Been Prescribed Sertraline - Help

[A.R]

Anxiety and stress management has become unbearable, so visited the doctor.

Any ideas how I can use this drug as safely as possible, by minimising the bad effects?

 

[thomas00]

have you considered using something else that's much safer? there's plenty of options- thyroid, pregnenolone, niacinamide, aspirin, lisuride, metergoline, mirtazapine, whatever you can do with diet

 

[A.R]

Y

have you considered using something else that's much safer? there's plenty of options- thyroid, pregnenolone, niacinamide, aspirin, lisuride, metergoline, mirtazapine, whatever you can do with diet

Yes I've tried majority of these options, and I'm aware of all the dangers of ssri, but after exhausting all the peaty avenues, I thought I'll try the pharma route.

 

[lampofred]

I wonder if baclofen would be a better substitute for SSRIs.

 

[thomas00]

how about propranolol too....pretty dirty drug though

Propranolol in the treatment of anxiety. - PubMed - NCBI

 

[thomas00]

I don't think taking sertraline would ever be worth it, even if you were to take a serotonin antagonist with it. I got tardive dystonia from coming off a fairly large dose of it.

 

[member 2106]

Anxiety and stress management has become unbearable, so visited the doctor.

Any ideas how I can use this drug as safely as possible, by minimising the bad effects?

Maybe start with a low dose and build up. Give it a few months and see what happens? But you either take the meds or you don’t. There’s no middle ground. Accept that.

 

[Kingpinguin]

Anxiety and stress management has become unbearable, so visited the doctor.

Any ideas how I can use this drug as safely as possible, by minimising the bad effects?

ive used sertraline with great success. The trick is to take it in low doses. Think the doctor prescribes 50mg per day as the lowest right? Its too high take it as 25 mg per day or even try and split that to 12,5mg per day. It will take 2-3 weeks before you start seeing improvements and sleep will probably get worse first and your anxiety will likely also gey worse at first but its really only temporary and with lower dose you can avoid that and with lower dosage it didnt kill my libido it actually improved it after awhile.

 

[Kingpinguin]

Maybe start with a low dose and build up. Give it a few months and see what happens? But you either take the meds or you don’t. There’s no middle ground. Accept that.

like walden said the trick is low dose. The actual prescribed medical dose is way too high. They just dont realize it. Sertraline in my opinion was more effective at lower dose and with less side effects

 

[A.R]

ive used sertraline with great success. The trick is to take it in low doses. Think the doctor prescribes 50mg per day as the lowest right? Its too high take it as 25 mg per day or even try and split that to 12,5mg per day. It will take 2-3 weeks before you start seeing improvements and sleep will probably get worse first and your anxiety will likely also gey worse at first but its really only temporary and with lower dose you can avoid that and with lower dosage it didnt kill my libido it actually improved it after awhile.

Yes I have 50mg tablets. I will try low dose thanks.

How long have you been taking the tablets? What were the most positive effects you experienced? Are you taking any other medication/supplements?

Maybe start with a low dose and build up. Give it a few months and see what happens? But you either take the meds or you don’t. There’s no middle ground. Accept that.

I was thinking of combining things like fat soluble vitamins and progesterone dhea

 

[Kingpinguin]

Yes I have 50mg tablets. I will try low dose thanks.

How long have you been taking the tablets? What were the most positive effects you experienced? Are you taking any other medication/supplements?


I was thinking of combining things like fat soluble vitamins and progesterone dhea

i took it for 6 months in total. that was 4 years ago. Had some symptoms coming off it aswell but nothing not manageable. While I was on them everything in life was fantastic. I was sleeping the best Ive ever been. Always waking up fresh never tired. My mood was always good, always happy. I did my work much better. I got promoted and got me a good looking girl friend. My anxiety was blown out the window and life had a new interesting spark to it. This is no joke thats actually how it made me feel. When I did quit them I went back to my miserable me again. But since then I did cure that aswell so now I am a happy person all the time. Ps no never took any other meds at the same time as sertraline and Ive never used a pharmacutical or supplement that was so effective at it was either. But bear in mind take 1 month to start seeing improvements and I would say 3 months for the full blown effect

 

[A.R]

i took it for 6 months in total. that was 4 years ago. Had some symptoms coming off it aswell but nothing not manageable. While I was on them everything in life was fantastic. I was sleeping the best Ive ever been. Always waking up fresh never tired. My mood was always good, always happy. I did my work much better. I got promoted and got me a good looking girl friend. My anxiety was blown out the window and life had a new interesting spark to it. This is no joke thats actually how it made me feel. When I did quit them I went back to my miserable me again. But since then I did cure that aswell so now I am a happy person all the time. Ps no never took any other meds at the same time as sertraline and Ive never used a pharmacutical or supplement that was so effective at it was either. But bear in mind take 1 month to start seeing improvements and I would say 3 months for the full blown effect

Thank You for your experience

 

[member 2106]

Thank You for your experience

@A.R did you take the Sertraline in the end?

