Hi,
My name is Lisa.I have been on zoloft for about three months now.I am only taking 25mg.I can't tolerate 50 mg .Because I am very sensitive to most anti-depressants.At first even 25mg gave me severe tremors and severe headaches along with nausea.The side-effects are better.But I still get some dizziy spells and headaches.I don't know if it is coming from the Zoloft or not.But my anxiety is still there,but a little better.
My doctor says 25mg is fine for me.But you probably could take a higher dosage if you were on it before.

Did it help you when you were on it a while back? My doctor feels like Zolft or Lexapro are to two best meds for anxiety and panic disorder.
I hope you start to feel better!
Take Care!
Lisa

Thanks for your reply, Lisa. I have taken both 50 and 100mg in the past. I do remember it made me a little shaky, but after time I felt better. I do remember getting headaches when I first started...the band around the forehead feeling. I have tried lexapro and really like it. I think it's great for anxiety, but it makes me hungry. It used to make me itch really bad, but that went away. I want to eat all the time when I'm on lexapro for some reason. I hope the zoloft continues to work for you.

Hi-I take it for depression and anxiety. I find it actually helps my anxiety a lot more than the depression. I used to be terrible...not going out and worried and panicking about every single thing-even making a cup of tea would send me mad!!! After a few weeks on the medication I started to go out and a few months later I was much better..still get depressed but am able to deal with it a lot better xxxx

marmitejar, what mg are you taking? I'm glad it's working for you. You're lucky to have found something to work for you.

I 'm new here and just started taking zoloft 3 days ago.

I am taking it for depression that my doc thinks is caused by anxiety.

I don't know though!

I'm taking 25 mg to start, hoping thats all I'm going to need.

I take Zoloft for anxiety and obsessive thoughts. It's been great for that! As far as depression goes, it has made me feel rather numb, so my doctor added Wellbutrin, which helped a lot.

Of course, everyone is different!

-Ari

i took zoloft mainly for anxiety (also took it for mild depression), i have a lot of problems with general anxiety. i absolutley loved everything about zoloft.. it wiped away about 90% of my everyday anxiety issues, made me much more happy, less strung out, energetic (i guess because it lifted the depression), etc. i had to discontinue taking it because i gained about 25+ pounds on it. for me, that was a more horrible feeling than how i felt before taking the medication.

anyways, very good for my anxiety problems, but if you are concerned with weight, i would be cautious about zoloft.

I've taken zoloft in the past and gained weight on it. Ugh! It figures what works would cause that! I didn't realize until I was researching meds the ohter day that zoloft is approved for all anxiety disorders except gad. I thought it was approved for just about everything. Oh well!

Zoloft can help all types of anxiety, including GAD. Just because a medicine doesn't have an indication for a disorder, doesn't mean it doesn't help. All ssri's can be helpful for anxiety.

I am taking Zoloft for anxiety and depression. I been on it for 2 months and take 100 mg a day. I find it did a good job of lower my anxiety. I am not so anxious when I am out and I can function better. I do get the numb feeling and in the mornings I can feel a little spacey and tired. It has reduced my depression some what, but not completely.

This post has been edited by nevel: Dec 7 2006, 09:58 PM

Talk to your doctor about raising the dose a little. 100mg is an average dose, some people respond better to higher doses, dosage range is 50-200mg.

This post has been edited by enthusiast: Dec 8 2006, 03:48 AM

Nevel:

Feeling tired and spacey in the morning is a common complaint amongst those on Zoloft. Talk to your doc. You may need a change is dosage.

-Bean

I have been on Zoloft since may 19th for panic attacks. It has made a huge difference. I feel so much better. I was having attacks for 5 yrs before i even went to the doc. I thought I was dying. I take 50mg in the morning. the only side effects I have is I sometimes need a nap in the afternoon. And the sexual side effect is there but there are times that it can happen for me. But considering how i felt b4 I cn live with it. It took the full 8 weeks for it to work. and it was like one day i just woke up and was better the se's were gone and I could go out and eat at a resturant again. Now I don't even reall think about it anymore. I'm so glad i found my magic pill to make me better. Good luck to all of you. i hope you all find yours.

