My general anxiety seems to have seeped into depression/health anxiety and as a result the psychiatrist that I am seeing said that I am not getting better quick enough and that I need to take anti-depressants for 6 months. I thought that I was doing ok, I know that I’m not right but I’m getting there, for example I went on holiday two weeks ago and I felt almost back to normal. The anxiety returned when I got back but I could cope with it. My problem is that I am absolutely terrified of taking medication. The whole nightmare began in February when I had a severe reaction to prescription medication following a gall bladder operation. Again I have started to get better about taking tablets and can now manage vitamins and painkillers ok. He suggested that I take citalopram 20mg but having read the side effects I really don’t think that I can take them. I am terrified of the anxiety feelings getting worse and the possibility of suicidal feelings for the first 1-2 weeks. I really don’t want to take medication but I want my life back. I’m so confused and the constant worry is making me worse. It’s like a vicious circle and I don’t know what to do. Does anyone have anything positive to say about citalopram? The only thing that I can think of is asking the doctor for diazepam to calm me down in the event of the anxiety getting worse but I don’t know if you can do that.