Why is settaline given to everyone?

[jessy]

Be noticed that this medication is given to most people , I want to know of this is because it's fantastic , or just the general med for anxiety /depression ???
Guys & girls on this med , if much appriciate feed back , I have tried it but that was 5 years ago , I found it made me feel nothing at all , it took away anxiety & depression , yet lefty me so empty & uninterested in anyone or any thing . This is why I came off , now I think I may have to try again .
How's everyone else doing on this popular med,??
Jessy xx

[trinidiva]

I'm at the two week mark..and taking it one moment at a time. Mornings are rough...lack of appetite in the morning....it gets better as the day goes on. Just trying to hold on. Anxiety had gone down some...but the side effects are kicking my butt.

[acetone]

I was on it for six months. From my experience, it has better anti-anxiety than antidepressant effects. It also causes the most gastrointestinal disturbances.

[PanicPhobia]

Yeah my doc told me that Zoloft (sertraline) is usually the first line treatment for patients where anxiety is a major issue. I think studies have shown it does better for anti-anxiety than most of the other SSRI's. However, this doesn't mean it works better for each individual. Some may do better on Prozac or Paxil or Celexa, etc..

Ultimately psychiatry is trial and error. It sucks, but that's what it is. There's too many unknowns that science hasn't cracked yet (i.e. why some drugs are miracles for some people and do nothing for others).

[Perses]

I've been on sertraline 17 years. I started taking it a year after taking clonazepam, and now I take both. My psychiatrist felt that I should try this anti-depressant because it was the least likely to promote anxiety and still work. He also suggested that I take it in the morning, not before I go to sleep. I really didn't experience any side effects, except that I regained my appetite. I took 50mgs for a long time and then went up to 100mgs. Now, I'm seeing a new set of therapists/psychiatrists because I've moved. The new consensus seems to be that anti-depressants are now used first to see if they help. I have only had positive experience from taking my medications. If I would recommend anything, it would be to see a psychiatrist rather than a GP. Personally, I don't think it works for me as an anti-anxiety medication.

[jessed03]

Ultimately psychiatry is trial and error. It sucks, but that's what it is. There's too many unknowns that science hasn't cracked yet (i.e. why some drugs are miracles for some people and do nothing for others).

It's really popular in America, that's mainly due to patents and marketing and stuff, but it also does come out near the top for its anti anxiety properties.

PanicPhobias point is very true. Kind of worrying really, that one of our most popular mental illness drugs, the SSRI, pretty much came about because of an accident, and was more or less intended to be used as a weight loss drug.

They seem to work though, so it's not too disconcerting :)