Med Phobia

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Hey there,

I was just curious as to whether anyone has a med phobia and if they have overcome it enough so as to take their meds?

This is a huge problem im struggling with and as much as i tell myself that nothing will happen and millions of people have taken Citalopram, ive got myself convinced ill be the one who will have a major reaction to them and die or something :wacko:

Oh the joys of panic disorder...:mad:

[Vixxy]

I think its a fairly common complaint with anxiety sufferers. The way I've got around it is to cut the pill into a smaller amount so that if I do have a reaction it will be lessened.
Make sure you ask the pharmacist if its safe to cut the specific pills first though.

[purple to black]

Hey Vixxy,

Thankyou for taking the time to reply :)

I think you are probably right, i will have to end this battle with my meds one way or another once and for all, it seems to be taking over my life.

Debs

[Vixxy]

Try to think of the benefits that you'll get once you take them. That pill might make you better :)

[jada]

Oh yes indeedie...I was petrified of taking my meds and had been putting off the dreaded day for several years! :blush:

However, I finally took the plunge and started on meds just over three weeks ago. The first couple of days, I took a quarter of a tablet and then half a tablet for another couple of days before gradually increasing to the full dose over a period of one week.

Side effects have been 'do-able'.

Am approaching week 4 now and today I am feeling quite positve (for once!) and a lot less anxious.

Good luck :hugs:

[Vanilla Sky]

I was exactly the same as you , scared to take Citalopram just incase i was the one who had the bad reaction to it . But that is your anxiety nagging away at you.
However i just took it and waited.... and waited...... took another one the next day same thing waited......... and guess what ........ nothing ! Ok i had a few side effects the first week but they were nothing worse than the anxiety i had had already. Now 6 months down the line , here i am just about recovered from it all . I feel good every day and have had no more anxiety. I will be getting weaned of them in a few months . I struggled with really bad anxiety for 2 years because i was scared.
Don't do that to yourself , get the help you need .
good luck Paige x

[purple to black]

hey jada,

im glad you are feeling better - what meds are you on?

Paige - ive had the tablets myself for nearly 18 months lol, as i said i really need to get over this battle im having with them!! So happy to hear you are doing so well, i love a happy ending :) Thanks for the post, its made me feel alot better and who knows perhaps knowing that other people have felt the same as me will help me in my struggle :)

Debs xo

[fairyclairy]

Hi,

Im exactly the same... had citalopram(sp?) sat here beside me for the past 6-8 months but i havnt taken a single tablet... im terrified of taking them!

However, i think it is because of my phobia (vomitting) that is stopping me taking them because i take ibuprofen fine..... but once i read the instructions and side effects of citalopram and one being nausea and sickness, i totally refused!

I told the doctor this and he just said 'well it doesnt make everyone feel sick'... he didnt understand that even if just one person out of a million felt sick on these tablets, i still wouldnt take them!

Maybe one day il overcome this and take the tablets but for now im sure they are happy collecting dust as i struggle on without them :) xx

[jada]

hey jada,

im glad you are feeling better - what meds are you on?

Debs xo

Thanks Debs :)

I am on escitilopram (cipralex). The doc prescribed them specifically because they are reported to have milder side effects...I sobbed in the surgery when she suggested that I should give ssri meds another chance...I really didn't think that I would be able to cope with the side effects as they freaked me out last time I took them a few years back :blush:

[mandie]

Hi

I was prescribed citalopram about two months ago. I had taken them before about 4 years ago and i remember a few horrid side effects but helped me so much once side effects wore off.

For some reason even though i did take them before, i was petrified to take them this time. I thought they would make me so ill. I would put the tablet in my mouth but just couldnt swallow it.

As the weeks passed my anxiety was getting worse and worse and in the end i thought surely by taking it i cant get any worse. I aready felt rock bottom

I was on the lowest dose 10mg, so i cut them in half. Iv have been taking them for 12 days now and have had a few minor side effects but nothing major.

I need to go up to 10mg now but im really scared, however i im hoping in the next week i will take the plunge!

I hope you can try just half the tablet and see how you get on. Did the dr give you 10mg?

mandie x

[purple to black]

aw fairy, its horrible when a fear grips you so badly :( hopefully you will like me be able to take them one day :) keep strong

Mandie,
yes the dr prescribed me 10mg so i could half them and start that way, its good you started taking them and im sure you will be fine when you up to 10mg (listen to me giving advice about meds lol)
i keep telling myself that if i take them i may feel worse for a couple of weeks but whats a couple of weeks as to how i could feel when they start to work - i would be able to live a normal life and deal with my issues that would in turn help me to be anxiety/panic free :)

keep yourselves safe :) x

[purple to black]

Jada, ive heard Cipralex are a purer form of Citalopram, not sure if this is true or not though - i might ask my dr about them next time im there if they are said to have less side effects.
You sound like a strong person :) keep yourself safe xo

Debs

[jada]

Jada, ive heard Cipralex are a purer form of Citalopram, not sure if this is true or not though - i might ask my dr about them next time im there if they are said to have less side effects.
Debs
Apparently cipralex (escitilopram)is the 'new generation' citilopram and has been refined to give fewer side effects. It's worth asking your doctor about them if you can't manage the side effects of citilopram :hugs:




You sound like a strong person :) keep yourself safe xo

Thank you...now you mention it...I have recently resolved to concentrate more on my positive attributes rather than dwelling on the negative :) so far, the strategy is working very well :D

I have been looking back over the last decade of my life and realised that, yes, I have conquered an awful lot of cr*p! (cancer being one of them)

On Thursday, I am going abseilling!!!! Wish me luck!!!...will try and keep safe!:) (am terrified of heights)

Good luck with your meds...we're all here to hold your hand across this hurdle :hugs:

[purple to black]

Fantastic news on your new strategy and so pleased its working, you certainly sound like a strong person and beating cancer too - its fab! I must try to think more like yourself and probably havent went through nearly as much, I try to consider myself lucky with everything i have and what i have overcome...

