Tell me about Zoloft.

[ananas]

I've tried the natural solutions, nothing has ever worked for me. My mom passed away a month ago, and since then, my anxiety and depression have been getting worse and worse. After seeing the doctor and two psychiatrists, they're in agreement that Zoloft would be good for me, and they prescribed it.

She made the decision based on what I told her, plus my history with anxiety and depression, and a pretty strong family history of both anxiety and depression.

I'm scared to start taking it. I'm also scared, though, of the panic attacks I'm having daily, and the fact that I can barely leave the house. I'm pretty much a mess right now.

So...if you've ever been on Zoloft, please tell me about it.

[Phoenix_Rising]

I'm sorry about the loss of your mom.
What specifically are you looking to know? I was on it for a year for PPD. It really and truly helped me. I have a long history of depression and have been on medications a couple of times. I had a couple of weeks where all I wanted to do was leave and never come back. :
It took a good two months before I could tell that it was working, but my partner knew within a week that it was. I guess I was just too far in my crap to be able to tell. I didn't have any side effects, so I can't say anything about that. . . did you have specific questions?

[yentroc]

I'm so sorry that you are grieving.

I was on Zoloft for about 8 months after a mixture of PTSD and PPD with horrible anxiety and depression.

I, too, was REALLY scared to try it, I'm really sensitive to everything, even Advil and I had never taken any sort of medication. But I was not sleeping even when my baby was sleeping and I just could not process the trauma I went through. I feel like it gave me the "space" in my head to process without going around and around in circles in my thoughts. As the previous poster mentioned, my dh noticed changes first, probably within the first week. He said he felt like he "got his wife back".

I didn't want to be on it longer than I needed to, I really took it due to my circumstances at the time.

It helped me tremendously. I will say that weaning off was really difficult but I don't know if that was because I was on it for such a short amount of time?

Good luck to you.

[mom0810]

Hi there,

I have been on zoloft for about a year. It helped me SO much. I was not functioning due to PPD and PTSD with severe anxiety. I noticed a difference in about a week. It was/is wonderful.

I was VERY afraid to start any medication, and did so with great hesitation. I hated the fact that I 'needed' something to get myself through. But the fact is, I did need it. And accepting that has helped me to get better.

Initially you may feel a bit more anxiety as you go on it. Your doctor can help you with this. On the other hand, it may just make you a lot more relaxed, as it did with me. Stomach stuff is common, too. You may have some diarrhea and/or nausea, but this only lasts a week or two at the most, usually.

It's well worth it to get relief from the anxiety.

I know that for me, it gave me my life back. Gave my dh and my ds their wife and mommy back. It really made all the difference, even though part of me still does not like to admit that.

I really hope you do give yourself the chance to try it. And zoloft is usually one of the easiest ssri's to come off of, because it has a longer half life. When the time comes, if you wean very very slowly, you should be just fine. But don't even worry about that now. One of my biggest problems was that I was always worrying about when I could stop taking it. But that shouldn't enter your mind now. Just go with what your doctor is recommending and trust that.

Best wishes to you and know that you can and you will feel SO much better very soon.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I can honestly say that zoloft saved my life when I was suffering from severe PPD after the birth of my dd. I was going down a road that could have only ended one way without help. I didnt have any side effect other than low sex drive but that could have been partly due to just giving birth as well as the zoloft.

I hope you find peace soon it really hurts when you feel that way.

[leewd]

I'm taking 50mg/day, and it is really helping. I've been on it for about 2 months for pregnancy depression. I anticipate being on it for at least a year, since I do not want PPD to set in after the birth.

I had a few side-effects - mostly sleepiness, but they passed after about 2 weeks. To minimize this, I started with the Zoloft in the evenings and then slowly moved it up to noon. I took in the AM for a while, but it made me too tired in the early evenings. Noon works for me. I have to be very careful to take it with plenty of food or I will get horribly nauseous.

Do you go to talk therapy? I go once every 1 or 2 weeks depending on my schedule. That along with the Zoloft is a big help.

I also take Omega3's and try to watch my diet, but I'll admit, this pregnancy is definately my worst in terms of nutrition :

I guess my advise to you is:
Since you've had a major stressor () with your mom's death and more than one doctor agree you should try Zoloft, you need to follow their advise. Give it AT LEAST 3 weeks (6 weeks would be better), and ask DH and others if they think you are better. We often cannot judge these things ourselves when we are in a fog.

[ananas]

Thanks so much for the replies, everybody! I took my first dose today...so far I don't feel much different, I've been sick anyway so I think my sick stomach is just from that. I have felt a little...hyper, maybe? I don't know if it's from the Zoloft or just getting a really good night's sleep last night.

[mchalehm]

First of all, do not be afraid to take it; it may help you a lot.

I did want to say, though, that it may or may not work for you. I tried Zoloft twice (I started with it when I needed an antidepressant and tried it again while I was nursing and fighting PPD). It didn't really work for me. Effexor works very well for me. That's not to say it's a better drug--everyone is different--but just that you should not give up if the Zoloft isn't your magic bullet, because ADs are tricky drugs and not everyone responds to every drug.

[ananas]

Update- today was my second day of taking it, and honestly...the great moods I've been in cannot be a coincidence. I really believe it's helping already!

[mom0810]

It helped me almost right away, too. SO glad you are feeling better!!

[attachedmamaof3]

Loved it, lived it, left it!! (That sums up my relationship with Zoloft!!)

I'm VERY glad it's out there and is an option for nursing moms.

[mom2snugbugs]

I've been on the generic (sertraline) since June. I LOVE IT. I also like that I can BF with it.

I was diagnosed with OCD, and have had anxiety and depression. The zoloft is great. My side effects are some sweating (not horrible) dry mouth, tummy problems (but I'm OW, and I've lost 25 lbs since June. Don't know if its because I'm not "obsessing" about food or if its the side effects of the meds. ) The worst side effect is I HAVE NO SEX DRIVE. I've had drive problems before, but now it is gone. Zip, zilch, nada. Not even dancing with myself (iykwim ) I'm working on that behaviorally with a counselor.

OK- Whoa. Probably TMI, but its the C part of the OCD. :

Hope it helps for you!

[busymommaof3]

Hi, my name is sarah. I took Zoloft about 2 years ago. I just had my second child and felt incredible depression, i loved my daughter dearly and felt so blessed but something was just not right. So i went to my Dr, which was really hard for me to open up and talk about it. So i decided to just try it. I started on a low dosage, they said it would take weeks to actually start working but i felt a huge difference right away. It just kinda took the edge off, made me happy and see things better. I noticed that i would laugh alot more, which was nice. I was on Zoloft for about 3months and decided to try it on my own, which i am great now! But i dont think i could have done it without Zoloft, it really helped. Hope my story helps you figure out what to do~

[ReadingMama]

I've been on Zoloft since 2002 for OCD, general anxiety, and depression. It's the SSRI that works the best for me. I don't have any side effects from it, but if I miss a day or two, I feel some withdrawal. It's a weird, sorta unreal feeling. So I make sure and take it everyday. I expect I'll always need medication for my issues and I'm okay with that because of the good it does. If you want to get off of it in the future, make sure you wean off very slowly.

I'm sorry for your loss.