Hi. I am on 50 mg of Zoloft, up from 25 mg. I am on it almost 3 weeks. So far I don't feel any different, just depressed and irritable. I've read 50 mg is not enough of a dose for most people. Is this true? Most people seem to be on 100mg+. I change insurance Jan 1st and have no pdoc for a while. Any successful Zoloft users have any opinions as to dosage, and when does it start to work [assuming it works]. Thanks.
Joy
I took Zoloft for about a year a couple of years ago. My doc started me at 100mg a day and after about 4 months took it down to 70 then after a couple of months down to 50. It really did'nt seem to help me much at the end of the run so my doc switched me to Remeron (started that at a high dose) I think if your not seeing any improvement after another 2 or 3 weeks you might discuss increasing the dose with your doctor.
Good luck
Joy I was on zoloft for a couple of years but the dose that worked for me was 150mgs. per day. I know it's kind of high I think it might be the max but it worked. I took 50mgs. three times per day. It wouldn't let me sleep well for awhile and of course I got those darn sexual side effects but I hung in there. The depression lifted after a couple of weeks and I started sleeping better. Unfortunately for me I continue to have those sexual side effects on any of the ssri"s except for celexa but celexa did't really lift the depression much either. I can't take antidepssant anymore that are too stimulating or I get acne.. I think they somehow interact with hormones and my skin is sensitive to homonal changes.
I'm now taking 20mgs. of paxil and have been on it for about 2 weeks with hardly any side effects and I'm feeling pretty good today. So I'm hoping this is going to do the trick. Finding the right med and the right dosage takes time and a lot of trial and error. Keep on trucking and let us know of your progress or concerns. We are here for you. Th is a great board and we have a good group of people here helping each other!
Olivia<p>[This message has been edited by Olivia (edited 12-11-2000).]
Joy I was on zoloft for a couple of years but the dose that worked for me was 150mgs. per day. I know it's kind of high I think it might be the max but it worked. I took 50mgs. three times per day. It wouldn't let me sleep well for awhile and of course I got those darn sexual side effects but I hung in there. The depression lifted after a couple of weeks and started sleeping better. Unfortunately for me I continue to have those sexual side effects on any of the ssri"s except for celexa but celexa did't really lifte the depression much either. I can't take antidepssant anymore that are too stimulating or I get acne.. I think they somehow interact with hormones and my skin is sensitive to homonal changes.
Olivia
Hi
I was on 25 for a while, then 50 for a while...then 100 was the magic number for me!
Keep up with it - 50 is really not a strong enough dose....talk to your doc about the dose and get him to write you a script with refills so that you can keep up with it until your new insurance kicks is. Zoloft really worked wonders for me....but not until I went to 100mg.
Hi joy,
I too have just started to take Zoloft for the first time. My first week was over yesterday. I started at 25mg. and today I went to 50mg just like you. I'm afraid it is not going to work already. Especially if you said you have been on it for 3 weeks and you don't feel any better. I see everyone else says you have to take 100 or more for it to work. Well it looks like I'm probably going to go back to my doc in a week and see about getting my dose bumped up. What about you? I think with alot of these meds you need to be on a high dose for them to work. I've heard that here before with other drugs I was taking. Well I hope things get better for all of us. Keep in touch so we know what happens. Sorry I wasn't much help.
Kyle
I was on zoloft for two years and found it to be VERY effective for treating depression and OCD. I was ultimately on 200 mg per day, so 50 sounds light to me. But I know several friends who have had very good results from zoloft at 50 mg, so it really does differ by body chemistry. It took me almost 5 weeks to the DAy for it to kick in, but that, too, varies a lot by person. All i can say for sure is that, when it finally DID take effect, it was like someone threw a switch and I was magically so much BETTER! I can even remember the look of the office I was sitting in when I realized I actually felt GOOD again! So I would say give it a little more time, and ask for an increase if it still doesn't seem to be working.
Epilog: For me, unfortunately, zoloft just quit working after about two years. Since then I've been on paxil and lithium for 6 years, and that has been pretty effective. But I still think that zoloft was the best depression relief for my brain!
Additional note about Zoloft.
It appears from what I already suspected, plus what I have read here and one other place that Zoloft is good for most people for about 12 to 24 months. It then appears that the body (or mind) becomes acclimated to it, like it adjusts to the medication and it stops being effective. I have also had this happen with a couple of other drugs but it took longer. It seems the devils of depression have talents to defeat drugs after a while so we must bring up new weapons to destroy them.
But we will not let them win !!!
