Has anyone else ever had an extreme fear of medication and if so how did you overcome it? I’ve been prescribed Clonazepam, Lorazepam, Xanax, all the things for my anxiety to use as needed but I never take any of them due to the potential horrendous side effects I’ve read. I have this irrational fear that taking the med will cause me to become more anxious, or like black out or lose control or something ridiculous. I know it’s an irrational fear and that the point of them is to help, but I just always scare myself with a google search. My anxiety has been getting a million times better with meditation, mindfulness, CBT and ACT therapy but sometimes it would be nice to reset the sleep schedule with one of the meds I’m prescribed. I even now fear taking hydroxizine which is nothing more than a strong antihistamine but I read one bad article about it. Tips?

bubrub

Date posted: 6y

I was really afraid at first too. my therapist kept coaxing me and said don't read the black box warning and try to resist googling but I only remembered hearing about bad side effects. she was treating me for a while before she recommended medication because I wasn't making much progress. I was still scared but my OCD was so bad that I became willing to try about anything. much improved after facing my fears.

bubrub

Date posted: 6y

if you feel that you're improving well enough with other methods then that's fantastic! I still have most of my bottle of clonazepam which I take rarely as needed.

ruminating_r...

Date posted: 6y

I am dealing with the same fear. Everyone is different when it comes to how medication works on them. It could go any way for you or myself. Anything could happen, and that includes feeling better. I want to take the chance to have a bit of relief, but I am terrified of the effects too. Mostly psychosis, or losing control. I’m not afraid of becoming “numb” or “zoned” or “have no libido” because I already have all those things anyway. Lol.

Cersei

Date posted: 6y

I had to exact opposite. I begged for tranquilizers because I was terrified I'd kill myself without them.

Cersei

Date posted: 6y

In the beginning I was in so much distress I wanted to be sedated 24/7.

bubrub

Date posted: 6y

that's the point when I was willing to try. in bed all the time and becoming suicidal, I didn't think it could get much worse, especially since I was already convinced I had schizophrenia.

Drepet123

Date posted: 6y

Mine isn’t really that as much as the side effects scare me. Mine is more the anxiety that surrounds the med because I already have so much anxiety as is. I hope you have a good recovery. Welcome to the community!!!

Drepet123

Date posted: 6y

Yeah I too was afraid of having something much worse or if I took a med it would cause some sort of a psychotic snap or episode. Which I know is a ridiculous fear. I’m doing great during the day overall it’s just some nights I wake up out of a dead sleep all panicked and those are the times it would be nice to feel comfortable taking a med if needed because in the middle of the night it’s hard to remember the breathing techniques etc

FaithSheagren

Date posted: 24w

Health ocd is really bad today

Hi everyone. I take hydroxyzine 50 mg every night for anxiety for about five months. I’ve been experiencing at least one heart palpitation a day so of course I went down my googling spiral and saw people say it gave them cardiac arrest? I’m only 19 but I’m so so scared. Please someone help me.

Megcurry

Date posted: 23w

Starting new anxiety meds

Hi everyone, I’m 23 and have been on Zoloft since I was 16. For the past couple months I’ve been having panic attacks more and I’m sick of feeling like a zombie everyday. My boyfriend said I’m very sad and unhappy then when I first met him 2 years ago…. He thinks it’s the medicine. Throughout the years I have upped and lowered my medication, but now, I feel as though it’s not helping. Either it was too much where I didn’t feel emotions at all like very scary stuff or it wasn’t enough to help me. I was given 5mg of Lexapro to try…. I’m scared to take it. All I know is how Zoloft is. I don’t want to go crazy on it, be allergic to it, etc. I feel like I’m going to trip myself out when I take it and not actually feel the difference. I could really use some positive feedback I really just want to be a normal human😭

Health Concern OCD

baukje

Date posted: 15w

Obsessing about… medication

I am having an appointment with my psychiatrist this afternoon and I am obsessing about what to do with my medication. I think it’s also very ocd like obsessing. I am currently on 30mg mirtazapine. Ive been on this for years (because of insomnia, anxiety and depression) (15mg) and after we tried to switch to another (amitryptiline) because of nerve pain, I went down the road of insomnia and later on ocd again. So I am back on mirtazapine, and weaning off of the amitryptiline. This is/was a very traumatic experience. Because the switch caused a mental breakdown. Now my psychiatrist has mentioned to up the mirtazapine to 45mg. And my obsessive self has done a lot of research and a lot is saying that the higher the dose, the more you can experience anxiety. And for ocd it’s obviously not the first choice. I am obsessing all morning about it. I am too scared to go up. But I am also too scared to try another and to wean myself of off mirtazapine. I feel stuck at this point. Taking two meds is also not something I want. I could really use some words of encouragement right now I think. 🥹

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