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Tried Sertraline for the first time

shySpring2662 September 9th

Hi everyone, so I’ve been dealing with anxiety for a few years now and have taken meds but only sporadically (I didn’t take it seriously). Until 4 months ago, when I traveled overseas and had a really bad panic attack that lasted for hours (it was 20 hours flight). When I came back to my home country, I decided to take medication seriously and talked to my psychiatrist. I was having Tandospirone but it wasn’t doing much so he told me to try Sertraline again (I tried once a few years ago, but had bad side effects, so switched to Tandospirone). This time I tried and felt wonderful for a few hours until I felt like I was “crashing”, had extreme anxiety, insomnia, my whole body tingling for almost 5 days. I gave up on Sertraline but now Im also scared to try new meds. Has anyone had such bad side effects? What did you do? Did you stop medications altogether?

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IdolPigment September 9th

@shySpring2662
I had similar side effects on Sertraline. Most anxious I have ever felt, couldn't sleep and my jaw was so clenched I thought I was going to crack my teeth. The only medication that has felt like it worked for me was Mirtazapine but it made me feel tired and apathetic so I just stopped taking it and haven't tried any others since.

2 replies
shySpring2662 OP September 10th

Hii, thank you for replying! How do you cope with anxiety now? I have stopped taking any medication for a week but it has been challenging.

1 reply
IdolPigment September 10th

I have been seeing a therapist, it has helped with day to day but I'm still struggling a lot and thinking about starting medication again.

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chermoon15 September 20th

@shySpring2662 I have had panic attacks for many years and had always just dealt with them and never wanted to take medication.  This year however my panic attacks took on a whole other level my heart rate was going up and the fear was just too much I had to get on medication there was no way I could live like that..  I tried several and the first made me so anxious and I finally found one that works so well for me but you should just let your Dr. know until you find one that helps with no side effects...