Anxious about antidepressants

[Drisque]

My entire life as far as I can remember has been plagued by GAD, health anxiety and social anxiety. I have dealt with it fairly well up until the past three years. I get anxiety about everything.
Example:

If my wife is more than 5 min late getting home I fear she has been in a horrible accident.

I often get up late at night and check on my kids to make sure they haven't been kidnapped, or killed in there sleep.

I check my body for physical symptoms of cancer on a daily basis, and I obsess over insignificant pains or blemishes. I often google these obsessions, which fuels my health anxiety.

I constantly feel as though I've been slighted.

These are just a few of my daily obsessions. Anyway, to make a long story short, my doctor has taken note of my anxiety and prescribed me with an antidepressant. However, I am extremely anxious to try this medication because the side effects are slightly scary. I will also be trying cbt here shortly. Anyway, I was hoping some of you could help me out with this fear of antidepressants. Are the side effects really that bad? Has anyone had a god experience with them. (If this question is inappropriate please let me know; I do not wish to over step boundaries )

[Noivous]

How long have these daily obsessions been going on?

---------- Post added at 01:10 ---------- Previous post was at 01:04 ----------

Oh 3 years. How much outside stress are you under? How is your diet and sleep? In regards to antidepressants. The side affects can be rough in the beginning. Especially with increased anxiety. But usually it passes after a while. But they have helped millions escape from extreme anxiety. There can also be some sexual side effects. But some find the tradeoff worth it. And not everyone gets the side effects. Maybe you could try it and see how you do. Or maybe try the therapy without the meds and see how that goes. There's not necessarily a right or wrong answer here. Moving in a positive direction is the important thing.

N.

[Drisque]

Thank you, I really appreciate your reply. I think I'm going to give the medication a shot, as I am quite miserable at the moment, and it's taking a toll on my wife and children, as well as myself. It's just getting over the initial anxiety of taking them that's the issue. Maybe the side effects won't bother me, or at least one can dream.

[Noivous]

Look you can get through the side effects for sure. Hang in there. And just remember if you get the side effects it is temporary and not you. It is medication induced anxiety. You'll get through this friend. For sure.

N.

[Drisque]

Thanks, your message is very reassuring. I will definitely give the meds a shot, no more procrastinating.

[MyNameIsTerry]

The side effects profiles on these meds can look very scary when you read the leaflet. But what you have to remember is that they are defined as 1 in X chance of having it and even then it could just be mild anyway. So, try not to look at the big scary things on those lists because they are uncommon-rare in most cases and it's the usual stuff like nausea, aches & pains, the runs, sweating, sadly insomnia, and even sadder that your anxiety may increase for a while.

I reacted badly to side effects my first time but a large part of that was not understanding what was happening to me. When I relapsed years later and started on a different med, I handled it much better despite the side effects being much worse!

So, my attitude is to be realistic and expect them. That way I may suffer but I don't upset myself much more. That being said, it's always hard going through that if it does happen.

I've seen people on here talk about having very mild side effects or even no side effects (lucky blighters!) but of course there are the people have had bad reactions and then a whole load of people in between in varying degrees of discomfort.

There is a Meds boards on here. If you are on a very common med, like Citalopram, there are people supporting each other daily to get through it. This can help.

[Colicab85]

I echo the statements above.

I have recently started on Sertraline (Zoloft) and I was very concerned about the side effects. I won't lie there was a period of adjusting but I am feeling so much better now then where I was at 2 months ago.

I honestly feel that they have been a godsend as my Anxiety was having a huge impact on my life and relationships. I still have some residual symptoms but they are very manageable and at least I don't think I am going to die everyday. Which is a bonus :D

[dale12345]

They state every possible side effects, but I think serious effects are rare. You may get some but they will probably be mild. Anxiety is a very hard thing to deal with but there is always hope. You can get better. There is always hope.