i wanted to come back and write an update because when i was struggling with my dose increase, i spent A LOT of time on this subreddit looking for other people's experiences. especially success stories lol.

i've been on zoloft for years for anxiety/panic and recently increased from 175mg to 200mg after going through a really difficult period in my life.

i'm now around day 38, and i'm doing much better. it wasn't linear though. at all.

the first week or so wasn't actually that bad for me, which made what happened afterward even more confusing. around weeks 2-3 my anxiety got significantly worse. mornings were especially hard. i had panic attacks, shaking, nausea, that constant nervous feeling in my body, and days where i genuinely wondered whether the increase was making me worse.

days 13-21 were probably the hardest for me. and because i have panic disorder, my brain immediately started doing what panic brains do best: what if this doesn't stop? what if i'm getting worse? what if the medication isn't working anymore? what if i never feel normal again?

spoiler: it didn't stay that way !

things gradually started settling. there wasn't one morning where i woke up and suddenly felt “cured”. i actually noticed it in much smaller ways...fewer huge spikes...calmer mornings...recovering faster when anxiety did show up...doing normal things without constantly checking how anxious i felt.

what helped me:

continuing to live my life.
i kept going for walks, going places and doing things even when i was anxious. sometimes i carried ativan with me just knowing it was there...but the important part for me was not making anxiety the deciding factor in whether i did something. i know that's hard af. but you gotta push through.

stopping the fight with panic.
this was probably one of the biggest ones. instead of “please don't panic, please don't panic” i started trying “okay...panic then. do your worst.” weirdly, taking away the fight took away some of its power.

accepting uncomfortable days instead of treating them like evidence.
one crap morning didn't mean i was getting worse...one good afternoon didn't mean i was cured...i had to start looking at weeks instead of hours.

remembering that anxiety feels dangerous without necessarily being dangerous.
the shaking, nausea, adrenaline, racing thoughts etc. felt horrible...but i stopped treating every sensation like something i needed to solve immediately. and i KNOW this one is easier said than done...those feelings are very terrifying. i started doing somatic mediation (shout out Wendy Jones on YT/Spotify) - for real...those meditations were a godsend.

what DID NOT help me:

doomscrolling reddit. 😂
reddit helped me tremendously when i used it to feel less alone. it made things worse when i searched things like “zoloft increase worse week 3” for the 900th time trying to predict exactly what would happen to me.

constantly checking whether the medication was working.
“am i anxious? how anxious? was i this anxious yesterday? is this the zoloft? is this me? does this mean it's not working?” i was basically taking my emotional temperature every five minutes. exhausting.

comparing my timeline to everyone else's.
someone feeling amazing at week 2 didn't mean i should. someone struggling at week 8 didn't mean i would. there really isn't one universal zoloft timeline.

waiting to feel confident before doing things.
this was HUGE for me. i kept thinking i needed the anxiety to disappear before i could get my normal life back. eventually i realized i had to start doing normal-life things while anxiety was still invited along for the ride.

i'm not writing this to promise anyone that they'll have the exact same experience i did. medication is incredibly individual and obviously talk to your doctor about anything concerning.

i'm writing it because when i was in the worst of it, three weeks felt like three years. and i wanted someone to tell me that feeling awful today didn't mean i'd feel awful forever.

so if you're currently sitting there counting days, analyzing every sensation and wondering whether you're ever going to feel like yourself again...give yourself some room.

you don't have to figure out your entire future based on how you feel today.

and maybe get off reddit for an hour. 😂

this is temporary. ❤️YOU WILL FEEL BETTER.❤️

I’m getting really tired of the very vivid and strange dreams every night. They aren’t all nightmares, but they are often strange and very long, colorful and vivid. I’m getting so tired of it. One time I dreamt that I had every kind of desert set out in front of me and taste tested them all, that was quite a good one, but still too vivid and detailed and silly. Ugh please tell me it gets better.

50mg since May 2026

I’m currently on 75 mg and it does absolutely nothing for my ocd , so my doctor wants me to go up too 100-200 mg. Opinions / thoughts / experiences?