Ive been on 100mg a day for Severe anxeity and deppresion, but i feel its not working. I was originally started on it because of this at 50mg a day and increased too 100 because i was in physical pain and the Doc said it heightens your pain threshold. Im glad its working for some of you as despite my best efforts im turning into the complete arsehole i was at the begining of the school year.

Zoloft is really a pill for depression, not anxiety. It generally works better on people who are DOWN, rather than unpleasantly UP, if you see what I mean. This is for the same reason it's not usually used in bipolar - it can encourage slight mania, which is great if you're so depressed you can't move, not so great if you're anxious or if you have a tendency to mania in the first place as part of the illness.

That's not to say it never works for anxiety or bipolar - some people swear by it, etc. But if a doctor has given it out as the first choice for anxiety, that's strange, because along with Prozac it's the least recommended SSRI for this purpose. A lot of doctors just have a "favourite" drug that they give out on a one-size-fits-all basis, either because they've seen it work well in a lot of previous patients, or because they got a nice set of golf clubs from the manufacturers as an incentive so it might be that. Whatever, you may want to try something else if it isn't working after a few months, because Zoloft not working well for anxiety is very common.

Backslap:

Have you discussed this with your doc? A different med may work better for you.

How long have you been taking Zoloft?

Please keep us posted.

-Bean

Ajumbledmess:

I'm so glad you've found some relief! Good for you!

Are you taking anything else? Are you in therapy?

Please keep us posted with how you're doing.

-Bean

well said

im not in therapy cause i dont have ins and cant afford it and i do have my xanax if things get real bad

Jumbled:

There are many therapists who charge on a sliding scale, based on your ability to pay. Call your local hospital, ask for the "patient services" department. They should be able to make a referral for you.

-Bean

Thanks bean. i have gone that route and according to them since both me and my H go to work everyday we r considered over the income levels for this type of help

Heather:

I'm sorry that the sliding scale route won't work for you. If I have any other ideas, I'll let you know immediately.

-Bean

thanks i really appreciate it. i know it is corney but......i have here and it helps

I know this is an oldish topic, but thought I'd reply. I've been on Zoloft for about 4 months for depression and anxiety. I can't say it's helped the depression because I just feel so low all the time and I have something on my mind that I really need to talk about, but I can't because I haven't made enough posts and it's making me cry. As for the anxiety, it has helped a lot. I used to have a really bad temper and I'd get so anxious over the smallest thing. I'm a lot calmer now and I don't get as nervous as I used to. Haven't lost my temper in quite a while.

I just wish the depression would go away!!

I'm taking it for both generalized anxiety and depression. I hope it works for me!

It sounds like the zoloft is working for you. Maybe you need to talk to your doc about a dosage increase. I have an anger problem and anxiety problems as well. It seems to go with the depession. I just started generic zoloft six days ago. I've been on several AD's without any luck. I've also had problems with side effects from them so for a while I refused to take anything. That only made it worse. I have high hopes for the zoloft. I just hope it works soon. I'm also looking into cbt therapy so I can deal with the things that got me into this situation. I must admit I don't understand how me making mistakes in my judgement or the decisons I've made in my life got me depressed when I feel I was depressed before a lot of those things happened. Did that make sense? But, I'm willing to try anything to get well.
I hope my temper improves as yours has. I feel so guilty when I lash out.
Keep reading and keep posting replies. Soon you'll be able to start your own topic. This site is a life saver. I've learned so much from the people here. I'm sure you will too.

Good luck

Cheryl

I was on Escitalopram before I was on Sertraline and I though that dealt much better
with my anxiety, I seem to have taken a step backwards since changing.

strat

It helps but i dont think it has made it go away. I still have to rely on my xanax sometimes

Zoloft seems to help my anxiety, but it doesn't get rid of it. I also take amitryptilin (Elavil) at night, and that seems to help "cure" the anxiety, so to speak. The combination works far better than either drug alone for me.

Take care,
DB