One month on anxiety medication.

Trigger Warning: anxiety, medication, side effects, mental health in general

I recently posted about starting anxiety medication and how it’s been after 10 days. I’m now a month into taking the medication and it’s turned out even better than I thought.

Starting Skeptical

When I first started Sertraline, I wasn’t sure if it was going to help me or not. I didn’t know if I’d need to change doses or just medication in general. I was expecting side effects and for it to not really do anything until week 3 or 4.

And pretty much, the exact opposite of everything happened.

Side effects?

Very minimal. I had a hard time sleeping for the first week. My anxiety was at its height during the night, but after a week, I was sleeping the best I had in months.

Some very slight dizziness in the beginning as well, but it left after a couple of days.

One of the things I heard most about was having vivid dreams, but I kind of already have vivid dreams so I don’t think I was effected at all by that.

And a bit of a dry mouth, but again, that’s also gone.

So, now a month in, I have zero side effects, and they were all gone by week 3.

How long it took to work?

Within a couple of days I felt a difference and within a week, it’s like I did a 180.

So, now a month in, I’m having a much easier time managing my anxiety. It can still come around but not even close to how bad it was. It’s like the logical side of my brain came out of a fog and I could actually relax.

And obviously, everyone is different. I knew people who didn’t feel anything until week 3 or 4, so it just ended up working out that way for me.

The Future

I had an appointment with my doctor, who gave me a 3 month prescription and I’ll see her again when that time is up. She was super happy to see how much it helped me and I couldn’t believe how scared I was about taking it.

I should also note that I’m taking 50 mg. My doctor did say if it feels like it’s not working as well later on, she can up the dose, but for now, it’s working great.

I’m also still talking to a therapist once a week, spending 15-30 minutes outside most days, eating enough, and getting back into a routine. I know I’m feeling better when I’m taking care of my skin again.

I really wish I would have given medication a chance earlier. For a while, it felt like I was cheating at getting better but that’s something I’ve had talks about with my therapist and she’s reminded me (as well as my doctor) that I didn’t do anything. It’s the chemicals in my brain and they needed some help.

I’m not sure how long I’ll be on Sertraline, but I’m happy and comfortable being on it for a while.

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