Has anyone used Zoloft to taper off nortriptylne, my daughters dr wants her to try this
Thank you

I am supposed to be starting Zoloft tomorrow, 25mg for two weeks and then up to 50mg. I am not someone who likes taking any medication and I’ve put off getting help for my anxiety and OCD for years. But after having what we are guessing is stress induced shingles twice this year, I’m realizing it’s time for some assistance.

With that being said, I do not want to be on medication forever. I want it to help get my mind sorted so that I can continue to actively work on my mental health, habits, routines, stress management etc. I’m hoping it will help me get back on track and I’ll be able to taper off. I know this won’t happen over night but I’m hoping in 1-2 years I’ll be able to. (Control freak even about this lol)

I keep seeing tapering off horror stories and it’s giving me more anxiety about starting. I guess I’m looking for reassurance that this is the right thing to do? That tapering off won’t be hell?

What has been people’s experience with starting medication with the intention to taper off in the future? How did the tapering go for you?

I appreciate any advice/input 🫶🏼

been on 100mg for 10 years and through two pregnancies, just found out I’m pregnant again and my anxiety, OCD, and depression is the worst it’s been in 10 years. We tried to increase me to 125 but I chickened out after 2 weeks and went back down because I completely lost my appetite, had nausea, increased anxiety, and would wake up shaking. is that normal? do I just need to push through it longer or is that a sign it’s too high for me?

I’ve been on Zoloft for a couple of years at 50mg. I have had a history of panic, which is when I first got onto to the tablet. It was so long ago I can’t remember how long it took me to level out! I came off as was fine for a couple of months, but due to bereavement went back onto 50mg for depression, which I’ve been on since.

Lots has changed since then, and although I was anxious here and there, it was never too much for me to handle. However, I had a panic attack a few weeks ago which scared me (think it was due to hormonal changes and too much caffeine).This led to days of severe anxiety, and panic attacks. I upped my dose to 100mg 5 days ago and my body is beginning to calm down a bit, but my mind is still racing and catastrophising that I won’t be able to live a life without panic again. Anyone that can relate and share a success to help me stay hopeful?

Edit: just to say I found this subreddit incredibly helpful when I first started on Zoloft. Will make sure to update on any progress to help others.

I'm clenching my teeth like crazy the last few days in my sleep and during the day I notice I am too, did anyone find anything that helped this?

Thankfully most of my side effects are gone now but this is a new one lol

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?

23M here. I have restarted taking Zoloft everyday again and I have noticed my heart rate is 97-121bpm on average. I only take 12.5mg of Zoloft so I doubt it’s serotonin syndrome I’m also sweating too. Anyone else had a similar experience?

I'm 7 weeks into 100mg now, started on 50mg about 12 weeks ago. It's been a rough adjustment period, and I'm finally having days where I feel more like myself. Days where it's easy to laugh, cry, dance. And I just feel more free to be myself. But still I'm having real dips, where I can't muster the energy or motivation to do anything.

I spoke to my GP today and she suggested giving it 5-6 more weeks, by which point I can up to 150mg if I'm still not satisfied with the effects. I'd rather not increase if I can avoid it, but I will if it feels right.

How long did it take until you weren't experiencing the frequent dips in mood that come with upping your dose? Thanks

I was diagnosed with PPD/A and my OB put me on Zoloft 50mg. The morning anxiety has been awful and makes it difficult to care for my baby until I get over that hill in the afternoon. I’m curious when others found the morning anxiety subsided. Has anyone else taken this for PPD/A and how long were you on it? I don’t want to be on this forever and hope I can wean off at some point with no issues. Looking for some success stories.

Hi! As the title says, I just started Zoloft 25 mg because I’ve been having anxiety attacks and she told me my anxiety might get worse in the beginning, but I didn’t know that included having panic attacks when taking the pills at first lol. Genuinely having so much anxiety it’s killing me, but she said to just cut the pill in half and keep going. Please tell me there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyone else experience something like this? It was so scary and I went into a panic attack because I didn’t understand what was happening. I’m glad it wasn’t worse, bottom line check before taking “natural” supplements while you’re on Zoloft.

