I just need to know if anyone is taking zoloft or know anyone that has taken it?

The reason I am asking is because I went to my doctors office and he put me on it. I would like to know a little more about it.
I have gone on the net and read about it and the doctor told me some things about it. But I need to hear it from first hand experience.
:)

Milani I took Zoloft for a while. Doctors like to start with it because it is so gentle that it is actually used most for elderly people.

What I found is that it seems to work very well for people who have moderate depression, but for me it stopped working because my depression is so severe.

I can tell you that it has very few side effects . It can be somewhat drying so up your intake of water, and it can make it so that you have no sexual response or desire for sex (that is fixable, the drying part isn't.) It can make you sleepy for the first few days you take it but after that its fine. I liked that it took away my apetite!

Like I said, it's for moderate depression. If your symptoms come back or don't dissipate at all, go back to your doctor and ask him/her to recommend a psychiatrist, since psychs specialize in "mental meds"

Good luck to you

Thank you very much!!
but it has a sexual side effect :shakey: that really sucks :lol:

Thanks again.

I used zoloft briefly a few years back when I was going through SEVERE depression. I'll tell you my experience first hand:

It didn't do jack for me. Nothing. It didn't relieve ANY of my depression. The doctor told me he put me on a low dosage on purpose. I doubled my intake. Still nothing.

Hey... maybe it does work for some, but it did nothing for me. If you have slight depression it might work, but I strongly disagree that it works for severe depression. Alcohol works great for that! (j/k)

I also disagree that it kills the sex drive. Maybe some users have that side affect, but I've never heard of it. I was still a nympho while taking it. I only used zoloft for a few weeks before giving up on it.

I had no side affects. Not a one. The side affects will depend on the person. For example, my allergy medicine makes me sleepy, but it doesn't do that to everybody. Just depends on your body.

So am I saying don't try it? No... go right ahead. Everybody is different. It might work wonders for you.

For me it was useless. I might as well have taken Flintstones chewables instead.

Just my 2 cents.

Earlier in the year I had a bad fall. I got whiplash and electricuted (low voltage). About a month later I started getting really bad dizzy spells and nerve damage. Well, I told the DRs about my fall but they told me they had to first test me for other things like MS and Lupus. I totally started having panic attacks after that. Why can't they keep their mouths shut. So, he put me on the smallest dosage of Zoloft until we could get all the MRIs, cat scans and stuff done. He knew it would be a while and I was pretty well paniced. I have to say my panic went down about 60%. Of course all the tests came back clear and they said oh yeah you have whiplash, TMJ and nerve damage from the fall. Jeeze ya think?!? So, I'd say give it a shot. It really calmed me down during that time. It did make me pretty blah for the first week or so. I hated it at first. I'm not one for taking meds anyway. But after a bit of time it did help! No, side effects after a week or so either. None at all. So, give it a shot and don't worry about the sex thing. I don't think anything will bring down your sex drive girl!:p :D

Thank you so much both of you for your different experiences.
I hope it works for me. I really need something right now. I have been depressed now for a couple of months and I can't seem to get out of it. So I had to ask for help. I thought I could deal with it by myself but it got harder and harder to snap out of it.
This is my second day on it so I guess only time will tell.
Thanks again!

Milani, I liked seeing this thread today, because guess what I just got prescibed for me this morning!:lol: Great, we can be the Zoloft twins.:p

My doc prescribed it for me because I told him my sister is on it and it's been doing her good for her depression, so supposedly it's should work well for me too. My sister swears by it. It hasn't fixed all the stresses in her life, but it helps her get through them better. The only side effect she has noticed is that her dreams are more vivid and bizzarre.

I hope it works as well for me and you as it does for her.;) PM me anytime if you want to talk about it.:)

I'm on Paxil. Not sure how that compares to Zoloft. I know that it took a few weeks for me to really start to notice a difference. Can take a while to get into your system. Done me a world of good though. Helps me deal with things a little easier. Plus I had my first panic attack the day before I started on it. That's no fun. Only had 2 to date, but they scare the hell out of you.

Wish you both luck on your meds. :)

Milani just remember that it can take up to 30 days for it to fully work, but if you don't see at least some small changes within a couple of weeks let your doc know, you may need to boost the dosage.

