# Zoloft is a miracle drug!



## yourfavestoner (Jan 14, 2010)

Kidding, of course.

Tomorrow I go up to 200 mg after a week of 100 mg. Seems my pdoc has shot me up dose wise quite rapidly compared to the norm.

And I may not stop at 200 mg. If I'm still not getting any benefit after 200 mg for a while, he plans to shoot me up further to 300.

As for any benefit, I'm waiting for it to kick in like I'm waiting for a naked Kate Upton to knock on my door. 

So far, I've shockingly experienced sexual dysfunction. No other effects to report. 

I begin a week from hell tomorrow, starting with a total of nine hours of group therapy and worst yet, a date in hell with my GP on the 11th.


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

You should go in there with a giant dildo, a ball gag, a carton of condoms and a giant jar of lubricant and then say "oh group THERAPY". It's a great way to break the ice.


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## ChopSuey (Nov 5, 2012)

I wish you luck with your current treatment, taking meds is very similar to playing a one armed bandit. But you may very well hit the jackpot.

If Zoloft monotherapy fails to satisfy you, then adding Nortriptyline to Zoloft might be highly beneficial as you'll get one of the best (perhaps the very best) 5-HT/NA combination on the market which many older psychiatrists swear by. Be well.


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

Im currently taking 100mg of sertraline and it only helps if I put in the effort. If I just sit there and wait for the drug to do the work it wont help me..Latuda, risperdal, and clonazepam seem to help without having to do anything


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## Captainmycaptain (Sep 23, 2012)

Google search "SSRIs sugar pill" and you will know that you are just wasting your money. We are all doomed.


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## swim (Apr 4, 2011)

I had a lot of bloating at 200mg zoloft, and anxiety through the roof.


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## Fenren (Sep 20, 2009)

It helped me for my major depression...a little bit, nothing for the anxiety, felt even less like doing anything really and floated through the day. The side effects were still bad after 4 months though, got sick of taking it and feeling constant fatigue. Then basically stopped cold turkey. Triple brain zaps for weeks are fun!


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## SilentLyric (Aug 20, 2012)

a lower sex drive would be a blessing for me. I should get on zoloft. and I'm paranoid pretty much all the time.


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## AussiePea (Mar 27, 2007)

It helped me a lot when I was doing therapy along with it, however the fact it made me so tired that I almost fell asleep at the wheel of my car a few times was enough to get me off it. Hopefully with the therapy you can make progress though.


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## Zil (Feb 5, 2011)

At some point you have to wonder if taking more will really help at all. Your immune system will start rejecting parts of the drug and either cause you nausea or other unwanted side-effects whilst not improving at all your state.

Not saying it's bad or anything, but I would be more precautionary about jacking it up.


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## swim (Apr 4, 2011)

ChopSuey said:


> I wish you luck with your current treatment, taking meds is very similar to playing a one armed bandit. But you may very well hit the jackpot.
> 
> If Zoloft monotherapy fails to satisfy you, then *adding Nortriptyline to Zoloft might be highly beneficial* as you'll get one of the best (perhaps the very best) 5-HT/NA combination on the market which many older psychiatrists swear by. Be well.


also high dose zoloft + low dose abilify might do the trick.


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

Zoloft has been the only thing that has had a positive impact of my depression and lessened my anxiety. All the failed ones are in my sig.

Im not even getting sexual dysfunction since bumping to 200mg


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## swim (Apr 4, 2011)

seriously, gabapentin is a miracle drug.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

A Sense of Purpose said:


> Zoloft has been the only thing that has had a positive impact of my depression and lessened my anxiety. All the failed ones are in my sig.
> 
> Im not even getting sexual dysfunction since bumping to 200mg


Great to hear that your combos working out, is it helping your SA alot too?


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

jim_morrison said:


> Great to hear that your combos working out, is it helping your SA alot too?


I think the Olanzapine in combination with the Zoloft has been the biggest improvement on my GAD/SAD.

Either alone are only slightly effective, but the two together are synergistic. I'm either going through a mixed state atm because im either lethargic (the past 2 weeks) or borderline manic/hypomanic. Ive been agitated recently but I have also had pericarditis so theres a lot going on in my system.

