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I tried zoloft a few years ago and had terrible insomnia, regardless of when I took it. I made it about a week before I couldn't take anymore- I suspect, as with most medications, that the side effects would have eventually dissipated but I couldn't make it.
I am breastfeeding a 4 month old and started Lexapro about six weeks ago. After discussing it with my OB, my kids pediatrician and my husband, who is a pediatrician, we all decided that the amount that gets into breastmilk is insignificant and it is fine for me to take. I'd previously taken this medication so I knew I did well on it. I've had no real side effects, and my anxiety symptoms have almost entirely gone away. I noticed an improvement after about 3 weeks, full effect by maybe 6 weeks. I'm on 10mg now and am debating going to 15mg.

Once I began to notice a symptom improvement I realized how much I'd been struggling. The two symptoms I was most interested in addressing were irritability and persistent, unwanted thoughts about death from an existential perspective (basically I was constantly thinking about how fast time passes, how soon I will die, how soon my children will be grown, and it was excruciatingly painful- every time one of these thoughts popped into my head I felt my whole chest tighten and felt overwhelmed).
I made the decision to start the med after I came the closest I've been to a panic attack in 15 years. I was just totally overwhelmed by the needs of my three kids, my house, trying to get a little work done, and felt my chest tighten, pulse increase, rapid breathing, etc. I was able to calm myself down but realized then that I really needed some assistance.

Once the medication began working I found myself much more able to enjoy time with my kids- rather than worrying about all the stuff I needed to do I felt happy to sit on the floor and play for awhile. I'm able to think about the future without panicking about death. I have MUCH more patience with my kids- like, a million times more. I haven't completely lost it on them in weeks, it was happening almost once a day before. I can let stuff roll off my back a lot more now, too. Like if we are late or the house is still totally cluttered and the kids aren't dressed and the cleaning person is about to arrive (uh, this morning) I still get a little stressed but I can generally keep the perspective of "this is going to be fine."

I went on Zoloft 50 mg at about 5 month pp. It was mainly for PPA, but probably had a touch of PPD. It worked well, but didn't feel like I was quite where I should be, so we upped it to 100 mg at about 9 months pp. I didn't have insinuating, or actually made me kind of tired so I took it after dinner every night.

I BF for almost 11 months, and never had any problems or noticed any issues with my son.

I ended up going off of it a little after my son's 1st birthday because I felt really good. Like I could take the hit of losing the meds effects and still be in a good place. I came off of it by halfing my dose for a couple weeks, then every other day for a couple weeks, then quitting it all together.

I did start it back up about a year later because all of the TTC stress and anxiety was eating me alive. I started at 50, then upped to 100 about a month later. I stayed on it for about 6 months and came off over Christmas break of last year. I did cold turkey that one (not advised) because I forgot it while out of state for 4 days. After being laid off last month, I have actually lost a lot of my major stressors/anxiety triggers (old job more stressful than not having a job and looking for a job).

I never went in Zoloft, but I’ve been on Paxil and Prozac (both SSRIs too).
I was only on Paxil for a few weeks before I switched because I had insomnia on it. Once I switched to Prozac I was fine, although it could’ve been just the adjustment to an SSRI in general and would’ve gone away.

The SSRI was a life-saver for me. Along with intense therapy, I never felt more like myself. I had no side effects (although maybe I would’ve at first) and truly felt so normal. I even took it during my first pregnancy with my Doctors blessing and had a totally healthy baby and easy postpartum. One thing to keep in mind is that these drugs are on the market because most people DON’T have ill side effects. Prescriptions are tested so vigorously. You only hear about the “bad,” but when you look at statistics most people don’t have side effects. Also, the placebo effect is REAL and you can convince yourself you’re feeling anything if you go looking for it. Don’t go looking for side effects, because of course you’ll “find” them.

I had to go off Prozac cold-turkey due to another health condition I was being treated for having a possible interaction. I had no bad side effects going off if it either. Typically you wean off of it to reduce side effects, but I didn’t have that luxury and did just fine. After a few months I was cleared of that other health condition so I could’ve gone back on the Prozac, but I was feeling okay so just didn’t. I would start it again in a heartbeat because it really made me feel “complete” in a challenging time in my life.

