Gosh, sorry about set backs. Here is the thing, Zoloft like all of these types of medications can have the 'poop out' effect. It just stops being effective. Not sure if that is what is going on. I will tell you that Zoloft is one of the meds that usually requires the higher dosage range to get full effect and many underdose with it on a regular basis. This could have been you. I'd personally go ahead and go up to 150mg with doctor approval.
If it has pooped out, try another medication. It's been 17 years and there may be something else that helps.
The thing about anxiety treatment though is that you WILL still have anxiety from time to time. It doesn't totally take that away if there is something going on in your life that is difficult. You're still human and haven't been turned into a robot that is programed for "NO ANXIETY". So, judge if it is situational and if it would be natural to have increased anxiety if you are going through something difficult.
As a woman with raging hormones, (my lucky family), I found my anxiety related to menopause to be cyclic. I can track it very easily as my hormones shift. And psychiatrists do treat women's mental health disorders related to hormones. It's a whole subspecialty in psychiatry and in my area, there are doctors who only see women and issues surrounding things like menopause, post partum, PDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) are treated. Sometimes they are indeed treated with SSRI's and SRNI's and the hormonal factor is also worked on. Your ob/gyn could probably give you a referral to a doctor in your area who has this subspecialty.
You've had a life long battle with anxiety. That's rough. I have a son who showed signs of anxiety at a very young age. I'm glad you are on Zoloft--- I would increase the dose to give it a chance to help and if not, speak to your doctor about the next step.
Also, I can't say enough about getting good sleep with regards to anxiety and hormones, depression and hormones. It's always worse if our sleep is disrupted and it often is when going through menopause. Hopefully that is better for you now that you're on the other side. I'm still battling that. Cyclic insomnia is another joy I'm experiencing. And exercise. It's a natural mood boost. Get 30 minutes of exercise at least 5 days a week.
Let me know what you think of what I've said!
It's too soon to notice improvement, it might take as long as it took when you first went on it to notice improvement, which might be as long as 4-6 weeks. And it might be that it's pooped out and doesn't work for you anymore. It happens especially when we have been on a drug for a long time, and also when something new happens that is very hard to handle. None of the drugs you take for mental illness cure it, they just tamp down the symptoms. The only cures knows are if it just goes away, which happens, or you fix it in therapy or some other form of treatment that results in you not thinking anxious thoughts anymore. For now, I would do two things: give the increased dosage some time -- you might have to go up even further. And if something new has happened, know that you still have the anxiety disorder, the drug won't solve that problem, so you might need to do some therapy work on this new situation to give the added dosage a better chance to kick in. Good luck.