Tomorrow marks 21 days on sertraline, with 14 days being on 50mg. The second week (first week on 50mg) I felt like I was getting better, but the past 3 days have been full of anxiety, and today I had a pretty terrible panic attack. I’m wondering if this is normal or if this means the medication isn’t working. I know I read that we can still have bad days in week 3, but bad enough to where I have a full blown panic attack? I hate this, I’m so impatient and just want these feelings to stop already. I’m desperate
Third week on sertraline is it working ?
Question posted by Vic2090 on 11 Feb 2022
Last updated on 11 February 2022
Answers
Catholicmom
11 Feb 2022
Your timeline is very similar to my experience . I’ve just re read my journal and this is what I wrote :
Day 7….. My doctor has increased my dose of Zoloft to 50mg. The past seven days on 25mg were pretty uneventful in regards to side effects. I still feel very anxious.
Day 13…..5 days on 50mg and I feel worse than ever. Yesterday ( Boxing Day) I had a full blown panic attack at my sisters house. I don’t understand what is happening, I feel worse now than I did before I started this medication. I am so scared.
Day 15…. I woke today and felt calm for the first day since starting this medication. The last few days have been awful and I’m so scared this won’t last. But I’ve stopped crying. That’s good. I have cried every day for weeks now. I hope this continues.
Day 18….. I’m still really nervous and I’m scared to leave the house but something is happening. It’s like there is a glass window between me and the anxiety. It’s still there and I can see it but the glass is stopping it coming too close. I hope this continues.
Basically apart from three bad days in week six that came out of the blue I have continued to get better. I still find myself thinking about googling health symptoms but I can ignore the thought now. I feel stronger. Sometimes I overthink and worry that this will all end and I’ll go back to feeling bad but that is previous bad anxiety behaviour that I’m working on! ( I’m listening to the DARE approach to anxiety on Audible)
I wish I could go back and tell the nervous me at weeks 1-3.5 that things will get better and not to stress. It really is a miracle to me to realise that I feel so well now. I am saying the same to you now…. Give it time, trust in the process and do something practical like DARE to help you in the interim period. I’m assuming you are staying in contact with your doctor and have an appointment to update them on your progress. I just had my 8 week update and my doctor was thrilled with the new me. 8 weeks ago I was a crying mess in her surgery so to say things have changed is an understatement!
Good luck. I’m here if you need to talk.
WildcatVet
11 Feb 2022
Thanks for sharing this, mom! It's great for a person who's still struggling to hear someone else's success story. It is worth the time and effort, isn't it?
Catholicmom
11 Feb 2022
Yes, I personally found reading other people’s stories very helpful ❤️❤️ We all need to encourage one another
Thank you for your continued support here , your answers are a great help to many ❤️
Vic2090
11 Feb 2022
Thank you for that, it really helped me feel like what I’m experiencing right now is “normal”. Today seems to be a little worse than yesterday but I am trying to keep busy-kind of hard when all that’s on your mind is the anxiety. It’s as bad as it was when I first started taking the medication. Hopefully I will feel better soon. I’m so thankful to have a group like this to turn to, and I’ll be checking out that DARE approach. Thank you.
Related topics
anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, sertraline
Further information
- Sertraline uses and safety info
- Sertraline prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Sertraline (detailed)
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