Hello people! The reason im writing is becuase I recently started sertraline and its been almost 3 weeks. I haven't felt any improvements yet and im worried that it wont work! The first time I took zoloft it worked wonderfully but I don't remember how long it took for it to kick in, plus I was living with my older sister which really helped (I was 22 at the time, now im 25). I was able to graduate and continue a *normal* life for about 3 years. The reason I stopped was because I thought i was done with depression and anxiety just to find out 6 months later ( anxiety/depression relapse happened July 4th) that im really not! I do realize that im going through many changes right now (College graduation, trying to find full time job, etc...) but i desperately need to be on my feet now. I feel like im being left behind by my peers, cousins and friends who seem to be on their feet and on their way to a career while I'm being swallowed by this D*** disease. I got prescribed generic due to the fact that i don't have insurance right now so Im stuck with it and thats also making me doubt how everything is going to turn out. I know 3 weeks i still really early but i thought id share my story with you guys. Thanks :D

Welcome to DF, howdyhow,
What dose are you taking? Have you talked with your pdoc about how you are feeling since starting back on sertaline? (there's not much difference between brand and generic) Sometimes going back to an AD that was helping before may not work again and another AD will have to be found. All pmeds can take up to 8 weeks to become effective depending how we metabolize them. This time around, don't stop taking your meds because you feel good. Get the advice and feedback from your pdoc.

Congratulations on graduating!
Sheepwoman

I am currently taking 50mg, although i tried doing the 100mg dosage after 1 week (like my pdoc told me) but it was too much. I have an appointment with my psychiatrist this Thursday, im gona talk to him about my side effects. Also another thing that I wanted to mention is that the first time i did zoloft i didnt have any of the Se and i was placed at 100mg since the beginning, so I am really surprised i couldn't handle 100mg after a week. (some of the Se i felt were extreme wired feeling, a sense of depersonalization and increased anxiety as well as a feeling of being over medicated).

thats good to here that the 100 mg didn't bother you. I hope this med works well for you

I took zoloft 3 years ago for a really bad depressive episode and it worked perfectly although i dont remember how long it took to work. I stopped taking it like 6 months because i was feeling fine;but I relapsed like 4 weeks ago. So Im on zoloft again, its been like 3 weeks almost and although i dont feel as depressed I am getting really bad Se like agitation, confusion, memory loss and a sickening wired feeling and this is only with 50mg! I know ADs take a while to fully kick in but I tolerated zoloft so well before, except for the nausea. My prescription is generic and i got it from wallmart, the tabs are much bigger than the ones i used to take 3 years ago so this is making me a little bit paranoid. I feel like im taking an antypsichotic medication with these Ses! Im going to see my psychiatrist tomorrow and see whats going on. Im also avoiding seeing my friends because I know theyll notice somethings wrong with me, its like a im going down after doing coke, honestly. Please let me know what you think, ill keep you guys posted after i see my doc tomorrow.

Howdy to you, howdyhow!! (Sorry, I couldn't resist!!)

I posted a little earlier on the thread started by NewQuestions about long-term users of Zoloft such as myself with ten or more years experience of doing so, where I noted that the efficacy and all of Zoloft is not entirely predictable or consistent. When starting back on Zoloft after a break, I find that I have to start at a very low dose (e.g., 25 mg), and then slowly work my way upwards over several weeks' time--up to 50 mg, then 75 mg, then 100 mg, etc.--to mitigate the gastrointestinal distress that normally accompanies the start-up and incremental dose increases for me. Fortunately, both the generic and name brand varieties are manufactured such that the pills are fairly easy to divide. All of this has been worked out with my pdoc, with him trusting my experience and inituition built up over the years about the dosage increase patterns, and how much I can tolerate at a time, etc.

Hopefully, you can work with your own pdoc to get to a place of similar knowledge and experience. Good luck, and post back about how it goes.

Hey dendweller,
Thanks for the insight :). Its going to be 4 weeks next Tuesday since my treatment started. Still not much improvement other than the Side effects. Im really having trouble concentrating and every time I take my 50mg dosage I feel like im on cocaine (very wired without being high of course). I am hoping this starts to improve, as well as my depression of course. Im going to be traveling back to my home country (Venezuela) like in 2 weeks, my family and I think that I should see my psychiatrist there for a while. Ive been seeing my psychiatrist at the mental health unit in the University here in Florida and he told me that my side effects are common. Anyway, ill keep you guys posted. Thanks Again.

Best wishes and good luck to you both!

Ok so its now been 4 weeks on zoloft (3 weeks at 50mg and 1 week at 100mg). The 50mg didnt help me at all, I actually think that I got worse, and I still have to wait for the 100g to see how it turns out. Zoloft did help me rebound from my first depression so Im crossing my fingers that it will work this time. My psychiatrist told me to increase my dosage, at first i was hesitant due to the side effects but they all now seem to have subsided. On the other hand my negative thoughts have increased regarding me and my future, they have acutally become intrusive thoughts and this worries me. I have an appointment with my psychiatrist this Monday so Im gona let her know. I really hope that the zoloft works as it did in the past. I do remember at that time that when my dosage was increased I had some really bad weeks, so maybe this is just part of the whole process again until I start feeling better. Im back home with my family which should be awesome and all but due to this D*** dark cloak everything seems horrible. I feel like I depend on everyone for everything and I used to be a pretty independent guy. Everyone has their own lives here and I feel so hopeless.

I remember the increases also. And my anxiety would go way up. But once all that was done and I leveled off this were and still are great. Try to hang in there.

Ok so its been 5 weeks now since I started Zoloft. The last week and half my dosage was increased to 100mg and although things were really crappy during the first week at this dosage, I can say thats theres been some improvement. I find myself not being inside my head all of the time. Also the moments where i feel happy seem to be getting longer. I have had some panic attacks though, but I feel more at ease. I can concentrate more and things dont seem to be that overwhelming. I have an appointment with my psychiatrist tomorrow and Ill let you guys know how it turns out. Thanks for all the feedback and support. Everytime Im in a crisis I find myself running back to Df and this website always plays a big part in my recovery :D.

That's what we are here for hun! Glad to be able to help you feel better.