I’ve been on and off Zoloft for 3.5 years. Started about 2 months after my son was born for PPD. I tried to wean off it multiple times but my life is just exponentially better when I’m on it. I initially weaned up to 100mg and was on that for about 6 months. I went off it for a few months then went back on it at 50mg. That seems to be the sweet spot for me.

I have not experienced much In the way of side effects. My libido may be slightly down but I have a very high sex drive to begin with (and I’m not in any sort of hormonal BC so that helps). Insomnia is MUCH better when I’m on it. My skin has cleared up a bit (I only point this out because I know my acne is hormonal and since Ssri’s affect Hormones I’m sure it has something to do with this). My irritability is much much better. The only bad side effect I have when weaning off is brain zaps. They’re annoying but not a deal breaker.

At this point I see Zoloft in my life for the long haul. Mental illness runs in my family, it just took a pregnancy for it to hit me.

@pachamama: I'm an asshole, but PPA/PPD and day to day anxiety made me an asshole-er 🤦‍♀️

It made a world of difference when honestly I thought I wasn't that bad. I don't think it effected my libido anymore than pp in general though.

@pachamama: you still deserve a high five! I had zero sex drive even for myself!!!!

@pachamama: So I am on lexapro not Zoloft so take with a grain of salt. But my experience has been life changing. On it I feel 100% normal. Take it away and it does downhill fast. On the orgasm front my doctor told me, if you can still do it great, even if your desire to start is less. If you CANT do it no matter what we should adjust your meds. FWIW.

@pachamama: Honestly the asshole comment has crossed my mind multiple times in relation to myself. Basically the zoloft help me not feel a like I was close to losing my shit all the time and being aggravated by everyone around me. A lot of my anxiety centers around things not being optimal/the way they should be, things out of my control, etc.

@DesertDreams88: This is so me too.

Have been on varying doses of Zoloft for 4 years now (currently 50 mgs). It has been a huge help (along with therapy) in making me better able to handle the ups and downs of daily life without having my thoughts spiral into total panic/anxiety mode. I BF two kids on it and took it all through my second pregnancy. I do have some sexual side effects, little harder to reach O, and decreased libido (but I think some of that is also Mirena and 2 small kids).

Good luck figuring out what's best for you.

My vote is to try it for a month. If it doesn't help after you've given it a solid try, then quit.

. While I haven't taken it, my mom has moderate anxiety and chooses not to medicate. Having grown up in that household, I would encourage meds. I see how it manifests when she visits and it really causes so much unnecessary stress. It makes the house so much more intense and J feeds off of the energy. He's so much harder to deal with when my mom is bad compared to when her anxiety is under control.

@pachamama: lots of love to you. I have been on it for a month (started at 25mg for a few days then moved to 50) and I feel soooo much better. Like I should have done this a long time ago. I didn’t have many side effects besides extreme sleepiness at first. Anyway I hope it works for you and you feel better soon.

I didn’t comment before but reading this thread helped me make the decision to give Zoloft a try. @Silva: your comments and perspective was especially helpful so thank you for that.

I started zoloft about a year after my second child was born. Honestly for me, I thought that maybe I was just weak minded and that a medication was unnecessary, I just needed to try harder. But when I did go on the medication, once I had evened out, I saw significant changes. I realize now that I had a constant level of anxiety for most of my life and the medication allows me to relax from that. My mind isn't always racing and trying to prevent doom, which means I can spend my time doing other things.

I did gain quite a bit of weight since starting it, but I think that is a combo of my age and the meds. I recently switched from zoloft to lexapro and I think it was a good switch because I am able to feel more emotions than I had been experiencing on zoloft. I didn't even realize that I had missed laughing, it just never occurred to me that the medication, while helping me immensely, was also suppressing some of the good emotional stuff. So keep that in mind, you don't want to feel nothing, you want to be more even in your emotions and responses to things.

@pachamama: it took about a month for me to feel real effects and it’s made a huge difference.

@Mrs. Cereal: This. I didn’t know what I felt before lexapro wasn’t what everyone felt all the time. It wasn’t. Really really wasn’t. And I can see that now!!