Hi I've suffered with panic and anxiety for 3 years following two traumatic events in my life which both happened in the space of one month. I had counselling and CBT for a year which helped at the time. I was also prescribed Citalopram twice, was too scared of side effects so decided not to take them and continue with the CBT. Last year I was prescribed Fluoxetine, again too scared to take them. I have never really been free of the panic attacks, just put up with them and sometimes take betablockers which don't really help long term. I'm just plucking up the courage to take the fluox and looking for anyone's advice. Are the side effects bad and how long did it take to have any effect?