SUCCESS STORY - 16 weeks at 100mg
Before I go into the detail, I have attached a visual of my timeline. Between starting 50mg and 100mg, the journey was remarkably similar, with peaks and troughs hitting almost symmetrically. 100mg did the trick after 16 weeks on that dose, and my story is as follows:
I’ve gone back and forth about posting this, but if it helps even one person who’s in the middle of it right now, it’s worth it.
In May 2025, I restarted Sertraline after coming off it for a year and seeing my intrusive thoughts and depression returning. I was started on 50mg, and I kept a weekly diary of how things went, mainly because I was trying to survive it, and I needed something to hold onto.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it; the beginning was absolutely brutal. The first couple of weeks were some of the lowest I’ve ever felt. I barely slept. My anxiety was constant and overwhelming. My mood was so low it felt heavy just existing. I remember thinking, what if this is just me now? What if I’ve broken my brain? I had the same awful thoughts going round and round in my head constantly. I honestly thought I was losing my mind. I stopped working, stopped getting out of bed, stopped seeing people. I was existing, but that was it. I thought my life was effectively over.
That’s the scary part, when you’re in it, it doesn’t feel temporary. It feels permanent. Slowly, there were cracks of light around Week 4, I felt a slight shift. A slightly better night’s sleep. A moment of calm. A conversation where I felt a bit more like myself. Weeks 4–6 gave me glimpses that things could improve… but just as I started to believe that, I got knocked back down again.
Around week 7, I dipped hard. The anxiety came roaring back, the low mood followed, and it felt like I was right back at the start. That cycle of feeling better, then worse again messes with your head more than anything. You start to lose trust in your own recovery, and it’s so cruel.
But this is what I wish I’d fully understood at the time, setbacks don’t mean you’re back to square one. They’re part of the process, even though they feel like failure – if you have had some good days, hours even, the medication is working.
By week 10, I had my best week – I felt normal. Like properly myself again and thought I’d cracked the case. I felt the medication had settled and levelled after Week 12 but still didn’t feel right. I made the decision with the advice of my doctor to increase to 100mg.
The first couple of weeks after increasing were terrifying. The anxiety was intense, the intrusive thoughts were constant, and there was a real sense of hopelessness that crept in. I remember having moments where I genuinely couldn’t see a way out of how I was feeling. Even though you know you’ve been in the hole before, and you know it’s because you’ve increased your dose, it just doesn’t stick. I was looking for constant reassurance this was normal, and crashed back to day 1 levels.
But even in that, there were tiny signs, a calmer evening, a clearer head for an hour, and those moments matter more than you realise at the time.
Again, around weeks 4–5 on the new dose, it was like everything settled. Not overnight, but gradually. The noise in my head quietened. The anxiety loosened its grip. I could think clearly again, and I could enjoy things again.
There were still dips after that, again around weeks 6–8, and again later on, and each one was scary. But the difference was, I had evidence now. I’d seen myself come out the other side before and that’s what got me through.
The magic Week 12 came and went, and I was still up and down. By Week 16, I felt completely and totally normal. Like nothing could bother me, and those thoughts that used to haunt me daily were a mere memory, and nothing was sticking like previous.
So if you’re reading this and you’re in the thick of it, especially those early weeks, or a bad dip, I know it can feel unbearable, but it isn’t forever.
I had days where just getting through the day felt like a win. Nights where I couldn’t switch my mind off. Moments where I genuinely believed I’d never get better and thought I’d lost my mind.
Please don’t judge your progress day by day, it’s way too up and down. I found looking week by week was much more productive. Hold onto the small improvements. They’re signs that things are shifting, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
You people are incredible. Battling through the horror of mental health daily, and coming here to help others out. These groups were my life whilst I was in the thick of it, so it’s only right to come here and offer some support to others.
If anyone is going through something similar and wants to talk, my messages are open.