been doc's and got med's but worried about side effects

[smithdebbie264]

hi i have been having trouble with health anxiety for sometime so went docs again and they have given me citalopram 20 mg can anyone give me any advice please because i am worried about the side affects

[nomorepanic]

Hi

Have a read of the posts and the sticky post in the Citalopram forum - loads of advice in there.

In fact I will move this post there for you as well.

[no_name]

Don't think about the side effects, just start taking the medicine. You can get no side effects at all, not all people suffer SEs. Think about the benefits ot taking the pills, forget about the discomfort you can probably experience for the first several days...

[LauraSmith27]

No name is totally right. The side effects in the first couple of weeks are well worth it when the tablets start to kick in and you finally begin to feel better. I only had very mild side effects when I started on 20mg such as tiredness and a few headaches. The benefits of feeling brighter, less anxious and having less problems with IBS greatly outweigh the side effects to start with.

[Ingenious]

Yes as said above don't dwell on the side effects. You may not even get any. If you do, they will pass in time. Focus on the long term and the help this medication could give you.

Remember also that any patient leaflet (or other source of information) has to go through every possible side effect even if the chance of having it is tiny, the end result is a frightening and off-putting list of things that would frighten anyone :) But some of the side effects listed are 1 in 100, or 1 in 1000 people, or 1 in 10000!

We're here in this forum to help support you if you do feel rough - but the sooner you start on them the sooner you can get over any side effects and then fight your anxiety.