I’m scared of my meds. I don’t wanna have the bad side effects and I’m so scared rn ugh

I‘m scared of starting sertraline (Zoloft) for my anxiety and OCD. I am just very scared of the potential psychological and physical side effects. Anyone who takes sertraline and what are your experiences with it?

so one of my biggest struggles lately is that my OCD has gotten significantly worse, and i’ve been seeing a psychiatrist and going through medication management for this as well. my only issue is that i have tried like 6 different anxiety meds or ssri’s now in the past couple of months because everytime i start one, i start having severe panic attacks and have to stop due to spiraling thoughts. it started with paxil(paroxetine) i started that first on the lowest dose, took it around 11pm just to wake up around 5am pupils so big you couldn’t see the color of my eyes, extreme tremors, dizziness so bad i couldn’t stand up and nausea. i went to the hospital because one of my biggest fears is serotonin syndrome, having seizures, all that because a LOT of my OCD is health based. they treated me like i was a crazy person in the ER, just gave me 2 strong Benadryl and hardly checked on me as i sat there shaking, crying, eyes wide open you’d think i saw a ghost. i felt so neglected. every since then when i try new medication, i have what i THINK is just panic attacks from thought spirals but i can’t tell what’s real and what’s not now. i can’t tell if it’s just OCD and my body mimicking those symptoms because of anxiety, or if im having a bad reaction again. it’s made trial and error with medication so exhausting and really really emotional. i haven’t cried this much in a month since i was maybe 17, and im 22 now. i don’t know what to do or how to continue medication management when i can’t tell what’s real and what’s not.

Hello, I’ve struggled with OCD and a few other anxiety disorders for literally ever and I’ve wanted to get on medication for years because I felt it was the only way to fix me, to find relief from this hell that is in my brain. But so far I’ve tried 7 medications ! And none have worked, I always get to my second or third dose with zero positive changes and I almost always have a side effect I cannot bare to live with long term, so I get switched to another med and it happens again. I also struggle with really bad anxiety over taking medications, I’m terrified of serious side effects and withdrawals and overdoses etc. so it’s makes this journey so much harder! I’m planning on taking a break from medication for at least a little while, I want to live life without side effects and the fear that being on regular medication gives me, I’ve been sleep deprived for a few months straight because of a side effect of my current dose, like what the hell body! I’m just frustrated, I wanted this to work, and hey maybe it will in the future but not right now. And yeah, medication isn’t the holy grail and it won’t “fix me”, therapy and hard work will help me manage my mental illnesses, I’ve had improvements already without meds, I know that now, so it’s not the end of the world! Just a bit annoying! (Don’t let this scare you from trying medication, for a lot of people it works wonders !! And not everyone’s body is as stubborn as mine!)