I've always had anxiety but it has gotten worse. Had a few panic attacks which pushed me to realize I needed some type of med other than Xanax.

Sometimes a combo of meds helps more than either med alone. Zoloft has helped many with anxiety, and I hope the zoloft/xanax combo helps you!

Take care,
Dewayne

Hi everyone. I just started taking Zoloft to help with my GAD, social phobia and depression. I started at 12.5mg around three weeks ago and currently I'm at 50mg. I am supposed to reach a dose of 100mg over the next three weeks.

I am really hoping that this works. So far I have not felt any improvement in my symptoms and am taking the Zoloft with Klonopin to help ease my anxiety until the zoloft kicks in.

I recently tried Lexapro and Celexa with no success. Too many side effects. So far I have not had any side effedts with the Zoloft.

Has anyone here found Zoloft effective for their social anxiety? What about depression?

Hi Burman,

to DF and welcome to the Zoloft forum. It's good to have you here!

It's great you are not experiencing any side effects with Zoloft. I also had very little problem with SEs when I started Zoloft.

I've been on Zoloft for several years now, having tried a lot of other anti-depressants prior to that. I have depression and I was suffering from panic attacks before I began Zoloft. Personally, I have found Zoloft to be very helpful indeed with my panic disorder. My panic attacks are now MUCH much less frequent than they were, and I am enormously grateful for that.

I also have GAD and I have found the Zoloft helpful with this too, though I do remain anxious by nature.

The Zoloft also takes the edge off my depression. There's no question about that. For me personally though, it has been more helpful with my panic disorder than with my depression. I'm pleased about this because my panic attacks are definitely more crippling than my depression. Obviously, we all respond differently to different drugs though.....but these are my experiences.

Wishing you all the very best, Burman. Keep us posted!

Take care.

Joanna

This post has been edited by Joanna: Jan 9 2008, 06:14 PM

I take 50mg of zoloft for anxiety and depression. I've been using it for 8 years. Unfortunately I think its has stopped working for me.

Hi machinist,

Welcome to the Zoloft forum! It's good to hear from you.

I'm sorry you feel as though Zoloft has stopped working for you. Have you talked to your doctor or psychiatrist about the possibility of increasing your dosage? 50 mg is a pretty low dose and there is plenty of room to experiment with a higher dosage, if you and your doctor feel this is appropriate.

I hope you will keep us posted as to how you are doing! Wishing you all the very best, machinist.

Take care.

Joanna

I agree with Joanna. 50 mg is very small. Maybe it's just time for a tweek. I would get in touch with your doc and let them know whats up. Let us know!

Hi and thanks for the welcome :) I tried increasing my dosage for a week but that only made me feel worse. I was more depressed, tired, and the brain fog was much worse. It is almost as if I am getting too much zoloft, even though I am on a pretty low dosage as it is. I took half a pill last night and the constant headache I had for the last 4 days went away. My eyes have been really sore lately too and they were not as sore today. But I did notice my anxiety level was much higher today.
It is as if my brain is telling me that it has had enough of the zoloft. So I am thinking of trying a different anti-depressant, although I am afraid to because I am really scared of getting worse. My regular family doctor won't switch my meds so I am trying to get an appt. with a local psychiatrist. I talked to a counselor and he referred me to the psychiatrist. But now I have to go back to the counselor and do a new patient intake. That will be on the 24th of this month. Then after that I have to make an appt. with the psychiatrist. Hopefully it won't take too long to get in. And then when I do get in I am hoping he can switch me to something that works. Although like I said, I am really afraid of switching.
Also I had blood work done, and everything was ok except my blood sugar was on the high side at 102 (after fasting 11 hours). So I got a blood test monitor and have been checking my blood sugar for the past week and it has varied from 40 to 80, which is on the low side of normal.
Anyway, it is weird that I all of sudden went into such a deep depression, almost as if it was overnight. It hit me on Tuesday, the week of Thanksgiving and has not let up since. That is why I had the blood work done because it is almost as if there is something physical that is causing this depression since it happened so quick.
Sorry for being so long winded here. But I just wanted to kinda give a background of my situation. Thanks for listening! And thanks again for the welcome!

Hi machinist,

And welcome!

I was on celexa for a couple of years, and at the end I was drowsy all the time, and felt better when I missed a dose. After trying something else, my doc came to the conclusion that maybe I just needed a break from it for a while, that maybe it had "built up" in my system as he put it. You're doing the right thing in getting checked out, though. Let us know what the docs say!

