A few days ago I had a formal assessment with a psychiatrist and he said I have OCD and offered me Sertraline. I asked him if I could take a few days to think about whether I wanted to take medication or not and initially I was willing to give it a go. However, taking any kind of medication or medicines scares me so much that even thinking about it makes me feel panicky. Once my doctor prescribed me a throat spray for a nasty sore throat I'd had and I was so petrified that I'd have an allergic reaction and my throat would close up that using it became a huge ordeal. I also have a lot of trouble swallowing tablets and have tried everything I can think of to try to swallow them (I fear I will choke). After looking into sertraline, the list of possible side effects really scared me and now I am unsure what to do, because medication could potentially be really beneficial to me, but I'm just so scared.
Any advice appreciated!!
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bookworm1996
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I have ocd and take sertraline, I can’t really offer any advice on the taking of medication as never had the issues you face myself, but I just wanted to say from my own experience with the pills, it has actually changed my life, I can control my ocd so much better now and feel it has helped me massively to keep things level, don’t get me wrong, I still have my ups and downs but I’m in a completely different place from where I was before I started the medication.
I have taken sertraline for about 13 years and found it very helpful. Previous to that I was on an older medication called clomipramine, which worked well but made me feel so dopey that I was known to fall asleep at my desk at work! I too hesitated before taking it, but I was glad I did.
Sertraline is a good medication and I haven't had much in the way of side effects. I can't promise that you won't have side effects, as everyone is different, but on the whole it's pretty safe.
The list of side effects on the leaflets they give with medication are often alarming, but the manufacturers do have to cover themselves for any adverse reactions.
I should give sertraline a go. It normally takes up to about four weeks before you start feeling the benefit, and you may feel rather grotty on them at first. This is normal. But once they start working it can feel as though a black cloud has lifted.
It's best to have some CBT alongside it. But perhaps that can wait until you start to feel a bit better. I hope it works for you.
Hi! Thank you for this message, this is all really helpful information & it has really reassured me to hear of two positive experiences with sertraline. I think if I can overcome the actual swallowing of the tablets, I can give it a go. A friend reminded me today that if I did experience the rare very negative side effects (that it would be dangerous to continue taking them) I could always stop taking them, which the rational part of my brain forgot entirely in its panic!
I've actually just started CBT, and have been told that the combination of CBT and medication can work well. I do really want to give medication a go, if only I can overcome the fear! But these replies have taken me from a "nope, absolutely not" panicked state of mind, to a "I can consider it", so thank you again to both
Take care!
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