BEFORE ANYONE CLICKS OFF PLEASE HELP (ESPECIALLY THE BOTTOM PARTS WHERE I ASK ABOUT THE SCIENCE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART)

I am currently taking Sertraline and want to enter a phase in my life where my schedule is going to change significantly

I would have a lot of late nights and a much more active social environment

I’m trying to weigh whether it’s worth diving into this environment right now, or if I should wait until I am no longer on antidepressants

How much worsey does damaging my health while on the antidepressants damage health?

Would you recommend waiting?

I'am taking a very low dose (50% of the starting dose of sertraline)

I'm unsure if this low dose is still low enough to damage my health tremendously (especially if I start having lots of late nights).

Anyone who knows the science, please tell me how much this low dose damages my health, and also how much worse it will be if I get bad sleep etc

Edited June 28Jun 28 by Daniel
Made changes 💗

Welcome to the forum!

I have moved your thread to the "Introductions & Ongoing Recoveries" section.

 

This is a volunteer-run, community forum aimed at helping those who are tapering and/or experiencing difficulties with psychiatric medications and withdrawl syndrome. We are not medical professionals and cannot offer medical advice. We simply offer support and opinions which you could use as talking points with a medical provider knowledgeable in withdrawing off psychiatric medications.

 

Please familiarise yourself with the forum rules and the disclaimer located here: Guidelines

 

Thank you for filling in your signature.

I'm so sorry to read about the tough time you've had recently you will find plenty of support here for sure.

 

In the mean time this is what I would do if I were you:

 

-Stay Hydrated 

 

-Eat a good clean whole food diet, avoiding processed foods and sugars.

 

-Stay away from caffeine, alcohol and antihistamines and any other psychoactive substances.

 

Supplements are to be avoided initially, as they often irritate our nervous systems. Try to get your nutrition through food.

 

Down the line, you may wish to introduce Fish Oil and Magnesium. Those who can tolerate them have found them calming to the nervous system. Be careful try one at a time and start low and see how you get on should you choose to try them.

 

A daily walk is very important as much as you can manage, if you can manage it. Gets you your fresh air and Vitamin D does wonders for your mind!

It's very difficult to answer your specific question without knowing how your general health and wellbeing is. As much as you can, living a "normal" life is good, but we don't know whether this is manageable for you or not.

As for science on this, there isn't any that I'm aware of.

 

You are very welcome here and I hope you find the site supportive.

16 hours ago, Daniel said:

I am currently taking Sertraline and want to enter a phase in my life where my schedule is going to change significantly

I would have a lot of late nights and a much more active social environment

Welcome! Im not clear what you are meaning here? Is this a job? Is this you are starting want to spend more time socialising?

What I will say is that I worked in the events industry for many years, working late nights etc. I personally now believe that living a life around the daylight hours and getting a good regular sleep routine is super important. If I could go back I might consider not working in that industry again for a few reasons but mainly I don't belive we are supposed to live like this as humans.

16 hours ago, Daniel said:

I'am taking a very low dose (50% of the starting dose of sertraline)

This is not really a 'very low' dose of the drug. Due to the hyperbolic nature of the drugs effect on our brains the lower we go the higher the proportional effect on the brain. Have a read. Tapering Information

16 hours ago, Daniel said:

Anyone who knows the science, please tell me how much this low dose damages my health, and also how much worse it will be if I get bad sleep etc

Essentially being on these drugs is not good for us. And they do effect our sleep patterns etc.... Tapering off these drugs can be very demanding on us phsycially, so my advice is create a good solid platform for tapering. Healthy diet, exercise, plenthy of sleep and fluids and take the taper real slow. Personally I would avoid a change is lifestytle that makes you more nocturnal even outside of WD/tapering and definitely during.

@Chippy Hey, I've read your response and really appreciate it. Thanks for the help so far

as per what is happening in my life it's just about going to uni, which I want to enjoy to the fullest: exploring the Party Life.

even though I definitely would not drink alcohol while on the antidepressant still, I'm debating getting bad sleep. finding answers about whether or not I should do this is really difficult. I am aware that the antidepressants are quite bad for us, however what I'm unaware of it's how much worse my health will become while on them if i move to university and then begin to slack on my diet in different areas like water quality, sleep et cetera.

On 6/28/2026 at 8:35 PM, Luke said:

Welcome to the forum!

I have moved your thread to the "Introductions & Ongoing Recoveries" section.

 

This is a volunteer-run, community forum aimed at helping those who are tapering and/or experiencing difficulties with psychiatric medications and withdrawl syndrome. We are not medical professionals and cannot offer medical advice. We simply offer support and opinions which you could use as talking points with a medical provider knowledgeable in withdrawing off psychiatric medications.

 

Please familiarise yourself with the forum rules and the disclaimer located here: Guidelines

 

Thank you for filling in your signature.

I'm so sorry to read about the tough time you've had recently you will find plenty of support here for sure.

 

In the mean time this is what I would do if I were you:

 

-Stay Hydrated 

 

-Eat a good clean whole food diet, avoiding processed foods and sugars.

 

-Stay away from caffeine, alcohol and antihistamines and any other psychoactive substances.

 

Supplements are to be avoided initially, as they often irritate our nervous systems. Try to get your nutrition through food.

 

Down the line, you may wish to introduce Fish Oil and Magnesium. Those who can tolerate them have found them calming to the nervous system. Be careful try one at a time and start low and see how you get on should you choose to try them.

 

A daily walk is very important as much as you can manage, if you can manage it. Gets you your fresh air and Vitamin D does wonders for your mind!

It's very difficult to answer your specific question without knowing how your general health and wellbeing is. As much as you can, living a "normal" life is good, but we don't know whether this is manageable for you or not.

As for science on this, there isn't any that I'm aware of.

 

You are very welcome here and I hope you find the site supportive.

@Luke hey Luke thanks for all the help so far. I've responded to Chippy below and this should be able to give you clarity to be able to help me

18 hours ago, Daniel said:

@Chippy Hey, I've read your response and really appreciate it. Thanks for the help so far

as per what is happening in my life it's just about going to uni, which I want to enjoy to the fullest: exploring the Party Life.

even though I definitely would not drink alcohol while on the antidepressant still, I'm debating getting bad sleep. finding answers about whether or not I should do this is really difficult. I am aware that the antidepressants are quite bad for us, however what I'm unaware of it's how much worse my health will become while on them if i move to university and then begin to slack on my diet in different areas like water quality, sleep et cetera.

My advice would be to focus on healthy living and getting a good education, even if you sacrifice the social life element, I know that sounds very dull, but really good sleep and feeling well is more important. Perhaps you can set a trend of chilling in the park on a sunny day with a non alcoholic drink instead of the bars! And yes 100% no drinking! Will be tempting but the worse thing you can do.

Just to reiterate: you've told us nothing about how you're tolerating this drug and what your resilience is currently like.