best med

[mrslala]

hello there

can anyone recommend the best anxiety med to start with - cant take nortriptyline or citalopram?

going to the GP tomorrow and wondered if there was anything mild i can suggest please? xxx

[Emphyrio]

People react differently to different meds.

Expect some form of side effects, but sertraline seems to be a fairly good one. It didn't work for me because it gave me bad visual disturbances and had to quit taking it at 4.5 weeks - however, it seems to be a fairly rare side effect I experienced.

Have you exhausted all non-medication options? I say this because my experience of SSRIs and SSRI withdrawal has not been nice. If I could go back in time I would prefer to have looked at other options than go on meds. Now, I think I'm stuck on meds for the time being.

[mrslala]

Thank you so much.

Im sorry you have been having a hard time coming off the meds, and visual distrubances :( are you going to try another med now?

I have tried everything, CBT and now I live in constant fear so feel I really need something :( I went twice Monday and yesterday to the docs in floods of tears for them to say they will not give me anything :(

[Emphyrio]

Hello,

I think I'm going to have to try another med. I went straight from sertraline to citalopram - but even at 5mg, a quarter of a standard dose, it gave me visual snow and made me feel sedated. It's a shame because it worked for anxiety at that low dose, and did have an impact on depression.

Why wouldn't the docs give you anything if you're in a bad way? I would see another doc. If you've tried everything else though then maybe you would get some relief from meds. If they bring more benefits than disadvantages, then I'd say its probably worth it.

[NoPoet]

Mrslala - mirtazapine may be easier to get onto than citalopram, it was for me, but it can lead to weight gain. It will drastically improve the quality of your sleep. Big thumbs up, but stay active cos you will eat a lot more.

Visual disturbances are well known with SSRIs/SNRIs: catching glimpses of things, usually interpreted as black dogs or large animals, but they aren't really hallucinations, it's just a reaction to the meds. Sometimes you can see auras too, possibly like the shimmering colours of a migraine or maybe auras around bright lights. Not sure how common either of these are, some people report them, some don't.