Loads of luck on the abseiling!! youre a braver woman than me thats for sure, would need to get me over the door first and that in itself would be an ordeal lol.

Its been nice to get to know a little bit more about you.

Keep yourself safe :hugs:

Debs xo

[jada]

Hi Debs

How's it going? Have you managed to reach a decision yet about taking the meds?

I expressed my fear of the side effects to my gp...I was convinced that the side effects would cause a possible stroke or heart attack but she assured me that they wouldn't. I tried with all of my might to believe what she said and finally plucked up the courage to take them. I am very glad that I did too...am just starting to reap the benefits :)

I only suffered mild tingling in the legs; mild nausea (i'm emetophobic) for a few days; a feeling of being 'spaced out' for a couple of days plus a feeling of heightened anxiety for the main part of two weeks. Am evening out now :)

I am also booked in for a course of cbt but while I am on the waiting list, my cpn suggested that i do the free online cbt course (as recommended by nomorepanic). http://www.livinglifetothefull.com/index.php?section=page&page_seq=8

I have found it quite helpful and am sure that it has contributed to my shift in attitude from negative to positive.

[purple to black]

Hi Jada,

No decision reached as yet :( still mulling it over in my head and not having a particularly good day (not feeling 100%, think the cold is on its way)! My main fear of the pills is the feeling dizzy or fainting - eeek that thought terrifies me but loads of people feel dizzy or faint and its just the bodies way of protecting us, right? lol, so i dont know why i get so wound up - to be honest the thought of heightened anxiety doesnt fill me with much joy either, although a few days of that compared to the outcome i could have, i suppose i can justify that part, sorta kinda maybe lol.

I've had CBT and found it really helpful, i came on in leaps and bounds whilst having it and also for a good while after it stopped and i still try to use it and think back to it, a thought can only hurt me if i allow it to, changing my thought processes and im generally pretty good at it, i just need a little bit of help with this whole phobia of being on my own, its having such a huge effect on my family and it needs to stop!!

Hope youre having a good day :)

Debs xo

[jada]

Ahhh!!! That's my greatest phobia too!!! :ohmy:

I live on my own...with two kitties...and I get really fearful in the night, having suffered nightmares and night terrors throughout my whole life. I also live in constant fear of the cancer coming back.

I have two grown up children...my daughter lives in belgium and I rarely see my son due to problems with his girlfriend (we don't get on unfortunately :weep:)

The meds have definitely helped.

I permanently suffer with vertigo due to viral attack nearly twenty years ago...giddiness is very scary...I have been lucky in that the meds haven't affected my balance at all...I have felt no more wibbly wobbly than I normally do :winks:

Thinking of you :hugs:

[purple to black]

Ah they said my first 'dizzy spell' was from a virus and i guess ive talked my mind into believing otherwise - who knows!!
I dont get it often but often enough for it to bother me, what are we like eh? lol, i wish i could be as brave as you though :(

Thanks for talking to me, its so helpful when you know other people are going through the same thing and its not in my messed up head!!

Keep yourself safe

Debs xo

[scamper]

Hi........ I'm new to this site, I suffered bad anxiety when I was about 21 got through it had meds and eventually got mky life back on track. Now the anxiety has come back and I feel lost and out of control. Just started new meds zoloft have tried so many but never get past the third day just end up panicking and thinking they'll make me worse. I have a one year old son and don't feel like i'm enjoying it like I should because I spend most of my time worrying about anxiety and going mad. It's hard but we will all get through it and be stronger people. Anybody have any advice on how to overcome fear of taking tablets? Rang doctor today and he told me to take them at nightime instead. Feeling so rubbish today, just keep working myself up. Rach. x x x


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[jillyb]

I so understand how you feel. I have just picked up some diazapam because I am in such a state. My family are pleading with me to take them but I am just so scared. They just don't understand. I know I have to take one because I just can't go on like this. I really need to have citalopram but even the thought of taking the daizapam (or whatever it's called) is freaking me out big time. Have my mammo this evening and that's what has sent me into this current spiral downwards. Why do I always think so negatively about everything - it's driving me crazy. Good luck with your battle x

[scamper]

Hi........ I'm new to this site, I suffered bad anxiety when I was about 21 got through it had meds and eventually got mky life back on track. Now the anxiety has come back and I feel lost and out of control. Just started new meds zoloft have tried so many but never get past the third day just end up panicking and thinking they'll make me worse. I have a one year old son and don't feel like i'm enjoying it like I should because I spend most of my time worrying about anxiety and going mad. It's hard but we will all get through it and be stronger people. Anybody have any advice on how to overcome fear of taking tablets? Rach. x x x

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[jillyb]

I have just managed to take a diazepam - feeling scared - but my family just begged me as I am off the scale with anxiety - this dreaded mammo in and hour. I can't tell you how I managed to swallow it but I think even I realised that I was out of control. Maybe I can take another one and bedtime and sleep. I know it won't take away all these horrid negative thoughts but maybe I will be a little bit more relaxed. Good Luck and take care x

[jillyb]

It must be working and making me weird - there are some typos in my post!