I have been on 25mg zoloft for 4 days. I have experienced headaches and a sleepy/groggy feeling. Last night I woke up over and over again with shakiness. If anyone has a positive experience with getting over initial AD side effects, I would like to hear of it. I have very serious depression and need an AD to work for me. This is my second one to try. Also I would like to know how long it was before you noticed any positive effects. Thanks.

I'm sorry to say that my experience has been terrible on zoloft....I took it on and off 3 times over a 3 year period after my daughter was born 8 and a half years ago and each time I started I had such awful side effects I thought something terrible was wrong with me!....jitters, dizziness, complete lack of appetite = weight loss, sleeplessness, depersonalisation etc, ...and I can say that it really did not help me recover at all.

HOWEVER...I do not want you to become deterred by what I say as I know that there are a number of girls here on it and swear by it....so maybe you should give it more time?

I think it turned out to be the wrong kind of AD for me.....I believe my symptoms were a complete hormonal imbalance issue that my doctor did not pick up or have knowledge of, and I'm quite sure if I had sought an alternative kind of treatment earlier I would not have had to go through what I went through. I ended up with having a great session of cognitive behavourial therapy in the end and it worked wonders for me.

I started with 50mg of zoloft and went right up to 100mg as it wasn't working...but alas that did not help.

I'm sure others here will give you their experience on zoloft and it will be completely different to mine!!

I personally haven't ever used Zoloft, but I do use Paxil. I did learn that I had to start off my AD at a much smaller dosage than the doctor prescribed. If there is anyway you can reduce that 25 mgs to 12.5?? If not, it is said that you need to hang in there for 2 weeks to get thru the adjustment period.

Because I titrated my Paxil so slowly, I didn't feel the benefits of it until I was 5 weeks into treatment, but from then on I felt MUCH MUCH better. I didn't actually feel "well" until I added BHRT, but at least I was not having panic attacks and agoraphobia once the AD kicked in. This "change of life" can be an ugly ugly Change!!!

If you don't start feeling somewhat better in 2 weeks, it is possible that Zoloft just isn't for you. Are you able to use any Ativan or Xanax to help you thru the adjustment period?

I recently found a website with some fantastic information on it about how to treat anxiety/fatigue/insomnia/depression without the use of drugs....and in fact this site is devoted to helping people get OFF the drugs without side effect.....but it is full of fantastic information as well and an explanation on WHY these things work!! If you are interested PM and I will give you a link.

All the best in your meno journey.

My experience with Zoloft was an extremely positive one. It took a couple of weeks for me to get past the initial grogginess and mild headaches. After that I never felt better in my life! I took it for almost two years. I started at 25mg and gradually moved up to a 100mg daily dose.
Dee

Constant nausea, plus my anxiety increased & I had terrible crying spells. Never again.

Were you treating depression or anxiety?

I tried them for 3 days. Horrible, I felt like I was in a fog.

I too had horrible initial side-effects, but most of the debilitating ones went away after the initial 2-3 weeks. I will say that some of the side effects stayed, and you have to decide if the benefit of Zoloft making you balanced is worth the side effects that stay with you.

I had tiredness that required a pot a coffee a day, low libido and weight gain. I went on Wellbutin to try to counter some of the drowsiness, and it helped a bit, but it brought out the OCD in me, so if you have a problem with that, then adding Wellbutin may not work.

I went off of them, mostly due to these side effects, when the big stressors in my life calmed down a bit. But it did do what it was intended to do, so if you can get past the icky first couple of weeks, it may really help you.

Good luck!

Hi there,

I'm on Sertraline (generic Zoloft). I don't recall it making me any jumpier than I already was. But I was pretty jumpy at the time--and in the hospital! I was also on anti-anxiety meds that probably counteracted any of that.

I'm actually in the process of weaning off of the drug. My side effects have been: zero libido, memory problems and hair loss.

The drug really helped me at a time when I needed it. But I'm hoping to go off it and then just rely on anti-anxiety pills as needed from here on out.

