Long term sertraline users(3 years or longer), how

@I’m Batman Thank you so much for your insight! See the thing with me tho is that the sertraline did make me experience happiness and looking forward to things again for awhile because I didn’t have that added anxiety/stress. I’m in a time rn that I don’t feel as excited about stuff not that I have depression but because I have anxiety that like I’m gonna always have my intrusive thought(for me it’s my breathing and that I’m never gonna truly focus on happy times now that I’m back to always thinking about it again). It’s such a strange type of ocd but truly it’s the only type I’ve experienced, I don’t do compulsions it’s just the thoughts that spiral me into anxiety. I’m starting therapy again though so maybe erp can combat it once and for all sigh

@Anonymous See my comment below…I relate to what you’re saying so much. I’ve been there.

@I’m Batman May I ask what non-SSRI you’re on?

@Anonymous Bi weekly 85mg dose of spravato and daily dose of auvelity. Had a few goes at trying to “unalive myself” in the past and these seem to work well with depression…. And helping me not … unalive my self 😁

@Anonymous Yeah the SSRI helped me get back into life again too …. Until it no longer did. It’s possible I’ve just been on it too long. But once it was no longer helping with the depression and OCD, then the fact that it was causing sexual side effects and all for nothing , just kind of dog piled on me. All medications have side effects. I get it . But when the benefits don’t outweigh the side effects , then I start to question why I’m on it. I’m not against SSRIs or other meds at all. And if you are just starting ERP , those can be really helpful. I think my issue is I did not find out I had ocd until way later in life. So it got to where I was just taking meds but not really fixing things. And I think by then I had just been on the SSRI too long. I feel like if I knew I had ocd and had started ERP at the same time I started the SSRI I would have had way better go at it. Such is life though and we can’t go back and change it. For me sertraline had the least amount of side effects for what it’s worth. I’ve tired others and would never touch those again. Fluxomine or something like that comes to mind.

@Ariana ♡ The side effects for me I think lasted like a couple weeks. But it really did help me like I said in my post. What type of ocd are you dealing with? It really helped me to not get anxiety anytime I thought about my intrusive thoughts if that helps. You’ll still notice it but it’ll be like a big flying through the air

@Anonymous Bug*

@Anonymous I have contamination ocd but it's really just severe emetophobia thay turned into ocd. I don't want to take zoloft if it's going to make me nauseous for a few weeks and I just cannot deal with that right now which is ironic because I'm taking it to take the fear of sickness away in the first place

@Ariana ♡ So I personally never got the nausea side effect just tired and diarrhea lol so maybe you won’t get that

@Anonymous I say try it and see because sertraline also got rid of my huge fear of flying I use to have !

@Anonymous Maybe but I'm just too afraid to start if it's going to cause stomach problems and more anxiety- I just cant deal with that because if I have 1 stomach issue then the worrying and fear will eventually lead to nausea and then I'll spiral and not sleep for days, again, and i don't know maybe there's other ways to deal with ocd without any medication

@Ariana ♡ I say try erp therapy then. That’s what I’m about to do now that I’m off my meds I need to retrain my brain now that my anxiety is back

@Ariana ♡ My sister has severe emetophobia and she never developed that symptom when she started it at 25 mg and worked her way up as needed.

@Ariana ♡ Everyone is different and so are the side effects unfortunately. Me personally I never had nausea. Just crapping my self for a few weeks. The diarrhea only lasted for a month … and anytime my dose was upped would come back again for a month and go away. Sexual side effects did not start until I hit 100mg and never went away. They would not be as bad for a while but were always there. Weight gain was rough between 100mg to 150mg but stopped after I hit 200mg. I’ve seen folks not have any problems at all tho at my dr office who took the same brand/dose/type. As others have suggested , I would give it a try. The issue with meds is you are more likely to get folks like me complaining about them vs folks who never have issues. I’ve yet to see someone on a forum raving about how great their experience is. Not because they don’t exist , but I am guessing cause they are out enjoying their life and what not lol.

@I’m Batman Yeah I guess you're right, I just really don't want any side effects like that. And I'm not even trying to do it long term or permanently so it seems like it's all not worth it since the starting symptoms and withdrawals look absolutely miserable.

@Tcp2025 Yeah I never understood the SSRI hate. I seen a video of someone saying they are worse than heroin. Yeah I doubt that, I’ve never seen a news story of the local swat team kicking in the door of a bootleg SSRI lab 😁

@I’m Batman Doing ERP with the ssri at the lowest effective dose is what works for me. I think there’s a difference between addiction and dependence that society doesn’t really understand. I have decided to not bear myself up any longer about a medication that helps me be the best version of me. I think everyone needs to do what works for them. I appreciate hearing your experience too and I totally get where you’re coming from. I am grateful I do not have those side effects. There is no one size fits all

@Tcp2025 I’m late to reply but thank you so much for this insight❤️ my therapist was saying that the other day too, that it’s sometimes needed especially when ur going through lots of changes in life like I am. Are you on 25mg of Zoloft? I’m glad to hear that the lowest dose is helping you, I’ve also considered just going back on 25mg instead of the 50 I was on for a couple years. But the past couple days my anxiety symptoms have diminished thankfully I just wake up in the morning with anxiety (still not ideal ofc but better than waves of on and off anxiety throughout the day)

@Anonymous I have more of an appetite and less bathroom issues too lol I was getting worried that this was gonna be a forever thing

@Anonymous I tapered back up very slowly and I’m actually on 75 mg now. Everything is stable. My morning anxiety was unbearable without it. But I’m so happy to hear you are doing better.

@Tcp2025 I’m glad to hear! So it seems like the anxiety is worse in the morning then huh? Ugh it’s hard to wanna get out of bed sometimes I’m ngl

@Anonymous Mine was definitely worse in the morning. I also added in acupuncture and that helps. Being off meds completely messed up my autonomic nervous system and acupuncture is helping balance everything again