I just need to get healthy again and re-evaluate. Everything was fine and great before I got sick.

I think things are normalising again.
I see my psych in a week after being on 200mg Zoloft. I am considering a switch to Effexor if he doesn't give me reboxetine. But i'd really like to try and add reboxetine due to how effective Zoloft is.


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## bazinga (Jun 9, 2010)

I have found antipsychotics to be fairly effective for anxiety. I take for bipolar, but I notice it slows my brain down where I can think more calmly and focus which helps to reduce my anxiety.

SSRI don't really do anything for me. I found Zoloft to be stimulating though which might help some people.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

A Sense of Purpose said:


> I think the Olanzapine in combination with the Zoloft has been the biggest improvement on my GAD/SAD.
> 
> Either alone are only slightly effective, but the two together are synergistic. I'm either going through a mixed state atm because im either lethargic (the past 2 weeks) or borderline manic/hypomanic. Ive been agitated recently but I have also had pericarditis so theres a lot going on in my system.
> 
> ...


Yeah could just be the recovery from pericarditis that's knocking you around and not mood disorder related. Seems like your doctor want's to keep you stable on your current combo and not muck around, so maybe asking to raise Zoloft to 300mg for more DRI effect and/or Zyprexa to 7.5mg (has some DA and NE enhancing properties too) might help. If all that still fails for energy I assume Modafinil would be most favoured.


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## yourfavestoner (Jan 14, 2010)

swim said:


> seriously, gabapentin is a miracle drug.


Was that a joke as my calling Zoloft a miracle drug was?

I previously took Gabapentin 300 mg 3x daily and couldn't have differentiated it from a sugar pill. No effect whatsoever.

It never ceases to amaze how quickly SSRIs kill sexual function. The _first day_ I took Paxil way back I had anorgasmia that night. Luvox killed my sex drive immediately. And Zoloft also kicked in just like that.

Anyway, today'll be day four at 200 mg. Still no side effects outside of sexual dysfunction. The only thing I'll say for SSRIs is outside of sexual dysfunction, they don't cause me any side effects - though that one is quite irritating to start with.

SNRI's are higher on my **** list than SSRIs. Cymcrapta caused a plethora of side effects, and was horrific in withdrawal as is typical of SNRIs. I've sworn off SNRIs for good, non-negotiable.


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## swim (Apr 4, 2011)

yourfavestoner said:


> Was that a joke as my calling Zoloft a miracle drug was?
> 
> I previously took Gabapentin 300 mg 3x daily and couldn't have differentiated it from a sugar pill. No effect whatsoever.
> 
> ...


gabapentin can wipe away all the worries for some hours, it works mainly for GAD sufferers, like me.
You'll learn to love the sexual side effects that antidepressants provide you, because sex only leads to bad things for anxious and depressed persons... apart from enjoying porn and being a peeping Tom, late at night in that parking lot...


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## yourfavestoner (Jan 14, 2010)

swim said:


> gabapentin can wipe away all the worries for some hours, it works mainly for GAD sufferers, like me.
> You'll learn to love the sexual side effects that antidepressants provide you, because sex only leads to bad things for anxious and depressed persons... apart from enjoying porn and being a peeping Tom, late at night in that parking lot...


I certainly know Gabapentin has helped some people, as savedbybenzos was also singing its praises. Glad to hear you've benefited.

As for me, I simply couldn't differentiate it from placebo.


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

jim_morrison said:


> Yeah could just be the recovery from pericarditis that's knocking you around and not mood disorder related. Seems like your doctor want's to keep you stable on your current combo and not muck around, so maybe asking to raise Zoloft to 300mg for more DRI effect and/or Zyprexa to 7.5mg (has some DA and NE enhancing properties too) might help. If all that still fails for energy I assume Modafinil would be most favoured.


Jim, do you know much about the pros and cons of splitting dosages?
For example, taking 150mg Zoloft in the morning, then taking an additional 50mg that night?

Know If there is anything suggesting it may help morning fatigue?

Also, turns out I have an STI (curable/treatable) from a girl I saw, so I was loaded up with an intramuscular antibiotic along with 2 hardcore antibiotic tablets. That was fun to find out. How embarrassing.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

A Sense of Purpose said:


> Jim, do you know much about the pros and cons of splitting dosages?
> For example, taking 150mg Zoloft in the morning, then taking an additional 50mg that night?
> 
> Know If there is anything suggesting it may help morning fatigue?


