewild said:

Quick update from the GP today. I want to get off the tablets, so he said to keep tapering gently, and give it time. Don't rush. Another month at least on 25mg, then 25mg every other day for as long as I need, and go back up if things get bad. We know it works, so there's no harm trying to get off it slowly because if it doesn't work the answer is simple.

He stressed there's no known long term effects, so no harm in staying on, or going back to it later.

How are you feeling now? Has the increase in anxiety subsided and have you had a go at meditations/mindfulness?

Thanks for asking. Meditation and mindfulness are part of my daily routines now, and have been for years. There is no doubt it's effective, but it's not a complete solution for me. It's a coping mechanism, but there's still something there that needs coping with, if that makes sense.

Anxiety level isn't noticeably different to last week, but definitely worse than last month. I'm keeping busy. I decided to repaint the whole house and started a couple of days ago, which is weeks and weeks of work for evenings and weekends. Distraction is the aim here. Tunes, podcasts, and a repetitive task. It's not going to deal with anything, but I'm hoping that having no spare time for a few months will see me stabilised from the tapering off the tablets, and then I can make a judgement on how I'm feeling. I guess painting is a form of meditation. I'll report back with any notable changes, good or bad.

Are you avoiding booze? That is a big anxiety feeder.

Also - are you able to immediately stop the anxiety by a forced sigh / relax and breath with your belly?

[mcelliott]

Look up Anxiety Guy, and The Dare response, loads of helpful info to be had there, also get out into nature just a short walk releases all sorts of feel good chemicals into the brain, oh and never ever fight your anxiety you'll only make it worse, when mine was at it's worse I learnt to actually demand more from it, sounds crazy but it worked foe me.

[rewild]

Caddyshack said:

Are you avoiding booze? That is a big anxiety feeder.

Also - are you able to immediately stop the anxiety by a forced sigh / relax and breath with your belly?

Yes, I quit the booze completely when I started on Sertraline. Long story, but I was treated as an alcoholic because I was self-medicating a LOT. My anxiety was assumed to be caused by the booze, but I knew that was a catch-22... I wouldn't be drinking if I wasn't suffering. Sure enough, when I stopped drinking the anxiety actually got worse, not better. That's when Sertraline was prescribed, and everything was wonderful.

Even if I come off the Sertraline there is zero danger I'll drink again, because it will absolutely not make anything better, and I know what a slippery slope that is. If I was struggling, I'd start on the Sertraline again, not the vodka!

No, I can't immediately stop the anxiety. I can't really get rid of it at all. I can manage it and push it down, if that makes sense, but it takes time and a bit of focus. How much depends on how jittery I feel at the time.

[Caddyshack]

rewild said:

Caddyshack said:

Are you avoiding booze? That is a big anxiety feeder.

Also - are you able to immediately stop the anxiety by a forced sigh / relax and breath with your belly?

Yes, I quit the booze completely when I started on Sertraline. Long story, but I was treated as an alcoholic because I was self-medicating a LOT. My anxiety was assumed to be caused by the booze, but I knew that was a catch-22... I wouldn't be drinking if I wasn't suffering. Sure enough, when I stopped drinking the anxiety actually got worse, not better. That's when Sertraline was prescribed, and everything was wonderful.

Even if I come off the Sertraline there is zero danger I'll drink again, because it will absolutely not make anything better, and I know what a slippery slope that is. If I was struggling, I'd start on the Sertraline again, not the vodka!

No, I can't immediately stop the anxiety. I can't really get rid of it at all. I can manage it and push it down, if that makes sense, but it takes time and a bit of focus. How much depends on how jittery I feel at the time.

Thanks for being so honest.

I think anxiety management is a strong skill that many never learn. It took me a while but I learned to notice tense feelings or thoughts and then as soon as I noticed anything I went back in to the cycle of breathing and slumping my shoulders / sigh. I think that once you begin to catch it you can learn to auto cancel it….I sometimes wake up from a dream with anxious feelings or catch myself in the morning but then remember to fix it.