(Note: When I first tried Lexapro, I got very nervous and we didn't take it any farther. Trust your gut. Everyone has a unique body chemistry and each SSRI has a unique chemical make-up. Sometimes it takes a while to find the perfect "cocktail.")

Wishing you the best ...

Sukie

Sukie, you speak such wisdom! Each of us is different... If I had not been patient, I would not have recovered as well as I have. Hang in everyone. We will all get there...

Hugs to all,
Marcy

Both. It worked exceptionally well for me. My anxiety was totally curbed and my depression....gone.
Dee

Anybody experience stinging skin on SSRIs? This one is concerning me.

Dear'surfin4answers'

It does take the body a while to adjust to the use of an AD.The best way to start,as Floater mentioned is with the smallest dosage possible till you find the point where you start to feel better.If this does not happen after a few weeks it is quite possible that this is the wrong AD for you.
I have been on a dose of Prozac,20mgs,for a few years and it has been a positive experience.I started on a low dose and upped a little every few weeks.this gives body and mind time to adjust.It is also very normal to experience hightened anxiety when first taking ADs.this can be helped with a low dose of Xanax,as needed,and then gradually tapered off as the AD does its work

Please do not be put off by your first negative experience.Our Physilogical make-up determines that what works for one may not work for another.

Wish you lots of luck
Please keep us posted
Best Wishes
Elizabeth

Hi Surfin4answers:

I have been on zoloft for approx. 11 years, but when I first went on it I suffered a number of side effects. I found that the side affects got better once my body adjusted. However, you should be aware that sometimes each time you go up in dose, you might experience the side affects again until your body adjusts once again.

i was on them for 3 mo. had bad head zingers on them !!! thats where you get sharp shooting head pain in zaps

OKAY I BEEN ON ZOLOFT 50 MG NOW FOR A YEAR AND A HALF I AM GLAD I STUCK TO IT. FIRST OF ALL ITS GONNA TAKE LIKE 4-6 WEEKS TO GET IT IN YOUR SYSTEM ,AND YOU WILL FEEL WORSE BEFORE BETTER. I HAD JITTERS AND GROGGY FEELING FROM IT IT DOES GO AWAY STICK TO IT. AND I TAKE MINE AT BEDTIME SO IT DOES HELP ME SLEEP. OTHER THEN A DRY MOUTH I HAVE NO SIDE EFFECTS FROM IT. OH YEAH YOU MIGHT GAIN SOME WEIGHT TOO.


KATHY CAN YOU SEND ME THE LINK I LIKE TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT. THANKS TERRY

Hi

I have been on sertraline for just over a week, was on seroxat before, I have been having head zaps, diziness, nausea, internal shakes all over.
I am not sure if I will stay on them but I am going to give them another week. If after another week I am going to go down the nautral rout with loads of vitamins.

Hope this helps

Keep in touch.

Ina

Hi Ina

I have been on sertraline since March. I had terrible increase in my symptons for about 2 weeks: shaking, tremors, panic, nausea, head zaps etc however my GP encouraged me to persevere and almost all of these side effects stopped, the only thing I am left with now is very occcasional head zaps.

Also at the same time as starting the AD's I started loads of vitamins. I am hoping I can gradually come off the AD's in a few months time, and see how I am. Hope you find something that works for you soon.

Jackie

I was on zoloft for 5 months and gained a huge amount of weight. My first experience with an AD was Lexapro and it made so nervous I thought I'd jump right out of my skin. But, to fair my dose was to high.. I should have started at a smaller dose.
I was able to get off the AD without much trouble at all.. and without much tapering.I had a few head zaps but nothing to bad. I would not take them again because I never really felt like they helped me that much and left me overweight. I lost the weight but it took me a long time. Nope not again.

Hi Ladies,

While we're on the topic of AD's, have any of you been on Zoloft then switched to generic and found that the generic was not working as well?? Thanks for the feedback,