As far as the sex thing ,don't worry about it. There are meds that will help to counter that.

Great, we can be the Zoloft twins

Great :D let me know how you are doing on it.

Thanks you guys for your input. I have been on it for almost a week and I am noticing some side effects.... my tongue tingles and sometimes it gets numb :shakey:
Weird!!! But I will give it a couple more days before I throw them away.

Those don't sound like normal side effects. I would look at ditching them at this point. A doctor I used to have put me on some other anti-depression mediciation before zoloft (it wasn't prozac, but I don't remember what it was) and it made me SUPER weak and tired. 2 days later I quit using it.

Zoloft never made me numb or feel weird. It is supposed to help relieve depression, but never did a damn thing for me. I got rid of mine after a few weeks. Just a pure waste of time for me.

Anyway, I would recommend ditching it. Sounds like its not going to work for you. But if you want to hang with it for a few more days to see if the side effects go away, then by all means do it.

If it continues I will stop taking them. I really don't tell a difference in my mood though.

Well yeah that makes perfect sense. You won't see immediately effects. The only 2 regular mediciations that I see fast results are my allergy drugs and headache killers.

I think anti-depression medicine usually takes a week or two. When I took zoloft I had zero side effects, it just didn't do anything. I kept taking it over and over and nothing.

But if you are getting dizzy, tired, confused, whatever... I wouldn't wait it out. Give it 1 or 2 days at the most. Your body can't possibly take that long to adjust.

The downside is you might have to try several anti-depressants to find one that works for you. Different people have different reactions to medication.

I took some type of Benadryl knockoff from Rite Aid last month when my allergies flared up. It kicked my ass. I had trouble breathing, was light headed, and so forth. I stopped taking them the next day. I thought the initial was just a first action, but it wasn't. I gave them to my g/f and she had no problems.

Don't push yourself. If you body is acting up, stop using them. It's just not worth no. No sense in making yourself worse.

I'm no doctor, but I've been where you are.

I've been on Zoloft for 3 weeks now. I actually just went back to the doctor today and he have me 2 more months worth. I swear by this drug. I was depressed and having major anxiety attacks. To the point where in between my shoulders the muscles would get all hard and it would start tingling all the way to the top of my head. The difference it had made for me is amazing. I still have bad days, even if everything I can think that has happened was really good. But the good days that I'm experiecning are so awesome to me. I'm like oh ok, so this is how I used to feel when I was "normal". The anxiety is still there from time to time but I'm reuniting with old friends that I shied away from for so long. I could go on and on about the difference its made for me but I won't bore everyone with all the details.

My side effects are being super thirsty all of the time, and lack of appetite. I love the lack of appetite because I'm finally losing the weight that I've needed to lose. And with my new motivitation that I have, I've started to exercise so I can tone up and keep the weight off. I still have sex and orgasm, so to those who say it causes sexual problems, I'm so sorry that happened to you. :)

Just a update the feeling in my tongue is back :lol:
I decided to continue with this drug until I am feeling better.
The only thing I am feeling right now is sleepy.. and well my mouth gets so darn dry. but other then that I am not having any problems with it.

Good luck with it Milani. If you do start having any side effects they should only last a few weeks. That's what mine did. The worse I had was night sweats for 2 weeks. Hated that!!! Was glad to see that side effect leave. lol

I'm sure you've gotten all the help and advice you needed, Milani, but I just wanted to share with you my Zoloft experiences.

When I was on Zoloft, I found it worked really well, but it had the residual side effect of giving me a headache. Perhaps this was because I was taking this in combination with getting too little sleep at night, but I did get a big headache and I ended up needing to take major pain medication to alleviate these headaches. Plus side with this combination -- I was no longer feeling depressed and I didn't have a headache. Negative -- I was so sleepy I'm sure I was a danger on the roads.

Therefore, when my doctor found out about my headache problem, she prescribed for me Celexa instead. Now Celexa doesn't give me headaches, but it doesn't work at all on me. I could try taking two pills a day, but I think I'd rather take Zoloft again and start taking the pain pills again as well.

... and now, I'm *really* leaving....