Who is on meds for health anxiety?

[hazelbritt]

And does it help?

[nomorepanic]

Are you getting any other help as well?

[CatLady1]

Meee. I’m on Sertraline, which my GP suggested after I visited her in tears with “lymphoma”. (I did not have lymphoma).

The side effects of any SSRI can be a bit crappy for the first couple of weeks, but once those level out, I’ve always found the daily dose to be genuinely helpful. I was on Citalopram about 7 years ago, for general anxiety and depression rather than health anxiety specifically, but I also found that helpful. Sertraline is making it easier for me to rationalise my fears, and when I do panic, I’m better at remaining functional.

One thing I would say, is that the physical side effects of an SSRI might trigger further health anxiety if you don’t know what to expect. So talk to your doctor about that before starting anything.

[BlueIris]

I'm on Citalopram, and it's amazing. I was losing hours of every day to Google and self-checking, but that's (almost) completely under control now. Side effects vary from person to person, but I've been lucky - when starting and increasing my dose I had a couple of spacy days plus some mild nausea, but the only ongoing effects are vivid dreams (kind of fun) and increased sleepiness.

[ServerError]

Sertraline has pulled me out of two hypochondriacal breakdowns. My sister recently started taking it for depression and the improvement in her is remarkable too.

[Mommy2girls]

Sertraline 100mg and CBT

[Mindsight]

Doctor tried me on Citalopram i took 1 pill and it made me worse very horrible side effects so binned that off and since im actually much better i no longer google just come on hear and thats only once a day now so i guess im not to bad i was in a bad place at christmas but its now behind me

[jojo2316]

Sertraline for me.

[Krnik04]

Citalopram here. Stopped in September after 18 months or so because I felt like I no longer required it. Was doing really well until life got tough and the HA well and truly kicked off again. Went straight back on it a few days ago. It works so well for me but I find I put weight on/struggle to lose weight. However, my mental health is of equal importance as my physical health so needs must.

[Phantasia]

I just picked up my prescription for Citalopram / Lexapro today, and will start taking the ramp up half-tablet dose today. I'm absolutely terrified at the moment as I'm dealing with family health issues (my dad has lung cancer) and I'm having one sided tingling and my brain MRI came back with some lesions (on the "high end of normal" for my age - I don't care for the sound of that at all.)