Take care,
Dewayne

Any body can help me please My doctor has given me zoloft , Lorazepam and lithium
I took them morning and evening for two weeks, I feel better but just today I found out what drugs I was taking
I searched in internet and saw a lot of sex related side effects, my first time in life to take drugs
so I am scared and I just want to give up

what do you think. I do not want to take my meds from tonight

I'm so sorry you're scared of the side effects, and I can understand why. The first time I read up on them it scared me as well.

But two weeks in isn't enough time to tell how they'll affect you. Everyone's SE's are different, and for many their libido comes back after a while. But for me, the side effects of depression are far worse than the side effects of the meds - my libido was worse when I was depressed than it is now, on meds. You may or may not be different - but the only way to find out is to keep taking your meds.

NEVER make changes to your meds without consulting your doc - that's what he/she is there for.

Hang in there, and let us know how you are.

Take care,
Dewayne

Both. Hope you guys do bulk discounts.

Bulk discounts would be good I also think discounts for long-term usage would be fair!!

Wishing you all the very best with Zoloft, nova!

Take care.

Joanna

Wouldn't it be nice......

I think depressed people should get discounts everywhere, like senior citizens...........

I'm treating the whole bag -- anxiety, depression, ptsd (my official diagnosis), and pmdd.

As for the libido side effects...I had them for about two weeks, but after that (in the past few days) they went away. It was kinda scary at first, but in the end it worked out fine.

Keep going with the meds -- the side effects are probably not as bad as what the meds are treating. :]

Hi allypoo,

It's really good to hear that Zoloft is helping you and that the sexual side effects you experienced at the beginning have gone away. I hope you continue to do really well on this medication.

Wishing you all the very best,

Joanna

i have a variety of issues that it seems to help tremendously with: ocd, bdd, nos-eating disorder, and depression... i do find myself depressed sometimes still, though, and i've become bulemic, but at least i'm not suicidal and constantly paranoid anymore

Hi jenniebabe,

It's very good to hear that Zoloft has helped you in so many ways. I really hope you're able to get some help with your eating disorder quickly. If you have only recently developed bulimia this is the best time to try and tackle it head on, before it takes a firm hold. I also suffer from a type of bulimia and I can only encourage you to talk to someone about this right away.

Wishing you all the very best.

Joanna

Hi jenniebabe838,

And welcome to DF!

It is great that zoloft helps you with your issues. Too often we only hear the side effects, or the stories of people that it didn't work for. Unfortunately, choosing a med for depression is not a science - yet.

Thank you for sharing with us! And I hope you continue on the path to recovery! I still have my good days and bad days, too, but like you, it's much better now since I treat my depression than when I didn't.....

Take care,
Dewayne

This post has been edited by DeeBear: Feb 23 2008, 10:02 PM

Clinical Depression overe here

Im on my 8 week right now, im doing ok, Since I started I had two mayors fall, the first one, was for a girl, and the second one was for the same girl (LOOOOOOOONG STORY). Tomorrow i´ll start from 0 Again. I have a whole day in front of me, 24 hours.. Hopefully everything will go FREAKING GREAT!!

PMDD.............Thank you lord for the creation of zoloft, PMDD was hard to dx and is by far not bipolar disorder, like my family thought. IT WORKS!

Hi AALTUVEM.

It's good to hear from you! I'm really glad that Zoloft has been helping you and I hope you continue to go from strength to strength. Your attitude is great!

Wishing you all the very best, AALTUVEM!

Take care.

Joanna

Hi mdaltonlpn,

Amen to that! Yay! It is the greatest thing when we find a medication that works for us. I'm so glad you are in this situation. Thanks for sharing.

Take care.

Joanna

Oooooh, don't get me started on relationships..

I hope your day goes really great, and remember, you're not starting at 0 again. You've learned something along the way!

Take care,
Dewayne

Well, family diagnoses are often wrong. Every time someone gets sick my mother still tries to tell them they have a hyperactive thyroid (which is something she's had.)

And I agree, it is a truly wonderful thing when you find something that works for you!

Take care,
Dewayne

Treating anxiety, panic, agoraphobia(i Think).

This may have already been talked about but I feel maybe someone can be candid with me as far as the sexual side effects for MEN. What dose is it more likely to occur? Does it last the entire time your on Zoloft? And finally but most importantly how does it effect you sexually I've read alot and no clear answer, does it cause you not to have the big "O" or does it cause you not to be able to get it up? Please forgive me I've tried to find the answer just nothing super clear, and I know everyone is different but would like to have a heads up for what to look out for.

Hi stang,

You may want to start your own topic about this since I don't think many people will see your post here. Being a woman, I can't offer any helpful input on this one! As you say here, the key point is that we all react differently. But I understand that you would like some feedback from other guys. If you started a new topic in the Zoloft room, I would think that other men taking Zoloft would share some of their experiences with this issue. Good luck to you, stang!

