Medication - sertraline

[RoadtoHappy]

Hi All,

Yesterday I went to a psychiatrist after my T felt we needed more assistance. It went better than I had expected, I have never been to a psychiatrist before. I have OCD and PTSD. He recommended I take Sertraline for the next 3 months, nothing long term its just to help me through CBT and Talk therapy as my anxiety and panic attacks are overwhelming sometimes.

Has anybody been on this medication before and can you tell me please if you experienced any side affects?

I am worried it will make me slow in speech and response time or make me very sick.

Thanks in advance.
Sarah.

 

[Gamereign555]

Interesting that they recommend the Zoloft instead of Paxil for your particular issue. Perhaps Zoloft is easier to come off of or something. Paxil seems better with anxiety and OCD while Zoloft slightly better in the anxiety and depression direction. But what do I know I’m no expert.

Side effects I noticed are the slowing of the metabolism. So weight gain is likely. You will want to avoid alcohol with this one as it is sometimes hard to gauge when enough is enough while on these anti depressants and there are some sexual side effects. Quite honestly though nothing major.

Some people feel that they are being kept at a certain level and feel flat at times but this all about balance and this is what prevents that panic and depression.

For some they will wait and wait and the medication never really kicks in for them then they have to try something else, there’s always the chance that will happen.

For others the medication will work by the time two weeks go by, it kicks in. But for some it will work almost immediately.

I don’t want to freak you out or anything but I actually suffered a serotonin storm type situation on citalopram and that was about a week after starting out. It was one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced, This can happen with any SSRI.
I decided to stick with the drug because it was one of the few that even works for me, it also worked immediately for me I didn’t have to wait two weeks for it to have an effect, unlike Prozac which only made me fart.

 

[Sarah123]

Interesting that they recommend the Zoloft instead of Paxil for your particular issue. Perhaps Zolo...

Hi Gamereign555,

Really appreciate your response and honesty which is why I love this forum so much.

I am very anxious about taking medication, and especially if weight gain can happen (shallow I know) but I am very careful with my weight and what I eat.

I am very nervous that the side effects will be bad and will alter my brain and speech.

I will just have to weigh up my options, maybe take the meds for awhile and see how it goes.

I know nothing about this type of medication only what I read. I know the doc thinks I only need it short term so maybe thats why he chose this one?

Can I ask were you on one similar or this exact type?

Thank you for your response

Sarah.

 

[Deleted member 37474]

When I tried it I felt sick and instead of improving, got worse.

 

[RoadtoHappy]

When I tried it I felt sick and instead of improving, got worse.

Thanks Texcat.

Were you on it long?