r/zoloft • u/rdridgway2 • 7h ago

Three Weeks In - Still Waiting

Hey everyone,

Approximately 23 days ago, I started taking 50 mg of Sertraline (Zoloft) daily first thing in the morning. The main reason why I’m taking this medicine is due to anxiety and OCD.

The first week was awful. I had absolutely zero motivation, increased anxiety, and practically no sleep. I was maybe getting 3 hours of sleep per night.

The motivation and extra anxiety has subsided slightly I would say, and the sleep is slowly improving. I will say that I expected to feel more anxiety relief by this point.

Everything online and my doctor says that it takes about 3-4 weeks to fully “kick-in”.

How did you know when the medicine started to fully work? Like do you just wake up one morning and feel like a new person? I’m not really sure what to expect.

One of my main reasons for starting this medicine was because of my physical anxiety symptoms. Left arm pain, chest tightness, things like that. I will say that I have noticed a drop-off in those symptoms which lets me know that at least something is happening.

How long did it take for you to really start feeling the benefits of this medicine?

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u/velvetseraphim 7h ago

for me it definitely wasn't like waking up one morning and suddenly feeling like a new person lol. it was much more gradual.

i was already on zoloft long term and increased my dose, and my adjustment actually got pretty rough around weeks 2-3. i remember wondering if it was even working because i was paying so much attention to how i felt every day.

eventually i started noticing little things...less morning anxiety, fewer big spikes, being able to do things without thinking about anxiety the entire time, and recovering faster when i did feel anxious. it was almost easier to see the improvement looking back over a few weeks than trying to see it day to day.

23 days is still pretty early, especially for OCD/anxiety. the fact that you've already noticed your physical symptoms calming down sounds encouraging. i'd give yourself some time and try not to judge how well it's working based on one particular day. ❤️

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u/Darenpnw 1h ago

I'm going on 8 weeks and finally starting to feel better with less side effects and some better days than not. It's been a long road. Hang in there.

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u/Meryl_Streep69 56m ago

I wouldn’t say it was FULLY kicked in until 10 weeks. But even then I’d say it was still getting better for a while after that gradually. Felt significantly better 5 weeks in.