 

[thomas00]

I came across this, if you are still insistent on taking this drug. Im sure its probably been mentioned before:



Fluoxetine and norfluoxetine stereospecifically and selectively increase brain neurosteroid content at doses that are inactive on 5-HT reuptake.

Thus, the neurosteroid-induced positive allosteric modulation of GABA action at GABAA receptors is facilitated by fluoxetine or its congeners (i.e., paroxetine, fluvoxamine, sertraline), which may not block 5-HT reuptake at the doses currently prescribed in the clinic. However, these doses are effective in the treatment of premenstrual dysphoria, anxiety, and depression. In socially isolated mice, we tested the hypothesis that fluoxetine, norfluoxetine, and other specific serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) congeners stereoselectively upregulate neurosteroid content at doses insufficient to inhibit 5-HT reuptake; although they potentiate pentobarbital-induced sedation and exert antiaggressive action. Very importantly, the inhibition of 5-HT reuptake lacks stereospecificity and requires fluoxetine and norfluoxetine doses that are 50-fold greater than those required to increase brain Allo content, potentiate the action of pentobarbital, or antagonize isolation-induced aggression

Fluoxetine and norfluoxetine stereospecifically and selectively increase brain neurosteroid content at doses that are inactive on 5-HT reuptake. - PubMed - NCBI


So if preg or progesterone isn't doing it for you it looks as if you could utilize a dose of sertraline which would get you so some good effects without increasing serotonin. Maybe....

 

[member 2106]

I came across this, if you are still insistent on taking this drug. Im sure its probably been mentioned before:



Fluoxetine and norfluoxetine stereospecifically and selectively increase brain neurosteroid content at doses that are inactive on 5-HT reuptake.

Thus, the neurosteroid-induced positive allosteric modulation of GABA action at GABAA receptors is facilitated by fluoxetine or its congeners (i.e., paroxetine, fluvoxamine, sertraline), which may not block 5-HT reuptake at the doses currently prescribed in the clinic. However, these doses are effective in the treatment of premenstrual dysphoria, anxiety, and depression. In socially isolated mice, we tested the hypothesis that fluoxetine, norfluoxetine, and other specific serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) congeners stereoselectively upregulate neurosteroid content at doses insufficient to inhibit 5-HT reuptake; although they potentiate pentobarbital-induced sedation and exert antiaggressive action. Very importantly, the inhibition of 5-HT reuptake lacks stereospecificity and requires fluoxetine and norfluoxetine doses that are 50-fold greater than those required to increase brain Allo content, potentiate the action of pentobarbital, or antagonize isolation-induced aggression

Fluoxetine and norfluoxetine stereospecifically and selectively increase brain neurosteroid content at doses that are inactive on 5-HT reuptake. - PubMed - NCBI


So if preg or progesterone isn't doing it for you it looks as if you could utilize a dose of sertraline which would get you so some good effects without increasing serotonin. Maybe....

Very, very interesting.

 

[A.R]

@A.R did you take the Sertraline in the end?

I only took half a 50mg tab once. I'm just scared of it increasing even more brain/gut serotonin.

Instead I've been trying to eat liver almost daily. That is helping with physical and mental energy levels, and is helping me cope with stress a lot better than when I was not eating liver, so it's certainly not placebo

I came across this, if you are still insistent on taking this drug. Im sure its probably been mentioned before:



Fluoxetine and norfluoxetine stereospecifically and selectively increase brain neurosteroid content at doses that are inactive on 5-HT reuptake.

Thus, the neurosteroid-induced positive allosteric modulation of GABA action at GABAA receptors is facilitated by fluoxetine or its congeners (i.e., paroxetine, fluvoxamine, sertraline), which may not block 5-HT reuptake at the doses currently prescribed in the clinic. However, these doses are effective in the treatment of premenstrual dysphoria, anxiety, and depression. In socially isolated mice, we tested the hypothesis that fluoxetine, norfluoxetine, and other specific serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) congeners stereoselectively upregulate neurosteroid content at doses insufficient to inhibit 5-HT reuptake; although they potentiate pentobarbital-induced sedation and exert antiaggressive action. Very importantly, the inhibition of 5-HT reuptake lacks stereospecificity and requires fluoxetine and norfluoxetine doses that are 50-fold greater than those required to increase brain Allo content, potentiate the action of pentobarbital, or antagonize isolation-induced aggression

Fluoxetine and norfluoxetine stereospecifically and selectively increase brain neurosteroid content at doses that are inactive on 5-HT reuptake. - PubMed - NCBI


So if preg or progesterone isn't doing it for you it looks as if you could utilize a dose of sertraline which would get you so some good effects without increasing serotonin. Maybe....

What dose would you recommend to take? What symptoms can I look out for to see if the drug is doing good or harm to me?

 

[A.R]

Also note I've tried both Lisuride and bromocriptine in the past, which are both 'dopaminergic' drugs. Had bad effects from both, mainly feeling an adrenaline sort of rush in my body

 

[thomas00]

What dose would you recommend to take? What symptoms can I look out for to see if the drug is doing good or harm to me?

I can't see the full text so I can't read what dose they used in that experiment sorry