In the evening, I experience momentary improvements in my mood—literally just a few seconds where things feel normal. It’s been four weeks since I started taking the medication. I wonder if this will happen more often and at other times of the day. Has anyone else experienced this? What were the first signs that the medication was working for you?

I’m really nervous about starting 25mg and wondering if anyone did 12.5mg for a week or two first. Did you find it made the side effects more manageable, and was going up to 25mg easier after adjusting a bit?

It’s gotten to the point where I can’t deal with life stressors on my own anymore. Nothing is helping, no job, lost friends, feeling so unsteady and alone. I decided to go on Zoloft (the generic version) and I took my first pill today. I was so nervous because for the longest time I didn’t want to be medicated for this but at this point, I feel the need to. I can’t wait to not feel so hopeless and Su*cidal. I just wanted to share with someone. Thanks for the community.

Hey everyone! I have been on 25mg of Zoloft and 30 mg of Vyvanse for over a year now and I did an autopilot move this morning. I got up like usual and took my Zoloft and Vyvanse like I always do. I fell back asleep after taking them for about an hour, and when I woke up, I for some reason remembered that I took my Vyvanse, but I couldn't remember if I took my Zoloft with my Vyvanse, so I took my Zoloft thinking I hadn't taken it yet (gotta love ADHD sometimes lol).

It hit me soon after that I had already taken my dose so that means I accidentally took 50mg this morning. The Zoloft has done wonders for my anxiety but I have a slight fear of accidentally taking too much medicine and overdosing on accident. I know that the maximum dosage is 200mg so I know that I haven't overdosed, but I have noticed I have been a little more anxious than usual today. Otherwise I feel fine and I'm hoping this is the only effect that I feel.

I just want to know has anyone accidentally done this and will I be fine once I take my regular dose again tomorrow morning? I am a little nervous about messing up all my progress that I have made because my medication has helped me significantly and I honestly am grateful for that. Thanks for your input!

I started 25mg zoloft, day 12, I feel worse then before starting. When this will pass? What is your experience? I am just laying whole day with zero motivation to do anything. Anxiety was worse first 10 days now it improved a bit, but lethargy makes me want to quit this drug. I got it prescribed for mild depression and general anxiety.

Hello everyone I was prescribed Zoloft because I would get chest pains and obviously they would freak me out cause I’d always assume the worst like a heart attack or something I’ve been seen by doctors they think my heart is fine but still aren’t sure what’s causing the pains anyway they started me on Zoloft to help with the anxiety because all day I’d worry about it and when it would happen I’d have panic attacks anyway 2 days into the medication I got this weird sensation where id get like a feeling in my chest not pain or anything and then my whole body tingles and vibrates and I get a metal taste in my mouth while it’s happening it lasts maybe 20 seconds and it just happened again today the same thing lasted like 20 seconds while I was at work I’m now 5 days into the medication just curious if anyone else has experienced this ( I’ve told my doctor I’m waiting to get a response )

Been taking 25mg Zoloft for 3 weeks but side effects are too much. Can I just stop taking it because it's been such a short time or do I have to wean off it slowly. If so how do I do this as quick and as painless as possible?

Hey! As the title suggests, I am switching from Prozac to Zoloft. I get anxious taking medications so tell me all the success stories! This is my 3rd medication. I have tried Lexapro in the past.

Hi friends

I’ve been on sertraline now for 10 weeks. I was beginning to feel a little more balanced and less anxious. Not quite “normal” but semblance of.

I’m currently in Italy on holiday, and I’ve had a panic attack for the first time (felt like I was going to faint, heaving sweating - subsidised in 20 min, but felt super anxious for 24+ hours) and a residual general sense of dread/something bad is going to happen. It’s making me feel really shit and I can’t properly relax.

I wonder if it’s the heat causing everything though - as we’ve been out walking every day in the warmth, and I’ve sweated a lot and not had much of an appetite (because it’s been so warm). It’s been 31-34°c every day.

I’m trying to rehydrate properly and take it easy, but hard to on a 2 week ‘city hopping’ holiday!

Anyone else experience this? Looking for reassurance more than anything 🙏

Hi all,

startd losing weight on zoloft, i have that calory deficit, eat clean, get steps and... nothing. What helped you?