Hi, I'm Rikke

Hi, I’m Rikke🌸 I’m new to the group, and I think what I need most right now is a little encouragement 🙏 My story is that I have been taking Sertraline for 20 years, without anyone ever checking whether I still needed it. At the beginning of June, I saw my doctor and we talked about me wanting to come off it. My doctor said that was fine, and he made a 6-week tapering plan for me. During week 2 after completely coming off Sertraline, I developed flu-like symptoms, but they gradually subsided, and I actually felt that things were going okay. In week 3, I suddenly developed severe abdominal pain and had to see an out-of-hours doctor. They thought it could be gallstones, and I was given painkillers, which helped. However, I have since had an ultrasound, which didn’t show anything. At the end of week 4, I developed severe heartburn and a burning sensation in my chest. After this had continued for 3 weeks without any improvement, and with no effect from antacids, I restarted Sertraline at 25 mg last Monday. I still have a lot of burning in my chest, and my throat feels as though it is closing up. The symptoms come in waves and seem to be a little less severe in the evening. I saw my doctor again yesterday, and she thinks I should increase the dose to 50 mg, which was the dose I was originally taking. But I feel so anxious and unsettled about the whole situation, and I’m really affected by feeling so physically unwell. And then there’s this thought that keeps going through my mind: “What if this never goes away?” I find that thought almost unbearable. Thank you so much in advance for taking the time to read this and for any encouragement you can give me 🙏