I worked out that as a child of an alcoholic I was always anxious waiting for the next disaster and it was always rewarded with more disaster. I also felt terrible when I was drinking (4th yr in to no booze now)

Anxiety is a terrible feeling and I hate to hear of people suffering with it….keep working on it for your cure and I am sure you will get there.

[youngsyr]

How is everyone feeling on "Blue Monday"?

I'm now on day 12 and still fighting the anxiety, although it has lessened. Hoping that process will continue over the next two weeks. I'm in between projects and it's a slow time of year, so having a lot of free time on my hands with crap weather and short days isn't helping.

[Caddyshack]

mcelliott said:

Look up Anxiety Guy, and The Dare response, loads of helpful info to be had there, also get out into nature just a short walk releases all sorts of feel good chemicals into the brain, oh and never ever fight your anxiety you'll only make it worse, when mine was at it's worse I learnt to actually demand more from it, sounds crazy but it worked foe me.

That is a good technique - you have already experienced the worst it can be and by getting yourself in a comfy environment and asking the anxiety to "bring it on" and feed it to the max then change the thoughts you get to learn to control the thoughts that feed the anxiety.

Also, the walk is a good idea as much of the anxiety is adrenalin with nowhere to go, by walking you work off the adrenalin.

A panic attack would not be as uncomfortable if you dropped and did 40 press ups.

[hooters123]

youngsyr said:

How is everyone feeling on "Blue Monday"?

I'm now on day 12 and still fighting the anxiety, although it has lessened. Hoping that process will continue over the next two weeks. I'm in between projects and it's a slow time of year, so having a lot of free time on my hands with crap weather and short days isn't helping.

Personally, not as bad as last week. Had a good chat with my wife last night about all the issues I've been facing, possible outcomes etc. Was surprised at how quietly she took it all (which is very unlike her!), though I'm sure she'll have a few questions for me this evening after 24 hours to mull it all over.

Wish I had a bit of time on my hands, so many projects to do, so little time...!

[dotty]

youngsyr said:

How is everyone feeling on "Blue Monday"?

I'm now on day 12 and still fighting the anxiety, although it has lessened. Hoping that process will continue over the next two weeks. I'm in between projects and it's a slow time of year, so having a lot of free time on my hands with crap weather and short days isn't helping.

Is your anxiety preventing you from doing anything ? I mean is it keeping you house bound or are there certain triggers ?

[youngsyr]

dotty said:

Is your anxiety preventing you from doing anything ? I mean is it keeping you house bound or are there certain triggers ?

Tends to start when I wake up and then build if I don't distract myself with something that needs to be done.

It's worse when I'm alone, but bizarrely melts away by about 6pm and I can quite often lie in bed at night worry free.

[Caddyshack]

youngsyr said:

dotty said:

Is your anxiety preventing you from doing anything ? I mean is it keeping you house bound or are there certain triggers ?

Tends to start when I wake up and then build if I don't distract myself with something that needs to be done.

It's worse when I'm alone, but bizarrely melts away by about 6pm and I can quite often lie in bed at night worry free.

I imagine a psychiatrist could help unpick why that is…it may help with the cure.

Could be circadian rhythms but expect it is more to do with the pressure being off when the day ends and you retire to your cave of safety?



It may help to create an imaginary ‘island of serenity". It is a place where nobody else can go unless invited by you, no thoughts are allowed there and nothing can harm you, there is no past or future etc…..mine is a Caribbean beach with the sound of waves and a fallen tree to sit on, I add or take away other stuff. I think the Royal Marines call it their happy place where they go when real life is cold, wet and scary.

[youngsyr]

hooters123 said:

Personally, not as bad as last week. Had a good chat with my wife last night about all the issues I've been facing, possible outcomes etc. Was surprised at how quietly she took it all (which is very unlike her!), though I'm sure she'll have a few questions for me this evening after 24 hours to mull it all over.

Wish I had a bit of time on my hands, so many projects to do, so little time...!

Glad to hear you're feeling a bit better and have opened up to your wife, that is surely a good step forward.

I've always struggled with balancing time - I seemed to have veered from too little to too much for most of the past 10 years.