PatientsLikeMe : Sertraline Treatment Report

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What is Sertraline?

Sertraline, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant, is used in the treatment of major depression; obsessive-compulsive disorder; panic disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder; premenstrual dysphoric disorder; and social anxiety disorder.

Reasons taken & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Reasons taken	# of patients	# of patients evaluated by
Treat my mood condition(s)	229	51
Depression	159	51
Anxiety	77	26
Other	26	6
Bipolar Disorder	23	3
Panic attacks	15	4
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD	10	3
Major Depressive Disorder	8	2
Problems concentrating	5	2
Obsessive compulsive disorder OCD	4	3
Support another treatment	3	2
Mood	2	1
Vulvodynia	1	0
Stress	1	1
General health	1	1
Depression with anxiety	1	1
Aggression	1	0
pain,depression,fatigue	1	0
disease-related symptoms	1	0
severe anxiety	1	0
Social anxiety/phobia	1	1
Anxiety/Depression	1	0
depression symptoms	1	0
Don't know	1	0
support another treatment	1	0

See all 25 reasons taken ▼

See all 409 patients currently taking Sertraline

Mouse over the table for more information

Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	24	21%
Moderate	27	23%
Mild	37	32%
None	29	25%

Most commonly reported side effects

Loss of sex drive (libido)	36	31%
Fatigue	28	24%
dry mouth	26	22%
Weight gain	24	21%
Emotional withdrawal	23	20%
Migraine Headaches	15	13%
Insomnia	12	10%
Increased appetite	10	9%
Nausea	7	6%
Anger/Irritability between doses	7	6%
brain zaps	6	5%
makes me goofy	5	4%
Diarrhea	4	3%
Depression	4	3%
derealization/depersonalization	2	2%
Sleepiness	2	2%
Excessive yawning	2	2%
Anxiety	2	2%
Constipation	2	2%
Increase in suicidal thoughts	1	1%
Paranoia	1	1%
Mood swings	1	1%
Apathy	1	1%
mania	1	1%
It made me lethargic	1	1%
obsessed thoughts	1	1%
INNABILITY TO ACHIEVE ORGASM	1	1%
nausea, dizziness	1	1%
dry mouth/throat	1	1%
Loss of taste	1	1%
Inability to cry	1	1%
see unexpected effects	1	1%
elevated prolactin level	1	1%
Swollen tongue	1	1%
Suicidal thoughts	1	1%
slight paranoia	1	1%
Memory problems	1	1%
MORE depression!	1	1%
Loss of appetite	1	1%
hypomania	1	1%
Depression with suicidal thoughts	1	1%
Feeling of hopeless and irremediable social/emotional isolation	1	1%
throat burning similar to acid reflux but it wasnt	1	1%
upset stomach	1	1%
Dizziness	1	1%
Weight loss	1	1%
extreme sweating	1	1%
Robot/Zombie feelings	1	1%
lack of concentration	1	1%
Painful breasts	1	1%
anger	1	1%
Agitation/restlessness	1	1%
Hypersomnia	1	1%
paresthesias	1	1%
Rash/skin problems	1	1%
Sinus headache	1	1%
night sweating	1	1%
hand shaky	1	1%
Nausea/Vomiting	1	1%
dizzyness/vomiting	1	1%
restlessness at beginning of treatment	1	1%
Sexual dysfunction	1	1%
first time mania	1	1%
Heart Palpitations	1	1%
Tremors	1	1%
social tension	1	1%
Allergic reaction	1	1%
Bruising	1	1%
Bruxism/teeth grinding	1	1%
bad thoughts	1	1%
Psychosis	1	1%
joint pain	1	1%

Mild
Moderate
Severe

See all 72 reported side effects ▼

Dosages

Top 10 dosages based on patients currently taking Sertraline. See all 21 dosages ►

100mg as needed	25mg as needed	50mg as needed	daily	10 mg daily	12.5 mg daily	20 mg daily	25 mg daily	37.5 mg daily	50 mg daily	62.5 mg daily	75 mg daily	100 mg daily	125 mg daily	150 mg daily	200 mg daily	250 mg daily	300 mg daily	400 mg daily	500 mg daily	25000 mg daily
1	1	1	2	1	1	6	24	2	94	1	16	136	4	36	76	5	5	1	1	1

Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Sertraline (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Did not seem to work	75	50%
Doctor's advice	48	32%
Side effects too severe	46	30%
Other	23	15%
Course of treatment ended	11	7%
Expense	8	5%
Personal research	5	3%

See all 146 patients who’ve stopped taking Sertraline

Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Sertraline

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
5	10	18	31	38	64

Stopped Taking Sertraline

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
21	29	18	19	21	38

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always	91	78%
Usually	20	17%
Sometimes	5	4%
Never	1	1%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very	14	12%
Somewhat	15	13%
A little	21	18%
Not at all	67	57%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+	0	0%
$100-199	3	3%
$50-99	5	4%
$25-49	8	7%
< $25	56	48%

See more information, including instructions, precautions, side effects, and interactions.

Patient Evaluations

See all 117 patient evaluations

mountabora

Sex: F

Depression: 1

Emotional: 2

Compulsion: 0

Anxiety: 1

Mania: 1

Physical: 0

External Stress: Moderate

25 F

Function: Moderate

Distress: Low

See profile
mountabora

200 mg daily

since Apr 26, 2002
Efficacy Slight for Treat my mood condition(s)
Side Effects None
See full evaluation

Chelena

Sex: F

Depression: 2

Emotional: 2

Compulsion: 1

Anxiety: 2

Mania: 1

Physical: 1

External Stress: Severe

54 F

Function: Moderate

Distress: Moderate

See profile
Chelena

25 mg daily

since Aug 21, 2008
Efficacy Moderate for Treat my mood condition(s)
Side Effects Mild
Advice/Tips Sertraline did cause me to gain weight as I titrated up to the lowest, recommended dose but once I stopped titrating and my body's metabolism stablized I hav... See full evaluation

ferretgirl

Sex: F

Depression: 3

Emotional: 1

Compulsion: 1

Anxiety: 2

Mania: 1

Physical: 1

External Stress: None

25 F

Function: High

Distress: Moderate

See profile
ferretgirl

50 mg daily

since Aug 24, 2008
Efficacy Major for Anxiety
Side Effects None
Advice/Tips Good med best one i have has so far See full evaluation