Wishing you all the best.

Joanna

This post has been edited by Joanna: Mar 22 2008, 01:31 PM

Thanks Ill do that.

I would look around some more in the Zoloft room. maybe there is already a topic in there with some answers for you.

Hi, newbie here, been reading for awhile, but sooooo scared I won't come out of this hole. I am on Klonopin for GAD .5 pm and .5 am and started Zoloft slow 25mg day about a week ago. Problem is, with my anxiety comes stomach problems. NOT GERD, just plain old nausea, all day, constant, no appetite. The reason for seeking help was wt loss and anxiety (2 ER visits to just get some relief from nause and stomach pain) no ulcers, just "gastritis" from not eating and the acid build up..........I feel awful all the time. I have 2 kids (6 and 9) that are tired of seeing their mom sick. I dont throw up, just anxious ALL THE TIME. I read such horror stories of Klonopin, and my pdoc wants me on 1mg am and 1mg pm but I HAVE to function. Anyone had anything similar? I am so scared that this will not end. Its been a month since symptoms and 10 pounds GONE.

I have that also. My tummy is the 1st thing to re act. I am not familiar with the Klonopin, but we do have a room called Other meds that will be alot of help. Glad to have you posting to the boards

I feel the same way. When I have a panic attack or bad anxiety, I instantly get a case of bubbleguts. I never thought that anxiety was causing it until I took a xanax for a panic attack, and my stomach problems went away. I've only been on Zoloft for three days at this point, but I hope that the Zoloft decreasing the anxiety / dep / panic attacks will in the long run help my tummy too.

I have been on 100mg for 6 weeks and feel no effects. Still depressed, too anxious to go out.

I am on day 9 at 50mg and the side effects have been sweating, confusion and tiredenesss. I am begininng to have fleeting good moments and sure hope it does get better from here. I am using it for anxiety/depresssion.

I'm just over 3 weeks in, taking 100mg/day for depression and anxiety.
The depression is marginally better, anxiety is the same...maybe a little worse.

I've been on 150mg for the past several months for anxiety, depression and OCD. This drug was a God-send. I could function like a human being.

I started missing doses here and there around nov/dec due to a hectic schedule and irregular sleeping pattern (school induced). It's totally messed me up. So I stopped taking it with the intention of giving it some time and starting from square one with the dosage.

I haven't spoken with my doctor about it because that would require driving there and I lost my car after a DWI charge a few months ago.

After a few weeks of inconsistent usage, I was experiencing EXTREME incapacitating nausea before quickly pinpointing the zoloft and ceasing use for about a month.

Days ago, I decided to try to start again with the same regimen prescribed by my doctor in the beginning-
25mg/2 weeks, 50mg/1 week, 100mg/1 month, 150mg

The only difference is I no longer have the xanax prescription that I used to while I was building my tolerance.

I've read a few similar experiences here, helpful to know this is fairly common circumstance.
But didn't quite find what I was looking for-

Now that I'm on 25mg for the past 3 days, the nausea is back. What can I do? Does it help to eat at particular hours?
I take it right before I got to bed and wake up puking.

For the month I was off the Zoloft I was physically fine. No nausea or awfulness.

But then I felt my anxiety creeping up everywhere. Crying during conversations with a doltish pharmacy tech, my professor (so embarrassing), Obama's Inauguration (though I'm probably not alone there :) GOBAMA!), practically every time I talk to my family- regardless of the nature of the conversation.

I thought that the nauseating side effects were outweighing the benefits but I was wrong. I've got to stop the hysteria.

I never experienced nausea when I initially started the medication a few months ago. No notable side effects whatsoever. I didn't even feel like I was on medication I just felt like a functioning human again.
Anyone have any eating/sleeping regimen to lessen the blow of starting up again?
Did I not give the 'withdrawal' period long enough?
Any and all suggestions welcome.
Thank you.

*This post is longer than I aimed. Thank you for your patience in reading :)

I'm taking zoloft primarily for recurrent, treatment resistant depression, but I'm sure my anxiety was factored into the decision so I voted for both. I've only been on it 9 days now, and still waiting for results. I don't have any side effects (except for some twitching and tingling the first few days). I've been on a lot of different things in the past year and a half, so I'm just hoping this one works!!

I am on zoloft for depression,anxiety and ocd.

I also use "Z" for anxiety. i have been so happy since the med worked. i hope the same for you!

I am on it for treatment of eating disorder (2 years of recovery after 12 years of struggling) anxiety and depression.