Scared to take treatments due to possible side effects

[Robbs]

Hi,

I'm slowly starting to go mad with the various ailments I have but am to scared to take treatment for it due to most of the things I need to take have anxiety listed as a possible side effect so I'm too scared to take them.

1, I have skin fungal infections on various parts of my body the itching is infuriating and also embarrassing , because i've not treated it it has spread around my body so much so that steroid cream wont be up to the job so the doc prescribed me pills for it but the leaflet claims possible side effect of anxiety.

2, I have a hiatus hernia so pretty much suffer bad acid reflux and heartburn every day, docs given me pills for it but again anxiety side effect.

3, I've got sinus congestion which is now effecting my ears, making them feel stuffy, blocked, fuzzy and now started clicking every time i swallow which is freaking me out, docs given me a steroid spray but again it has a possible side effect of anxiety.

I've had chronic anxiety for 20 years now, and gone through various patches of doing ok and being so bad I cannot work, but the anxiety is always there, I'm currently doing ok so don't want to rock the boat as I know one really bad panic attack or new symptom can set me back a few years and can take some time to get over, which is why I'm scared to take the medication I need to take, I've spoke to the doc about this before and they've just told me to not read the label and just take the medication anyway, thing is my mind wont let me do that and I'm also already aware these treatments can cause it so I'm going to panic as soon as I take it now anyway.

I'm at the end of my tether with it none of these things are going to go away without treatment, I feel really run down, has anyone got any advice on how I can get my head around this as things are just going to get worse if I don't.


thanks :)

[MyNameIsTerry]

I think a lot of us can understand your thinking here. It's just like that day coming when the GP wants you to withdraw and you are feeling much better and the worry is you will slide. And then when you start meds and you fear further anxiety on top of what you feel is your limit already. It's all well & good for GP's to just say 'take the meds' but to them you are just a patient, one of many, and they are concerned with treating what is in front of them. You have to live with the outcome.

You know you need to this to get better. So, you are left with a choice of living with this and risking the complications, as well as the constant discomfort, and also a risk you haven't considered...that this could get you so down that it leads you back around to your anxiety again later anyway.

So, perhaps it's best to take the chance? But this doesn't help you move forward so perhaps treat it like an exposure treatment and rank them from least likely to have an impact to most likely. That doesn't mean you will experience anything but you know yourself that you are going to be anxious taking it even though it doesn't do anything.

Could you do it this way? Could you then gain confidence in how you handle the initial discomfort and raised anxiety but still come through it ok (and hopefully feeling better) but then push on to the next step in the hierarchy from there?

Is the steroid spray a corticosteroid one? If so, does the side effect list include things like jitteriness, palps, etc? My asthma Reliever does this and it does make you jittery but it's tolerable. And I went down a route of not taking any meds due to my anxiety and that including my asthma medication until one day I had a minor asthma attack and had no choice. I had to force myself and I was at my worst in my first breakdown at that point. This was when I started antidepressants but I also had to deal with the side effects of the asthma meds because I had been shown that not taking them was even worse since that doesn't subside like a panic attack does and you have to be treated. But my point is that if these are like my steroid inhalers, they can be triggering but if I can handle that back in that bad state, perhaps you could in your far better state? You are much stronger, you see?