Will it be worth it?

[Zweistein]

Having suffered from anxiety and panic attacks for more years than I can remember, I have always managed without medication because they frighten me senseless!
During a recent visit to my GP for a totally unrelated issue, accompanied by my wife, she joked with my Doctor to give me something so that SHE could get a good nights sleep.
He prescribed a course of Diazepam 5mg which I took for two weeks, wow! after the first dose I can honestly say that I had not slept so well in many, many years, and throughout the following couple of weeks I felt stress and anxiety free too.
When I returned to my GP to discuss how the medication had affected me, he was pleased with the results and then suggested that I should take long term medication for anxiety in the form of Citalopram 20 mg and he prescribed a years supply.
Me being me, I read the enclosed leaflet and immediately hit the Google button! the possible side effects were enough to trigger an anxiety attack so I have never taken the medication.
Six to eight weeks seems an awful long time to have to go through what some people have described as terrible experiences whilst taking Citalopram, to me it seems odd to have to slide down to be able to get to the top, however, having had a taste of what appeared to be normality through Diazepam, I was wondering if it's worth the slog?

[Sparkle1984]

Hi, it's important to realise that most people won't get all the side effects listed on the leaflet, in fact a lot of people would hardly get any side effects at all. They are required by law to list all the possible side effects on the leaflet, so try not to let it scare you too much. All medications have potential side effects, even common ones like aspirin or paracetamol.

I personally only experienced side effects for the first 2 weeks on 10mg - for the first 5 days or so, I had insomnia and loss of appetite. For the first couple of weeks, I had a rapid heartbeat, but it wasn't too unbearable. I was signed off work for a week to give me a chance to get over the worst of the side effects. By Week 3 I began to feel a lot better - I was much happier in myself and I didn't feel so anxious. My intrusive thoughts faded away. I still occasionally had some underlying anxiety, but it was nowhere near as bad as it was beforehand. I'm currently on the 11th week, and in the last week or so I feel that I've improved even further (although I've been doing CBT and relaxation exercises as well). In the last week even my underlying anxiety seems to have disappeared.

So I personally think it's been worth it for me. I recommend you read the Citalopram Survival Guide (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=46980) if you haven't done so already, I found it really helpful and put my mind at ease.

[dogsandtea]

The only side effects I got when I first started them was excessive yawning and pretty sleepy for a few weeks (nothing I couldnt cope with though) and weirdly, bruising very easily?! Both went though..