Not sure, I haven't heard of that helping, but if your finding it wears off too quickly it might I guess.


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## friendly14 (Apr 18, 2013)

so Zoloft really is a bad med with the brain zaps other side effects and fatigue? maybe I shouldn't take it...
what exactly are those brain zaps and other side effects from? like what mechanism causes them- I read they might be permanent. anything that causes brain shocks can't be good I mean these pharma companies make money off of us


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## CoolRanch (Mar 24, 2013)

Wow 300mg. I've never heard of a doc prescribing any more than 200mg/day.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

friendly14 said:


> so Zoloft really is a bad med with the brain zaps other side effects and fatigue? maybe I shouldn't take it...
> what exactly are those brain zaps and other side effects from? like what mechanism causes them- I read they might be permanent. anything that causes brain shocks can't be good *I mean these pharma companies make money off of u*s


You do realize that every company there is makes money off of _us_, right? I assume that you buy and eat food, all of those companies make a very good profit from you. That only means that you buy a product from them.


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## Cletis (Oct 10, 2011)

I take 100 mgs of Sertraline daily and have for quite some time. It helps me a lot. It doesn't "cure" my anxiety but it sure does knock it back. I also get sexual dysfunction but I've found that to be getting less and less over time. The most I've ever taken was 150 mgs back when I was severely anxious. It helps but works very gradually. If you're looking for an overnight cure, Zoloft ain't it.


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## yourfavestoner (Jan 14, 2010)

CoolRanch said:


> Wow 300mg. I've never heard of a doc prescribing any more than 200mg/day.


UltraShy went up to 300 mg of Zoloft. My pdoc had specifically told me he'd had success before going up to 300 mg, so it's apparently not that uncommon.


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## friendly14 (Apr 18, 2013)

why take Zoloft if it doesn't help that much and it destroys your libido and gives you brain shocks? I think I've gone impotent already before zoloft


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

friendly14 said:


> why take Zoloft if it doesn't help that much and it destroys your libido and gives you brain shocks? I think I've gone impotent already before zoloft


Well, don't take it if you already know that it doesn't help you. It would be foolish to take it again in that case. Also if you are already impotent, why do you care if a medication "kills your libido?" I mean, if you are already impotent then you have nothing to worry about. That would be like if a paraplegic cared that a medication might cause pain in the ankle joint, He can't feel his ankles so it wouldn't affect him, right?


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## friendly14 (Apr 18, 2013)

I'm all new to Zoloft and I have a fear of going outside and severe depression...
does it really help? after developing asthma and breathing problems I was very depressed and that may cause memory damage. I don't want the sexual side effects

obviously something is going on if you get brain shocks/zaps?


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## yourfavestoner (Jan 14, 2010)

friendly14 said:


> I'm all new to Zoloft and I have a fear of going outside and severe depression...
> does it really help? after developing asthma and breathing problems I was very depressed and that may cause memory damage. I don't want the sexual side effects
> 
> obviously something is going on if you get brain shocks/zaps?


How long have you been on it? Dose?

I wouldn't be waiting for positive effects if I were you. SSRIs are garbage. Chances are awfully high you will have sexual side effects.

I've been up to 300 mg of this garbage for close to two weeks. I should be done pretty soon and then the 14 day wait for Parnate will begin.


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## friendly14 (Apr 18, 2013)

I've been on 50-100mg for a week and now 50mg and I really regret it. I think they should only be prescribed if you are suicidal because of the damage they do. And taking drug combos sounds terrible. the docs that prescribe never experience the side effects of patients and make a lot of money off of us


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## friendly14 (Apr 18, 2013)

you don't have to take these meds and I don't think social anxiety is really a good reason to take them
anyway I just feel like a failure in my career and don't see the point of living fogginess and breathing problems, sleep apnea...


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## yourfavestoner (Jan 14, 2010)

friendly14 said:


> you don't have to take these meds and I don't think social anxiety is really a good reason to take them


Why not? It's a serious mental ailment - disabling, even.


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