Bereavement Support Group
Are you grieving the loss of a loved one? Whether you lost someone recently or it's been years, grief and its accompanying emotions can be complicated to cope with. Join our online support group to connect with a supportive group of people who really know how you feel. Help is right here.
Okay so as i've said before i didnt grieve the "right" way and i've had panic attacks a week after my doctor upped my dosage of Zoloft, I dont know if its the medication because when i told him he said that it was "supposed to get worse before it gets better" i dont think that that is 100% true though. And if it is from the medication why did it happen a week later? Now another thing is, they didnt happen over the weekend and this past week. I dont know what is going on. But now all i dream about is my dad, sometimes they're scary dreams like haunting's and stuff, i mean i know i shouldnt be scared but i dont like to think of stuff like that. I've had one every night and its just weird....any advice?
I have been taking Zoloft since circa January 2011, and lost my father in December of the same year. I started at 50 mg, and am currently taking 200 mg due to tolerance increases over time. As such, I am reasonably experienced with the drug...and the grief. Sorry for your loss.
It is absolutely normal for Zoloft to make you feel worse before it makes you feel better, and it is definitely typical for any change to take a while to become noticeable. You have to remember, Zoloft takes an entire month to start doing its job in the first place, versus something like Adderral where the on switch flips within an hour. When you take an SSRI, you're renovating a kitchen, not changing the drapes.
Increasing the amount of serotonin floating around in your brain makes it more active, so its natural that you would feel more prone to feeling anxious versus depressed. You dropped a pebble in your brain; be patient while the ripples settle.
The dreams are an unavoidable part of the grieving process I'm afraid. Sad dreams, scary dreams, denial dreams...the only remedy for that is time. Well, the scary ones tend to go away very quickly, and I advise you to dodge any TV/movies that involve characters grieving over a deathbed. Read your the summaries of your psychological thrillers before you watch them too. The dreams where he isn't dead after all or never was haven't gone away for me yet. However, they have become infrequent enough that they don't torture me when they do pop up now.
Remember to take care of yourself no matter how hard it is now. Take it one day at a time, and the pain will gradually ebb away. If your General Practitioner is the one prescribing your medication, ask him/her to recommend a therapist for you. They're good for an unconditional space to let your heavies out, and they're more qualified to walk you through medication changes.
Hang in there. Many hugs, love and light.
If you start feeling rough and alone to a breaking point, call the national helpline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). It is -not- just for feeling suicidal. If you need to hear someone's voice, it can be good for that. *hugs*