FEEL LIKE CRAP

[tweger]

I have been started on 50 mg of zoloft and its been 6 days and i feel like ****. i feel like im out of my body or on the verge of going crazy or something. called my doc 3 times today waiting for reply. is this normal? am i taking too much?

[hankins]

I tried several meds before i settled on one that agrees with me. keep a good line of communication with your doc and explain how you feel. he may reccommend a different med for you. I take effexor now and its marvelous. I feel normal. it may not work well with other people though. so keep trying until you find the right med/dosage for you...under doctors supervision of course.

[cj29]

I just started taking Zoloft again about 3-4 weeks ago.  I initially took it in 2005-2006 when I first started having panic attacks.  My anxiety returned recently and I have been taking it again and am now up 100mg a day (that is where I am staying).  From personal experience, I felt a whole lot worse the first couple of weeks I began taking the medication and as I have been going up every week.  I feel and felt a little more on edge and my experience is the same as 3 years ago.  After about 4 weeks or so I started to feel better and found the anxiety starting to subside.  I know that it is hard in the beginning, but in the end it seemed to work for me.  Zoloft was not a fix for me, but combined with counseling worked very well after about a month.  I took it for around a year the first time and will probably be on it for a year again.  At first, I was against medication, but it is there to help and it did (for me).  Just ensure you get therapy as well.  Talking it through with a professional helps you to understand why you think the way you do.  Also, use this forum for questions, because there are a lot of people in the same boat as you, who have gone through this.  This is also a great tool to use.

[RubyWitch]

Hey Toots,
Big deep breath, right now!
You have just recently started on Zoloft, a med I have no persoanl experience with, but which many on this forum have. I hope they wade in with some "real life" experiences to help you come to grips with what you are going through.
I can feel your anxiety regarding this med from way out here and understand it totally. ANY new med we are put on usually has a period of adjustment attatched to it. The med book we use at work says "The therapeutic effect of Zoloft MAY take one week OR longer." The dosage you are on (50 mg qd) is the smallest dose available. (The max dose is 200 mg qd)
I am glad you have contacted your doctor reagarding how you are feeling. I can't say that it is the Zoloft doing this to you. Some folks DO have a hyper-sensitivity to this med and all the SSRI's. It's POSSIBLE you may be one of them. It's also possible you just need to give it a a little more time to reach that therapeutic level in your body and begin to offer you some relief. Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.
Due to some recent posts on this forum, I feel the need to tell you that I am NOT a doctor or a pharmacist. Only they can tell you if what you are feeling is "normal" or not. Since you are waiting for a reply from your doc, which in my experience can take MONTHS if you don't take on the quality of a "squeaky wheel," my next best recommendation is to call your local pharmacist and talk very frankly to them about what is happening to you. They cannot change your meds in any way either and their advice is going to be that which you have already done.........contact your doctor! But....in the meantime, they CAN tell you about the side effects of this med and possibly reassure you that what is going on is a "normal" adjustment phase. Or, they can discern if you are POSSIBLY having an adverse reaction to it and again will tell you to see your doctor immediately. I'm sorry that I am unable to give you a difinitive answer to your questions about your reactions being "normal," or if you are taking too much. As stated above, ONLY your doc can answer those questions. Keep calling, ask to speak to his/her PA if they have one...........they can cut to the front of the line, so to speak, if they realize you are in a bit of a crisis and get some answers for you.
Hang in there.
And here!
Keep posting and let us know how you're doing.
Peace
Greenlydia
      

[amish1979]

SSRIs with almost everybody will make you feel worse before they make you feel better.  This is a very normal feeling and there are many, many people on this site who experienced the same feelings and asked the exact same question.  It will pass.  I believe it can take up to 4 weeks for the full affect of SSRIs to kick in (and that does not mean you will feel THIS BAD for four weeks).